XLsharing for IIS |
Looking for an easy, secure way to share Excel™ spreadsheets
over the web or even a local area network (LAN)? BadBlue provides
complete workbook sharing, with no emailing, uploading, or cutting-and pasting.
Your original workbooks stay put on your server and multiple users can
view and update them -- remotely -- at the same time. Now your workbooks
are always up-to-date!
With XLsharing for IIS, the same
browser-based workbook sharing
available in Enterprise Edition
can now be used by Microsoft™'s powerful IIS
web server. If you like how Enterprise Edition works, but need to run in an
IIS environment, you'll want to get XLsharing for IIS.
Excel sharing features include:
Instantly share spreadsheets over the web - no programming and minimal setup
Password-protection - protect your spreadsheets with login-names and passwords
Update multiple cells at a time - a much easier user-interface
Multi-user conflict resolution - when two users change the same cell
Complete auditing and logging - you can track every change to your spreadsheets
Grid read and write protection by user - restrict which users can see/update which cells
Full chart support - even supports workbooks with charts!
In the tutorial example, below, we'll assume an IIS virtual directory
has some Excel spreadsheets in it, ready to be shared.
We'll demonstrate how to configure
IIS to share those spreadsheets. And we'll show you how to direct users
to your new, shared Excel workbooks. Lastly, you'll see how
Excel "Live Views" (browser sharing over the web) work from the end-user's
perspective.
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Note: BadBlue Personal Edition -- a powerful, simple web server and available via a
free download -- includes a preview of all of the Excel web
sharing features. If you like how Personal Edition works and need the complete
capability, you can order either Enterprise Edition
(which has an integrated web server) or XLsharing for IIS -
and get instant electronic delivery at a great price.
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 Step 1
Using Windows Start, click Control Panel, then
Administrative Tools. Then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
Right-click your Web server and select New..., then
Virtual Directory....
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 Step 2
Enter the name of the XLsharing virtual directory
(e.g., liveview),
then click Next.
Now enter the path where BadBlue XLsharing for IIS was installed -- the
default installation path is
c:\program files\badblue\iishare
-- then click Next.
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 Step 3
Make sure that the Execute permission box is checked,
then click Next.
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 Step 4
Now click the Finish button to complete the creation of
a virtual directory
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 Step 5
To go to the administrative menu, open up a web browser and enter
the address of the virtual directory you just created, e.g.:
http://127.0.0.1/liveview
The main menu should appear.
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 Step 6
To see a live-view of a spreadsheet, make sure the spreadsheet is located in a virtual directory.
Using the main menu (step 5 above),
enter the name of the virtual directory where the XLS file can be found, then
enter the name of the spreadsheet file to share. Press the Go button
to display the live view of the workbook.
For end-user instructions on
XLsharing, see the end-user tutorial, starting at step #3.
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Note: if the live-view reports an exception,
make sure that Excel is properly installed on
the server. If Excel is installed on the server and an
exception still occurs, follow these steps:
1) Start Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager (Start >> Settings >> Control Panel >> Administrative Tools)
2) Click the Web server to expand the items underneath
3) Right-click on the virtual directory where BadBlue was installed and select Properties...
4) On the Virtual Directory tab, ensure that Local Path is pointing to the XLsharing for IIS installation folder
(which, by default is set to c:\program files\badblue\iishare).
5) Ensure that Execute Permissions are set to Scripts and Executables
6) Set the Application Protection to Low (IIS Process).
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 Step 7
XLsharing for IIS comes with five (5) named-user licenses,
meaning that five individual user/password accounts can view or update the shared workbooks.
To manage user licenses, surf to the virtual directory you created for XL Sharing, e.g.:
http://127.0.0.1/liveview
The main menu should appear.
Click the Manage licensed users link. You can review your
licensed-user count
and add users with Excel Expansion Packs
that you've purchased.
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