The Debugger
Incorporated into SpreadsheetWEB is a debugger tool that allows you to view and modify the scripting code that is written while using the SpreadsheetWEB conversion wizard. This is a feature that should only be used by those who are familiar with scripting and writing code; otherwise, you may damage the SpreadsheetWEB code attached to the file and have to rewrite the entire code or reassemble it in the wizard again.
To access the debug mode, open your spreadsheet in Excel and start up the SpreadsheetWEB wizard. Once it has loaded, click on the wizard to make it the active window and then type “Debug” (without the quotations and case sensitive) on your keyboard. Note: You will not see the word typed anywhere, you will simply see the debugger tool open after you have finished.
Wizard Settings
The first tab in the debugger is labeled Wizard Settings. Here, the scripting code and formatting for the SpreadsheetWEB designed web application are created. You can see the CSS-style coding in the primary section of this tab.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a coding language that is used to describe the presentation semantics of a document. This allows you to separate the formatting options of the website with the actual content, meaning that you can standardize the formatting of a web page without recreating the same page continuously. This coding language is used here to define the layout of the web application once it is uploaded.
To preserve the integrity of the SpreadsheetWEB application prior to upload, you should only edit the section of the code that pertains to the CSS formatting. This section begins with <Css> and ends with </Css>. Everything that follows is the SpreadsheetWEB specific code and altering this may create serious complications in the rendering of your application once uploaded to the server.
Input Cells
This tab displays the setting for the designated input cells. These will ultimately be the cells that show up as various form controls or text boxes, allowing some sort of input from the end user. The left portion of the tab shows a list of input cells, named by their cell addresses (e.g. a cell shown as IO!$B$5 is cell B5 on a worksheet titled “IO”). You can click various input cells from the list to view their current settings and alter them.
The right portion, the main section, allows for the alteration of various settings that will ultimately define the rendered cell in the web application. The settings are the same as those presented when editing an input cell through the wizard. These are as follows:
- Cell Address: The address of the cell in the Excel spreadsheet. For example, cell C1 of a worksheet titled “Dashboard” would have a cell address Dashboard!$C$1.
- Input Type: This defines the type of input this cell will be. The options are a list of form controls. Certain form controls (such as List or Combo Box) require a list range.
- List Range: A list range is the series of cell addresses that compile into the list represented in the form control. The range must be defined just as a cell address is defined (see example in Cell Address). For example, if cells A1:A5 are a list of countries, then they could be set as the list range for a combo box or list box that will offer those countries as possible inputs.
- Default Value: The value that will be displayed in this input cell when the page is first loaded.
- Hide by the value of cell: This will allow you to hide an input cell by the value of a cell that is defined by TRUE and FALSE values. For example, if you hide by the value of cell B2 and cell B2 displays FALSE, then the input will be visible. If it is TRUE, then it will be hidden.
- Disable by the value of cell: This works in the same manner as the previous setting except that rather than disappearing, the input cell will be grayed out and the user will not be able to edit the input.
- Validation: This allows you to enable or disable validation formatting. This can only be enabled if the input cell in the Excel file has validation enabled.
- Formatting: This option allows you to preserve the value formatting of the cell. For example, if a cell is formatted as US currency in the Excel file, it will remain a US currency input in the web application.
- Required: This option denotes whether or not input is required in this cell in the web application prior to saving, submitting or continuing through to the next tab. If it is enabled, the end user will not be able to submit their form or continue to another tab until after they have entered a proper value into this input.
You can remove an input cell by selecting it from the list and then pressing Remove Input in the bottom left of the screen, right below the list of input cells.
Saving Cells
The Saving Cells tab allows you to edit the XML code that defines various settings for the saving cells. These cells are the ones that will have their values saved into the data record uploaded to the data tab in the SpreadsheetWEB control panel once the end user submits or saves the application.
Settings
The Settings tab is home to the server address URL. This is the URL web address to which the application will be uploaded once you press the Upload here or the Publish button in the SpreadsheetWEB Excel ribbon.
Options at the Bottom
The Upload option button at the bottom of the debugger tool will upload the application to the server address specified under the Settings tab.
The Save button will save the changes that have been done to the SpreadsheetWEB code since the debugger tool was opened. Always remember to save before exiting or you will lose all of the updates.
The Refresh button will discard all changes since the most recent save. The values of the most recent save will be loaded.