[Hidden-tech] Save Web page as Excel?

[dschein at fsinnovations.net]

>We have a Web application that displays dynamic data from a database. I would
>like to have an "Export to XML"  button or link on pages that list database
>data in table rows and columns. The Web pages are in XML format (i.e.
>sample_page.xsl).
> 
>What's the easiest way to get my "export to Excel" function to work in Internet
>Explorer or Safari?

If it is your application, then, of course, you have many choices.

The good RESTFUL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REST) way would be to have an HTTP
GET argument named "output" that you could use as in
"http://mysite.com/myresource/?output=csv".  On the server side your application
sees the output argument and returns the data as CSV (comma separated values) and
with the CONTENT-TYPE set to "text/csv" (or maybe "application/excel").  

Then, clicking the link you will add--something like <a
href="./?OUTPUT=csv">Download as CSV</a>--will retrieve your data in a nice CSV
file that you can open in your favorite spreadsheet.

Peace,
David S.