Various Microsoft Office applications can be used to publish information on the Internet. This capability is particularly useful for publishing existing Microsoft Office documents effortlessly on the World Wide Web. Using Microsoft Office Internet Assistants to create content for your Web site offers many advantages. One of the most significant benefits is the ability to enable people who create the content for a Web site to publish it on the Internet without having to wait for someone else to convert it into HTML. For example, the person who puts together a sales report is probably not a Web developer. Having someone else covert the sales report into an HTML file not only is a waste of resources but also can be time-consuming. With Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word or Excel, the person who created the sales report can easily publish the information on the Internet or an intranet without waiting for someone else to add HTML tags to it.
Note: Visit the Microsoft Office Web site for more information about using various Internet Assistants to publish content on the Internet. It is located at http://www.microsoft.com/msoffice/.
The following sections demonstrate how you can publish Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access documents on the World Wide Web using various Internet Assistants. Internet Assistants are special add-on programs that you can download from Microsoft's Web site. These applications are designed to integrate seamlessly with Office applications and extend their functionality by allowing Office documents to be saved as HTML documents. Most Internet Assistants discussed in later sections require Microsoft Office for Windows 95.
Note: The Web page for Microsoft's Internet Tools for Microsoft Office is located at http://www.microsoft.com/MSOffice/MSOfc/it_ofc.htm.
Microsoft Word is a feature-rich word processing application. With Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word, you can effortlessly publish Word files on the Internet. You also can use it as a WYSIWYG HTML editor. At the time of this writing, in addition to standard HTML 2.0 tags, Internet Assistant for Word supports various HTML enhancements such as tables, table cell colors, TrueType fonts, and font colors.
Internet Assistant is not part of Microsoft Word. You must download it from Microsoft's Web site before you can use it to create content for the Web.
Note: The Microsoft Internet Assistant for Word download site is http://www.microsoft.com/msword/internet/ia/ia95/chcklist.htm.
After you download Internet Assistant for Word from Microsoft's Web site, execute the executable file and specify the directory in which Internet Assistant for Word should be installed. It is recommended that you close all applications before installing Internet Assistant for Word. This is because the installation program might need to copy over shared .DLL files. When Internet Assistant for Word is installed, you might get a few message boxes similar to the one shown in Figure 8.1. Simply press the Ignore button to proceed installing Internet Assistant for Word. If you later encounter problems running Internet Assistant for Word, remove applications from the Windows NT startup folder, reboot NT, and install Internet Assistant for Word soon after logging in.
Figure 8.1. The Internet Assistant for Word installation program cannot replace shared .DLL files that are open and being used by other applications.
After Internet Assistant for Word is installed, a message box similar to the one shown in Figure 8.2 appears. At this point, you can launch Microsoft Word and begin creating documents for the Web using Microsoft Word.
Figure 8.2. Immediately after Internet Assistant for Word is installed, Microsoft Word is capable of creating content for the World Wide Web.
After Internet Assistant for Word is installed, creating HTML documents is as easy as creating Word documents. This section demonstrates how various features of Internet Assistant for Word can be used to create an HTML document with TrueType fonts, inline images, a table, and other HTML attributes. To create an HTML document, select New under the File menu. A dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 8.3 appears. Note that the HTML document template that has been added by the Internet Assistant for Word installation program.
Figure 8.3. The HTML document template can be used to create HTML files with Internet Assistant.
From the dialog box shown in Figure 8.3, select the HTML document template and press the OK button. You are now ready to start creating an HTML document using Microsoft Word. You might want to select Customize under the Tools menu to customize the tool bar. You will learn how to add TrueType fonts to HTML files shortly, so make sure that the Font button shown in Figure 8.4 is added to your tool bar.
Note: TrueType fonts are not supported by all Web browsers. It is a good idea to view pages containing TrueType fonts with a Web browser that does not support TrueType fonts. You will then be able to make sure the use of TrueType fonts does not render a page unreadable when viewed with a technologically challenged Web browser.
Figure 8.4. You can customize the Microsoft Word tool bar with useful HTML attributes, such as TrueType fonts.
HTML documents created with Word can be customized with a background image and various text attribute colors. This can be done by selecting Background and Links under the Format menu. By using a dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 8.5, you can specify colors for text attributes as well as a background image.
When using background images and special text colors, always use either a light background with dark text or a dark background with light text. Otherwise, users browsing your document cannot read its text. Always preview documents created with Microsoft Word with a Web browser before you publish them on the Internet to make sure that they are readable.
