Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML - Create an Excel file in XML format.
To write a string, a formatted string, a number and a formula to the first worksheet in an Excel XML spreadsheet called perl.xls:
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML; # Create a new Excel workbook my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new("perl.xls"); # Add a worksheet $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet(); # Add and define a format $format = $workbook->add_format(); # Add a format $format->set_bold(); $format->set_color('red'); $format->set_align('center'); # Write a formatted and unformatted string, row and column notation. $col = $row = 0; $worksheet->write($row, $col, "Hi Excel!", $format); $worksheet->write(1, $col, "Hi Excel!"); # Write a number and a formula using A1 notation $worksheet->write('A3', 1.2345); $worksheet->write('A4', '=SIN(PI()/4)');
This module is now deprecated in favour of Excel::Writer::XLSX which supports all of the features of this module, plus many more and is actively maintained.
By and large Excel::Writer::XLSX is a drop in replacement for Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML.
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML module can be used to create an Excel file in XML format. The Excel XML format is supported in Excel 2002 and 2003.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML
Multiple worksheets can be added to a workbook and formatting can be applied to cells. Text, numbers, and formulas can be written to the cells. The module supports strings up to 32,767 characters and the strings can be in UTF8 format.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML uses the same interface as Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
This module cannot, as yet, be used to write to an existing Excel XML file.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML uses the same interface as the Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module which produces an Excel file in binary format.
While Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML doesn't currently support all of the features of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel the intention is that it eventually will.
However there are some features of the Excel binary format that aren't supported in by the Excel XML specification:
Graphs.
Macros.
Outlines and grouping. (supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel)
Password protection. (supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel)
Embedded images. (supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel)
Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML tries to provide an interface to as many of Excel's features as possible. As a result there is a lot of documentation to accompany the interface and it can be difficult at first glance to see what it important and what is not. So for those of you who prefer to assemble Ikea furniture first and then read the instructions, here are three easy steps:
1. Create a new Excel workbook (i.e. file) using new().
new()
2. Add a worksheet to the new workbook using add_worksheet().
add_worksheet()
3. Write to the worksheet using write().
write()
Like this:
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML; # Step 0 my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new("perl.xls"); # Step 1 $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet(); # Step 2 $worksheet->write('A1', "Hi Excel!"); # Step 3
This will create an Excel file called perl.xls with a single worksheet and the text "Hi Excel!" in the relevant cell. And that's it. Okay, so there is actually a zeroth step as well, but use module goes without saying. There are also more than 40 examples that come with the distribution and which you can use to get you started. See EXAMPLES.
perl.xls
"Hi Excel!"
use module
Those of you who read the instructions first and assemble the furniture afterwards will know how to proceed. ;-)
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML module provides an object oriented interface to a new Excel workbook. The following methods are available through a new workbook.
new() close() set_tempdir() ** add_worksheet() add_format() set_custom_color() * sheets() set_1904() * set_codepage() * use_lower_cell_limits() * Not yet supported. See Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. ** Not required by Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML.
If you are unfamiliar with object oriented interfaces or the way that they are implemented in Perl have a look at perlobj and perltoot in the main Perl documentation.
perlobj
perltoot
A new Excel workbook is created using the new() constructor which accepts either a filename or a filehandle as a parameter. The following example creates a new Excel file based on a filename:
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new('filename.xls'); my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet(); $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'Hi Excel!');
Here are some other examples of using new() with filenames:
my $workbook1 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new($filename); my $workbook2 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new('/tmp/filename.xls'); my $workbook3 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new("c:\\tmp\\filename.xls"); my $workbook4 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new('c:\tmp\filename.xls');
The last two examples demonstrates how to create a file on DOS or Windows where it is necessary to either escape the directory separator \ or to use single quotes to ensure that it isn't interpolated. For more information see perlfaq5: Why can't I use "C:\temp\foo" in DOS paths?.
\
perlfaq5: Why can't I use "C:\temp\foo" in DOS paths?
The new() constructor returns a Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML object that you can use to add worksheets and store data. It should be noted that although my is not specifically required it defines the scope of the new workbook variable and, in the majority of cases, ensures that the workbook is closed properly without explicitly calling the close() method.
my
close()
If the file cannot be created, due to file permissions or some other reason, new will return undef. Therefore, it is good practice to check the return value of new before proceeding. As usual the Perl variable $! will be set if there is a file creation error. You will also see one of the warning messages detailed in DIAGNOSTICS:
new
undef
$!
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new('protected.xls'); die "Problems creating new Excel file: $!" unless defined $workbook;
You can also pass a valid filehandle to the new() constructor. For example in a CGI program you could do something like this:
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new(\*STDOUT);
For CGI programs you can also use the special Perl filename '-' which will redirect the output to STDOUT:
'-'
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new('-');
See also, the cgi.pl program in the examples directory of the distro.
cgi.pl
examples
However, this special case will not work in mod_perl programs where you will have to do something like the following:
mod_perl
# mod_perl 1 ... tie *XLS, 'Apache'; my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new(\*XLS); ... # mod_perl 2 ... tie *XLS => $r; # Tie to the Apache::RequestRec object my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new(\*XLS); ...
See also, the mod_perl1.pl and mod_perl2.pl programs in the examples directory of the distro.
mod_perl1.pl
mod_perl2.pl
Filehandles can also be useful if you want to stream an Excel file over a socket or if you want to store an Excel file in a scalar.
For example here is a way to write an Excel file to a scalar with perl 5.8:
perl 5.8
#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel; # Requires perl 5.8 or later open my $fh, '>', \my $str or die "Failed to open filehandle: $!"; my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new($fh); my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet(); $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'Hi Excel!'); $workbook->close(); # The Excel file in now in $str. print $str;
See also the write_to_scalar.pl and filehandle.pl programs in the examples directory of the distro.
write_to_scalar.pl
filehandle.pl
In general your Excel file will be closed automatically when your program ends or when the Workbook object goes out of scope, however the close() method can be used to explicitly close an Excel file.
$workbook->close();
An explicit close() is required if the file must be closed prior to performing some external action on it such as copying it, reading its size or attaching it to an email.
In addition, close() may be required to prevent perl's garbage collector from disposing of the Workbook, Worksheet and Format objects in the wrong order. Situations where this can occur are:
If my() was not used to declare the scope of a workbook variable created using new().
my()
If the new(), add_worksheet() or add_format() methods are called in subroutines.
add_format()
The reason for this is that Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML relies on Perl's DESTROY mechanism to trigger destructor methods in a specific sequence. This may not happen in cases where the Workbook, Worksheet and Format variables are not lexically scoped or where they have different lexical scopes.
DESTROY
In general, if you create a file with a size of 0 bytes or you fail to create a file you need to call close().
The return value of close() is the same as that returned by perl when it closes the file created by new(). This allows you to handle error conditions in the usual way:
$workbook->close() or die "Error closing file: $!";
This method isn't used by Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML. It is only required by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
At least one worksheet should be added to a new workbook. A worksheet is used to write data into cells:
$worksheet1 = $workbook->add_worksheet(); # Sheet1 $worksheet2 = $workbook->add_worksheet('Foglio2'); # Foglio2 $worksheet3 = $workbook->add_worksheet('Data'); # Data $worksheet4 = $workbook->add_worksheet(); # Sheet4
If $sheetname is not specified the default Excel convention will be followed, i.e. Sheet1, Sheet2, etc.
$sheetname
The worksheet name must be a valid Excel worksheet name, i.e. it cannot contain any of the following characters, : * ? / \ and it must be less than 32 characters. In addition, you cannot use the same, case insensitive, $sheetname for more than one worksheet.
: * ? / \
The add_format() method can be used to create new Format objects which are used to apply formatting to a cell. You can either define the properties at creation time via a hash of property values or later via method calls.
$format1 = $workbook->add_format(%props); # Set properties at creation $format2 = $workbook->add_format(); # Set properties later
See the "CELL FORMATTING" section for more details about Format properties and how to set them.
Note: This method is not yet supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML. See Spreadsheet::WriteExcel if you need this feature.
The set_custom_color() method can be used to override one of the built-in palette values with a more suitable colour.
set_custom_color()
The value for $index should be in the range 8..63, see "COLOURS IN EXCEL".
$index
The default named colours use the following indices:
8 => black 9 => white 10 => red 11 => lime 12 => blue 13 => yellow 14 => magenta 15 => cyan 16 => brown 17 => green 18 => navy 20 => purple 22 => silver 23 => gray 53 => orange
A new colour is set using its RGB (red green blue) components. The $red, $green and $blue values must be in the range 0..255. You can determine the required values in Excel using the Tools->Options->Colors->Modify dialog.
$red
$green
$blue
Tools->Options->Colors->Modify
The set_custom_color() workbook method can also be used with a HTML style #rrggbb hex value:
#rrggbb
$workbook->set_custom_color(40, 255, 102, 0 ); # Orange $workbook->set_custom_color(40, 0xFF, 0x66, 0x00); # Same thing $workbook->set_custom_color(40, '#FF6600' ); # Same thing my $font = $workbook->add_format(color => 40); # Use the modified colour
The return value from set_custom_color() is the index of the colour that was changed:
my $ferrari = $workbook->set_custom_color(40, 216, 12, 12); my $format = $workbook->add_format( bg_color => $ferrari, pattern => 1, border => 1 );
The sheets() method returns a list, or a sliced list, of the worksheets in a workbook.
sheets()
If no arguments are passed the method returns a list of all the worksheets in the workbook. This is useful if you want to repeat an operation on each worksheet:
foreach $worksheet ($workbook->sheets()) { print $worksheet->get_name(); }
You can also specify a slice list to return one or more worksheet objects:
$worksheet = $workbook->sheets(0); $worksheet->write('A1', 'Hello');
Or since return value from sheets() is a reference to a worksheet object you can write the above example as:
$workbook->sheets(0)->write('A1', 'Hello');
The following example returns the first and last worksheet in a workbook:
foreach $worksheet ($workbook->sheets(0, -1)) { # Do something }
Array slices are explained in the perldata manpage.
Excel stores dates as real numbers where the integer part stores the number of days since the epoch and the fractional part stores the percentage of the day. The epoch can be either 1900 or 1904. Excel for Windows uses 1900 and Excel for Macintosh uses 1904. However, Excel on either platform will convert automatically between one system and the other.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML stores dates in the 1900 format by default. If you wish to change this you can call the set_1904() workbook method. You can query the current value by calling the get_1904() workbook method. This returns 0 for 1900 and 1 for 1904.
set_1904()
get_1904()
See also "DATES IN EXCEL" for more information about working with Excel's date system.
In general you probably won't need to use set_1904().
The default code page or character set used by Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML is ANSI. This is also the default used by Excel for Windows. Occasionally however it may be necessary to change the code page via the set_codepage() method.
set_codepage()
Changing the code page may be required if your are using Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML on the Macintosh and you are using characters outside the ASCII 128 character set:
$workbook->set_codepage(1); # ANSI, MS Windows $workbook->set_codepage(2); # Apple Macintosh
The set_codepage() method is rarely required.
Excel 2007 allows cell limits of 1,048,576 rows x 16,384 columns. These limits are supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML for versions >= 0.11.
For backwards compatibility the older limits of 65,536 rows x 256 columns can still be imposed via the use_lower_cell_limits() method.
use_lower_cell_limits()
$workbook->use_lower_cell_limits();
A new worksheet is created by calling the add_worksheet() method from a workbook object:
$worksheet1 = $workbook->add_worksheet(); $worksheet2 = $workbook->add_worksheet();
The following methods are available through a new worksheet:
write() write_number() write_string() keep_leading_zeros() write_blank() write_html_string() write_row() write_col() write_date_time() write_url() write_url_range() * write_formula() store_formula() ** repeat_formula() ** insert_bitmap() *** add_write_handler() get_name() activate() * select() * set_first_sheet() * protect() * set_selection() * set_row() set_column() outline_settings() *** freeze_panes() * thaw_panes() * merge_range() set_zoom() * autofilter() filter_column() * Not yet supported. See Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. ** Not required by Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML. *** Not supported by Excel XML.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML supports two forms of notation to designate the position of cells: Row-column notation and A1 notation.
Row-column notation uses a zero based index for both row and column while A1 notation uses the standard Excel alphanumeric sequence of column letter and 1-based row. For example:
(0, 0) # The top left cell in row-column notation. ('A1') # The top left cell in A1 notation. (1999, 29) # Row-column notation. ('AD2000') # The same cell in A1 notation.
Row-column notation is useful if you are referring to cells programmatically:
for my $i (0 .. 9) { $worksheet->write($i, 0, 'Hello'); # Cells A1 to A10 }
A1 notation is useful for setting up a worksheet manually and for working with formulas:
$worksheet->write('H1', 200); $worksheet->write('H2', '=H1+1');
In formulas and applicable methods you can also use the A:A column notation:
A:A
$worksheet->write('A1', '=SUM(B:B)');
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML::Utility module that is included in the distro contains helper functions for dealing with A1 notation, for example:
Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML::Utility
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML::Utility; ($row, $col) = xl_cell_to_rowcol('C2'); # (1, 2) $str = xl_rowcol_to_cell(1, 2); # C2
For simplicity, the parameter lists for the worksheet method calls in the following sections are given in terms of row-column notation. In all cases it is also possible to use A1 notation.
Note: in Excel it is also possible to use a R1C1 notation. This is not supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML.
