- Cell notation
- write($row, $column, $token, $format)
- write_number($row, $column, $number, $format)
- write_string($row, $column, $string, $format)
- write_formula($row, $column, $formula, $format)
- write_blank($row, $column, $format)
- write_url($row, $col, $url, $string, $format)
- activate()
- select()
- set_first_sheet()
- set_selection($first_row, $first_col, $last_row, $last_col);
- set_row($row, $height, $format);
- set_column($first_col, $last_col, $width, $format);
- freeze_panes($row, $col, $top_row, $left_col);
- thaw_panes($y, $x, $top_row, $left_col);
- set_landscape()
- set_portrait()
- set_paper($index)
- center_horizontally()
- center_vertically()
- set_margins($inches)
- set_header($string, $margin)
- set_footer()
LI>copy($format)
- set_font($fontname)
- set_size()
- set_color()
- set_bold()
- set_italic()
- set_underline()
- set_strikeout()
- set_script()
- set_outline()
- set_shadow()
- set_num_format()
- set_align()
- set_merge()
- set_text_wrap()
- set_rotation()
- set_text_justlast()
- set_pattern()
- set_fg_color()
- set_border()
- set_border_color()
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel - Write to a cross-platform Excel binary file.
This document refers to version 0.32 of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel, released May 17, 2001.
To write a string, a formatted string, a number and a formula to the first worksheet in an Excel workbook called perl.xls:
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;
# Create a new Excel workbook
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("perl.xls");
# Add a worksheet
$worksheet = $workbook->addworksheet();
# Add and define a format
$format = $workbook->addformat(); # 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)');
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module can be used to create a cross-platform Excel binary file. Multiple worksheets can be added to a workbook and formatting can be applied to cells. Text, numbers, formulas and hyperlinks can be written to the cells.
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 OpenOffice, Gnumeric and XESS. The generated files are not compatible with MS Access.
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module provides an object oriented interface to a new Excel workbook. The following methods are available through a new workbook.
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.
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::WriteExcel->new('filename.xls');
my $worksheet = $workbook->addworksheet();
$worksheet->write(0, 0, "Hi Excel!");
Here are some other examples of using new() with filenames:
my $workbook1 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new($filename);
my $workbook2 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("/tmp/filename.xls");
my $workbook3 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("c:\\tmp\\filename.xls");
my $workbook4 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->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?.
The new() constructor returns a Spreadsheet::WriteExcel 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.
You can also pass a valid filehandle to the new() constructor. For example in a CGI program you could do something like this:
binmode(STDOUT);
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new(\*STDOUT);
The requirement for binmode() is explained below.
For CGI programs you can also use the special Perl filename '-' which will redirect the output to STDOUT:
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new('-');
See also, the cgi.pl program in the examples directory of the distro. However, this special case will not work in mod_perl programs where you will have to do something like the following:
tie *XLS, 'Apache';
binmode(XLS);
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new(\*XLS);
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 tied scalar. For some
examples of using filehandles with Spreadsheet::WriteExcel see the filehandle.pl program in the examples directory of the distro.
Note about the requirement for binmode(): An Excel file is comprised of binary data. Therefore, if you are using a
filehandle you should ensure that you binmode() it prior to passing it to new().You should do this regardless of whether your platform requires it or not.
For more information about binmode() see perlfunc and perlopentut in the main Perl documentation. It is equally important to note that you do
not need to binmode() a filename. In fact it would cause an error. Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
performs the binmode() internally when it converts the filename to a filehandle.
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 or reading its size.
In addition, close() may be required if the scope of the Workbook, Worksheet or Format objects
cannot be determined by perl. Situations where this can occur are:
The reason for this is that Spreadsheet::WriteExcel relies on Perl's DESTROY mechanism to trigger destructor methods in a specific sequence. This will
not happen if the scope of the variables cannot be determined.
In general, if you create a file with a size of 0 bytes you need to call close().
At least one worksheet should be added to a new workbook. A worksheet is used to write data into cells:
$worksheet1 = $workbook->addworksheet(); # Sheet1
$worksheet2 = $workbook->addworksheet('Foglio2'); # Foglio2
$worksheet3 = $workbook->addworksheet('Data'); # Data
$worksheet4 = $workbook->addworksheet(); # Sheet4
If $sheetname is not specified the default Excel convention will be followed, i.e.
