HTML

Exporting to HTML is inherently different from exporting to the other file formats. HTML files are meant to be viewed in a web browser and this can impose certain requirements on how you present the data to the user. The first requirement is that you have a web server that can host the files. Most companies today have an online presence so this usually isn’t a problem. What could be a challenge is getting the web master to agree to host the files for you. You will most likely want a special area of the site designated for hosting all the corporate reports. Once you have decided that it is okay to put the reports online, you also need to consider whether they need to be located in a secure area of the website. Many reports have sensitive data that you don’t want the general public to have access to. As you can see, exporting reports to HTML involves making a lot of decisions that go beyond just saving the file on your hard drive.

There is one aspect of exporting HTML files that make them unique from other file formats: the output looks differently depending upon which browser you are using. As the internet has evolved over the years, so have the browsers that are used to display web pages. Different browsers can display the exact same information but look completely different. This has been referred to as the “Browser Wars” because each company tries to establish their dominance in the browser marketplace and be the one to set what the standards should be. Of course, this has resulted in untold confusion for web designers trying to build web pages because it is almost impossible to create a web page that looks the same in different browsers. This also wreaks havoc for users trying to figure out how to best view different web pages.

The common practice for creating websites is to break out users into two general groups and decide which group your users fall into. You can categorize users as either HTML 3.2 or HTML 4.0. If you expect that your users have older computers and haven’t updated their browser in many years (e.g. prior to Netscape Navigator 4’s release), then export to HTML 3.2. If your users have fairly recent computers and have updated their browsers, you can export to HTML 4.0.

Exporting the HTML 3.2 is the safest choice, but you lose formatting when doing so. Since you are using older technology, there aren’t as many features available for displaying data. Browsers back then were even less compliant than they are today. HTML 4.0 uses DHTML (Dynamic HTML) to give you greater precision for placing individual report objects on the web page and better formatting. Your reports will look much better when exporting to HTML 4.0. Of course, no matter which format you choose to export to, you need to test the output using the browsers that you think your users will have.