Excel makes a distinction between data types such as strings, numbers, blanks, formulas and hyperlinks. To simplify the process of writing data the write() method acts as a general alias for several more specific methods:
write_string() write_number() write_blank() write_formula() write_url() write_row() write_col()
The general rule is that if the data looks like a something then a something is written. Here are some examples in both row-column and A1 notation:
# Same as: $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'Hello' ); # write_string() $worksheet->write(1, 0, 'One' ); # write_string() $worksheet->write(2, 0, 2 ); # write_number() $worksheet->write(3, 0, 3.00001 ); # write_number() $worksheet->write(4, 0, "" ); # write_blank() $worksheet->write(5, 0, '' ); # write_blank() $worksheet->write(6, 0, undef ); # write_blank() $worksheet->write(7, 0 ); # write_blank() $worksheet->write(8, 0, 'http://www.perl.com/'); # write_url() $worksheet->write('A9', 'ftp://ftp.cpan.org/' ); # write_url() $worksheet->write('A10', 'internal:Sheet1!A1' ); # write_url() $worksheet->write('A11', 'external:c:\foo.xls' ); # write_url() $worksheet->write('A12', '=A3 + 3*A4' ); # write_formula() $worksheet->write('A13', '=SIN(PI()/4)' ); # write_formula() $worksheet->write('A14', \@array ); # write_row() $worksheet->write('A15', [\@array] ); # write_col() # And if the keep_leading_zeros property is set: $worksheet->write('A16, 2 ); # write_number() $worksheet->write('A17, 02 ); # write_string() $worksheet->write('A18, 00002 ); # write_string() # Write an array formula. Not available in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. $worksheet->write('A18, '{=SUM(A1:B1*A2:B2)}' ); # write_formula()
The "looks like" rule is defined by regular expressions:
write_number() if $token is a number based on the following regex: $token =~ /^([+-]?)(?=\d|\.\d)\d*(\.\d*)?([Ee]([+-]?\d+))?$/.
write_number()
$token
$token =~ /^([+-]?)(?=\d|\.\d)\d*(\.\d*)?([Ee]([+-]?\d+))?$/
write_string() if keep_leading_zeros() is set and $token is an integer with leading zeros based on the following regex: $token =~ /^0\d+$/.
write_string()
keep_leading_zeros()
$token =~ /^0\d+$/
write_blank() if $token is undef or a blank string: undef, "" or ''.
write_blank()
""
''
write_url() if $token is a http, https, ftp or mailto URL based on the following regexes: $token =~ m|^[fh]tt?ps?://| or $token =~ m|^mailto:|.
write_url()
$token =~ m|^[fh]tt?ps?://|
$token =~ m|^mailto:|
write_url() if $token is an internal or external sheet reference based on the following regex: $token =~ m[^(in|ex)ternal:].
$token =~ m[^(in|ex)ternal:]
write_formula() if the first character of $token is "=".
write_formula()
"="
write_array_formula() if the $token matches /^{=.*}$/.
write_array_formula()
/^{=.*}$/
write_row() if $token is an array ref.
write_row()
write_col() if $token is an array ref of array refs.
write_col()
write_string() if none of the previous conditions apply.
The $format parameter is optional. It should be a valid Format object, see "CELL FORMATTING":
$format
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_bold(); $format->set_color('red'); $format->set_align('center'); $worksheet->write(4, 0, 'Hello', $format); # Formatted string
The write() method will ignore empty strings or undef tokens unless a format is also supplied. As such you needn't worry about special handling for empty or undef values in your data. See also the write_blank() method.
One problem with the write() method is that occasionally data looks like a number but you don't want it treated as a number. For example, zip codes or ID numbers often start with a leading zero. If you write this data as a number then the leading zero(s) will be stripped. You can change this default behaviour by using the keep_leading_zeros() method. While this property is in place any integers with leading zeros will be treated as strings and the zeros will be preserved. See the keep_leading_zeros() section for a full discussion of this issue.
You can also add your own data handlers to the write() method using add_write_handler().
add_write_handler()
On systems with perl 5.8 and later the write() method will also handle Unicode strings in UTF-8 format.
UTF-8
The write methods return:
write
0 for success. -1 for insufficient number of arguments. -2 for row or column out of bounds. -3 for string too long.
Write an integer or a float to the cell specified by $row and $column:
$row
$column
$worksheet->write_number(0, 0, 123456); $worksheet->write_number('A2', 2.3451);
See the note about "Cell notation". The $format parameter is optional.
In general it is sufficient to use the write() method.
Write a string to the cell specified by $row and $column:
$worksheet->write_string(0, 0, 'Your text here' ); $worksheet->write_string('A2', 'or here' );
The maximum string size is 32767 characters. However the maximum string segment that Excel can display in a cell is 1000. All 32767 characters can be displayed in the formula bar.
The $format parameter is optional.
On systems with perl 5.8 and later the write() method will also handle strings in Perl's utf8 format. See also the unicode_*.pl programs in the examples directory of the distro.
utf8
unicode_*.pl
In general it is sufficient to use the write() method. However, you may sometimes wish to use the write_string() method to write data that looks like a number but that you don't want treated as a number. For example, zip codes or phone numbers:
# Write as a plain string $worksheet->write_string('A1', '01209');
However, if the user edits this string Excel may convert it back to a number. To get around this you can use the Excel text format @:
@
# Format as a string. Doesn't change to a number when edited my $format1 = $workbook->add_format(num_format => '@'); $worksheet->write_string('A2', '01209', $format1);
See also the note about "Cell notation".
This method changes the default handling of integers with leading zeros when using the write() method.
The write() method uses regular expressions to determine what type of data to write to an Excel worksheet. If the data looks like a number it writes a number using write_number(). One problem with this approach is that occasionally data looks like a number but you don't want it treated as a number.
Zip codes and ID numbers, for example, often start with a leading zero. If you write this data as a number then the leading zero(s) will be stripped. This is the also the default behaviour when you enter data manually in Excel.
To get around this you can use one of three options. Write a formatted number, write the number as a string or use the keep_leading_zeros() method to change the default behaviour of write():
# Implicitly write a number, the leading zero is removed: 1209 $worksheet->write('A1', '01209'); # Write a zero padded number using a format: 01209 my $format1 = $workbook->add_format(num_format => '00000'); $worksheet->write('A2', '01209', $format1); # Write explicitly as a string: 01209 $worksheet->write_string('A3', '01209'); # Write implicitly as a string: 01209 $worksheet->keep_leading_zeros(); $worksheet->write('A4', '01209');
The above code would generate a worksheet that looked like the following:
----------------------------------------------------------- | | A | B | C | D | ... ----------------------------------------------------------- | 1 | 1209 | | | | ... | 2 | 01209 | | | | ... | 3 | 01209 | | | | ... | 4 | 01209 | | | | ...
The examples are on different sides of the cells due to the fact that Excel displays strings with a left justification and numbers with a right justification by default. You can change this by using a format to justify the data, see "CELL FORMATTING".
It should be noted that if the user edits the data in examples A3 and A4 the strings will revert back to numbers. Again this is Excel's default behaviour. To avoid this you can use the text format @:
A3
A4
# Format as a string (01209) my $format2 = $workbook->add_format(num_format => '@'); $worksheet->write_string('A5', '01209', $format2);
The keep_leading_zeros() property is off by default. The keep_leading_zeros() method takes 0 or 1 as an argument. It defaults to 1 if an argument isn't specified:
$worksheet->keep_leading_zeros(); # Set on $worksheet->keep_leading_zeros(1); # Set on $worksheet->keep_leading_zeros(0); # Set off
See also the add_write_handler() method.
Write a blank cell specified by $row and $column:
$worksheet->write_blank(0, 0, $format);
This method is used to add formatting to a cell which doesn't contain a string or number value.
Excel differentiates between an "Empty" cell and a "Blank" cell. An "Empty" cell is a cell which doesn't contain data whilst a "Blank" cell is a cell which doesn't contain data but does contain formatting. Excel stores "Blank" cells but ignores "Empty" cells.
As such, if you write an empty cell without formatting it is ignored:
$worksheet->write('A1', undef, $format); # write_blank() $worksheet->write('A2', undef ); # Ignored
This seemingly uninteresting fact means that you can write arrays of data without special treatment for undef or empty string values.
See the note about "Cell notation".
The write_html_string method can be used to write a string with multiple formats to a cell using simple Html tags. For example to write a string like "Some bold and italic text":
write_html_string
my $html_string = 'Some <B>bold</B> and <I>italic</I> text'; $worksheet->write_html_string('A1', $html_string);
Standard non-font formatting, such as background and border can also added to the cell.
my $format = $workbook->add_format(fg_color => 'yellow', border => 6); $worksheet->write_html_string('A2', $html_string, $format);
The following example writes a string with subscript and superscript. It also increase the font size to make it more visible.
my $html_str = 'x<Sub><I>j</I></Sub><Sup>(n-1)</Sup>'; my $format = $workbook->add_format(size => 20); $worksheet->write_html_string('A3', $html_string, $format);
Multiple colours can be applied to the cell text using simple Html font formatting:
# Write a multicoloured string. my $html_string = '<Font html:Color="#FF0000">Red</Font>' . '<Font> and </Font>' . '<Font html:Color="#0000FF">Blue</Font>'; $worksheet->write_html_string('A4', $_html_string);
Only a limited subset of Html is allowed by Excel. For more complex examples create a Spreadsheet XML file in Excel and examine the output.
Note: This method is not available in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
The write_row() method can be used to write a 1D or 2D array of data in one go. This is useful for converting the results of a database query into an Excel worksheet. You must pass a reference to the array of data rather than the array itself. The write() method is then called for each element of the data. For example:
@array = ('awk', 'gawk', 'mawk'); $array_ref = \@array; $worksheet->write_row(0, 0, $array_ref); # The above example is equivalent to: $worksheet->write(0, 0, $array[0]); $worksheet->write(0, 1, $array[1]); $worksheet->write(0, 2, $array[2]);
Note: For convenience the write() method behaves in the same way as write_row() if it is passed an array reference. Therefore the following two method calls are equivalent:
$worksheet->write_row('A1', $array_ref); # Write a row of data $worksheet->write( 'A1', $array_ref); # Same thing
As with all of the write methods the $format parameter is optional. If a format is specified it is applied to all the elements of the data array.
Array references within the data will be treated as columns. This allows you to write 2D arrays of data in one go. For example:
@eec = ( ['maggie', 'milly', 'molly', 'may' ], [13, 14, 15, 16 ], ['shell', 'star', 'crab', 'stone'] ); $worksheet->write_row('A1', \@eec);
Would produce a worksheet as follows:
----------------------------------------------------------- | | A | B | C | D | E | ... ----------------------------------------------------------- | 1 | maggie | 13 | shell | ... | ... | ... | 2 | milly | 14 | star | ... | ... | ... | 3 | molly | 15 | crab | ... | ... | ... | 4 | may | 16 | stone | ... | ... | ... | 5 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 6 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
To write the data in a row-column order refer to the write_col() method below.
Any undef values in the data will be ignored unless a format is applied to the data, in which case a formatted blank cell will be written. In either case the appropriate row or column value will still be incremented.
To find out more about array references refer to perlref and perlreftut in the main Perl documentation. To find out more about 2D arrays or "lists of lists" refer to perllol.
perlref
perlreftut
perllol
The write_row() method returns the first error encountered when writing the elements of the data or zero if no errors were encountered. See the return values described for the write() method above.
See also the write_arrays.pl program in the examples directory of the distro.
write_arrays.pl
The write_row() method allows the following idiomatic conversion of a text file to an Excel file:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML; my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new('file.xls'); my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet(); open INPUT, 'file.txt' or die "Couldn't open file: $!"; $worksheet->write($.-1, 0, [split]) while <INPUT>;
The write_col() method can be used to write a 1D or 2D array of data in one go. This is useful for converting the results of a database query into an Excel worksheet. You must pass a reference to the array of data rather than the array itself. The write() method is then called for each element of the data. For example:
@array = ('awk', 'gawk', 'mawk'); $array_ref = \@array; $worksheet->write_col(0, 0, $array_ref); # The above example is equivalent to: $worksheet->write(0, 0, $array[0]); $worksheet->write(1, 0, $array[1]); $worksheet->write(2, 0, $array[2]);
Array references within the data will be treated as rows. This allows you to write 2D arrays of data in one go. For example:
@eec = ( ['maggie', 'milly', 'molly', 'may' ], [13, 14, 15, 16 ], ['shell', 'star', 'crab', 'stone'] ); $worksheet->write_col('A1', \@eec);
----------------------------------------------------------- | | A | B | C | D | E | ... ----------------------------------------------------------- | 1 | maggie | milly | molly | may | ... | ... | 2 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ... | ... | 3 | shell | star | crab | stone | ... | ... | 4 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 5 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 6 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
To write the data in a column-row order refer to the write_row() method above.
As noted above the write() method can be used as a synonym for write_row() and write_row() handles nested array refs as columns. Therefore, the following two method calls are equivalent although the more explicit call to write_col() would be preferable for maintainability:
$worksheet->write_col('A1', $array_ref ); # Write a column of data $worksheet->write( 'A1', [ $array_ref ]); # Same thing
The write_col() method returns the first error encountered when writing the elements of the data or zero if no errors were encountered. See the return values described for the write() method above.
The write_date_time() method can be used to write a date or time to the cell specified by $row and $column:
write_date_time()
$worksheet->write_date_time('A1', '2004-05-13T23:20', $date_format);
The $date_string should be in the following format:
$date_string
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.sss
This conforms to an ISO8601 date but it should be noted that the full range of ISO8601 formats are not supported.
The following variations on the $date_string parameter are permitted:
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.sss # Standard format yyyy-mm-ddT # No time Thh:mm:ss.sss # No date yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.sssZ # Additional Z (but not time zones) yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss # No fractional seconds yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm # No seconds
Note that the T is required in all cases.
T
A date should always have a $format, otherwise it will appear as a number, see "CELL FORMATTING" and "DATES IN EXCEL". Here is a typical example:
my $date_format = $workbook->add_format(num_format => 'mm/dd/yy'); $worksheet->write_date_time('A1', '2004-05-13T23:20', $date_format);
Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML also allows Excel's newer text description formats:
General Date Short Date Medium Date Long Date Short Time Medium Time Long Time my $date_format = $workbook->add_format(num_format => 'Short Date'); $worksheet->write_date_time('A1', '2004-05-13T23:20', $date_format);
Valid dates should be in the range 1900-01-01 to 9999-12-31, for the 1900 epoch. As with Excel, dates outside these ranges will be written as a string. The 1904 epoch is not supported in this release.
To write a time with a zero date use the date 1899-12-31. This is an Excel quirk. See "DATES IN EXCEL".
1899-12-31
$worksheet->write_date_time('A1', '1899-12-31T23:20', $date_format);
See also the date_time.pl program in the examples directory of the distro.
date_time.pl
Write a hyperlink to a URL in the cell specified by $row and $column. The hyperlink is comprised of two elements: the visible label and the invisible link. The visible label is the same as the link unless an alternative string is specified.
