need xmlhttp request like feature in excel for mac 2011

Question

Hi,

I'm using a webservice to collect data to be inserted into Excel cells. The data depends on other cell values.

The general idea is to use a function that uses a xmlhttp request like pattern to get the data.

Yet, however all I found on the web did not work as intended, all failed with ActiveX creation not possible.

The general code idea looks like this:

Function getData(y As String, m As String, d As String, cur As String) As Double

'  Function receives data via GET to be inserted into a cell

'  Usage: use '=getData(A1, C2, A3, A4)' inside a cell

Dim xml As Object

Dim url As String

url = "http://some.server.com/services/data-via-get"

Set xml = CreateObject("Msxml2.ServerXMLHTTP.6.0")

'    build, and send request, use responseText to buld return value

End Function

Are there any alternatives that can work on Excel for mac 2011?

Answer 1

Active-X is an open source technology that is Windows-only. So far, no one has ported Active-X to the Mac, so anything Active-X simply won't work on a Mac.

And it is obvious that Mac OS is not Windows, so any functionality that relies on something exclusive to Microsoft Windows isn't going to work either.

What you can do is make a web query, as described here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;274787