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The Xara Online Excel add-in allows you to view and modify the data stored in a Xara
Online Database Module or Application using a spreadsheet on your own computer.
It takes just a few seconds to install, giving you some additional Excel menu
options that let you synchronize the data in your spreadsheet with that in your
online Database whenever you like. You can view and edit the spreadsheet data
offline and you only need to go online when you are ready to synchronize with
the online Database.
The add-in works with Microsoft Excel 2000 and above.
If you’ve not already installed the add-in, download the installer by clicking the
link below.
Version 1.0 - Size: 1.6MB
Make sure you do not have Excel running and then
run the installer and follow the instructions. Once the installer is
complete, run up Excel and you should see a Xara Online sub-menu
at the bottom of Excel’s Tools menu. Now you’re ready to connect to
your online Database!
| Connecting Your Spreadsheet To An Online Database |
2. Create a new spreadsheet in Excel, or open a blank sheet within an existing
spreadsheet.
3. Select the Tools/Xara Online/Connect sheet to Database option from your Excel
menus. You will be asked to sign in using the email address and password that you
have registered with Xara Online (the same details you use to access the administration
pages of your Xara Online application). If you've forgotten your password use the
Password Hint facility available on
www.xaraonline.com. Then you will be asked
for the identifier of the Database that you’d like to work with.
Simply paste in the identifier you obtained in step 1. You should then see all the data stored in your
online Database appear in your spreadsheet. If you have a large Database
this may take a while, you will not be able to perform any other Excel operations
until the process is complete.
If you want to, you can now start to modify your data using Excel in the usual way!
| Making Changes To Your Data |
You’ll notice that the very first column of your data is labelled RecordID. This
is used to uniquely identify each record and to make the synchronization process
more efficient. IMPORTANT: You should never modify any of these RecordID values.
The other columns shown in the spreadsheet correspond to each of the fields within
your online Database. The very first row is a label that identifies each of the fields.
Again, you should never modify these labels as they are used during the synchronization
process.
To add new records to your data, simply enter them immediately below the final record,
or insert new rows anywhere amongst the existing data rows. Leave the RecordID field blank – this
is how newly added records are identified by the synchronization process.
Therefore, if you add a record by copying
and then modifying an existing data row, make sure you clear the RecordID field of the new row.
If you want to have extra rows in your spreadsheet
that should not be considered part of your database data (like a row that shows
column totals) add these underneath the data rows after a blank row. The first
blank row encountered is deemed to indicate the end of the database data and any
rows following it are ignored.
To delete a record you
simply clear all the values within it except for the RecordID value in the
first column. You can use the Tools/Xara Online/Mark Row(s) As
Deleted menu option to do this for you – just select all or part of the rows
you want to delete
and select the menu option.
NOTE: Deleting a row entirely from your spreadsheet will not cause the corresponding
record to be deleted from your Database. When you synchronize, the record will simply
reappear in your spreadsheet! You must leave the RecordID field intact and clear the
rest of the data fields to indicate that a record is to be deleted from the online
Database.
You can modify any of the records shown in your spreadsheet and those
changes will be applied to your online Database when you next synchronize
(as long as those records have not changed in the online Database in the
meantime, see below).
IMPORTANT: If a record has been separately modified in your spreadsheet
AND in the
online Database, the version of the record in the online Database always
takes precedence.
This means you will lose edits made in your spreadsheet without warning if
the corresponding records change in the
online Database before you next synchronize.
When editing multi-line text, use Alt-Enter instead of Enter to insert line
breaks.
If your database contains any HTML (rich text) fields, the data for these
fields will show up in your spreadsheet as raw HTML source. You can edit
such data if required but take care not to change the text between chevrons
(eg. <DIV>) unless you are familiar with HTML.
Once you have completed any changes you want to make to the data in your spreadsheet choose
Tools/Xara Online/Synchronize to synchronize your spreadsheet with
your online Database (make sure you are online first of course).
Any changes you made to the data will be applied to the online Database. Any new
records that have been added to your online Database since the last time you
synchronized will appear in your spreadsheet. Any records you marked for deletion
will be deleted from the online Database and those rows will disappear from your
spreadsheet.
NOTE: Due to the way that Excel Add-Ins operate, doing a synchronize erases your Excel Undo history.
This means you will not be able to undo the changes to your spreadsheet that
result from a synchronize, nor any of the changes you did prior to it. However
you can of course always revert to a previously saved version of your
spreadsheet.
You may add additional columns of data to your spreadsheet, but any data in these
columns will not be copied to the online Database. Extra columns will simply be
ignored during the synchronization process.
You can save the Workbook you use to synchronize with your online Database just as you
save any other Excel Workbook. If required a single Workbook can contain multiple
sheets, each connected to a different online Database. The next time you want to work
with your Database simply open the Workbook and sheet that you saved and Synchronize (no need to 'Connect' again)
to update the sheet with the latest data from your online Database.
No one else can modify the data in your Xara Online Database unless they know your
Xara Online password and your Database's identifier. However note that once you have
signed in from Excel, your data can be modified by anyone gaining access to your
computer until you close down Excel. Therefore, make sure you close down Excel as soon
as you have finished working with your Database.
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