The parameters $format, $string and $tip are optional. Note however that without a $format the url will not appear with the standard blue underline. This behaviour is different from older versions of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. To achieve this effect you must add an explicit format:
$string
$tip
my $format = $workbook->add_format(color => 'blue', underline => 1);
You can add a tooltip to the url by specifying the $tip parameter. This is feature isn't supported in Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML.
There are four web style URI's supported: http://, https://, ftp:// and mailto::
http://
https://
ftp://
mailto:
$worksheet->write_url(0, 0, 'ftp://www.perl.org/', $format ); $worksheet->write_url(1, 0, 'http://www.perl.com/', $format 'Perl home'); $worksheet->write_url('A3', 'http://www.perl.com/', $format ); $worksheet->write_url('A4', 'http://www.perl.com/', 'Perl home',$format); $worksheet->write_url('A5', 'mailto:jmcnamara@cpan.org' );
There are two local URIs supported: internal: and external:. These are used for hyperlinks to internal worksheet references or external workbook and worksheet references:
internal:
external:
$worksheet->write_url('A6', 'internal:Sheet2!A1', $format); $worksheet->write_url('A7', 'internal:Sheet2!A1:B2', $format); $worksheet->write_url('A8', q{internal:'Sales Data'!A1}, $format); $worksheet->write_url('A9', 'external:c:\temp\foo.xls', $format); $worksheet->write_url('A10', 'external:c:\temp\foo.xls#Sheet2!A1'); $worksheet->write_url('A11', 'external:\\\\NETWORK\share\foo.xls');
Note that the relative style directory link such as ..\foo.xls is not supported by Excel XML. You must use an absolute directory link instead.
..\foo.xls
All of the these URI types are recognised by the write() method, see above.
Worksheet references are typically of the form Sheet1!A1. You can also refer to a worksheet range using the standard Excel notation: Sheet1!A1:B2.
Sheet1!A1
Sheet1!A1:B2
In external links the workbook and worksheet name must be separated by the # character: external:Workbook.xls#Sheet1!A1'.
#
external:Workbook.xls#Sheet1!A1'
You can also link to a named range in the target worksheet. For example say you have a named range called my_name in the workbook c:\temp\foo.xls you could link to it as follows:
my_name
c:\temp\foo.xls
$worksheet->write_url('A14', 'external:c:\temp\foo.xls#my_name');
Note, you cannot currently create named ranges with Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML.
Excel requires that worksheet names containing spaces or non alphanumeric characters are single quoted as follows 'Sales Data'!A1. If you need to do this in a single quoted string then you can either escape the single quotes \' or use the quote operator q{} as described in perlop in the main Perl documentation.
'Sales Data'!A1
\'
q{}
perlop
Links to network files are also supported. MS/Novell Network files normally begin with two back slashes as follows \\NETWORK\etc. In order to generate this in a single or double quoted string you will have to escape the backslashes, '\\\\NETWORK\etc'.
\\NETWORK\etc
'\\\\NETWORK\etc'
If you are using double quote strings then you should be careful to escape anything that looks like a metacharacter. For more information see perlfaq5: Why can't I use "C:\temp\foo" in DOS paths?.
Finally, you can avoid most of these quoting problems by using forward slashes. These are translated internally to backslashes:
$worksheet->write_url('A14', "external:c:/temp/foo.xls" ); $worksheet->write_url('A15', 'external://NETWORK/share/foo.xls' );
See also, the note about "Cell notation".
This method is essentially the same as the write_url() method described above. The main difference is that you can specify a link for a range of cells:
$worksheet->write_url(0, 0, 0, 3, 'ftp://www.perl.org/' ); $worksheet->write_url(1, 0, 0, 3, 'http://www.perl.com/', 'Perl home'); $worksheet->write_url('A3:D3', 'internal:Sheet2!A1' ); $worksheet->write_url('A4:D4', 'external:c:\temp\foo.xls' );
This method is generally only required when used in conjunction with merged cells. See the merge_range() method and the merge property of a Format object, "CELL FORMATTING".
merge_range()
merge
There is no way to force this behaviour through the write() method.
The parameters $string and the $format are optional and their position is interchangeable. However, they are applied only to the first cell in the range.
Write a formula or function to the cell specified by $row and $column:
$worksheet->write_formula(0, 0, '=$B$3 + B4' ); $worksheet->write_formula(1, 0, '=SIN(PI()/4)'); $worksheet->write_formula(2, 0, '=SUM(B1:B5)' ); $worksheet->write_formula('A4', '=IF(A3>1,"Yes", "No")' ); $worksheet->write_formula('A5', '=AVERAGE(1, 2, 3, 4)' ); $worksheet->write_formula('A6', '=DATEVALUE("1-Jan-2001")');
Array formulas are also supported:
$worksheet->write_formula('A7', '{=SUM(A1:B1*A2:B2)}' );
See also the write_array_formula() method below.
Note: Array formulas are not supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
See the note about "Cell notation". For more information about writing Excel formulas see "FORMULAS AND FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL"
Write an array formula to a cell range. In Excel an array formula is a formula that performs a calculation on a set of values. It can return a single value or a range of values.
An array formula is indicated by a pair of braces around the formula: {=SUM(A1:B1*A2:B2)}. If the array formula returns a single value then the $first_ and $last_ parameters should be the same:
{=SUM(A1:B1*A2:B2)}
$first_
$last_
$worksheet->write_array_formula('A1:A1', '{=SUM(B1:C1*B2:C2)}');
It this case however it is easier to just use the write_formula() or write() methods:
# Same as above but more concise. $worksheet->write('A1', '{=SUM(B1:C1*B2:C2)}'); $worksheet->write_formula('A1', '{=SUM(B1:C1*B2:C2)}');
For array formulas that return a range of values you must specify the range that the return values will be written to:
$worksheet->write_array_formula('A1:A3', '{=TREND(C1:C3,B1:B3)}'); $worksheet->write_array_formula(0, 0, 2, 0, '{=TREND(C1:C3,B1:B3)}');
The write_comment() method is used to add a comment to a cell. A cell comment is indicated in Excel by a small red triangle in the upper right-hand corner of the cell. Moving the cursor over the red triangle will cause the comment to appear.
write_comment()
The following example shows how to add a comment to a cell:
$worksheet->write("C3", "Hello"); $worksheet->write_comment("C3", "This is a comment.");
The cell comment can be up to 30,000 characters in length.
No formatting of the text or the text box is possible with the Excel 5 version of this method.
Note: the write_comment() method was previously supplied as an external example program. If you are currently using that method you will get a warning about subroutines being redefined:
Subroutine write_comment redefined at ... line ... Subroutine _store_comment redefined at ... line ...
You can safely delete the user defined write_comment() code from your old programs and use the module defined method instead.
This method is used to extend the Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML write() method to handle user defined data.
If you refer to the section on write() above you will see that it acts as an alias for several more specific write_* methods. However, it doesn't always act in exactly the way that you would like it to.
write_*
One solution is to filter the input data yourself and call the appropriate write_* method. Another approach is to use the add_write_handler() method to add your own automated behaviour to write().
The add_write_handler() method take two arguments, $re, a regular expression to match incoming data and $code_ref a callback function to handle the matched data:
$re
$code_ref
$worksheet->add_write_handler(qr/^\d\d\d\d$/, \&my_write);
(In the these examples the qr operator is used to quote the regular expression strings, see perlop for more details).
qr
The method is used as follows. say you wished to write 7 digit ID numbers as a string so that any leading zeros were preserved*, you could do something like the following:
$worksheet->add_write_handler(qr/^\d{7}$/, \&write_my_id); sub write_my_id { my $worksheet = shift; return $worksheet->write_string(@_); }
* You could also use the keep_leading_zeros() method for this.
Then if you call write() with an appropriate string it will be handled automatically:
# Writes 0000000. It would normally be written as a number; 0. $worksheet->write('A1', '0000000');
The callback function will receive a reference to the calling worksheet and all of the other arguments that were passed to write(). The callback will see an @_ argument list that looks like the following:
@_
$_[0] A ref to the calling worksheet. * $_[1] Zero based row number. $_[2] Zero based column number. $_[3] A number or string or token. $_[4] A format ref if any. $_[5] Any other arguments. ... * It is good style to shift this off the list so the @_ is the same as the argument list seen by write().
Your callback should return() the return value of the write_* method that was called or undef to indicate that you rejected the match and want write() to continue as normal.
return()
So for example if you wished to apply the previous filter only to ID values that occur in the first column you could modify your callback function as follows:
sub write_my_id { my $worksheet = shift; my $col = $_[1]; if ($col == 0) { return $worksheet->write_string(@_); } else { # Reject the match and return control to write() return undef; } }
Now, you will get different behaviour for the first column and other columns:
$worksheet->write('A1', '0000000'); # Writes 0000000 $worksheet->write('B1', '0000000'); # Writes 0
You may add more than one handler in which case they will be called in the order that they were added.
Note, the add_write_handler() method is particularly suited for handling dates.
See the write_handler 1-4 programs in the examples directory for further examples.
write_handler 1-4
Embedded images are not supported by Excel XML. See Spreadsheet::WriteExcel if you need this feature.
The get_name() method is used to retrieve the name of a worksheet. For example:
get_name()
foreach my $sheet ($workbook->sheets()) { print $sheet->get_name(); }
The activate() method is used to specify which worksheet is initially visible in a multi-sheet workbook:
activate()
$worksheet1 = $workbook->add_worksheet('To'); $worksheet2 = $workbook->add_worksheet('the'); $worksheet3 = $workbook->add_worksheet('wind'); $worksheet3->activate();
This is similar to the Excel VBA activate method. More than one worksheet can be selected via the select() method, however only one worksheet can be active. The default value is the first worksheet.
select()
The select() method is used to indicate that a worksheet is selected in a multi-sheet workbook:
$worksheet1->activate(); $worksheet2->select(); $worksheet3->select();
A selected worksheet has its tab highlighted. Selecting worksheets is a way of grouping them together so that, for example, several worksheets could be printed in one go. A worksheet that has been activated via the activate() method will also appear as selected. You probably won't need to use the select() method very often.
The activate() method determines which worksheet is initially selected. However, if there are a large number of worksheets the selected worksheet may not appear on the screen. To avoid this you can select which is the leftmost visible worksheet using set_first_sheet():
set_first_sheet()
for (1..20) { $workbook->add_worksheet; } $worksheet21 = $workbook->add_worksheet(); $worksheet22 = $workbook->add_worksheet(); $worksheet21->set_first_sheet(); $worksheet22->activate();
This method is not required very often. The default value is the first worksheet.
The protect() method is used to protect a worksheet from modification:
protect()
$worksheet->protect();
It can be turned off in Excel via the Tools->Protection->Unprotect Sheet menu command.
Tools->Protection->Unprotect Sheet
The protect() method also has the effect of enabling a cell's locked and hidden properties if they have been set. A "locked" cell cannot be edited. A "hidden" cell will display the results of a formula but not the formula itself. In Excel a cell's locked property is on by default.
locked
hidden
# Set some format properties my $unlocked = $workbook->add_format(locked => 0); my $hidden = $workbook->add_format(hidden => 1); # Enable worksheet protection $worksheet->protect(); # This cell cannot be edited, it is locked by default $worksheet->write('A1', '=1+2'); # This cell can be edited $worksheet->write('A2', '=1+2', $unlocked); # The formula in this cell isn't visible $worksheet->write('A3', '=1+2', $hidden);
See also the set_locked and set_hidden format methods in "CELL FORMATTING".
set_locked
set_hidden
You can optionally add a password to the worksheet protection:
$worksheet->protect('drowssap');
Note, the worksheet level password in Excel provides very weak protection. It does not encrypt your data in any way and it is very easy to deactivate. Therefore, do not use the above method if you wish to protect sensitive data or calculations. However, before you get worried, Excel's own workbook level password protection does provide strong encryption in Excel 97+. For technical reasons this will never be supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML.
This method can be used to specify which cell or cells are selected in a worksheet. The most common requirement is to select a single cell, in which case $last_row and $last_col can be omitted. The active cell within a selected range is determined by the order in which $first and $last are specified. It is also possible to specify a cell or a range using A1 notation. See the note about "Cell notation".
$last_row
$last_col
$first
$last
Examples:
$worksheet1->set_selection(3, 3); # 1. Cell D4. $worksheet2->set_selection(3, 3, 6, 6); # 2. Cells D4 to G7. $worksheet3->set_selection(6, 6, 3, 3); # 3. Cells G7 to D4. $worksheet4->set_selection('D4'); # Same as 1. $worksheet5->set_selection('D4:G7'); # Same as 2. $worksheet6->set_selection('G7:D4'); # Same as 3.
The default cell selections is (0, 0), 'A1'.
This method can be used to change the default properties of a row. All parameters apart from $row are optional.
The most common use for this method is to change the height of a row:
$worksheet->set_row(0, 20); # Row 1 height set to 20
If you wish to set the format without changing the height you can pass undef as the height parameter:
$worksheet->set_row(0, undef, $format);
The $format parameter will be applied to any cells in the row that don't have a format. For example
$worksheet->set_row(0, undef, $format1); # Set the format for row 1 $worksheet->write('A1', 'Hello'); # Defaults to $format1 $worksheet->write('B1', 'Hello', $format2); # Keeps $format2
If you wish to define a row format in this way you should call the method before any calls to write(). Calling it afterwards will overwrite any format that was previously specified.
The $hidden parameter should be set to 1 if you wish to hide a row. This can be used, for example, to hide intermediary steps in a complicated calculation:
$hidden
$worksheet->set_row(0, 20, $format, 1); $worksheet->set_row(1, undef, undef, 1);
Note: Spreadsheet::WriteExcel supports another parameter in relation to "OUTLINES AND GROUPING IN EXCEL". This feature is not supported by Excel XML.
This method can be used to change the default properties of a single column or a range of columns. All parameters apart from $first_col and $last_col are optional.
$first_col
If set_column() is applied to a single column the value of $first_col and $last_col should be the same. In the case where $last_col is zero it is set to the same value as $first_col.
set_column()
It is also possible, and generally clearer, to specify a column range using the form of A1 notation used for columns. See the note about "Cell notation".
$worksheet->set_column(0, 0, 20); # Column A width set to 20 $worksheet->set_column(1, 3, 30); # Columns B-D width set to 30 $worksheet->set_column('E:E', 20); # Column E width set to 20 $worksheet->set_column('F:H', 30); # Columns F-H width set to 30
The width corresponds to the column width value that is specified in Excel. It is approximately equal to the length of a string in the default font of Arial 10. It is possible to set "AutoFit" for a column in the ExcelXML file format, but it only applies to numbers and dates and not to strings.
