Importing Web Data into the Worksheet

The subject of this tutorial is getting Web data from the Internet or some other source into your Excel worksheets. The first technique I cover is called a Web query. Web queries enable you to import text and tables from a Web page directly into the worksheet. The great thing about Web queries is that once you set them up, you can save them and then use again and again to import the data (which, like stock quotes used in the example, are subject to rapid change).

For those of you using Excel 2003 (the latest and greatest version of the program), I offer you another way to get Web data into your worksheet by using the program to open an XML (Extensible Markup Language) data file. Excel 2003 supports the use of this relatively new Web file format that is on the way to becoming the new lingua franca (universal language) for all types of computers (all the way from PCs to mainframes and everywhere in between). In practice, using XML files enables you (with the help of your friendly IT department) to effectively use the Excel worksheet as a front end for your company's database and/or intranet.