The following points answer commonly asked questions about the spreadsheets module of Live Documents. For any other questions on Live Documents, please drop us a line at info@instacoll.com

What is Live Documents Spreadsheets?

Live Documents Spreadsheets is a browser-based application that gives you the capabilities of spreadsheet tools like Microsoft Excel and Open Office Calc within a browser.

I already have Microsoft Excel. Why should I use Live Documents Spreadsheets?

With Live Documents, you can:

• Access your spreadsheets on the web using any common browser
• View and edit your spreadsheets from anywhere at any time in your browser in a rich user interface that provides the functionality and responsiveness that you expect in your familiar desktop applications.
• Easily share your spreadsheets with your colleagues and contacts
• Make spreadsheets from anywhere without having to worry about Excel version compatibility
• Track changes made to your spreadsheet at a cell level - no need to upload or download entire spreadsheets each time anyone makes a change.

How does Live Documents Spreadsheets work?

Live Documents Presentations is a browser-based application built using Flex that looks and feels like Microsoft Excel but lives within a browser. Using any common browser that supports Flash, you can view and edit your spreadsheets from anywhere.

Does Live Documents have all the features of Microsoft Excel?

Live Documents has most, if not, all of the capabilities of Microsoft Excel. Our goal is to provide all the features of Excel 2007 - we already support several Excel 2007 capabilities such as advanced conditional formatting (data bars, icon sets, color scales).

Does Live Documents compete with Microsoft Excel?

Live Documents extends and embraces Microsoft Excel - it extends the power of these productivity applications to the browser and if you choose to, embeds collaborative capabilities into your existing desktop applications. But unlike Microsoft Excel, Live Documents gives you the choice and flexibility of working with and sharing your spreadsheets without having to worry about operating systems, document formats or version compatibility.

Can I upload my existing spreadsheets to Live Documents? What file formats do you support?

Yes, you can upload your existing spreadsheets into Live Documents. Live Documents supports a variety of file formats - xls, odp & sxi. Support for xlsx will be available shortly. Please note that unsupported shapes and objects such as embedded images are not supported. That said, you do not have to worry about fidelity losse and any changes made in the browser version do not overwrite unsupported equivalents embedded in your spreadsheets.

Are there any upload limits?

Each spreadsheet you upload (import) into Live Documents should be less than 1 MB. This limit will be raised further in future. There is no limit in the number of spreadsheets that you can import but the total storage for your documents is 50 MB for the technology preview.

Can I create a spreadsheet from scratch in Live Documents?

Yes, you can create a new spreadsheet from scratch. Click on the "Create New Document" button on the dashboard or from the documents list at any point of time and get started.

Can an existing spreadsheet be edited? Can sheets be inserted, duplicated or deleted in an existing spreadsheet?

Live Documents offers the full range of editing capabilities. All of your spreadsheets can be edited. New sheets can be inserted, existing sheets can be edited and duplicated.

Can everyone access my Live Documents spreadsheets?

The spreadsheets you create (or import into) Live Documents are all by default private. They will be accessible only to you and are protected by your Live Documents ID / password authentication. You can optionally share your spreadsheet to other users by entering their e-mail addresses in the "Share" tab in the document listing at any point of time. You can specify what each person can do with the spreadsheet.

Can I save or export a spreadsheet made in Live Documents as a Excel spreadsheet?

Sure - only thing is that you do not have to explicitly export a document. By default, all documents have a desktop version automatically created - you can download this document version by clicking on the "Download" tab in the document listing screen or from the download button on the toolbar seen on top of the spreadsheet application.

Do I have to download a document version each time the spreadsheet is updated?

Nope, your desktop version of the document is always up-to-date. Just open any copy of a document in Excel and the Live Documents plugin will merge all intermittent changes into the spreadsheet.

Do I have to upload a document version each time the spreadsheet is updated on the desktop?

Nope, all changes made to your spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel are automatically propagated to the browser version.

Do I need to be online to access my spreadsheets?

You can access the document on your desktop at any point of time without requiring to be online - all changes that you make to your spreadsheets are recorded locally and automatically sent to the server the next time you go online.

I'm going to present at a meeting hall where there is no or limited net connectivity. Can I use Live Documents there?

Yes, you can.You can access the desktop version of your document even when there is no internet connectivity.

Can I delete my spreadsheets?

Yes, you can. You can delete a spreadsheet from the document list by enabling the delete checkbox and clicking on delete. Please note that once you delete your spreadsheet, the desktop versions of the document are rendered inaccessible as well.

Can I embed a Live Documents spreadsheet in my blog or website?

Yes, you can. Live Documents provides you with a HTML code snippet which while embedded in your website or blog will display the spreadsheet.

Can I share a spreadsheet with my friends/colleagues? Can they edit my spreadsheet?

Yes, you can share your spreadsheet with others. And they can edit spreadsheet as well (provide you have given them edit permission).

Can I print my Live Documents spreadsheet?

Yes, right-click on any spreadsheet and select "Print Sheet" - support for printing the entire workbook and controlling printing options is forthcoming.

Can I add or delete column or rows in my spreadsheet?

We do not currently offer this feature because we track changes at a cell level - inserting new rows or columns disturbs the revision history as the references are changed.

What formatting text options does Live Documents offer?

Live Documents offers many text formatting options. You can bold, italize, change font type, increase/decrease letter size, indent etc.

Can I embed images from my desktop into a Live Documents spreadsheet?

No, you currently cannot embed images into a spreadsheet .

Does Live Documents support named ranges?

Yes. Live Documents supports named ranges - named ranges are automatically round-tripped between Excel and Live Documents Spreadsheets.

Does Live Documents support conditional formatting?

Yes. Live Documents supports conditional formatting including aspects such as data bars, color scales and icon sets. However conditional formatting specifications are not round-tripped between Excel and Live Documents spreadsheets.

Does Live Documents support charts?

Live Documents offers a number of charts including some charts like Gantt charts and gauges that Microsoft Excel does not provide.

Does Live Documents support macros?

Live Documents supports macros but existing macros from Excel spreadsheets will not work in the browser as macros are not round-tripped..

Does Live Documents support Pivot Tables?

The Pivot Table feature is currently in development and will be available shortly.

Does Live Documents provide features that Microsoft Excel does not have?

Live Documents provides a number of features that Microsoft Excel does not have:

• Track changes at a cell level
• Watch individual cells or cell ranges - specify alerts conditions to be notified if the value of the watched cells meet certain criteria
• Visualize your data as a map or a calendar
• Create charts such as Gantt and gauges that Excel does not provide
• Many more...

Is Live Documents available in other languages?

Currently, it's available in English only. We plan to add more languages in the future.

What is a 'technology preview'?

The term ‘technology preview' means this is the first version of the service that we release to invited members of the public. If you would like to be invited to the technology preview, please sign up using the "Get Invited" link at the top. We know that we still have a lot of work to do and we are working hard to refine and improve the service to ensure it meets your real-world needs. We expect to have a production-strength release before the first quarter of 2008.

What are the limitations of the technology preview?

Apart from the size restrictions, the technology preview round-trips only content between Excel andLive Documents Spreadsheets - features/aspects such as macros and conditional formaatingare not presevered/propagated between Excel and Live Documents Spreadsheets.