Website issue

[jamaicarocks]

Wuz up,

   

          I havent got a clue on where to even start so I'm seeking any advise ............my comapany has the need to perfom calculations and provide it's customers with the cost of their PV Solar system(equipment used to provide electricity by solar energy) based on the customers KiloWat usage,we have a excel spereadsheet that work out everything,but I'd like to know how would the info entered(KW usage) by the customers enter the excel spreadsheet to be calculated ,then the results return back to the Website to be viewed by customers ..................Is there a software that can accomplish this or is some form of programming involved ....................Thank You !!!!!

[disturbed]

we have done something like this back in high school and its all done in excell, no other programs are necessary - i jsut need to remember how lol

[dlewis23]

jamaicarocks ive done this before in high school, i dont fully remember how tho, i know your going to have to use a few forumlas and macros. if i remember more i will post it.

[jamaicarocks]

Thank you,but how will the info be entered automatically in the Excel formula after the info is entered in the html form and then back to the website for viewing by the customers,and also ,how many people can have use of the excel spreadsheet to calculate their cost?

[dlewis23]

Thank you,but how will the info be entered automatically in the Excel formula after the info is entered in the html form and then back to the website for viewing by the customers,and also ,how many people can have use of the excel spreadsheet to calculate their cost?

that is were a macro will come into place.

[Swimmer]

I would program it using php or some other server side script..  otherwise you are running into a security issue.  Macros are known security issues.  I would highly recommend not using them on excel..  Instead use a web form that the user fills out then from there do the calculations and return the results.

[FallowEarth]

I believe this can be programmed using javascript, too.

[jamaicarocks]

thanks,but what kind of forms should I use ,I only know of coffecup form builder,but it doesnt do calculations,is it a software type program,or would I have to write it using some code?

thank you

[php]

You would need some code for that... the forms themselves are only input.

[dlewis23]

thanks,but what kind of forms should I use ,I only know of coffecup form builder,but it doesnt do calculations,is it a software type program,or would I have to write it using some code?

thank you

you will have to make some code that will add it to a database.

[jamaicarocks]

PHP or Javascript code?,and add it to the exel database already built with the formulai to do the calculations or a cutom database for the calculations?

[FallowEarth]

ASP would work as well.  http://asp.net/

[Swimmer]

I thought that you had to buy a licence to run asp on a server..

Eitherway jamaicarocks you are going to have to code the formulas again.  I dont know of a way other than converting the excel document into access database.  Which by the way isnt really a database made for a production environment at all.. I would highly recommend looking into an IIS/Apache, MySQL/Oracle XE, and a programming language (jsp, asp, php) to solve this problem..

[jamaicarocks]

I know of IIS and I'm a MCDBA but not big on query languages....would I need to build the database over and enter the formulas again in a sql database?,or just import the formulas from excel to sql ,but then how would it go from the webpage (where the customer enters dat) to the database to be calculated the the result returned to the webpage............can IIS do this,I would prefer this method

Thank you!

[php]

Do you just need the calculation done?  Or does the data have to be stored on the server?

[dlewis23]

I thought that you had to buy a licence to run asp on a server..

you dont have to have one for just asp, you need a licence for asp.net

Do you just need the calculation done?  Or does the data have to be stored on the server?

I think it needs to be stored on the server.

[jamaicarocks]

It doesnt really need to be stored on the server,the customers info just needs to go the excel spreadsheet (with formulas already there) for calculaion of their a price,based on their input of KW hours.Then the cost calculated by the excel sheet returned to a result webpage

[jamaicarocks]

Or if inorder for me to Use IIS it relly wouldnt matter,just would  prefer using IIS, if it can be used........

Thank you

[php]

Sounds like a simple formula... I think you're way overcomplicating things with trying to use Excel sheets and macros over the internet... A simple script could do it.

[dlewis23]

a little php script that uses a mysql database would be able to do it with no problem.

[resopalrabotnick]

and just to make things a little worse, read this: http://www.testmy.net/forum/t-15520

[jamaicarocks]

So I would be just using the php script in place of the Excel formulas,right ?,why would I also need the mysql database,for the web input by the customers?,how would this deal with simultaneous access where say ,10 customers want quotations at the same time?...........Is there any tutorial that can aid or guide me in this process because I know nothing about php scripts..

Thank you

[php]

Yes

No, you don't need mysql if you aren't going to store the data

same way this site handles hundreds of users...

sure, but all you're doing is a calculation... not much to code.  I could do it fairly quickly I would suspect... depending on how complex your formula(s) are...

[FallowEarth]

This is not totally related, but I thought it was kinda cool....using ActiveX to insert active spreadsheets into html.