+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 3 of 3

Locked spreadsheet

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-15-2012
    Location
    Minnesota
    MS-Off Ver
    Excel 2011 for Mac
    Posts
    3

    Locked spreadsheet

    We are a manufacturing company of energy management products that we sell to dealers across the country. We have created a 43 page spreadsheet with proprietary formulas in it using Excel 2011 for Mac. It is used for grocery store energy audits and we want to make it available to our product dealers via our website. All of the tabs are locked so that only the unlocked cells are editable (none of the unlocked cells contain formulas) and the workbook is locked so that tabs can't be moved, deleted, etc. The dealers will be paying a monthly fee to use this spreadsheet. One option we were thinking about was to have a link to the spreadsheet so the dealer could open it up in Excel on their computer, put in the necessary info, print tabs as needed, etc. We don't want them to be able to save the spreadsheet to the point where they could delete the info out of the unlocked cells and put in new info. However, they may need to change info they already entered if the customer changes their mind on what they want so that the resulting quote that is produced by the spreadsheet is accurate.

    So we want the spreadsheet to be usable, printable, and savable, but not too savable. I'm hoping someone might have a suggestion on how to accomplish this either through linking the spreadsheet to our website or a third party website that would "host" our spreadsheet, or any other method that this could be done.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Forum Expert Paul's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-05-2007
    Location
    Wisconsin
    MS-Off Ver
    2016/365
    Posts
    6,887

    Re: Locked spreadsheet

    Hi Greenwize, welcome to the forum.

    If you use Excel you are going to lose control of the spreadsheet and how it gets used/modified. I've worked with several vendors that think they have a well-protected workbook or add-in, and they're shocked when they receive an e-mail with an unlocked version of their workbook showing all of their code, hidden sheets and formulas. If you already have a website, I suggest paying the designer to create web forms and scripts that perform the work, and store the information on your web server (or a linked data server) with access controls. There are free tools and free db software out there; no need to go purchase thousands of dollars of design tools and database licenses.

    Linking a user-downloaded workbook back to your website and being able to write data would be risky at best. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with 3rd-party sharing tools as I don't use them in my area. Obviously any such tool would need to have security to prevent company A from viewing company B's information (amongst other measures).

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-15-2012
    Location
    Minnesota
    MS-Off Ver
    Excel 2011 for Mac
    Posts
    3

    Re: Locked spreadsheet

    Thanks Paul, that's what I figured. I will do some searching for the free products and talk with our web designer on the best approach.

+ Reply to Thread

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 RC 1