Figure 8.5. The Background and Links attribute specification dialog box.
If you want to specify a background image, click the Browse button to bring up the Insert Picture dialog box, shown in Figure 8.6. This dialog box is handy for selecting backgrounds because it displays a preview of the background image. After you select the image that you want to use, click the OK button. You should work with a directory structure that is identical to that of the production Web server to ensure that directory path names are compatible between the production server and the development environment in which you work.
Note: Internet Assistant is unable to create a relative link to an object if the object you want to link to is not located on the same drive as the current document.
Figure 8.6. You can use the Insert Picture dialog box to add a background image to an HTML document.
Microsoft Word supports TrueType Fonts in HTML documents. To change the font of a section of text, select it and choose Font under the Format menu. You can specify a TrueType font for the selected text by using the dialog box shown in Figure 8.7. You also can use this dialog box to specify the size and color of the typeface.
Figure 8.7. The Font specification dialog box.
HTML documents created with Word can have tables. Inserting a table into an HTML document is as easy as inserting a table into a Word document. Simply select Table, Insert Table. The dialog box shown in Figure 8.8 appears. Use it to specify the number of rows and columns that the table should have. You can insert, delete, and merge columns and rows if you later need to make changes to the table.
Figure 8.8. The Insert Table dialog box.
To insert inline images and video clips into an HTML document, select Picture under the Insert menu. Use the dialog box shown in Figure 8.9 to select an image or video clip to insert into a Word HTML document. When you add an image, use the Alternative Text data entry field to describe it. Web browsers such as Internet Explorer show this text in a balloon when the user rests the mouse pointer on the image. If you click the Browse button in Figure 8.9, a dialog box similar to the one in Figure 8.6 can be used to select an image.
Figure 8.9. You can use the Picture dialog box to insert an inline picture.
It is easy to format the table cells of an HTML document. Simply select the cells that you want to format and click the right mouse button. A pop-up menu similar to the one shown in Figure 8.10 appears. Use this menu to specify cell formatting attributes. For example, if you want to change the background of a cell, selected it and click the Background Color option. You then can define a background color for the selected cell with the Background Color dialog box, shown in Figure 8.11.
Figure 8.10. Use the right mouse button to format cells in a table.
Figure 8.11. Use the Background Color dialog box to assign a color to selected table cells.
You can create attractive HTML documents with Microsoft Word by using the tips and procedures discussed earlier. Figure 8.12 shows an example of an HTML document created with standard HTML 2.0 extensions such as tables and TrueType fonts. After you create an HTML document with Word, publishing it on the Internet is as easy as saving the document as an HTML file.
Figure 8.12. An HTML document created with Microsoft Word.
HTML documents created with Microsoft Word can be viewed with any Web browser. The HTML document shown in Figure 8.12 looks similar to the Web page in Figure 8.13 when it is viewed with Internet Explorer; the inline image and text in the table are properly formatted by Internet Assistant for Word. Internet Assistant for Word is a powerful Web publishing tool that you can use to create richly formatted Web pages.
Figure 8.13. Use a Web browser, such as Internet Explorer, to view HTML documents created with Microsoft Word.
You can use Internet Assistant for Excel to convert Excel spreadsheets effortlessly into HTML documents so that they can be published on the World Wide Web. You might want to visit the Microsoft Excel Web page to obtain the most up-to-date information about Excel and how it can be used to create content for the Web. The following sections discuss how the Excel spreadsheet shown in Figure 8.14 can be converted into HTML and published on the Web.
Figure 8.14. You can convert this spreadsheet into HTML.
This spreadsheet was actually used as this book was written. Internet Assistant for Excel was used to save the spreadsheet as an HTML file. This file was published on the Web so my publisher can monitor the progress of the book. The HTML file was stored in a secure Web server directory protected with a password. This is an example of how Internet Assistant for Excel can be used with a secure Web server to share information with selected users.
Note: To reach the Microsoft Excel home page, go to http://www.microsoft.com/msexcel/default.htm.
To install Internet Assistant for Excel, you must first download it from Microsoft's Web site. The file is named HTML.XLA. Place it in the \EXCEL\LIBRARY directory if you are running a stand-alone version of Excel, or in the \MSOFFICE\EXCEL\LIBRARY directory if you are running the Microsoft Office version of Excel 7.0.
Note: The Internet Assistant for Microsoft Excel download site is http://www.microsoft.com/msexcel/Internet/IA/default.htm.