As usual the $format parameter is optional, for additional information, see "CELL FORMATTING". If you wish to set the format without changing the width you can pass undef as the width parameter:
$worksheet->set_column(0, 0, undef, $format);
The $format parameter will be applied to any cells in the column that don't have a format. For example
$worksheet->set_column('A:A', undef, $format1); # Set format for col 1 $worksheet->write('A1', 'Hello'); # Defaults to $format1 $worksheet->write('A2', 'Hello', $format2); # Keeps $format2
If you wish to define a column format in this way you should call the method before any calls to write(). If you call it afterwards it won't have any effect.
A default row format takes precedence over a default column format
$worksheet->set_row(0, undef, $format1); # Set format for row 1 $worksheet->set_column('A:A', undef, $format2); # Set format for col 1 $worksheet->write('A1', 'Hello'); # Defaults to $format1 $worksheet->write('A2', 'Hello'); # Defaults to $format2
The $hidden parameter should be set to 1 if you wish to hide a column. This can be used, for example, to hide intermediary steps in a complicated calculation:
$worksheet->set_column('D:D', 20, $format, 1); $worksheet->set_column('E:E', undef, undef, 1);
Note: Outlines and Grouping is not supported by Excel XML. See Spreadsheet::WriteExcel if you need this feature.
The outline_settings() method is used to control the appearance of outlines in Excel. Outlines are described in "OUTLINES AND GROUPING IN EXCEL".
outline_settings()
The $visible parameter is used to control whether or not outlines are visible. Setting this parameter to 0 will cause all outlines on the worksheet to be hidden. They can be unhidden in Excel by means of the "Show Outline Symbols" command button. The default setting is 1 for visible outlines.
$visible
$worksheet->outline_settings(0);
The $symbols_below parameter is used to control whether the row outline symbol will appear above or below the outline level bar. The default setting is 1 for symbols to appear below the outline level bar.
$symbols_below
The symbols_right parameter is used to control whether the column outline symbol will appear to the left or the right of the outline level bar. The default setting is 1 for symbols to appear to the right of the outline level bar.
symbols_right
The $auto_style parameter is used to control whether the automatic outline generator in Excel uses automatic styles when creating an outline. This has no effect on a file generated by Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML but it does have an effect on how the worksheet behaves after it is created. The default setting is 0 for "Automatic Styles" to be turned off.
$auto_style
The default settings for all of these parameters correspond to Excel's default parameters.
The worksheet parameters controlled by outline_settings() are rarely used.
This method can be used to divide a worksheet into horizontal or vertical regions known as panes and to also "freeze" these panes so that the splitter bars are not visible. This is the same as the Window->Freeze Panes menu command in Excel
Window->Freeze Panes
The parameters $row and $col are used to specify the location of the split. It should be noted that the split is specified at the top or left of a cell and that the method uses zero based indexing. Therefore to freeze the first row of a worksheet it is necessary to specify the split at row 2 (which is 1 as the zero-based index). This might lead you to think that you are using a 1 based index but this is not the case.
$col
You can set one of the $row and $col parameters as zero if you do not want either a vertical or horizontal split.
$worksheet->freeze_panes(1, 0); # Freeze the first row $worksheet->freeze_panes('A2'); # Same using A1 notation $worksheet->freeze_panes(0, 1); # Freeze the first column $worksheet->freeze_panes('B1'); # Same using A1 notation $worksheet->freeze_panes(1, 2); # Freeze first row and first 2 columns $worksheet->freeze_panes('C2'); # Same using A1 notation
The parameters $top_row and $left_col are optional. They are used to specify the top-most or left-most visible row or column in the scrolling region of the panes. For example to freeze the first row and to have the scrolling region begin at row twenty:
$top_row
$left_col
$worksheet->freeze_panes(1, 0, 20, 0);
You cannot use A1 notation for the $top_row and $left_col parameters.
See also the panes.pl program in the examples directory of the distribution.
panes.pl
This method can be used to divide a worksheet into horizontal or vertical regions known as panes. This method is different from the freeze_panes() method in that the splits between the panes will be visible to the user and each pane will have its own scroll bars.
freeze_panes()
The parameters $y and $x are used to specify the vertical and horizontal position of the split. The units for $y and $x are the same as those used by Excel to specify row height and column width. However, the vertical and horizontal units are different from each other. Therefore you must specify the $y and $x parameters in terms of the row heights and column widths that you have set or the default values which are 12.75 for a row and 8.43 for a column.
$y
$x
12.75
8.43
You can set one of the $y and $x parameters as zero if you do not want either a vertical or horizontal split. The parameters $top_row and $left_col are optional. They are used to specify the top-most or left-most visible row or column in the bottom-right pane.
Example:
$worksheet->split_panes(12.75, 0, 1, 0); # First row $worksheet->split_panes(0, 8.43, 0, 1); # First column $worksheet->split_panes(12.75, 8.43, 1, 1); # First row and column
You cannot use A1 notation with this method.
See also the freeze_panes() method and the panes.pl program in the examples directory of the distribution.
Note: This split_panes() method was called thaw_panes() in older versions. The older name is still available for backwards compatibility.
split_panes()
thaw_panes()
Merging cells can be achieved by setting the merge property of a Format object, see "CELL FORMATTING". However, this only allows simple Excel5 style horizontal merging which Excel refers to as "center across selection".
The merge_range() method allows you to do Excel97+ style formatting where the cells can contain other types of alignment in addition to the merging:
my $format = $workbook->add_format( border => 6, valign => 'vcenter', align => 'center', ); $worksheet->merge_range('B3:D4', 'Vertical and horizontal', $format);
merge_range() writes its $token argument using the worksheet write() method. Therefore it will handle numbers, strings, formulas or urls as required.
Setting the merge property of the format isn't required when you are using merge_range(). In fact using it will exclude the use of any other horizontal alignment option.
The full possibilities of this method are shown in the merge3.pl, merge4.pl and merge5.pl programs in the examples directory of the distribution.
merge3.pl
merge4.pl
merge5.pl
Set the worksheet zoom factor in the range 10 <= $scale <= 400:
10 <= $scale <= 400
$worksheet1->set_zoom(50); $worksheet2->set_zoom(75); $worksheet3->set_zoom(300); $worksheet4->set_zoom(400);
The default zoom factor is 100. You cannot zoom to "Selection" because it is calculated by Excel at run-time.
Note, set_zoom() does not affect the scale of the printed page. For that you should use set_print_scale().
set_zoom()
set_print_scale()
This method allows an autofilter to be added to a worksheet. An autofilter is a way of adding drop down lists to the headers of a 2D range of worksheet data. This is turn allow users to filter the data based on simple criteria so that some data is shown and some is hidden.
To add an autofilter to a worksheet:
$worksheet->autofilter(0, 0, 10, 3); $worksheet->autofilter('A1:D11'); # Same as above in A1 notation.
Filter conditions can be applied using the filter_column() method.
filter_column()
See the autofilter.pl program in the examples directory of the distro for a more detailed example.
autofilter.pl
The filter_column method can be used to filter columns in a autofilter range based on simple conditions.
filter_column
The conditions for the filter are specified using simple expressions:
$worksheet->filter_column('A', 'x > 2000'); $worksheet->filter_column('B', 'x > 2000 and x < 5000');
The $column parameter can either be a zero indexed column number or a string column name.
The following operators are available:
Operator Synonyms == = eq =~ != <> ne != > < >= <= and && or ||
The operator synonyms are just syntactic sugar to make you more comfortable using the expressions. It is important to remember that the expressions will be interpreted by Excel and not by perl.
An expression can comprise a single statement or two statements separated by the and and or operators. For example:
and
or
'x < 2000' 'x > 2000' 'x == 2000' 'x > 2000 and x < 5000' 'x == 2000 or x == 5000'
Excel also allows some simple string matching operations:
'x =~ b*' # begins with b 'x !~ b*' # doesn't begin with b 'x =~ *b' # ends with b 'x !~ *b' # doesn't end with b 'x =~ *b*' # contains b 'x !~ *b*' # doesn't contains b
You can also use * to match any character or number and ? to match any single character or number. No other regular expression quantifier is supported by Excel's filters. (Remember again that the expression is being interpreted by Excel and not by perl).
*
?
The placeholder variable x in the above examples can be replaced by any simple string. The actual placeholder name is ignored internally so the following are all equivalent:
x
'x < 2000' 'col < 2000' 'Price < 2000'
If you have problems with an expression, use Excel to create the condition that you want, save the file in XML format and examine the output.
Also, note that a filter condition can only be applied to a column in a range specified by the autofilter() Worksheet method.
autofilter()
Page set-up methods affect the way that a worksheet looks when it is printed. They control features such as page headers and footers and margins. These methods are really just standard worksheet methods. They are documented here in a separate section for the sake of clarity.
The following methods are available for page set-up:
set_landscape() set_portrait() set_paper() center_horizontally() center_vertically() set_margins() set_header() set_footer() repeat_rows() repeat_columns() hide_gridlines() print_row_col_headers() print_area() fit_to_pages() set_print_scale() set_h_pagebreaks() set_v_pagebreaks()
A common requirement when working with Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML is to apply the same page set-up features to all of the worksheets in a workbook. To do this you can use the sheets() method of the workbook class to access the array of worksheets in a workbook:
workbook
foreach $worksheet ($workbook->sheets()) { $worksheet->set_landscape(); }
This method is used to set the orientation of a worksheet's printed page to landscape:
$worksheet->set_landscape(); # Landscape mode
This method is used to set the orientation of a worksheet's printed page to portrait. The default worksheet orientation is portrait, so you won't generally need to call this method.
$worksheet->set_portrait(); # Portrait mode
This method is used to set the paper format for the printed output of a worksheet. The following paper styles are available:
Index Paper format Paper size ===== ============ ========== 0 Printer default - 1 Letter 8 1/2 x 11 in 2 Letter Small 8 1/2 x 11 in 3 Tabloid 11 x 17 in 4 Ledger 17 x 11 in 5 Legal 8 1/2 x 14 in 6 Statement 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 in 7 Executive 7 1/4 x 10 1/2 in 8 A3 297 x 420 mm 9 A4 210 x 297 mm 10 A4 Small 210 x 297 mm 11 A5 148 x 210 mm 12 B4 250 x 354 mm 13 B5 182 x 257 mm 14 Folio 8 1/2 x 13 in 15 Quarto 215 x 275 mm 16 - 10x14 in 17 - 11x17 in 18 Note 8 1/2 x 11 in 19 Envelope 9 3 7/8 x 8 7/8 20 Envelope 10 4 1/8 x 9 1/2 21 Envelope 11 4 1/2 x 10 3/8 22 Envelope 12 4 3/4 x 11 23 Envelope 14 5 x 11 1/2 24 C size sheet - 25 D size sheet - 26 E size sheet - 27 Envelope DL 110 x 220 mm 28 Envelope C3 324 x 458 mm 29 Envelope C4 229 x 324 mm 30 Envelope C5 162 x 229 mm 31 Envelope C6 114 x 162 mm 32 Envelope C65 114 x 229 mm 33 Envelope B4 250 x 353 mm 34 Envelope B5 176 x 250 mm 35 Envelope B6 176 x 125 mm 36 Envelope 110 x 230 mm 37 Monarch 3.875 x 7.5 in 38 Envelope 3 5/8 x 6 1/2 in 39 Fanfold 14 7/8 x 11 in 40 German Std Fanfold 8 1/2 x 12 in 41 German Legal Fanfold 8 1/2 x 13 in
Note, it is likely that not all of these paper types will be available to the end user since it will depend on the paper formats that the user's printer supports. Therefore, it is best to stick to standard paper types.
$worksheet->set_paper(1); # US Letter $worksheet->set_paper(9); # A4
If you do not specify a paper type the worksheet will print using the printer's default paper.
Center the worksheet data horizontally between the margins on the printed page:
$worksheet->center_horizontally();
Center the worksheet data vertically between the margins on the printed page:
$worksheet->center_vertically();
There are several methods available for setting the worksheet margins on the printed page:
set_margins() # Set all margins to the same value set_margins_LR() # Set left and right margins to the same value set_margins_TB() # Set top and bottom margins to the same value set_margin_left(); # Set left margin set_margin_right(); # Set right margin set_margin_top(); # Set top margin set_margin_bottom(); # Set bottom margin
All of these methods take a distance in inches as a parameter. Note: 1 inch = 25.4mm. ;-) The default left and right margin is 0.75 inch. The default top and bottom margin is 1.00 inch.
Headers and footers are generated using a $string which is a combination of plain text and control characters. The $margin parameter is optional.
$margin
The available control character are:
Control Category Description ======= ======== =========== &L Justification Left &C Center &R Right &P Information Page number &N Total number of pages &D Date &T Time &F File name &A Worksheet name &Z Workbook path &fontsize Font Font size &"font,style" Font name and style &U Single underline &E Double underline &S Strikethrough &X Superscript &Y Subscript && Miscellaneous Literal ampersand &
Text in headers and footers can be justified (aligned) to the left, center and right by prefixing the text with the control characters &L, &C and &R.