Sheet1, Sheet2, etc.
The addformat() method can be used to create new Format objects which are used to apply
formatting to a cell:
$format1 = $workbook->addformat();
$format2 = $workbook->addformat();
See the FORMAT METHODS section for details.
The worksheets() method returns a reference to the array of worksheets in a workbook. This
can be useful if you want to repeat an operation on each worksheet in a
workbook or if you wish to refer to a worksheet by its index:
foreach $worksheet (@{$workbook->worksheets()}) {
$worksheet->write(0, 0, "Hello");
}
# or:
$worksheets = $workbook->worksheets();
@$worksheets[0]->write(0, 0, "Hello");
References are explained in detail in perlref and perlreftut in the main Perl documentation.
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::WriteExcel 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.
In general you probably won't need to use set_1904().
The following methods are available through a new worksheet. A new
worksheet is created by calling the addworksheet() method from a workbook object:
$worksheet1 = $workbook->addworksheet();
$worksheet2 = $workbook->addworksheet();
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel 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', '=H7+1');
In the examples directory of the distro there is a program called convertA1.pl which contains helper functions for dealing with A1 notation.
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.
The write() method is a general alias for one of several methods of writing to a cell
in Excel. write() calls one of the following methods depending on the value of $token:
write_number() if $token is a number based on the following regex: $token =~ /^([+-]?)(?=\d|\.\d)\d*(\.\d*)?([Ee]([+-]?\d+))?$/.
write_blank() if $token is a blank string: "" or ''.
write_url() if $token is a http, ftp or mailto URL based on the following regexes: $token =~ m|^[fh]tt?p://| or $token =~ m|^mailto:|.
write_formula() if the first character of $token is "=".
write_string() if none of the previous conditions apply.
Here are some examples in both row-column and A1 notation:
$worksheet->write(0, 0, "Hello" ); # write_string()
$worksheet->write('A2', 'One' ); # write_string()
$worksheet->write(2, 0, 2 ); # write_number()
$worksheet->write('A4', 3.00001 ); # write_number()
$worksheet->write(4, 0, "" ); # write_blank()
$worksheet->write('A6', '' ); # write_blank()
$worksheet->write(6, 0, 'http://www.perl.com/' ); # write_url()
$worksheet->write('A8', 'ftp://ftp.cpan.org/' ); # write_url()
$worksheet->write(8, 0, '=A3 + 3*A4' ); # write_formula()
$worksheet->write('A10', '=SIN(PI()/4)' ); # write_formula()
The $format argument is optional. It should be a valid Format object, see FORMAT METHODS:
my $format = $workbook->addformat();
$format->set_bold();
$format->set_color('red');
$format->set_align('center');
$worksheet->write(4, 0, "Hello", $format ); # Formatted string
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 an integer or a float to the cell specified by $row and $column:
$worksheet->write_number(0, 0, 1 );
$worksheet->write_number('A2', 2.3451);
See the note about Cell notation. The $format argument is optional.
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" );
See the note about Cell notation. The maximum string size is 255 characters. The $format argument is optional.
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")');
See the note about Cell notation. For more information about writing Excel formulas see FORMULAS AND FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL
Write a blank cell specified by $row and $column:
$worksheet->write_blank(0, 0, $format);
See the note about Cell notation. This method is useful for adding formatting to a cell which doesn't contain a string or number value.
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 alternative $string and the $format are optional.
$worksheet->write_url(0, 0, 'http://www.perl.com/' );
$worksheet->write_url(1, 0, 'http://www.perl.com/', 'Perl home' );
$worksheet->write_url(2, 0, 'http://www.perl.com/', undef, $format);
$worksheet->write_url(3, 0, 'mailto:jmcnamara@cpan.org' );
The label is written using the write_string() method. Therefore the 255 characters string limit applies to the label: the
URL can be any length. Use undef if you wish to specify a format without specifying an alternative
string.See the note about Cell notation.
Note: Hyperlinks are not available in Excel 5. They will appear as a string only.
The activate() method is used to specify which worksheet is initially visible in a
multi-sheet workbook:
$worksheet1 = $workbook->addworksheet('To');
$worksheet2 = $workbook->addworksheet('the');
$worksheet3 = $workbook->addworksheet('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.
