Welcome to xlHtml.


I. INTRODUCTION
The xlHtml program will take an Excel 95, or 97 file as input and
convert it to html. The output is via standard out so it can be re-directed
to files or piped to filters or used as a gateway to the internet.

II. INSTALLATION
To build this application, type:
 
 ./configure --prefix=/<target installation directory e.g. /usr/local or /opt>
 make
 make install

Note: The actual executable is hiding in the xlHtml/.libs directory.

Then to finish it up, you will need to go into netscape and tell the navigator 
to use the nsxlview script to handle Microsoft Excel files. 

	e.g. <path to executable>/nsxlview %s 

You should be able to then browse to a file and open it. There is a file 
included in the xlHtml directory you can test with, Test.xls.

NOTE: This is still an early release. It has been piggy-backed onto the cole 
library mostly for (my) convenience. I have been trying to create a 
Makefile.am & configure.in script so that the two can be separated...but I 
still haven't gotten it correct...but if you get one working, please send 
it to me. 

The shell scripts: nsxlview & nsopen work well. You may need to modify some 
paths in it to fit you system, though. Also, depending on where you install 
it, you may have to modify your PATH environmental variable.


III. UNINSTALLING
You may want to keep the tar directory around since you can do a make uninstall
later. In the meantime, I suggest doing a make clean after installation to 
get the size down.


IV. COMMANDLINE OPTIONS
xlHtml now has several command line options that let you tailor its output. The
command is now:  xlHtml [-nc -a -fw] file.xls

Where   -nc tells it not to colorize the output.
        -a aggressively optimize html by removing </TR> </TD> or VALIGN="bottom"
           Some older browsers may not display properly in this mode.
        -fw suppress formula warnings about accuracy
        -bc Override the background color. e.g. -bg808080     for gray
        -tc Override the text color.       e.g. -tcFF0000     for red
        -bi Use background image           e.g. -bi/home/httpd/icon/tar.gif
        -c Centers the tables horizontally

V. PERFORMANCE TUNING
There are also some user "tunable" parameters in the beginning of the 
xlHtml.c file. If you get a red message at the bottom of your web browser after 
converting a big spreadsheet, these are the parameters to adjust. Generally, you 
would adjust them up in value. I have them adjusted to what I call normal for 
my usage. Your usage may differ. Don't increase them greatly...just 10-15% and 
re-compile. If that don't work, increase another 10-15% until it works. 
Microsoft also states that 256 columns is the limit, so going over that just 
wastes memory.


VI. TROUBLESHOOTING
Using Netscape, you may occassionally see a file not found error. This usually 
comes when printing or going back to a previously converted file. This is
the default behavior and it can be changed by commenting out the rm $tmp* 
in nsxlview. I do this so you don't have files hanging around in your tmp
directory where other people might be able to see them.

In general, if you can type xlHtml and get a usage error message, the PATH
is working. If you don't, your PATH environmental variable needs adjusting.
Next try passing the full path to xlHtml of the file you want converted. If it
has problems with it, you may have a file the system can't interpret. To check
your installation, try passing the full path of xlHtml/Test.xls and see what
it does with that.

VII.  CONTRIBUTED SCRIPTS
xlHtml now has a contributed scripts directory. If you look in the xlHtml/contrib
directory you will find what people are giving me. I cannot offer support for
files I didn't create, but there is contact information with the files. If you 
have something to share...send it to me. If you've contributed...THANKS!


Share and enjoy!	(The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams)

Steve Grubb
linux_4ever@yahoo.com