Start Microsoft Excel, and select Add-Ins under the Tools menu. A dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 8.15 appears. Check the Internet Assistant Wizard tool and click the OK button. Internet Assistant for Microsoft Excel is now installed and ready for use.
Figure 8.15. The Microsoft Excel tool Add-Ins dialog box.
You can use Internet Assistant for Excel to convert a spreadsheet effortlessly into HTML. Simply highlight the area of a spreadsheet that you want to convert into HTML, and select Internet Assistant Wizard under the Tools menu (see Figure 8.16).
Figure 8.16. You can use Internet Assistant for Excel to convert the selected area of a spreadsheet into HTML.
After you select the Internet Assistant Wizard menu option, the dialog box shown in Figure 8.17 appears. It confirms the area selected in Figure 8.16. You can change the area selected to be converted into HTML.
Figure 8.17. The Internet Assistant Wizard—Step 1 dialog box confirms the area selected in Figure 8.16.
The Internet Assistant Wizard—Step 2 dialog box, shown in Figure 8.18, asks whether you want to create a new HTML file or whether the data should be inserted into an existing HTML document. If you want to insert the data into an exiting file, the file should contain the string <!--##Table##-->. Internet Assistant for Excel then inserts the data from the spreadsheet where it encounters the string <!--##Table##-->.
Figure 8.18. Target HTML file selection dialog box.
If you choose to create a new HTML file, a dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 8.19 appears. This dialog box is used to customize the HTML file created by Internet Assistant for Excel.
Figure 8.19. This dialog box is used to customize an HTML file.
The next dialog box (see Figure 8.20) asks whether you want to preserve as much formatting as possible. Select "Convert as much of the formatting as possible" if you want the HTML file created by Internet Assistant for Excel to resemble the original Excel spreadsheet as much as possible. Select "Convert only data" to only export the data of the spreadsheet. If your users use Internet Explorer or Netscape, the option to preserve as much formatting as possible produces the best results.
Figure 8.20. Selecting the level of detail of exported HTML file.
Then provide the HTML filename of the new file; the spreadsheet that you selected in Figure 8.16 is saved as an HTML file. After the HTML file is saved, it can be viewed with a Web browser. Compare the HTML document in Figure 8.21 with the Excel spreadsheet in Figure 8.14. Notice how they closely resemble each other. As you can see, it is easy to publish Excel spreadsheets on the Web with Internet Assistant for Excel.
Figure 8.21. The spreadsheet in Figure 8.14 after it is converted into HTML.
PowerPoint is a powerful presentation tool. With Internet Assistant for PowerPoint, you can create slide-show presentations on the Internet. The following sections demonstrate how easy it is to create a PowerPoint presentation and save it as an HTML file. You will see how to convert the slides in Figure 8.22 into HTML. Visit the Microsoft PowerPoint Web page for the most up-to-date information about PowerPoint and Internet Assistant for PowerPoint.
Note: Microsoft PowerPoint Web page is located at http://www.microsoft.com/mspowerpoint/default.htm.
Figure 8.22. You can convert these two slides into HTML with Internet Assistant for PowerPoint.
You can download Internet Assistant for PowerPoint from Microsoft's Web site. Copy it to a temporary directory and execute the executable file. This decompresses the PowerPoint distribution file. Next, execute the file IA4PPT95.EXE to install Internet Assistant for PowerPoint. Make sure that PowerPoint is not running. The installation program installs Internet Assistant for PowerPoint. It terminates with a message similar to the one shown in Figure 8.23.
Note: You can download Internet Assistant for Microsoft PowerPoint from http://www.microsoft.com/mspowerpoint/Internet/ia/default.htm.
Figure 8.23. The Internet Assistant for PowerPoint installation program.
You can easily convert PowerPoint slides into HTML by selecting the Export as HTML option under the File menu. A dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 8.24 appears. It asks for information about the output that Internet Assistant for PowerPoint should generate.
Figure 8.24. The HTML Export Options dialog box.
The Output Style radio button is used to specify whether Internet Assistant for PowerPoint should out put the slides in color or in grayscale format. You should export the slides in color unless your slides contain only a limited number of colors or you are concerned about the size of the slide files.
The Output Format radio button is used to specify the file format of the exported PowerPoint slides. Generally, use the JPEG format for slides that look like photographs and do not have too many sharp edges; use the GIF format for all other slides.
