Linking to locations in an Excel file

[pmagnier]

Hi...I'm using Flare 11.1.2 to output to HTML 5, then placing the files on a server (and making them available through IIS).
We have an Excel data dictionary file with lots of useful info and I want to puts links in the HTMT5 output linking directly to that file. (Directly to specific named cells in that file specifically). However Flare does not link directly with Excel it seems.
Has anyone tried this?, just wondering what the best way to go about it is. I briefly researched it by saving the Excel file as xml though when I tried to link to a named cell in it, Flare said it was not an xml file.

[LTinker68]

Is the data in the Excel file accessible to others and will continue to be updated and that's why you want to keep the Excel file? I'm just wondering why you don't copy-and-paste the content into topics in Flare and make it available that way. Is there a need to keep the data in the Excel file?

[pmagnier]

Yes, Lisa, that Excel file will be updated for each release, and we're planning a few this year. Sorry for delayed response.

[LTinker68]

I don't think naming a cell in Excel is the same as creating a bookmark in the cell or bookmarking the text in the cell. That's probably why you can't hyperlink to it. (If you save the Excel file with the named cell as a PDF, you'll see that there's nothing "clickable" in that cell.)

I think you have to create a bookmark for the cell in order to be able to hyperlink to that cell from a website or from a Flare output. So named cells work for formulas/navigation within the Excel workbook, but the bookmark is for external linking to the cell.

[pmagnier]

Okay, thanks for that point. Trouble is, Excel doesn't seem to have a way to insert bookmarks. It might well be that creating some kind of XML mapping in Excel is the way, it does seem a bit long-winded though.

[SteveS]

Have you tried publishing the Excel document to HTML from with Excel and using that as your linked document. Means processing for each release but at least you are reusing content.

[jjw]

Or use some javascript library that reads from Excel (like Sheets.js) to grab the cell contents and write them to your page? Speed might be a problem though.

J

[pmagnier]

Thanks for suggestions, I'll try them or discuss them with some of our developers here.

[LTinker68]

Trouble is, Excel doesn't seem to have a way to insert bookmarks.

Yes, it does. That's how I tested the solution. It's under the Insert menu in Excel 2010.