&L
&C
&R
For example (with ASCII art representation of the results):
$worksheet->set_header('&LHello'); --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Hello | | | $worksheet->set_header('&CHello'); --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Hello | | | $worksheet->set_header('&RHello'); --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Hello | | |
For simple text, if you do not specify any justification the text will be centred. However, you must prefix the text with &C if you specify a font name or any other formatting:
$worksheet->set_header('Hello'); --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Hello | | |
You can have text in each of the justification regions:
$worksheet->set_header('&LCiao&CBello&RCielo'); --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Ciao Bello Cielo | | |
The information control characters act as variables that Excel will update as the workbook or worksheet changes. Times and dates are in the users default format:
$worksheet->set_header('&CPage &P of &N'); --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Page 1 of 6 | | | $worksheet->set_header('&CUpdated at &T'); --------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Updated at 12:30 PM | | |
You can specify the font size of a section of the text by prefixing it with the control character &n where n is the font size:
&n
n
$worksheet1->set_header('&C&30Hello Big' ); $worksheet2->set_header('&C&10Hello Small');
You can specify the font of a section of the text by prefixing it with the control sequence &"font,style" where fontname is a font name such as "Courier New" or "Times New Roman" and style is one of the standard Windows font descriptions: "Regular", "Italic", "Bold" or "Bold Italic":
&"font,style"
fontname
style
$worksheet1->set_header('&C&"Courier New,Italic"Hello'); $worksheet2->set_header('&C&"Courier New,Bold Italic"Hello'); $worksheet3->set_header('&C&"Times New Roman,Regular"Hello');
It is possible to combine all of these features together to create sophisticated headers and footers. As an aid to setting up complicated headers and footers you can record a page set-up as a macro in Excel and look at the format strings that VBA produces. Remember however that VBA uses two double quotes "" to indicate a single double quote. For the last example above the equivalent VBA code looks like this:
.LeftHeader = "" .CenterHeader = "&""Times New Roman,Regular""Hello" .RightHeader = ""
To include a single literal ampersand & in a header or footer you should use a double ampersand &&:
&
&&
$worksheet1->set_header('&CCuriouser && Curiouser - Attorneys at Law');
As stated above the margin parameter is optional. As with the other margins the value should be in inches. The default header and footer margin is 0.50 inch. The header and footer margin size can be set as follows:
$worksheet->set_header('&CHello', 0.75);
The header and footer margins are independent of the top and bottom margins.
Note, the header or footer string must be less than 255 characters. Strings longer than this will not be written and a warning will be generated.
See, also the headers.pl program in the examples directory of the distribution.
headers.pl
The syntax of the set_footer() method is the same as set_header(), see above.
set_footer()
set_header()
Set the number of rows to repeat at the top of each printed page.
For large Excel documents it is often desirable to have the first row or rows of the worksheet print out at the top of each page. This can be achieved by using the repeat_rows() method. The parameters $first_row and $last_row are zero based. The $last_row parameter is optional if you only wish to specify one row:
repeat_rows()
$first_row
$worksheet1->repeat_rows(0); # Repeat the first row $worksheet2->repeat_rows(0, 1); # Repeat the first two rows
Set the columns to repeat at the left hand side of each printed page.
For large Excel documents it is often desirable to have the first column or columns of the worksheet print out at the left hand side of each page. This can be achieved by using the repeat_columns() method. The parameters $first_column and $last_column are zero based. The $last_column parameter is optional if you only wish to specify one column. You can also specify the columns using A1 column notation, see the note about "Cell notation".
repeat_columns()
$first_column
$last_column
$worksheet1->repeat_columns(0); # Repeat the first column $worksheet2->repeat_columns(0, 1); # Repeat the first two columns $worksheet3->repeat_columns('A:A'); # Repeat the first column $worksheet4->repeat_columns('A:B'); # Repeat the first two columns
Turn on printed gridlines. These are off by default in the Excel XML format. *
$worksheet->print_gridlines();
* They are also off by default in the Excel97+ versions but Spreadsheet::WriteExcel turns them on for backward compatibility reasons.
This method is used to hide the gridlines on the screen and printed page. Gridlines are the lines that divide the cells on a worksheet. If you have defined your own cell borders you may wish to hide the default gridlines.
$worksheet->hide_gridlines();
The following values of $option are valid:
$option
0 : Don't hide gridlines 1 : Hide printed gridlines only 2 : Hide screen and printed gridlines
If you don't supply an argument or use undef the default option is 1, i.e. only the printed gridlines are hidden.
Set the option to print the row and column headers on the printed page.
An Excel worksheet looks something like the following;
------------------------------------------ | | A | B | C | D | ... ------------------------------------------ | 1 | | | | | ... | 2 | | | | | ... | 3 | | | | | ... | 4 | | | | | ... |...| ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
The headers are the letters and numbers at the top and the left of the worksheet. Since these headers serve mainly as a indication of position on the worksheet they generally do not appear on the printed page. If you wish to have them printed you can use the print_row_col_headers() method :
print_row_col_headers()
$worksheet->print_row_col_headers()
Do not confuse these headers with page headers as described in the set_header() section above.
This method is used to specify the area of the worksheet that will be printed. All four parameters must be specified. You can also use A1 notation, see the note about "Cell notation".
$worksheet1->print_area('A1:H20'); # Cells A1 to H20 $worksheet2->print_area(0, 0, 19, 7); # The same $worksheet2->print_area('A:H'); # Columns A to H if rows have data
The fit_to_pages() method is used to fit the printed area to a specific number of pages both vertically and horizontally. If the printed area exceeds the specified number of pages it will be scaled down to fit. This guarantees that the printed area will always appear on the specified number of pages even if the page size or margins change.
fit_to_pages()
$worksheet1->fit_to_pages(1, 1); # Fit to 1x1 pages $worksheet2->fit_to_pages(2, 1); # Fit to 2x1 pages $worksheet3->fit_to_pages(1, 2); # Fit to 1x2 pages
The print area can be defined using the print_area() method as described above.
print_area()
A common requirement is to fit the printed output to n pages wide but have the height be as long as necessary. To achieve this set the $height to zero or leave it blank:
$height
$worksheet1->fit_to_pages(1, 0); # 1 page wide and as long as necessary $worksheet2->fit_to_pages(1); # The same
Note that although it is valid to use both fit_to_pages() and set_print_scale() on the same worksheet only one of these options can be active at a time. The last method call made will set the active option.
Note that fit_to_pages() will override any manual page breaks that are defined in the worksheet.
Set the scale factor of the printed page. Scale factors in the range 10 <= $scale <= 400 are valid:
$worksheet1->set_print_scale(50); $worksheet2->set_print_scale(75); $worksheet3->set_print_scale(300); $worksheet4->set_print_scale(400);
The default scale factor is 100. Note, set_print_scale() does not affect the scale of the visible page in Excel. For that you should use set_zoom().
Note also that although it is valid to use both fit_to_pages() and set_print_scale() on the same worksheet only one of these options can be active at a time. The last method call made will set the active option.
Add horizontal page breaks to a worksheet. A page break causes all the data that follows it to be printed on the next page. Horizontal page breaks act between rows. To create a page break between rows 20 and 21 you must specify the break at row 21. However in zero index notation this is actually row 20. So you can pretend for a small while that you are using 1 index notation:
$worksheet1->set_h_pagebreaks(20); # Break between row 20 and 21
The set_h_pagebreaks() method will accept a list of page breaks and you can call it more than once:
set_h_pagebreaks()
$worksheet2->set_h_pagebreaks( 20, 40, 60, 80, 100); # Add breaks $worksheet2->set_h_pagebreaks(120, 140, 160, 180, 200); # Add some more
Note: If you specify the "fit to page" option via the fit_to_pages() method it will override all manual page breaks.
There is a silent limitation of about 1000 horizontal page breaks per worksheet in line with an Excel internal limitation.
Add vertical page breaks to a worksheet. A page break causes all the data that follows it to be printed on the next page. Vertical page breaks act between columns. To create a page break between columns 20 and 21 you must specify the break at column 21. However in zero index notation this is actually column 20. So you can pretend for a small while that you are using 1 index notation:
$worksheet1->set_v_pagebreaks(20); # Break between column 20 and 21
The set_v_pagebreaks() method will accept a list of page breaks and you can call it more than once:
set_v_pagebreaks()
$worksheet2->set_v_pagebreaks( 20, 40, 60, 80, 100); # Add breaks $worksheet2->set_v_pagebreaks(120, 140, 160, 180, 200); # Add some more
This section describes the methods and properties that are available for formatting cells in Excel. The properties of a cell that can be formatted include: fonts, colours, patterns, borders, alignment and number formatting.
Cell formatting is defined through a Format object. Format objects are created by calling the workbook add_format() method as follows:
my $format1 = $workbook->add_format(); # Set properties later my $format2 = $workbook->add_format(%props); # Set at creation
The format object holds all the formatting properties that can be applied to a cell, a row or a column. The process of setting these properties is discussed in the next section.
Once a Format object has been constructed and it properties have been set it can be passed as an argument to the worksheet write methods as follows:
$worksheet->write(0, 0, 'One', $format); $worksheet->write_string(1, 0, 'Two', $format); $worksheet->write_number(2, 0, 3, $format); $worksheet->write_blank(3, 0, $format);
Formats can also be passed to the worksheet set_row() and set_column() methods to define the default property for a row or column.
set_row()
$worksheet->set_row(0, 15, $format); $worksheet->set_column(0, 0, 15, $format);
The following table shows the Excel format categories, the formatting properties that can be applied and the equivalent object method:
Category Description Property Method Name -------- ----------- -------- ----------- Font Font type font set_font() Font size size set_size() Font color color set_color() Bold bold set_bold() Italic italic set_italic() Underline underline set_underline() Strikeout font_strikeout set_font_strikeout() Super/Subscript font_script set_font_script() Outline font_outline set_font_outline() Shadow font_shadow set_font_shadow() Number Numeric format num_format set_num_format() Protection Lock cells locked set_locked() Hide formulas hidden set_hidden() Alignment Horizontal align align set_align() Vertical align valign set_align() Rotation rotation set_rotation() Text wrap text_wrap set_text_wrap() Justify last text_justlast set_text_justlast() Center across center_across set_center_across() Indentation indent set_indent() Shrink to fit shrink set_shrink() Pattern Cell pattern pattern set_pattern() Background color bg_color set_bg_color() Foreground color fg_color set_fg_color() Border Cell border border set_border() Bottom border bottom set_bottom() Top border top set_top() Left border left set_left() Right border right set_right() Border color border_color set_border_color() Bottom color bottom_color set_bottom_color() Top color top_color set_top_color() Left color left_color set_left_color() Right color right_color set_right_color()
There are two ways of setting Format properties: by using the object method interface or by setting the property directly. For example, a typical use of the method interface would be as follows:
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_bold(); $format->set_color('red');
By comparison the properties can be set directly by passing a hash of properties to the Format constructor:
my $format = $workbook->add_format(bold => 1, color => 'red');
or after the Format has been constructed by means of the set_properties() method as follows:
set_properties()
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_properties(bold => 1, color => 'red');
You can also store the properties in one or more named hashes and pass them to the required method:
my %font = ( font => 'Arial', size => 12, color => 'blue', bold => 1, ); my %shading = ( bg_color => 'green', pattern => 1, ); my $format1 = $workbook->add_format(%font); # Font only my $format2 = $workbook->add_format(%font, %shading); # Font and shading
The provision of two ways of setting properties might lead you to wonder which is the best way. The method mechanism may be better is you prefer setting properties via method calls (which the author did when they were code was first written) otherwise passing properties to the constructor has proved to be a little more flexible and self documenting in practice. An additional advantage of working with property hashes is that it allows you to share formatting between workbook objects as shown in the example above.
The Perl/Tk style of adding properties is also supported:
my %font = ( -font => 'Arial', -size => 12, -color => 'blue', -bold => 1, );
The default format is Arial 10 with all other properties off.
Each unique format in Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML must have a corresponding Format object. It isn't possible to use a Format with a write() method and then redefine the Format for use at a later stage. This is because a Format is applied to a cell not in its current state but in its final state. Consider the following example:
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_bold(); $format->set_color('red'); $worksheet->write('A1', 'Cell A1', $format); $format->set_color('green'); $worksheet->write('B1', 'Cell B1', $format);
Cell A1 is assigned the Format $format which is initially set to the colour red. However, the colour is subsequently set to green. When Excel displays Cell A1 it will display the final state of the Format which in this case will be the colour green.
In general a method call without an argument will turn a property on, for example:
my $format1 = $workbook->add_format(); $format1->set_bold(); # Turns bold on $format1->set_bold(1); # Also turns bold on $format1->set_bold(0); # Turns bold off
The Format object methods are described in more detail in the following sections. In addition, there is a Perl program called formats.pl in the examples directory of the WriteExcelXML distribution. This program creates an Excel workbook called formats.xls which contains examples of almost all the format types.
formats.pl
formats.xls
The following Format methods are available:
set_font() set_size() set_color() set_bold() set_italic() set_underline() set_font_strikeout() set_font_script() set_font_outline() set_font_shadow() set_num_format() set_locked() set_hidden() set_align() set_align() set_rotation() set_text_wrap() set_text_justlast() set_center_across() set_indent() set_shrink() set_pattern() set_bg_color() set_fg_color() set_border() set_bottom() set_top() set_left() set_right() set_border_color() set_bottom_color() set_top_color() set_left_color() set_right_color()
The above methods can also be applied directly as properties. For example $worksheet->set_bold() is equivalent to set_properties(bold => 1).
$worksheet->set_bold()
set_properties(bold => 1)
The properties of an existing Format object can be set by means of set_properties():
You can also store the properties in one or more named hashes and pass them to the set_properties() method:
my %font = ( font => 'Arial', size => 12, color => 'blue', bold => 1, ); my $format = $workbook->set_properties(%font);
This method can be used as an alternative to setting the properties with add_format() or the specific format methods that are detailed in the following sections.
Default state: Font is Arial Default action: None Valid args: Any valid font name
Specify the font used:
$format->set_font('Times New Roman');
Excel can only display fonts that are installed on the system that it is running on. Therefore it is best to use the fonts that come as standard such as 'Arial', 'Times New Roman' and 'Courier New'. See also the Fonts worksheet created by formats.pl
Default state: Font size is 10 Default action: Set font size to 1 Valid args: Integer values from 1 to as big as your screen.
Set the font size. Excel adjusts the height of a row to accommodate the largest font size in the row. You can also explicitly specify the height of a row using the set_row() worksheet method.
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_size(30);
Default state: Excels default color, usually black Default action: Set the default color Valid args: Integers from 8..63 or the following strings: 'black' 'blue' 'brown' 'cyan' 'gray' 'green' 'lime' 'magenta' 'navy' 'orange' 'purple' 'red' 'silver' 'white' 'yellow'
Set the font colour. The set_color() method is used as follows:
set_color()
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_color('red'); $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'wheelbarrow', $format);
Note: The set_color() method is used to set the colour of the font in a cell. To set the colour of a cell use the set_bg_color() and set_pattern() methods.
set_bg_color()
set_pattern()
For additional examples see the 'Named colors' and 'Standard colors' worksheets created by formats.pl in the examples directory.
See also "COLOURS IN EXCEL".
