About using a PivotTable list in a browser

You can create a PivotTable list in a design program for access in a Web browser or another run-time environment.

Note If you plan to create PivotTable lists for use in a program other than a Web browser, such as a Microsoft Visual Basic form that's part of a custom solution, see Help for your design program to find out how users of your work can access and interact with the PivotTable list.

Users can use a PivotTable list in a browser if they have the Microsoft Office Web Components installed. They can do this by installing Microsoft Office XP or, if their company has an Office XP site license, by downloading the Office Web Components from their corporate intranet. Users must also have a Web browser that fully supports PivotTable lists.

To take full advantage of the capabilities of PivotTable lists, users need Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 or later. In other browsers, users cannot view or interact with PivotTable lists.

In the browser, users can activate a PivotTable list and interact with it by using the same toolbar and Commands and Options dialog box that you use while you are designing the data layout. However, users don't have access to some features in the browser that are available to you in the design program.

In the browser, users can also display the field list that you use in the design program. The field list is available from the toolbar in the PivotTable list, and lists all of the fields you made available from the source data.

In the browser, the user has access to two types of Help: the Help system for the browser itself, and the additional Help content automatically provided from within a PivotTable list. The latter Help explains how to use the commands and features available in the PivotTable list in the browser. To view this Help, open a Web page that contains a PivotTable list, and click Help on the toolbar in the PivotTable list. You can also provide your own custom Help for a PivotTable list in a browser.

If you want to simplify the options available to users at run time, you can set restrictions that apply when the PivotTable list is viewed in the browser. For example, you can prevent users from displaying detail data. You might also want to set restrictions when you want to ensure that users don't modify some aspects of the way you've arranged the data in the design program. For example, you can prevent users from moving the row and column fields.

While keeping in mind the needs and skills of your intended users, you can perform all analysis in the design program and then publish the results accordingly. For general users, you can publish the finished summaries as separate PivotTable lists on your Web page. For more skilled users, you can make the raw source data available in a PivotTable list and leave the analysis up to the users.