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Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-0.20
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/ Spreadsheet::WriteExcel

NAME

Spreadsheet::WriteExcel - Write text and numbers to a cross-platform Excel binary file.

VERSION

This document refers to version 0.20 of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel, released August 27, 2000.

SYNOPSIS

To write a string and a number to the first worksheet in an Excel workbook called perl.xls:

    use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;

    $row1 = $col1 = 0;
    $row2 = 1;

    my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("perl.xls");
    $worksheet  = $workbook->addworksheet();

    $worksheet->write($row1, $col1, "Hi Excel!");
    $worksheet->write($row2, $col1, 1.2345);

DESCRIPTION

The Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module can be used to write numbers and text in the native Excel binary file format. Multiple worksheets can be added to a workbook. Formatting of cells is not yet supported.

The Excel file produced by this module is compatible with Excel 5, 95, 97 and 2000.

The module will work on the majority of Windows, UNIX and Macintosh platforms. Generated files are also compatible with the Linux/UNIX spreadsheet applications Star Office, Gnumeric and XESS.

WORKBOOK METHODS

The Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module provides an object oriented interface to a new Excel workbook.The following methods are available through to a new workbook.

new()

A new Excel workbook is created using the new() constructor as follows:

    my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("filename.xls");

Note my is required to allocate a new workbook regardless of whether the strict pragma is in operation or not.

You can redirect the output to STDOUT using the special Perl filehandle "-". This can be useful for CGIs which have a Content-type of application/vnd.ms-excel, for example:

    #!/usr/bin/perl -w

    use strict;
    use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;

    print "Content-type: application/vnd.ms-excel\n\n";

    my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("-");
    $workbook->write(0, 0, "Hi Excel!");

addworksheet($sheetname)

At least one worksheet should be added to a new workbook:

    $worksheet1 = $workbook->addworksheet();
    $worksheet2 = $workbook->addworksheet('Foglio2');
    $worksheet3 = $workbook->addworksheet('Data');

If $sheetname is not specified the default Excel convention will be followed, i.e. Sheet1, Sheet2, etc.

close()

The close() method can be called to explicitly close an Excel file. Otherwise the file will be closed automatically when the object reference goes out of scope or the program ends.

    $workbook->close();

It is generally only necessary to explicitly close a file if you want to perform some other operation on it such as copying it or checking its size.

worksheets[]

A workbook also exposes the array of worksheets it contains: {worksheets}[]. This can be useful in situations where you want to repeat an operation on each worksheet in a workbook or where you wish to refer to a worksheet by its index:

    foreach my $worksheet (@{$workbook->{worksheets}}) {
       $worksheet->write(0, 0, "Hello");
    }

    $workbook->{worksheets}[1]->write(0, 0, "Hello");

WORKSHEET METHODS

The following methods are available through to a new worksheet.

write($row, $column, $token)

The write() method calls write_number() if $token matches the following regex:

    $token =~ /^([+-]?)(?=\d|\.\d)\d*(\.\d*)?([Ee]([+-]?\d+))?$/

Otherwise it calls write_string():

    $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()

It should be noted $row and $column are zero indexed cell locations for the write* methods. Thus, Cell A1 is (0,0) and Cell AD2000 is (1999,29). Cells can be written to in any order. They can also be overwritten.

The write* methods return:

    0 for success
   -1 for insufficient number of arguments
   -2 for row or column out of bounds
   -3 for string too long.

write_number($row, $column, $number)

Write an integer or a float to the cell specified by $row and $column:

    $worksheet->write_number(0, 0,  1     );
    $worksheet->write_number(1, 0,  2.3451);

write_string($row, $column, $string)

Write a string to the cell specified by $row and $column:

    $worksheet->write_string(0, 0, "Your text here" );

The maximum string size is 255 characters.

activate()

In a multi-sheet workbook you can specify which worksheet is initially selected using the activate() method:

    $worksheet1 = $workbook->addworksheet('To');
    $worksheet2 = $workbook->addworksheet('the');
    $worksheet3 = $workbook->addworksheet('wind');

    $worksheet3->activate();

This is similar to the Excel VBA activate method. The default value is the first worksheet.

set_first_sheet()

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 the set_first_sheet():

    for (1..20) {
        $workbook->addworksheet;
    }

    $worksheet21 = $workbook->addworksheet();
    $worksheet22 = $workbook->addworksheet();

    $worksheet21->set_first_sheet();
    $worksheet22->activate();

This method is not required very often. The default value is the first worksheet.

EXAMPLES

The following is a general example which demonstrates most of the features of the Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module:

    #!/usr/bin/perl -w

    use strict;
    use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;

    # Create a new Excel workbook
    my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("regions.xls");

    # Add some worksheets
    my $north = $workbook->addworksheet("North");
    my $south = $workbook->addworksheet("South");
    my $east  = $workbook->addworksheet("East");
    my $west  = $workbook->addworksheet("West");

    # Add a caption to each worksheet
    foreach my $worksheet (@{$workbook->{worksheets}}) {
       $worksheet->write(0, 0, "Sales");
    }

    # 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();

The following example converts a tab separated file called tab.txt into an Excel file called tab.xls.