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 a 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():
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.
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 are not required. 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.
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 is (0, 0), 'A1'.
This method can be used to specify the height of a row. The $format argument is optional, for additional information, see FORMAT METHODS.
$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);
This method can be used to specify the width of a single column or a range
of columns. If the method is applied to a single column the value of $first_col and $last_col should be the same. It is also possible to specify a column range using the
form of A1 notation used for columns. See the note about Cell notation.
Examples:
$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. The $format argument is optional, for additional information, see FORMAT METHODS.
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);
Unfortunately, there is no way to specify "AutoFit" for a column in the Excel file format. This feature is only available at runtime from within Excel.
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 the same as the "Window->Freeze Panes" menu command in Excel
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.
You can set one of the $row and $col parameters as zero if you do not want either a vertical or horizontal
split.
Examples:
$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 the 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:
$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.
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.
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.
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->thaw_panes(12.75, 0, 1, 0); # First row
$worksheet->thaw_panes(0, 8.43, 0, 1); # First column
$worksheet->thaw_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.
Page setup methods affect the way that a worksheet will look 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.
Not all of Excel's page setup options are available in this release but they will be added in subsequent releases.
A common requirement when working with Spreadsheet::WriteExcel is to apply
the same page setup features to all of the worksheets in a workbook. To do
this you can use the the worksheets() method of the workbook class to access the array of worksheets in a workbook:
foreach $worksheet (@{$workbook->worksheets()}) {
$worksheet->$worksheet->set_orientation(0);
}
This method is used to set the orientation of a worksheet's printed page to landscape:
$worksheet->set_orientation(); # 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 generally won't 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.
If you do not specify a paper type the worksheet will print using the printer's default paper.
$worksheet->set_paper(1); # US Letter
$worksheet->set_paper(9); # A4
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.
The available control character are:
Control Type 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
&fontsize Font Font size
&"fontname,style" Font name and style
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.
For example (with ASCII art representation of the results):
$worksheet->set_header('&LHello');
---------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Hello |
| |
$worksheet->set_header('&CHello');
---------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Hello |
| |
$worksheet->set_header('&RHello');
---------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Hello |
| |
If you do not specify any justification the text will be centered:
$worksheet->set_header('Hello');
---------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Hello |
| |
You can also 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('Page &P of &N');
---------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Page 1 of 6 |
| |
$worksheet->set_header('Updated 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:
$worksheet->set_header('&20Big Hello');
$worksheet->set_header('&6Small Hello');
You can specify the font of a section of the text by prefixing it with the
control sequence &"fontname,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":
$worksheet1->set_header('&"Courier New,Italic"Hello');
$worksheet2->set_header('&"Courier New,Bold Italic"Hello');
$worksheet3->set_header('&"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 setup as a macro in Excel and
look at the format strings that VBA produces. Remember however that VBA
uses a double double quote "" 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 = ""
The header or footer string must be less than 255 characters.
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);
Note, the header and footer margins are independent of the top and bottom margins.
See the set_header() section above.
This section describes the methods that are available through a Format
object. Format objects are created by calling the workbook addformat() method as follows:
my $heading1 = $workbook->addformat();
my $heading2 = $workbook->addformat();
The format object holds all the formatting properties that can be applied to a cell, a row or a column. The following table shows the Excel format categories, the formatting properties that can be applied and the relevant object method to do so:
Category Property Method Name
-------- -------- -----------
Font Font type set_font()
Font size set_size()
Font color set_color()
Bold set_bold()
Italic set_italic()
Underline set_underline()
Strikeout set_font_strikeout()
Super/Subscript set_font_script()
Outline set_font_outline()
Shadow set_font_shadow()
Number Numeric format set_num_format()
Alignment Horizontal align set_align()
Vertical align set_align()
Rotation set_rotation()
Text wrap set_text_wrap()
Justify last set_text_justlast()
Merge set_merge()
Pattern Cell pattern set_pattern()
Background color set_bg_color()
Foreground color set_fg_color()
Border Cell border set_border()
Bottom border set_bottom()
Top border set_top()
Left border set_left()
Right border set_right()
Border color set_border_color()
Bottom color set_bottom_color()
Top color set_top_color()
Left color set_left_color()
Right color set_right_color()
The default format is Arial 10 with all other properties off. In general a method call without an argument will turn a property on, for example:
my $format1 = $workbook->addformat();
$format1->set_bold(); # Turns bold on
$format1->set_bold(1); # Also turns bold on
$format1->set_bold(0); # Turns bold off
More than one property can be applied to a format:
my $format2 = $workbook->addformat();
$format2->set_bold();
$format2->set_italic();
$format2->set_color('red');
Once a Format object has been constructed 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.
