Skip to main content
Question

Creating a web page based on excel data and user input from a drop down.

  • January 28, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 32 views

cruzh
Participant
Forum|alt.badge.img+3
  • Participant

Hello:

This is probably a simple use case to many of you, but I only have basic experience with FME Form and Flow.

One of our programs has the ability to generate standard excel spreadsheets which contain reservation data (Date, Name of Room, Description of Room activity, Organizer contact info)

 

GOAL: We would like FME to take that excel spreadsheet and post that data as a table on an html webpage.

However, before that html webpage is generated, we would like the user to visit an FME Flow App (? I think) that will allow them to select from a dropdown list of rooms culled from a column in the excel spreadsheet. Once selected and submitted, the app would only show the list of active reservations 

Things to note:

This excel spreadsheet data is updated once a day and will only show the current day’s data and will need to be uploaded to FME Flow each day. It’s being stored on a network location.

I’ve managed to create a FME Desktop app that uses Excel Reader > HTMLReportGenerator > HTML Writer to create the html file. It works locally.

 

Questions:

  • What’s the best way to store the excel file? On a network drive? On the same computer as the FME Flow?
  • How do I create a page that has that dropdown for submission?
  • Where should the HTML file be stored, and how will it be called for viewing after submitting the room?
  • How will FME Flow be used? As an FME Flow App? As an FME Flow Automation?

Thank you very much.

Herb Cruz

 

1 reply

geomancer
Evangelist
Forum|alt.badge.img+46
  • Evangelist
  • February 4, 2025

Let me ask a question first: Do you really need the Excel file as an intermediate? The data is in one of your programs, so the data already exists somewhere in some data store. Maybe FME can directly connect to this data? This would make it possible to always show current data, not the data that was current when the Excel file was created.

If you do need the Excel file, it only matters that you store the Excel file on a location where FME Flow can read it. If possible, always give the Excel file the same name (so do not include the date in it).

In FME Flow you should create a Flow App. When you publish the workspace from FME Form to FME Flow, make sure you activate the Data Streaming Service, and point it to your HTML page.

This also means FME Flow will create the HTML page on demand and show it, so there is no need for you to store it.

The dropdown list of rooms should be predefined, as far as I know you can't populate it from the input data. You can do this in a User Parameter in FME Form.
The 'Choice’ parameter type lets you choose one or more values, so you can also let the users select more than one room. This choice parameter will be shown on the start page of the FME Flow App.

 


Reply


Cookie policy

We use cookies to enhance and personalize your experience. If you accept you agree to our full cookie policy. Learn more about our cookies.

 
Cookie settings