About Web Components

Web Components are small ActiveX programs that run inside of a compatible web browser (Internet Explorer 4.01 or higher) and provide a subset of the tools available in Excel and Access to view and manipulate data. Even though the components are completely new programs, they look and work very much like a miniature version of Excel or, in the case of Data Access Pages, like a subset of Access.

Web Components display information either from an HTML file with embedded XML tags to facilitate the storage of Excel data, or by accessing data directly from a database located on the server. While you can use a Web Component to manipulate and modify data, you cannot actually change the underlying data file or database unless you are explicitly given write privileges.

If you are using a computer without Office 2000 to view a web page with data intended for an Office Web Component, you can often still view the data; you just won’t be able to use the intended Office Web Component to manipulate and interact with the data.

There are three main Web Components: the Spreadsheet component, the PivotTableä component, and the Chart component, as shown in the following table:

Component	Function
Spreadsheet	Allows users to modify and recalculate data in their browser.
PivotTable™	Allows users to sort, filter, outline, and pivot data in their browser.
Chart	Allows users to chart data in their browser from a published spreadsheet or linked database.

There are several additional Web Components that are of only peripheral interest. These components include the Field List component, which you use to add fields while using Excel Web Components; the Microsoft Access data access component, which you use to navigate through data from a database; and the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation control, which you use to view presentations on the web.