ECN Forum Forums Technical Discussion Re: Computers and the Internet Bid Calculator

I've tried to produce a spreadsheet that does residential bidding estimates.

Go to: http://kellyelectric.electrical-contractor.net/bid_calculator/bid_calculator.html

and download the zip file that contains both an MS Works and an Excel Spreadsheet.

Don't flame me too badly, I coded it in a day and a half... but please do tell me what you think.

-Virgil

I've corrected a few logical errors...

Going to change the section on "Service" as well.

Is it really that bad?

Virgil,
if i could figure out how it opens i'd tell ya....

'66,

Sorry, haven't tried it yet. I've got a Flu thing going on here.

Bill

Bill;
hang in there, the schools being the best incubator for contagions have half my town blowin' chunks...
Virgil;
thanks for the help, this is interesting. is this something that you have so a potential customer can give him/herself a clue? If so, it probably helps weed out all the tire-kickers.
I have made up some handouts to help reduce the phone time , not data base like this, just information. I made up "Generator 101" & "About Lighting" as a guide for potential customers to explain options, what to look for etc.
Your pricing is very similar, as far as materials go, up here. The only thing i do different is a Service installation at a flat quoted rate. This is only trying to recoup all the interaction bettween myself, the utility, and the AHJ.

Anyone know how to (or what application will) convert spreadsheets to something web-compatible (javascript, java, DHTML, perl, flash, etc.) ?

Yeah, Sparky, I'm hoping to get it web compatible too.

It's also a tool for me to give quick estimates without forgetting about important things and giving a figure that is too low...been a big problem for me.



[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 03-31-2001).]

I'm having the same prob e-mailing things that the other end can't open, my own ignorance i'm sure...

I don't know of anything to convert a spreadsheet automatically to a web application. But if you wrote it in a day and a half, I'd sy a programmer can turn it into javascript in a day and a half.

Virgil,

I'm sure you can have Excel 97 &/or word 97 create stuff for web use - just search the "File menu"s and the Help wizzard for more information about "Publish Pages To Use On The Web", or "Publish Pages In HTML Format".
Hopefully, this will work for all platforms [Netscape, IE, AOL, Mac, UNIX, etc.]

Not sure of anything prior to the release of "Office 97".
I like the "97" and higher versions since they are written in VB/VBA - makes it easier to work with other VBA type applications, along with the ability to create some Kick-As* Macros!!
These VBA apps extend way beyond the term "Macro Language", it's almost a sin to call them Macros!

Back to your Q!
I have seen in my HTML books, several ways to create Databases and Spreadsheets. I'm not sure if they are hacked from scratch, or if they are conversions from external programs [Excel, Lotus 1,2,3 - etc.]. Suggest cheching out some high end HTML books for this answer.

I would guess the best way to keep the file's integrety solid, to lower the threats of viruses being attached to cells, along with keeping download time down and server space down - would be to compress the files with a Self-Extracting type .ZIP file.

I'm not sure of others, but personally I hate to do alot of stuff on-line. I even forced my Acrobat reader's plug-in to default option for saving .PDF files to disk, rather than opening on-line.
The drawback - sometimes I have downloaded a few totally unneeded .PDF files!!

How about Zipping a copy of your spreadsheet and E-Mailing it to me???
I use Excel 97 and Word 97 and for the .Zip files, I can open PKZIP version 2.50xx type .ZIP files.

Scott SET

I cannot open the file it tells me I am forbidden.