$worksheet->set_row(0, 15, $format);
$worksheet->set_column(0, 0, 15, $format);
However, the set_row() and set_column() methods will not set the format for individual cells written by WriteExcel,
they only have an effect on cells written after the workbook is opened in
Excel.
It is important to understand that a Format is applied to a cell not in its current state but in its final state. Consider the following example:
my $format = $workbook->addformat();
$format->set_bold();
$format->set_color('red');
$worksheet->write(0, 0, "Cell A1", $format);
$format->set_color('green');
$worksheet->write(0, 1, "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.
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 WriteExcel distribution. This program creates an Excel
workbook called formats.xls which contains examples of almost all the format types.
This is the only method of a Format object that doesn't apply directly to a property. It is used to copy all of the properties from one Format object to another:
my $lorry1 = $workbook->addformat();
$lorry1->set_bold();
$lorry1->set_italic();
$lorry1->set_color('red'); # lorry1 is bold, italic and red
my $lorry2 = $workbook->addformat();
$lorry2->copy($lorry1);
$lorry2->set_color('yellow'); # lorry2 is bold, italic and yellow
This can be useful when you are setting up several complex but similar formats. It is also useful if you want to use a format in more than one workbook:
# Create the workbooks
my $workbook1 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("workbook1.xls");
my $workbook2 = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("workbook2.xls");
my $worksheet1 = $workbook->addworksheet();
my $worksheet2 = $workbook->addworksheet();
my $format1 = $workbook->addformat();
my $format2 = $workbook->addformat();
# Create a global format object that isn't tied to a workbook
my $global = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Format->new();
$global->set_color('blue');
# Copy the global format properties to the worksheet formats
$format1->copy($global);
$format2->copy($global);
Note: this is not a copy constructor, both objects must exist prior to copying.
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->addformat();
$format->set_size(30);
Default state: Excels default color, usually black
Default action: Set the default color
Valid args: Integers form 8..63 or the following strings:
'aqua'
'black'
'blue'
'fuchsia'
'gray'
'green'
'lime'
'navy'
'orange'
'purple'
'red'
'silver'
'white'
'yellow'
Set the font colour. The set_color() method is used as follows:
my $format = $workbook->addformat();
$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_fg_color() and set_pattern() methods.
For additional examples see the 'Named colors' and 'Standard colors' worksheets created by formats.pl
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.
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.
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
Macintosh only.
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->addformat();
my $format2 = $workbook->addformat();
$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
$format05->set_num_format('£0.00');
$worksheet->write(4, 0, 49.99, $format05); # £49.99
$format06->set_num_format('¥0.00');
$worksheet->write(5, 0, 49.99, $format06); # ¥49.99
$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, $format12); # = 0 Default colour
The colour format should have one of the following values:
[Black] [Blue] [Cyan] [Green] [Magenta] [Red] [White] [Yellow]
Alternatively you can specify the colour based on a colour index as
follows: [Color n], where n is a standard Excel colour index - 7. See the 'Standard colors'
worksheet created by formats.pl.
For more information refer to the documentation on formatting in the doc directory of the Spreadsheet::WriteExcel distro, the Excel on-line help or
to the tutorial at: http://support.microsoft.com/support/Excel/Content/Formats/default.asp
and http://support.microsoft.com/support/Excel/Content/Formats/codes.asp
You should ensure that the format string is valid in Excel prior to using it in WriteExcel.
One of the most common uses of the set_num_format() is to format a number as a date. Excel stores dates as a real number where
the integer part of the number stores the number of days since the epoch
and the fractional part stores the percentage of the day. The epoch can be
either 1900 or 1904. Excel for Windows uses 1900 and Excel for Macintosh
uses 1904. However, Excel on either platform will convert automatically
between one system and the other. For an example of how to convert between
UNIX/Perl time and Excel time have a look at the ms_time.pl program in the examples directory of the WriteExcel distribution.