Default state: bold is off Default action: Turn bold on Valid args: 0, 1 [1]
Set the bold property of the font:
$format->set_bold(); # Turn bold on
[1] Actually, values in the range 100..1000 are also valid. 400 is normal, 700 is bold and 1000 is very bold indeed. It is probably best to set the value to 1 and use normal bold.
Default state: Italic is off Default action: Turn italic on Valid args: 0, 1
Set the italic property of the font:
$format->set_italic(); # Turn italic on
Default state: Underline is off Default action: Turn on single underline Valid args: 0 = No underline 1 = Single underline 2 = Double underline 33 = Single accounting underline 34 = Double accounting underline
Set the underline property of the font.
$format->set_underline(); # Single underline
Default state: Strikeout is off Default action: Turn strikeout on Valid args: 0, 1
Set the strikeout property of the font.
Default state: Super/Subscript is off Default action: Turn Superscript on Valid args: 0 = Normal 1 = Superscript 2 = Subscript
Set the superscript/subscript property of the font. This format is currently not very useful.
Default state: Outline is off Default action: Turn outline on Valid args: 0, 1
Macintosh only.
Default state: Shadow is off Default action: Turn shadow on Valid args: 0, 1
Default state: General format Default action: Format index 1 Valid args: See the following table
This method is used to define the numerical format of a number in Excel. It controls whether a number is displayed as an integer, a floating point number, a date, a currency value or some other user defined format.
The numerical format of a cell can be specified by using a format string or an index to one of Excel's built-in formats:
my $format1 = $workbook->add_format(); my $format2 = $workbook->add_format(); $format1->set_num_format('d mmm yyyy'); # Format string $format2->set_num_format(0x0f); # Format index $worksheet->write(0, 0, 36892.521, $format1); # 1 Jan 2001 $worksheet->write(0, 0, 36892.521, $format2); # 1-Jan-01
Using format strings you can define very sophisticated formatting of numbers.
$format01->set_num_format('0.000'); $worksheet->write(0, 0, 3.1415926, $format01); # 3.142 $format02->set_num_format('#,##0'); $worksheet->write(1, 0, 1234.56, $format02); # 1,235 $format03->set_num_format('#,##0.00'); $worksheet->write(2, 0, 1234.56, $format03); # 1,234.56 $format04->set_num_format('$0.00'); $worksheet->write(3, 0, 49.99, $format04); # $49.99 # Note you can use other currency symbols such as the pound or yen as well. # Other currencies may require the use of Unicode. $format07->set_num_format('mm/dd/yy'); $worksheet->write(6, 0, 36892.521, $format07); # 01/01/01 $format08->set_num_format('mmm d yyyy'); $worksheet->write(7, 0, 36892.521, $format08); # Jan 1 2001 $format09->set_num_format('d mmmm yyyy'); $worksheet->write(8, 0, 36892.521, $format09); # 1 January 2001 $format10->set_num_format('dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm AM/PM'); $worksheet->write(9, 0, 36892.521, $format10); # 01/01/2001 12:30 AM $format11->set_num_format('0 "dollar and" .00 "cents"'); $worksheet->write(10, 0, 1.87, $format11); # 1 dollar and .87 cents # Conditional formatting $format12->set_num_format('[Green]General;[Red]-General;General'); $worksheet->write(11, 0, 123, $format12); # > 0 Green $worksheet->write(12, 0, -45, $format12); # < 0 Red $worksheet->write(13, 0, 0, $format12); # = 0 Default colour # Zip code $format13->set_num_format('00000'); $worksheet->write(14, 0, '01209', $format13);
The number system used for dates is described in "DATES IN EXCEL".
The colour format should have one of the following values:
[Black] [Blue] [Cyan] [Green] [Magenta] [Red] [White] [Yellow]
Alternatively you can specify the colour based on a colour index as follows: [Color n], where n is a standard Excel colour index - 7. See the 'Standard colors' worksheet created by formats.pl.
[Color n]
For more information refer to the documentation on formatting in the doc directory of the Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML distro, the Excel on-line help or to the tutorial at: http://support.microsoft.com/support/Excel/Content/Formats/default.asp and http://support.microsoft.com/support/Excel/Content/Formats/codes.asp
doc
You should ensure that the format string is valid in Excel prior to using it in WriteExcelXML.
The following Excel XML number format designations can be used in formats:
'General' 'General Number' 'General Date' 'Long Date' 'Medium Date' 'Short Date' 'Long Time' 'Medium Time' 'Short Time' 'Currency' 'Euro Currency' 'Fixed' 'Standard' 'Percent' 'Scientific' 'Yes/No' 'True/False' 'On/Off'
Excel's built-in formats are shown in the following table:
Index Index Format String 0 0x00 General 1 0x01 0 2 0x02 0.00 3 0x03 #,##0 4 0x04 #,##0.00 5 0x05 ($#,##0_);($#,##0) 6 0x06 ($#,##0_);[Red]($#,##0) 7 0x07 ($#,##0.00_);($#,##0.00) 8 0x08 ($#,##0.00_);[Red]($#,##0.00) 9 0x09 0% 10 0x0a 0.00% 11 0x0b 0.00E+00 12 0x0c # ?/? 13 0x0d # ??/?? 14 0x0e m/d/yy 15 0x0f d-mmm-yy 16 0x10 d-mmm 17 0x11 mmm-yy 18 0x12 h:mm AM/PM 19 0x13 h:mm:ss AM/PM 20 0x14 h:mm 21 0x15 h:mm:ss 22 0x16 m/d/yy h:mm .. .... ........... 37 0x25 (#,##0_);(#,##0) 38 0x26 (#,##0_);[Red](#,##0) 39 0x27 (#,##0.00_);(#,##0.00) 40 0x28 (#,##0.00_);[Red](#,##0.00) 41 0x29 _(* #,##0_);_(* (#,##0);_(* "-"_);_(@_) 42 0x2a _($* #,##0_);_($* (#,##0);_($* "-"_);_(@_) 43 0x2b _(* #,##0.00_);_(* (#,##0.00);_(* "-"??_);_(@_) 44 0x2c _($* #,##0.00_);_($* (#,##0.00);_($* "-"??_);_(@_) 45 0x2d mm:ss 46 0x2e [h]:mm:ss 47 0x2f mm:ss.0 48 0x30 ##0.0E+0 49 0x31 @
For examples of these formatting codes see the 'Numerical formats' worksheet created by formats.pl. See also the number_formats1.html and the number_formats2.html documents in the doc directory of the distro.
Note 1. Numeric formats 23 to 36 are not documented by Microsoft and may differ in international versions.
Note 2. In Excel 5 the dollar sign appears as a dollar sign. In Excel 97-2000 it appears as the defined local currency symbol.
Note 3. The red negative numeric formats display slightly differently in Excel 5 and Excel 97-2000.
Default state: Cell locking is on Default action: Turn locking on Valid args: 0, 1
This property can be used to prevent modification of a cells contents. Following Excel's convention, cell locking is turned on by default. However, it only has an effect if the worksheet has been protected, see the worksheet protect() method.
my $locked = $workbook->add_format(); $locked->set_locked(1); # A non-op my $unlocked = $workbook->add_format(); $locked->set_locked(0); # Enable worksheet protection $worksheet->protect(); # This cell cannot be edited. $worksheet->write('A1', '=1+2', $locked); # This cell can be edited. $worksheet->write('A2', '=1+2', $unlocked);
Note: This offers weak protection even with a password, see the note in relation to the protect() method.
Default state: Formula hiding is off Default action: Turn hiding on Valid args: 0, 1
This property is used to hide a formula while still displaying its result. This is generally used to hide complex calculations from end users who are only interested in the result. It only has an effect if the worksheet has been protected, see the worksheet protect() method.
my $hidden = $workbook->add_format(); $hidden->set_hidden(); # Enable worksheet protection $worksheet->protect(); # The formula in this cell isn't visible $worksheet->write('A1', '=1+2', $hidden);
Default state: Alignment is off Default action: Left alignment Valid args: 'left' Horizontal 'center' 'right' 'fill' 'justify' 'center_across' 'top' Vertical 'vcenter' 'bottom' 'vjustify'
This method is used to set the horizontal and vertical text alignment within a cell. Vertical and horizontal alignments can be combined. The method is used as follows:
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_align('center'); $format->set_align('vcenter'); $worksheet->set_row(0, 30); $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'X', $format);
Text can be aligned across two or more adjacent cells using the center_across property. However, for genuine merged cells it is better to use the merge_range() worksheet method.
center_across
The vjustify (vertical justify) option can be used to provide automatic text wrapping in a cell. The height of the cell will be adjusted to accommodate the wrapped text. To specify where the text wraps use the set_text_wrap() method.
vjustify
set_text_wrap()
For further examples see the 'Alignment' worksheet created by formats.pl.
Default state: Center across selection is off Default action: Turn center across on Valid args: 1
Text can be aligned across two or more adjacent cells using the set_center_across() method. This is an alias for the set_align('center_across') method call.
set_center_across()
set_align('center_across')
Only one cell should contain the text, the other cells should be blank:
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_center_across(); $worksheet->write(1, 1, 'Center across selection', $format); $worksheet->write_blank(1, 2, $format);
See also the merge1.pl to merge5.pl programs in the examples directory and the merge_range() method.
merge1.pl
Default state: Text wrap is off Default action: Turn text wrap on Valid args: 0, 1
Here is an example using the text wrap property, the escape character \n is used to indicate the end of line:
\n
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_text_wrap(); $worksheet->write(0, 0, "It's\na bum\nwrap", $format);
Excel will adjust the height of the row to accommodate the wrapped text. A similar effect can be obtained without newlines using the set_align('vjustify') method. See the textwrap.pl program in the examples directory.
set_align('vjustify')
textwrap.pl
Default state: Text rotation is off Default action: None Valid args: Integers in the range -90 to 90 and 270
Set the rotation of the text in a cell. The rotation can be any angle in the range -90 to 90 degrees.
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_rotation(30); $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'This text is rotated', $format);
The angle 270 is also supported. This indicates text where the letters run from top to bottom.
Default state: Text indentation is off Default action: Indent text 1 level Valid args: Positive integers
This method can be used to indent text. The argument, which should be an integer, is taken as the level of indentation:
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_indent(2); $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'This text is indented', $format);
Indentation is a horizontal alignment property. It will override any other horizontal properties but it can be used in conjunction with vertical properties.
Default state: Text shrinking is off Default action: Turn "shrink to fit" on Valid args: 1
This method can be used to shrink text so that it fits in a cell.
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_shrink(); $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'Honey, I shrunk the text!', $format);
Default state: Justify last is off Default action: Turn justify last on Valid args: 0, 1
Only applies to Far Eastern versions of Excel.
Default state: Pattern is off Default action: Solid fill is on Valid args: 0 .. 18
Set the background pattern of a cell.
Examples of the available patterns are shown in the 'Patterns' worksheet created by formats.pl. However, it is unlikely that you will ever need anything other than Pattern 1 which is a solid fill of the background color.
Default state: Color is off Default action: Solid fill. Valid args: See set_color()
The set_bg_color() method can be used to set the background colour of a pattern. Patterns are defined via the set_pattern() method. If a pattern hasn't been defined then a solid fill pattern is used as the default.
Here is an example of how to set up a solid fill in a cell:
my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_pattern(); # This is optional when using a solid fill $format->set_bg_color('green'); $worksheet->write('A1', 'Ray', $format);
For further examples see the 'Patterns' worksheet created by formats.pl.
The set_fg_color() method can be used to set the foreground colour of a pattern.
set_fg_color()
Also applies to: set_bottom() set_top() set_left() set_right() Default state: Border is off Default action: Set border type 1 Valid args: 0 No border 1 Thin single border 2 Medium single border 3 Dashed border 4 Dotted border 5 Thick single border 6 Double line border 7 Hair border
A cell border is comprised of a border on the bottom, top, left and right. These can be set to the same value using set_border() or individually using the relevant method calls shown above. Examples of the available border styles are shown in the 'Borders' worksheet created by formats.pl.
set_border()
Also applies to: set_bottom_color() set_top_color() set_left_color() set_right_color() Default state: Color is off Default action: Undefined Valid args: See set_color()
Set the colour of the cell borders. A cell border is comprised of a border on the bottom, top, left and right. These can be set to the same colour using set_border_color() or individually using the relevant method calls shown above. Examples of the border styles and colours are shown in the 'Borders' worksheet created by formats.pl.
set_border_color()
This method is used to copy all of the properties from one Format object to another:
my $lorry1 = $workbook->add_format(); $lorry1->set_bold(); $lorry1->set_italic(); $lorry1->set_color('red'); # lorry1 is bold, italic and red my $lorry2 = $workbook->add_format(); $lorry2->copy($lorry1); $lorry2->set_color('yellow'); # lorry2 is bold, italic and yellow
The copy() method is only useful if you are using the method interface to Format properties. It generally isn't required if you are setting Format properties directly using hashes.
copy()
Note: this is not a copy constructor, both objects must exist prior to copying.
Excel provides a colour palette of 56 colours. In Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML these colours are accessed via their palette index in the range 8..63. This index is used to set the colour of fonts, cell patterns and cell borders. For example:
my $format = $workbook->add_format( color => 12, # index for blue font => 'Arial', size => 12, bold => 1, );
The most commonly used colours can also be accessed by name. The name acts as a simple alias for the colour index:
black => 8 blue => 12 brown => 16 cyan => 15 gray => 23 green => 17 lime => 11 magenta => 14 navy => 18 orange => 53 purple => 20 red => 10 silver => 22 white => 9 yellow => 13
For example:
my $font = $workbook->add_format(color => 'red');
Users of VBA in Excel should note that the equivalent colour indices are in the range 1..56 instead of 8..63.
If the default palette does not provide a required colour you can override one of the built-in values. This is achieved by using the set_custom_color() workbook method to adjust the RGB (red green blue) components of the colour:
my $ferrari = $workbook->set_custom_color(40, 216, 12, 12); my $format = $workbook->add_format( bg_color => $ferrari, pattern => 1, border => 1 ); $worksheet->write_blank('A1', $format);
The default Excel colour palette is shown in palette.html in the doc directory of the distro. You can generate an Excel version of the palette using colors.pl in the examples directory.
palette.html
colors.pl
The following methods will work with Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML but they apply more to Spreadsheet::WriteExcel since Excel XML has another relatively simpler method of dealing with dates. See the write_date_time() Worksheet method.
