XL2HTML.XLS Frequently Asked Questions

by Jordan Evans (Swales & Assoc., Inc./NASA GSFC Code 704)

Included below are the most frequently asked questions which I have received from around the world since XL2HTML became available.

• Are there any Excel 4.0 or other Excel 5.0 converters available?

  
  
  • One useful source for freeware/shareware conversion utilities is Yahoo's list of HTML Converters

• I am having trouble installing the macro on my Windows version of Excel 5.0 :-( I downloaded the file and followed the instructions...but a Smiley face never appeared....Any thoughts or suggestions?

  
  This problem is generally due to a "minor bug" in the install program on older versions of XL2HTML. The macro contained information on making the buttons "Large." The solution to this is either to download the latest version (v1.21)...or to follow these instructions:
  
  • From the "View" dropdown menu in Excel, select "Toolbars..."
  • A dialog box should appear...along the bottom is a selection box for "Large Buttons"
  • Make sure this is "De-selected" and then select "OK."
  
  Another common reason for this to occur is that you don't have the "Standard" toolbar displayed when trying to install the macro. The XL2HTML icon gets installed on the "Standard" toolbar. To check and see if it was installed on the standard toolbar:
  
  • From the "View" dropdown menu in Excel, select "Toolbars..."
  • A dialog box should appear...select "Standard" and then select "OK."

• I followed the advice of the FAQ above and found out that I now have 3 smiley faces where I re-installed XL2HTML because I didn't see the smiley face. Now...how do I get rid of them?

  
  Try this to get rid of any spurious smiley faces...
  • Right click over the top of the button you want to remove. (On the Mac, press and click over the top of the button you want to remove)
  • Choose "customize" in the resultant pop-up menu
  • While the customize menu is displayed, hold the left button down with the mouse over the smiley face you want to remove and drag it out over the spreadsheet. (On the Mac, hold the key down with the mouse over the smiley face you want to remove and drag it out over the spreadsheet.)

• I still can't get the smiley face to appear. Is there any way to "not use the install macro" and manually install XL2HTML?

  
  
  • Open "XL2HTML.XLS" within Excel
  • Select "Toolbars..." from the "View" dropdown menu
  • Select the "Customize" button
  • Scroll through the categories list and select "Custom"
  • Drag and Drop the "smiley face" icon onto a toolbar (any toolbar with room)
  • Select "xl2html" as "Macro Name/Reference" from the dialog box
  • Select "OK"

• Are the tables supposed to look like tables - I get them in comma separated format - not pretty with borders or anything?

  
  If your HTML files are coming out with all of your data in a long row (with a Comma Separated Variable look) it is because your browser doesn't support the HTML+ (HTML 3.0) markup that implements tables. Currently the only browsers I know of that support HTML Tables are the NCSA Mosaic browsers for all three platforms (Windows, Mac, X), and the latest releases from Netscape.

• Are the empty cells supposed to look like bricks or empty cells?

  
  Netscape does not yet have an option/preference to "display empty cells." Fear not! There is a way to trick Netscape into displaying an empty cell. You can either manually go into the html file that contains the table and add a <BR> markup in each blank cell, or you can modify the code in XL2HTML to do it for you. To modify the code, open the XL2HTML.XLS spreadsheet and scroll down the sheet labeled "Module 1" until you see an asterix bordered box that says "NETSCAPE USERS STOP HERE." Remove the apostrophe that begins the next line of code and then re-save XL2HTML!

• Is there any way to specify or force the browser to display certain column widths?

  
  If you use "<TD NOWRAP>" the browser (if it supports this code) will set the column width to the longest piece of text in that column containing a "NOWRAP". According to the NCSA Tutorial for HTML Tables, NOWRAP can be used within <TH> or <TD> markup.

• Are there any converters available which convert Excel charts and graphs to HTML/gif files?

  
  I don't know of any converters that do the job, but the way I do it is to use the little known "Copy as picture" function within Excel...
  • Select the graph/chart you wish to convert
  • While holding the shift key down, select the "Edit" dropdown menu
  • A new function will appear called "Copy Picture..." Select this.
  • Choose from the options displayed in the dialog box. I normally use, "As shown when printed"
  • Open up a drawing program capable of saving in a ".gif" format
  • Paste the picture into the drawing program and save the file!

• I can't get Excel 5.0 to open the XL2HTML.XLS. It says it doen't recognize the file type. How do I get the file?

  
  So far, I have heard three reasons why people have had problems opening XL2HTML.XLS.
  1. The main problem (which has yielded messages from "file not found" to "unable to open") is the incomplete installation of Excel...if you don't do the complete installation, which includes the Excel Visual Basic modules, the computer won't recognize an Excel file that contains Visual Basic.
  2. Another problem (which gave a version of the "close or ignore" message) was that the user was running Excel 5.0 off of a network, but still had some .DLL files on their local hard-drive that caused Excel to go comatose. They installed Excel 5.0 locally and it worked fine.
  3. Yet another problem (which didn't allow the user to open the file at all, it was unrecognizable) was that they downloaded XL2HTML.XLS with a version of Netscape that downloaded it as ASCII instead of binary. They corrected the problem and it worked on both the PC and MAC versions of Excel 5.0.
  If you continue having problems downloading the file from the server, I can send a "uuencoded" version of the file via e-mail.

• Is There Any "Legalese" I Should Be Aware Of?

  XL2HTML.XLS is currently freeware. You can freely download it and distribute it. It is, however, the intellectual property of Jordan Evans, and as such it is copyrighted. By using the software, you are entering into an agreement where you will leave all of the comment statements regarding authorship intact if you make any changes to the code. This code is not to be redistributed, in any form, to make a profit.

• Whom Can I Contact With Comments/Questions/Suggestions?

  Sorry! This program is no longer being updated and supported on a regular basis.

• Why isn't XL2HTML being actively supported any longer?

  It was originally written as an aside to a satellite proposal task (I needed to get analyses onto the web quickly). That proposal is over and I have since been supporting the program on my own time. The daily correspondence is overwhelming and I must discontinue actively supporting this program. Sorry!

Last Updated: 3/31/96
Contact: Jordan Evans