SharePoint 2007: The Definitive Guide

Working with Excel Web Access Data in Office Excel 2007

Despite the fact that you can work with spreadsheet data in SharePoint without using Office Excel 2007, there are times when you will want to save that information to your local computer. The following are methods and reasons for working with Excel Services data on your computer rather than inside SharePoint. The exercises in this section require Office Excel 2007 to be installed on your local computer.

Figure 18-7. An Excel workbook open in an Excel Web Access Web Part

Saving Excel Workbooks from Excel Services

You can save Excel Services spreadsheet data to your local computer either as a workbook or a snapshot, depending on the features you need. The reasons for saving the data as a workbook are as follows:

• You can use the print features in Office Excel 2007, which are not available in SharePoint Excel Services.

• You can modify the values in cells and formulas to calculate new results.

• You can add or remove calculated columns in Excel tables and view different subtotals.

• You can add or update charts, including PivotTable and PivotChart reports, as you can see in Figure 18-8.

• You can use What-if analysis tools.

Figure 18-9 shows a Dashboard with Excel workbooks displayed using the Excel Web Access Web Parts.

Saving Excel Snapshots from SharePoint Excel Services

A snapshot is a restricted view of a workbook with only some of the spreadsheet ...