Dates and times in Excel are represented by real numbers, for example "Jan 1 2001 12:30 AM" is represented by the number 36892.521.
The integer part of the number stores the number of days since the epoch and the fractional part stores the percentage of the day.
The epoch can be either 1900 or 1904. Excel for Windows uses 1900 and Excel for Macintosh uses 1904. The epochs are:
1900: 0 January 1900 i.e. 31 December 1899 1904: 1 January 1904
By default Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML uses the Windows/1900 format although it generally isn't an issue since Excel on Windows and the Macintosh will convert automatically between one system and the other. To use the 1904 epoch you must use the set_1904() workbook method.
There are two things to note about the 1900 date format. The first is that the epoch starts on 0 January 1900. The second is that the year 1900 is erroneously but deliberately treated as a leap year. Therefore you must add an extra day to dates after 28 February 1900. The reason for this anomaly is explained at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q181/3/70.asp
A date or time in Excel is like any other number. To display the number as a date you must apply a number format to it. Refer to the set_num_format() method above:
set_num_format()
$format->set_num_format('mmm d yyyy hh:mm AM/PM'); $worksheet->write('A1', 36892.521 , $format); # Jan 1 2001 12:30 AM
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML::Utility module that is included in the distro contains helper functions for dealing with dates and times in Excel, for example:
$date = xl_date_list(2002, 1, 1); # 37257 $date = xl_parse_date("11 July 1997"); # 35622 $time = xl_parse_time('3:21:36 PM'); # 0.64 $date = xl_decode_date_EU("13 May 2002"); # 37389
These functions deal automatically with the s1900 leap year issue described above.
The date and time functions are based on functions provided by the Date::Calc and Date::Manip modules. These modules are very useful if you plan to manipulate dates in different formats.
Date::Calc
Date::Manip
See also the DateTime::Format::Excel module,http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=DateTime-Format-Excel which is part of the DateTime project and which deals specifically with converting dates and times to and from Excel's format.
There is also the excel_date1.pl program in the examples directory of the WriteExcelXML distribution which was written by Andrew Benham. It contains a detailed description of the problems involved in calculating dates in Excel. It does not require any external modules.
excel_date1.pl
It is also possible to get Excel to calculate dates for you by defining a function:
$worksheet->write('A1', '=DATEVALUE("1-Jan-2001")');
However, this carries a performance overhead in Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML due to the parsing of the formula and it shouldn't be used for programs that deal with a large number of dates, unless you use it in conjunction with store_formula() and repeat_formula() .
store_formula()
repeat_formula()
Excel allows you to group rows or columns so that they can be hidden or displayed with a single mouse click. This feature is referred to as outlines.
Outlines can reduce complex data down to a few salient sub-totals or summaries.
This feature is best viewed in Excel but the following is an ASCII representation of what a worksheet with three outlines might look like. Rows 3-4 and rows 7-8 are grouped at level 2. Rows 2-9 are grouped at level 1. The lines at the left hand side are called outline level bars.
------------------------------------------ 1 2 3 | | A | B | C | D | ... ------------------------------------------ _ | 1 | A | | | | ... | _ | 2 | B | | | | ... | | | 3 | (C) | | | | ... | | | 4 | (D) | | | | ... | - | 5 | E | | | | ... | _ | 6 | F | | | | ... | | | 7 | (G) | | | | ... | | | 8 | (H) | | | | ... | - | 9 | I | | | | ... - | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
Clicking the minus sign on each of the level 2 outlines will collapse and hide the data as shown in the next figure. The minus sign changes to a plus sign to indicate that the data in the outline is hidden.
------------------------------------------ 1 2 3 | | A | B | C | D | ... ------------------------------------------ _ | 1 | A | | | | ... | | 2 | B | | | | ... | + | 5 | E | | | | ... | | 6 | F | | | | ... | + | 9 | I | | | | ... - | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
Clicking on the minus sign on the level 1 outline will collapse the remaining rows as follows:
------------------------------------------ 1 2 3 | | A | B | C | D | ... ------------------------------------------ | 1 | A | | | | ... + | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...
Grouping in Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML is achieved by setting the outline level via the set_row() and set_column() worksheet methods:
set_row($row, $height, $format, $hidden, $level) set_column($first_col, $last_col, $width, $format, $hidden, $level)
The following example sets an outline level of 1 for rows 1 and 2 (zero-indexed) and columns B to G. The parameters $height and $XF are assigned default values since they are undefined:
$XF
$worksheet->set_row(1, undef, undef, 0, 1); $worksheet->set_row(2, undef, undef, 0, 1); $worksheet->set_column('B:G', undef, undef, 0, 1);
Excel allows up to 7 outline levels. Therefore the $level parameter should be in the range 0 <= $level <= 7.
$level
0 <= $level <= 7
Rows and columns can be collapsed by setting the $hidden flag:
$worksheet->set_row(1, undef, undef, 1, 1); $worksheet->set_row(2, undef, undef, 1, 1); $worksheet->set_column('B:G', undef, undef, 1, 1);
For a more complete example see the outline.pl program in the examples directory of the distro.
outline.pl
Some additional outline properties can be set via the outline_settings() worksheet method, see above.
The first thing to note is that there are still some outstanding issues with the implementation of formulas and functions:
1. Named ranges are not supported.
However, this and other constraints will be removed in future versions. They are here because of a trade-off between features and time.
The following is a brief introduction to formulas and functions in Excel and Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML.
A formula is a string that begins with an equals sign:
'=A1+B1' '=AVERAGE(1, 2, 3)'
The formula can contain numbers, strings, boolean values, cell references, cell ranges and functions. Named ranges are not supported. Formulas should be written as they appear in Excel, that is cells and functions must be in uppercase.
Cells in Excel are referenced using the A1 notation system where the column is designated by a letter and the row by a number. Columns range from A to XFD i.e. 0 to 16384, rows range from 1 to 1048576. When the use_lower_cell_limits() method is used the columns range from A to IV, 0 to 255 and rows range from 1 to 65536.
The C<Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML::Utility> module that is included in the distro contains helper functions for dealing with A1 notation, for example: use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML::Utility; ($row, $col) = xl_cell_to_rowcol('C2'); # (1, 2) $str = xl_rowcol_to_cell(1, 2); # C2
The Excel $ notation in cell references is also supported. This allows you to specify whether a row or column is relative or absolute. This only has an effect if the cell is copied. The following examples show relative and absolute values.
$
'=A1' # Column and row are relative '=$A1' # Column is absolute and row is relative '=A$1' # Column is relative and row is absolute '=$A$1' # Column and row are absolute
Formulas can also refer to cells in other worksheets of the current workbook. For example:
'=Sheet2!A1' '=Sheet2!A1:A5' '=Sheet2:Sheet3!A1' '=Sheet2:Sheet3!A1:A5' q{='Test Data'!A1} q{='Test Data1:Test Data2'!A1}
The sheet reference and the cell reference are separated by ! the exclamation mark symbol. If worksheet names contain spaces, commas o parentheses then Excel requires that the name is enclosed in single quotes as shown in the last two examples above. In order to avoid using a lot of escape characters you can use the quote operator q{} to protect the quotes. See perlop in the main Perl documentation. Only valid sheet names that have been added using the add_worksheet() method can be used in formulas. You cannot reference external workbooks.
!
The following table lists the operators that are available in Excel's formulas. The majority of the operators are the same as Perl's, differences are indicated:
Arithmetic operators: ===================== Operator Meaning Example + Addition 1+2 - Subtraction 2-1 * Multiplication 2*3 / Division 1/4 ^ Exponentiation 2^3 # Equivalent to ** - Unary minus -(1+2) % Percent (Not modulus) 13% Comparison operators: ===================== Operator Meaning Example = Equal to A1 = B1 # Equivalent to == <> Not equal to A1 <> B1 # Equivalent to != > Greater than A1 > B1 < Less than A1 < B1 >= Greater than or equal to A1 >= B1 <= Less than or equal to A1 <= B1 String operator: ================ Operator Meaning Example & Concatenation "Hello " & "World!" # [1] Reference operators: ==================== Operator Meaning Example : Range operator A1:A4 # [2] , Union operator SUM(1, 2+2, B3) # [3] Notes: [1]: Equivalent to ("Hello " . "World!") in Perl. [2]: This range is equivalent to cells A1, A2, A3 and A4. [3]: The comma behaves like the list separator in Perl.
The range and comma operators can have different symbols in non-English versions of Excel. These will be supported in a later version of Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML. European users of Excel take note:
$worksheet->write('A1', '=SUM(1; 2; 3)'); # Wrong!! $worksheet->write('A1', '=SUM(1, 2, 3)'); # Okay
The following table lists all of the core functions supported by Excel 5 and Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML. Any additional functions that are available through the "Analysis ToolPak" or other add-ins are not supported. These functions have all been tested to verify that they work.
ABS DB INDIRECT NORMINV SLN ACOS DCOUNT INFO NORMSDIST SLOPE ACOSH DCOUNTA INT NORMSINV SMALL ADDRESS DDB INTERCEPT NOT SQRT AND DEGREES IPMT NOW STANDARDIZE AREAS DEVSQ IRR NPER STDEV ASIN DGET ISBLANK NPV STDEVP ASINH DMAX ISERR ODD STEYX ATAN DMIN ISERROR OFFSET SUBSTITUTE ATAN2 DOLLAR ISLOGICAL OR SUBTOTAL ATANH DPRODUCT ISNA PEARSON SUM AVEDEV DSTDEV ISNONTEXT PERCENTILE SUMIF AVERAGE DSTDEVP ISNUMBER PERCENTRANK SUMPRODUCT BETADIST DSUM ISREF PERMUT SUMSQ BETAINV DVAR ISTEXT PI SUMX2MY2 BINOMDIST DVARP KURT PMT SUMX2PY2 CALL ERROR.TYPE LARGE POISSON SUMXMY2 CEILING EVEN LEFT POWER SYD CELL EXACT LEN PPMT T CHAR EXP LINEST PROB TAN CHIDIST EXPONDIST LN PRODUCT TANH CHIINV FACT LOG PROPER TDIST CHITEST FALSE LOG10 PV TEXT CHOOSE FDIST LOGEST QUARTILE TIME CLEAN FIND LOGINV RADIANS TIMEVALUE CODE FINV LOGNORMDIST RAND TINV COLUMN FISHER LOOKUP RANK TODAY COLUMNS FISHERINV LOWER RATE TRANSPOSE COMBIN FIXED MATCH REGISTER.ID TREND CONCATENATE FLOOR MAX REPLACE TRIM CONFIDENCE FORECAST MDETERM REPT TRIMMEAN CORREL FREQUENCY MEDIAN RIGHT TRUE COS FTEST MID ROMAN TRUNC COSH FV MIN ROUND TTEST COUNT GAMMADIST MINUTE ROUNDDOWN TYPE COUNTA GAMMAINV MINVERSE ROUNDUP UPPER COUNTBLANK GAMMALN MIRR ROW VALUE COUNTIF GEOMEAN MMULT ROWS VAR COVAR GROWTH MOD RSQ VARP CRITBINOM HARMEAN MODE SEARCH VDB DATE HLOOKUP MONTH SECOND VLOOKUP DATEVALUE HOUR N SIGN WEEKDAY DAVERAGE HYPGEOMDIST NA SIN WEIBULL DAY IF NEGBINOMDIST SINH YEAR DAYS360 INDEX NORMDIST SKEW ZTEST
For a general introduction to Excel's formulas and an explanation of the syntax of the function refer to the Excel help files or the following links: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?URL=/library/officedev/office97/s88f2.htm and http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?URL=/library/en-us/office97/s992f.htm
If your formula doesn't work in Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML try the following:
1. Verify that the formula works in Excel (or Gnumeric or OpenOffice.org). 2. Ensure that it isn't on the Caveats list shown above. 3. Ensure that cell references and formula names are in uppercase. 4. Ensure that you are using ':' as the range operator, A1:A4. 5. Ensure that you are using ',' as the union operator, SUM(1,2,3).
The following example shows some of the basic features of Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML.
#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML; # Create a new workbook called simple.xls and add a worksheet my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new("simple.xls"); my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet(); # The general syntax is write($row, $column, $token). Note that row and # column are zero indexed # Write some text $worksheet->write(0, 0, "Hi Excel!"); # Write some numbers $worksheet->write(2, 0, 3); # Writes 3 $worksheet->write(3, 0, 3.00000); # Writes 3 $worksheet->write(4, 0, 3.00001); # Writes 3.00001 $worksheet->write(5, 0, 3.14159); # TeX revision no.? # Write some formulas $worksheet->write(7, 0, '=A3 + A6'); $worksheet->write(8, 0, '=IF(A5>3,"Yes", "No")'); # Write a hyperlink $worksheet->write(10, 0, 'http://www.perl.com/');
The following is a general example which demonstrates some features of working with multiple worksheets.
