Importance

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Abstract

The present invention allows a user to graphically create a refreshable Web Query by selecting tabular data displayed in a Web page. When the user invokes the refreshable Web Query command, an Internet browser module is launched within a Web Query dialog box open in the spreadsheet program. The user then graphically selects at least one instance of tabular data to import to the spreadsheet program. The invention also makes Web queries more accessible to a user and is embedded in a software utility, known as a Web Query Smart Tag (WQST) utility. The WQST utility allows a user to create Web queries directly from an Internet browser module in one of several methods. The first method, known as a 'Copy-Paste Web Query,' begins when a user pastes the tabular data into the spreadsheet program and determines whether the Web Query command should be presented to the user. If the decision is made to present the Web Query command to the user, a Web Query option appears on a special drop-down menu. The second method is embedded in a module known as the 'Export to Microsoft Excel' module, which allows a user to create a refreshable Web Query in the MICROSOFT EXCEL 2002 spreadsheet program directly from the MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER browser program. The last method is known as the 'Edit with Microsoft Excel' method, which allows a user to open the entire file or choose a portion of the file to import into the MICROSOFT EXCEL 2002 spreadsheet program as a refreshable Web Query.

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First Claim