MS Office Question

I have a “white board” that I use at work which displays events in rows with fields. One of those fields is execution time (a date/time field)

I’d like to transition this to an electronic format (there are many reasons, including the fact that I have already purchased the 60” screen to display it…).

Simply displaying the data is simple, and I would probably use Excel, or perhaps a table on a PowerPoint slide.
Here’s the question:

Now, within the context of an Office app, is it possible to have a macro or some other app (VBA or ASP?) always running in the background such that when system time comes within certain parameters of the date/time field, something is done (such as changing the color of the row)?

For example, 30 minutes out, the row turns yellow, and 5 minutes out it turns red, until perhaps 10 minute after the event, when it turns greens… Something like that?

If it were possible to write and run a custom server app, I know how I would do it. But our IT folks (contractors) are not a cooperative bunch.

Outside an Office app, I was thinking maybe even a JavaScript enabled HTML page could do the things I want…

Any ideas?

The problem with Excel is it can't be shared. A VBScript could be scheduled to change a cell color but if someone has the file open it will be locked from such changes.

This ultimately sounds like a job for one of the many "dashboard" intranet solutions.

Of course in VBA itself you can add a timer control, then it would be a process in the document itself but it has to be saved as macro enabled and you'll have to explain to everyone that it's "safe" and to confirm the virus warning they'll get every time they open it. I would avoid this.

I agree, using Office for something like this would be a terrible idea. A HTML / Ajax 'dashboard' as medialint suggests would be the best way of doing this (plus, it stops darn users from messing with the content of the display and messing it up for everyone)