#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML; # Create a new Excel workbook my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new("regions.xls"); # Add some worksheets my $north = $workbook->add_worksheet('North'); my $south = $workbook->add_worksheet('South'); my $east = $workbook->add_worksheet('East'); my $west = $workbook->add_worksheet('West'); # Add a Format my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_bold(); $format->set_color('blue'); # Add a caption to each worksheet foreach my $worksheet ($workbook->sheets()) { $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'Sales', $format); } # Write some data $north->write(0, 1, 200000); $south->write(0, 1, 100000); $east->write (0, 1, 150000); $west->write (0, 1, 100000); # Set the active worksheet $south->activate(); # Set the width of the first column $south->set_column(0, 0, 20); # Set the active cell $south->set_selection(0, 1);
This example shows how to use a conditional numerical format with colours to indicate if a share price has gone up or down.
use strict; use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML; # Create a new workbook and add a worksheet my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new('stocks.xls'); my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet(); # Set the column width for columns 1, 2, 3 and 4 $worksheet->set_column(0, 3, 15); # Create a format for the column headings my $header = $workbook->add_format(); $header->set_bold(); $header->set_size(12); $header->set_color('blue'); # Create a format for the stock price my $f_price = $workbook->add_format(); $f_price->set_align('left'); $f_price->set_num_format('$0.00'); # Create a format for the stock volume my $f_volume = $workbook->add_format(); $f_volume->set_align('left'); $f_volume->set_num_format('#,##0'); # Create a format for the price change. This is an example of a # conditional format. The number is formatted as a percentage. If it is # positive it is formatted in green, if it is negative it is formatted # in red and if it is zero it is formatted as the default font colour # (in this case black). Note: the [Green] format produces an unappealing # lime green. Try [Color 10] instead for a dark green. # my $f_change = $workbook->add_format(); $f_change->set_align('left'); $f_change->set_num_format('[Green]0.0%;[Red]-0.0%;0.0%'); # Write out the data $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'Company',$header); $worksheet->write(0, 1, 'Price', $header); $worksheet->write(0, 2, 'Volume', $header); $worksheet->write(0, 3, 'Change', $header); $worksheet->write(1, 0, 'Damage Inc.' ); $worksheet->write(1, 1, 30.25, $f_price ); # $30.25 $worksheet->write(1, 2, 1234567, $f_volume); # 1,234,567 $worksheet->write(1, 3, 0.085, $f_change); # 8.5% in green $worksheet->write(2, 0, 'Dump Corp.' ); $worksheet->write(2, 1, 1.56, $f_price ); # $1.56 $worksheet->write(2, 2, 7564, $f_volume); # 7,564 $worksheet->write(2, 3, -0.015, $f_change); # -1.5% in red $worksheet->write(3, 0, 'Rev Ltd.' ); $worksheet->write(3, 1, 0.13, $f_price ); # $0.13 $worksheet->write(3, 2, 321, $f_volume); # 321 $worksheet->write(3, 3, 0, $f_change); # 0 in the font color (black)
The following is a simple example of using functions.
#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML; # Create a new workbook and add a worksheet my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new('stats.xls'); my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet('Test data'); # Set the column width for columns 1 $worksheet->set_column(0, 0, 20); # Create a format for the headings my $format = $workbook->add_format(); $format->set_bold(); # Write the sample data $worksheet->write(0, 0, 'Sample', $format); $worksheet->write(0, 1, 1); $worksheet->write(0, 2, 2); $worksheet->write(0, 3, 3); $worksheet->write(0, 4, 4); $worksheet->write(0, 5, 5); $worksheet->write(0, 6, 6); $worksheet->write(0, 7, 7); $worksheet->write(0, 8, 8); $worksheet->write(1, 0, 'Length', $format); $worksheet->write(1, 1, 25.4); $worksheet->write(1, 2, 25.4); $worksheet->write(1, 3, 24.8); $worksheet->write(1, 4, 25.0); $worksheet->write(1, 5, 25.3); $worksheet->write(1, 6, 24.9); $worksheet->write(1, 7, 25.2); $worksheet->write(1, 8, 24.8); # Write some statistical functions $worksheet->write(4, 0, 'Count', $format); $worksheet->write(4, 1, '=COUNT(B1:I1)'); $worksheet->write(5, 0, 'Sum', $format); $worksheet->write(5, 1, '=SUM(B2:I2)'); $worksheet->write(6, 0, 'Average', $format); $worksheet->write(6, 1, '=AVERAGE(B2:I2)'); $worksheet->write(7, 0, 'Min', $format); $worksheet->write(7, 1, '=MIN(B2:I2)'); $worksheet->write(8, 0, 'Max', $format); $worksheet->write(8, 1, '=MAX(B2:I2)'); $worksheet->write(9, 0, 'Standard Deviation', $format); $worksheet->write(9, 1, '=STDEV(B2:I2)'); $worksheet->write(10, 0, 'Kurtosis', $format); $worksheet->write(10, 1, '=KURT(B2:I2)');
The following example converts a tab separated file called tab.txt into an Excel file called tab.xls.
tab.txt
tab.xls
#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; use Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML; open (TABFILE, 'tab.txt') or die "tab.txt: $!"; my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML->new('tab.xls'); my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet(); # Row and column are zero indexed my $row = 0; while (<TABFILE>) { chomp; # Split on single tab my @Fld = split('\t', $_); my $col = 0; foreach my $token (@Fld) { $worksheet->write($row, $col, $token); $col++; } $row++; }
NOTE: This is a simple conversion program for illustrative purposes only. For converting a CSV or Tab separated or any other type of delimited text file to Excel I recommend the more rigorous csv2xls program that is part of H.Merijn Brand's Text::CSV_XS module distro.
See the examples/csv2xls link here: http://search.cpan.org/~hmbrand/Text-CSV_XS/MANIFEST.
The following is a description of the example files that are provided with Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML, in the examples directory of the distribution file. They are intended to demonstrate the different features and options of the module.
Getting started =============== bug_report.pl A template for submitting bug reports. demo.pl Creates a demo of some of the features. formats.pl Creates a demo of the available formatting. regions.pl Demonstrates multiple worksheets. simple.pl An example of some of the basic features. stats.pl Basic formulas and functions. Advanced ======== autofilter.pl Examples of worksheet autofilters. array_formula.pl Examples of how to write array formulas. cgi.pl A simple CGI program. chess.pl An example of formatting using properties. colors.pl Demo of the colour palette and named colours. comments.pl Example of adding comments to cells. copyformat.pl Example of copying a cell format. diag_border.pl A simple example of diagonal cell borders. filehandle.pl Examples of working with filehandles. html_string Example of multiple cell formats via html. hyperlink1.pl Shows how to create web hyperlinks. hyperlink2.pl Examples of internal and external hyperlinks. indent.pl An example of cell indentation. merge1.pl A simple example of cell merging. merge2.pl A simple example of cell merging with formatting. merge3.pl Add hyperlinks to merged cells. merge4.pl An advanced example of merging with formatting. merge5.pl An advanced example of merging with formatting. mod_perl1.pl A simple mod_perl 1 program. mod_perl2.pl A simple mod_perl 2 program. protection.pl Example of cell locking and formula hiding. sales.pl An example of a simple sales spreadsheet. sendmail.pl Send an Excel email attachment using Mail::Sender. stats_ext.pl Same as stats.pl with external references. stocks.pl Demonstrates conditional formatting. textwrap.pl Demonstrates text wrapping options. web_component.pl Create an interactive Excel webpage with IE. write_arrays.pl Example of writing 1D or 2D arrays of data. write_to_scalar.pl Example of writing an Excel file to a Perl scalar. write_handler1.pl Example of extending the write() method. Step 1. write_handler2.pl Example of extending the write() method. Step 2. write_handler3.pl Example of extending the write() method. Step 3. write_handler4.pl Example of extending the write() method. Step 4. Unicode ======= unicode.pl Simple example of using Unicode UTF16 strings. unicode_japan.pl Write Japanese Unicode strings using UTF16. unicode_list.pl List the chars in a Unicode font. unicode_2022_jp.pl Japanese: ISO-2022-JP to utf8 in perl 5.8. unicode_8859_11.pl Thai: ISO-8859_11 to utf8 in perl 5.8. unicode_8859_7.pl Greek: ISO-8859_7 to utf8 in perl 5.8. unicode_big5.pl Chinese: BIG5 to utf8 in perl 5.8. unicode_cp1251.pl Russian: CP1251 to utf8 in perl 5.8. unicode_cp1256.pl Arabic: CP1256 to utf8 in perl 5.8. unicode_koi8r.pl Russian: KOI8-R to utf8 in perl 5.8. unicode_polish_utf8.pl Polish : UTF8 to utf8 in perl 5.8. unicode_shift_jis.pl Japanese: Shift JIS to utf8 in perl 5.8. Utility ======= csv2xls.pl Program to convert a CSV file to an Excel file. datecalc1.pl Convert Unix/Perl time to Excel time. datecalc2.pl Calculate an Excel date using Date::Calc. tab2xls.pl Program to convert a tab separated file to xls. Developer ========= convertA1.pl Helper functions for dealing with A1 notation. writeA1.pl Example of how to extend the module.
The following limits are imposed by Excel:
Description Limit ----------------------------------- ------ Maximum number of chars in a string 32767 Maximum number of columns 16384 Maximum number of rows 1048576 Maximum chars in a sheet name 31 Maximum chars in a header/footer 254
When the use_lower_cell_limits() method is used the columns and row limits are:
Maximum number of columns 256 Maximum number of rows 65536
The latest version of this module is always available at: http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Spreadsheet-WriteExcelXML/.
This module requires Perl 5.005 (or later).
Use the standard Unix style installation, a ppm for Windows users will be available in a later release:
Unzip and untar the module as follows or use winzip: tar -zxvf Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-0.xx.tar.gz The module can be installed using the standard Perl procedure: perl Makefile.PL make make test make install # You may need to be root make clean # or make realclean
Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML should work on any platform that perl runs on.
A filename must be given in the constructor.
The file cannot be opened for writing. The directory that you are writing to may be protected or the file may be in use by another program.
The Excel XML format is described in the SpreadsheetML specification and XML schemas that are part of the Microsoft Office Schemas. See:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=FE118952-3547-420A-A412-00A2662442D9&displaylang=en
Depending on your requirements, background and general sensibilities you may prefer one of the following methods of getting data into Excel:
This module allows creates an Excel in binary format. It uses the same interface as this module but currently has many more features: http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel
Win32::OLE module and office automation
This requires a Windows platform and an installed copy of Excel. This is the most powerful and complete method for interfacing with Excel. See http://www.activestate.com/ASPN/Reference/Products/ActivePerl-5.6/faq/Windows/ActivePerl-Winfaq12.html and http://www.activestate.com/ASPN/Reference/Products/ActivePerl-5.6/site/lib/Win32/OLE.html. If your main platform is UNIX but you have the resources to set up a separate Win32/MSOffice server, you can convert office documents to text, postscript or PDF using Win32::OLE. For a demonstration of how to do this using Perl see Docserver: http://search.cpan.org/search?mode=module&query=docserver.
CSV, comma separated variables or text
If the file extension is csv, Excel will open and convert this format automatically. Generating a valid CSV file isn't as easy as it seems. Have a look at the DBD::RAM, DBD::CSV, Text::xSV and Text::CSV_XS modules.
csv
DBI with DBD::ADO or DBD::ODBC
Excel files contain an internal index table that allows them to act like a database file. Using one of the standard Perl database modules you can connect to an Excel file as a database.
DBD::Excel
You can also access Spreadsheet::WriteExcel using the standard DBI interface via Takanori Kawai's DBD::Excel module http://search.cpan.org/dist/DBD-Excel
Excel::Template
This module allows you to create an Excel file from an XML template in a manner similar to HTML::Template. See http://search.cpan.org/dist/Excel-Template/.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::FromXML
This module allows you to turn a simple XML file into an Excel file using Spreadsheet::WriteExcel as a back-end. The format of the XML file is defined by a supplied DTD: http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-FromXML.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Simple
This provides an easier interface to Spreadsheet::WriteExcel: http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-Simple.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::FromDB
This is a useful module for creating Excel files directly from a DB table: http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-FromDB.
HTML tables
This is an easy way of adding formatting via a text based format.
XML or HTML
The Excel XML and HTML file specification are available from http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/officedev/ofxml2k/ofxml2k.htm.
For other Perl-Excel modules try the following search: http://search.cpan.org/search?mode=module&query=excel.
To read data from Excel files try:
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel
This uses the OLE::Storage-Lite module to extract data from an Excel file. http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel.
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel_XLHTML
This module uses Spreadsheet::ParseExcel's interface but uses xlHtml (see below) to do the conversion: http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel_XLHTML Spreadsheet::ParseExcel_XLHTML
xlHtml
This is an open source "Excel to HTML Converter" C/C++ project at http://chicago.sourceforge.net/xlhtml/.
DBD::Excel (reading)
You can also access Spreadsheet::ParseExcel using the standard DBI interface via Takanori Kawai's DBD::Excel module http://search.cpan.org/dist/DBD-Excel.
Win32::OLE module and office automation (reading)
See, the section "WRITING EXCEL FILES".
HTML tables (reading)
If the files are saved from Excel in a HTML format the data can be accessed using HTML::TableExtract http://search.cpan.org/dist/HTML-TableExtract.
DBI with DBD::ADO or DBD::ODBC.
XML::Excel
Converts Excel files to XML using Spreadsheet::ParseExcel http://search.cpan.org/dist/XML-Excel.
OLE::Storage, aka LAOLA
This is a Perl interface to OLE file formats. In particular, the distro contains an Excel to HTML converter called Herbert, http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~schwartz/pmh/. This has been superseded by the Spreadsheet::ParseExcel module.
If you wish to view Excel files on a UNIX/Linux platform check out the excellent Gnumeric spreadsheet application at http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnumeric/ or OpenOffice.org at http://www.openoffice.org/.
If you wish to view Excel files on a Windows platform which doesn't have Excel installed you can use the free Microsoft Excel Viewer http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/xlviewer.aspx.
Formulas are formulae.
If you wish to submit a bug report run the bug_report.pl program in the examples directory of the distro.
bug_report.pl
The roadmap is as follows:
Catch up with Spreadsheet-WriteExcel.
Add some other autofilter options.
Also, here are some requested features that cannot be added because they aren't included in Excel XML specification:
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML source code in host on github: http://github.com/jmcnamara/spreadsheet-writeexcelxml.
There is a Google group for discussing and asking questions about Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. This is a good place to search to see if your question has been asked before: http://groups.google.com/group/spreadsheet-writeexcel.
If you'd care to donate to the Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML project, you can do so via PayPal: http://tinyurl.com/7ayes.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel: http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Spreadsheet-WriteExcel.
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel: http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Spreadsheet-ParseExcel.
John McNamara jmcnamara@cpan.org
Should poets bicycle-pump the human heart Or squash it flat? Man's love is of man's life a thing apart; Girls aren't like that. We men have got love well weighed up; our stuff Can get by without it. Women don't seem to think that's good enough; They write about it, -- Kingsley Amis
Software programs that read or write files that comply with the Microsoft specifications for the Office Schemas must include the following notice:
"This product may incorporate intellectual property owned by Microsoft Corporation. The terms and conditions upon which Microsoft is licensing such intellectual property may be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odcXMLRef/html/odcXMLRefLegalNotice.asp."
© MM-MMXI, John McNamara.
All Rights Reserved. This module is free software. It may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the same terms as Perl itself.
1 POD Error
The following errors were encountered while parsing the POD:
Non-ASCII character seen before =encoding in '©'. Assuming CP1252
To install Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.
cpanm
cpanm Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML
CPAN shell
perl -MCPAN -e shell install Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML
For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.