For the JPEG format, you can use the slide bar to define the image quality of JPEG files. A higher image quality results in large files, whereas a lower image quality results in smaller files. You might want to experiment with various settings to determine the ideal level of quality for your slide presentation if you are concerned about bandwidth and file sizes. This is not a concern in an intranet environment, in which there is usually an abundance of available network bandwidth.
Finally, specify the folder that will contain the HTML version of the PowerPoint presentation, and click the OK button to begin the conversion. Internet Assistant for PowerPoint exports the slide show presentation and displays a message similar to the one shown in Figure 8.25.
Figure 8.25. The Status of HTML Conversion dialog box.
The PowerPoint presentation can now be viewed with a Web browser, as shown in Figure 8.26. The first page contains an index of all the slides in the presentation. It can be used to view individual PowerPoint slides. The navigation aids at the bottom of the slide are automatically created by Internet Assistant for PowerPoint to make it easier for users to browse a PowerPoint presentation with a Web browser (see Figure 8.27).
Figure 8.26. An HTML slide presentation index.
Figure 8.27. PowerPoint slides exported as HTML files can be viewed with a Web browser.
An Internet Assistant is also available for Microsoft Access. You can publish information in an Access database easily on the World Wide Web by using Internet Assistant for Access. Visit the Microsoft Access Internet Tools Web page for the most up-to-date information about publishing Access databases on the Internet.
Note: The Microsoft Access Internet Tools Web page is at http://www.microsoft.com/msaccess/it_acc.htm.
Download Internet Assistant for Access from Microsoft's Web site. Then execute the executable file. After the installation program detects the directory in which Access is installed, click the large Install button to install Internet Assistant for Access.
Note: The Microsoft Internet Assistant for Access download site is http://www.microsoft.com/msaccess/internet/ia/default.htm.
The following sections demonstrate how you can publish an Access database on the Web by using Internet Assistant for Access. First, load the database into Access and select Tools|Add-ins|Internet Assistant (see Figure 8.28). A welcome message appears. Click the Next button. A dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 8.28 appears.
Figure 8.28. The Internet Assistant for Access can be invoked from the Tools menu.
You can use Internet Assistant for Access to export any combination of Access tables, queries, reports, and forms into HTML. Simply select an object type and the names of the objects in that type by using the dialog box shown in Figure 8.29. You can select more than one object type or object name. For example, you might want to select several reports and tables.
Figure 8.29. You can select various Access objects to be exported into HTML.
After you select which objects to export as HTML files, click the Next button. The dialog box shown in Figure 8.30 appears. It asks you for a template, which can enhance the appearance of the data exported by Internet Assistant for Access by adding a background image, navigation buttons, and graphics to the output. To browse the templates included with Internet Assistant for Access, click the Browse button. Templates whose filenames end with the suffix _r are used for reports; those without the suffix _r are used for data sheets. If you select several object types and choose a template without the _r suffix, Internet Assistant for Access applies the correct template based on the template's filename and the object being exported to HTML.
Figure 8.30. You can use a template to format HTML output generated by Internet Assistant for Access.
After you select a template, type in the directory that will contain the exported HTML files. Click the Finish button to export the selected objects as HTML files. Internet Assistant for Access exports objects and notifies you when it has finished creating the HTML files. View the exported data with a Web browser (see Figure 8.31).
Figure 8.31. Data exported by Internet Assistant for Access can be viewed with a Web browser.
Internet Assistant for Access might not always copy all the graphics files that are part of the HTML files that it creates into the target HTML directory. Use a Web browser to look at the HTML files that Internet Assistant for Access creates. If you see any broken images, look at the source code to locate the graphics files to which they refer and copy them to the target HTML directory. These graphics files are located in the \MSOFFICE\ACCESS\IA95 directory, assuming you installed Microsoft Office 95 in the \MSOFFICE directory. Otherwise, you might want to copy all the graphics files from the \MSOFFICE\ACCESS\IA95 directory to the target HTML directory.
Microsoft Office is a powerful suite of productivity applications. Internet Assistants are available for Microsoft Office applications. They can be used to publish content for on the Internet. These Internet Assistants are especially useful for converting large amounts of Microsoft Office files into HTML so that they can be published on the global Internet or on a local intranet.
FrontPage is an application that is well integrated with other Microsoft Office applications. With FrontPage, it is easy to manage the contents of an entire Web site by using its GUI Web administration tools. FrontPage also includes a number of special server applications that can be used to set up a CGI program to gather data from users browsing a Web site. The next chapter introduces you to Microsoft FrontPage and demonstrates how it can make Web site development and administration easier.