    #!/usr/bin/perl -w

    use strict;
    use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;

    open (TABFILE, "tab.txt") or die "tab.txt: $!";

    my $workbook  = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("tab.xls");
    my $worksheet = $workbook->addworksheet();

    # 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++;
    }

LIMITATIONS

The following limits are imposed by Excel or the version of the BIFF file has been implemented:

    Description                          Limit   Source
    -----------------------------------  ------  -------
    Maximum number of chars in a string  255     Excel 5
    Maximum number of columns            256     Excel 5, 97
    Maximum number of rows in Excel 5    16,384  Excel 5
    Maximum number of rows in Excel 97   65,536  Excel 97

The minimum file size is 6K due to the OLE overhead. The maximum file size is approximately 7MB (7087104 bytes) of BIFF data.

PORTABILITY

WriteExcel.pm will only work on systems where perl packs floats in 64 bit IEEE format. The float must also be in little-endian format but WriteExcel.pm will reverse it as necessary. Thus:

    print join(" ", map { sprintf "%#02x", $_ } unpack("C*", pack "d", 1.2345)), "\n";

should give (or in reverse order):

    0x8d 0x97 0x6e 0x12 0x83 0xc0 0xf3 0x3f

In general, if you don't know whether your system supports a 64 bit IEEE float or not, it probably does. If your system doesn't WriteExcel will croak() with the message given in the Diagnostics section.

DIAGNOSTICS

Filename required in WriteExcel('Filename')

A filename must be given in the constructor.

Can't open filename. It may be in use by Excel.

The file cannot be opened for writing. It may be protected or already in use.

Required floating point format not supported on this platform.

Operating system doesn't support 64 bit IEEE float or it is byte-ordered in a way unknown to WriteExcel.

Maximum file size, 7087104, exceeded.

The current OLE implementation only supports a maximum BIFF file of this size.

THE EXCEL BINARY FORMAT

Excel data is stored in the "Binary Interchange File Format" (BIFF) file format. Details of this format are given in the Excel SDK, the "Excel Developer's Kit" from Microsoft Press. It is also included in the MSDN CD library but is no longer available on the MSDN website. Issues relating to the Excel SDK are discussed, occasionally, at news://microsoft.public.excel.sdk

The BIFF portion of the Excel file is comprised of contiguous binary records have different functions and hold different types of data. Each BIFF record is comprised of the following three parts:

        Record name;   Hex identifier, length = 2 bytes
        Record length; Length of following data, length = 2 bytes
        Record data;   Data, length = variable

The BIFF data is stored along with other data in an OLE Compound File. This is a structured storage which acts like a file system within a file. A Compound File is comprised of storages and streams which, to follow the file system analogy, are like directories and files.

The documentation for the OLE::Storage module, http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~schwartz/pmh/guide.html , contains one of the few descriptions of the OLE Compound File in the public domain. Another useful source is the filters project http://arturo.directmail.org/filtersweb/ .The source code of the Excel plugin for the Gnumeric spreadsheet also contains information relevant to the Excel BIFF format and the OLE container, http://www.gnumeric.org/ .

Please note the provision of this information does not constitute an invitation to start hacking at the BIFF or OLE file formats. There are more interesting ways to waste your time. ;)

WRITING EXCEL FILES

Depending on your requirements, background and general sensibilities you may prefer one of the following methods of getting data into Excel:

* CSV, comma separated variables or text. If the file extension is csv, Excel will open and convert this format automatically.

* HTML tables. This is an easy way of adding formatting.

* DBI, ADO or ODBC. Connect to an Excel file as a database.

* Win32::OLE module and office automation. This requires a Windows platform and an installed copy of Excel. However, it is easy to use and gives access to the complete range of Excel's features such as: multiple worksheets, charts, cell formatting, macros and the built-in functions. See http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/docs/faq/Windows/ActivePerl-Winfaq12.html and http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/docs/site/lib/Win32/OLE.html

READING EXCEL FILES

Despite the title of this module the most commonly asked questions are in relation to reading Excel files. To read data from Excel files try:

* HTML tables. If the files are saved from Excel in a HTML format the data can be accessed using HTML::TableExtract http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=HTML-TableExtract

* DBI, ADO or ODBC. Connect to an Excel file as a database.

* 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/ There is also an open source C/C++ project based on the LAOLA work. Try the Filters Project at http://arturo.directmail.org/filtersweb/ and the xlHtml Project at http://www.xlhtml.org/ The xlHtml filter is more complete than Herbert.

* 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/Products/ActivePerl/docs/faq/Windows/ActivePerl-Winfaq12.html and http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/docs/site/lib/Win32/OLE.html

Also, if you wish to view Excel files on Windows platforms which don't have Excel installed you can use the free Microsoft Excel Viewer http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloadDetails/xlviewer.htm

BUGS

The lack of a portable way of writing a little-endian 64 bit IEEE float.

QuickView: If you wish to write files are fully compatible with QuickView it is necessary to write the cells in a sequential row by row order.

TO DO

This module will be extended to include the following, probably in this order:

    Cell and font formatting
    Row and column formatting
    Unlimited file size
    Document summary information
    Formulas (maybe)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The following people contributed to the debugging and testing of WriteExcel.pm:

Arthur@ais, Michael Buschauer, Mike Blazer, CPAN testers, Johan Ekenberg, Paul J. Falbe, Daniel Gardner, Artur Silveira da Cunha, John Wren.

AUTHOR

John McNamara jmcnamara@cpan.org

        I have eaten
        the plums
        were in
        the icebox

        and which
        you were probably
        saving
        for breakfast

        Forgive me
        they were delicious
        so sweet
        and so cold

        - William Carlos Williams

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2000, 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.