Excel's built-in formats are shown in the following table:
Index Index Format String
0 0x00 General
1 0x01 0
2 0x02 0.00
3 0x03 #,##0
4 0x04 #,##0.00
5 0x05 ($#,##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.
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: Alignment is off
Default action: Left alignment
Valid args: 'left' Horizontal
'center'
'right'
'fill'
'justify'
'merge'
'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->addformat();
$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 merge property. See also, the set_merge() method.
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.
For further examples see the 'Alignment' worksheet created by formats.pl.
Default state: Cell merging is off
Default action: Turn cell merging on
Valid args: 1
Text can be aligned across two or more adjacent cells using the set_merge() method. This is an alias for the unintuitive set_align('merge') method call.
Only one cell should contain the text, the other cells should be blank:
my $format = $workbook->addformat();
$format->set_merge();
$worksheet->write(1, 1, 'Merged cells', $format);
$worksheet->write_blank(1, 2, $format);
See also the merge1.pl and merge2.pl programs in the examples directory.
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:
my $format = $workbook->addformat();
$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.
Default state: Text rotation is off
Default action: Rotation style 1
Valid args: 0 No rotation
1 Letters run from top to bottom
2 90° anticlockwise
3 90° clockwise
Set the rotation of the text in a cell. See the 'Alignment' worksheet created by formats.pl.
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 .. 31
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 foreground color.
Also applies to: set_bg_color
Default state: Color is off
Default action: Undefined
Valid args: See set_color()
Note, the foreground and background colours will only have an effect if the cell pattern has been set. In the most common case you can specify the solid fill pattern and the foreground colour as follows:
my $format = $workbook->addformat();
$format->set_pattern(); # Set pattern to 1, i.e. solid fill
$format->set_fg_color('green'); # Note foreground and not background
$worksheet->write(0, 0, "Ray", $format);
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.
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.
The first thing to note is that there are still some outstanding issues with the implementation of formulas and functions:
* Writing a formula is much slower than writing the equivalent string.
* Unary minus isn't supported.
* You cannot use arrays constants, i.e. {1;2;3}, in functions.
* You cannot use embedded double quotes in strings.
* Whitespace is not preserved around operators.
However, these 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::WriteExcel.
A formula is a string that begins with an equal sign:
'=A1+B1'
'=AVERAGE(1, 2, 3)'
The formula can contain numbers, strings, boolean values, cell references, cell ranges and functions. 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
IV i.e. 0 to 255, rows range from 1 to 16384. In the examples directory of the distro there is program called convertA1.pl which contains functions to help you work with this system.
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 and the cell reference are separated by ! the exclamation mark symbol. If worksheet names contain spaces then Excel
requires them to be enclosed in single quotes as in the last two examples
above. In this case you will have to 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 addworksheet() 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) # Not yet supported
% Percent (Not modulus) 13% # Not supported, [1]
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!" # [2]
Reference operators:
====================
Operator Meaning Example
: Range operator A1:A4 # [3]
, Union operator SUM(1, 2+2, B3) # [4]
Notes:
[1]: You can get a percentage with formatting and modulus with MOD().
[2]: Equivalent to ("Hello " . "World!") in Perl.
[3]: This range is equivalent to cells A1, A2, A3 and A4.
[4]: 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::WriteExcel.
The following table lists all of the core functions supported by Excel 5 and Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. 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
You can also modify the module to support function names in the following
languages: German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Finnish, Italian and
Swedish. See the function_locale.pl program in the examples directory of the distro.
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/officedev/office97/s992f.htm
If your formula doesn't work in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel try the following:
1. Verify that the formula works in Excel (or Gnumeric or OpenOffice).
2. Ensure that it isn't on the TODO list at the start of this section.
3. Ensure that cell references and formula names are in uppercase.
4. Ensure that you are using the U.S. style range and union operators.
5. Ensure the function is in the above table.
If you go through steps 1-5 and you still have a problem, mail me.
There are additional examples in the examples directory of the Spreadsheet::WriteExcel distro.
The following example shows some of the basic features of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;
# Create a new workbook called simple.xls and add a worksheet
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("simple.xls");
my $worksheet = $workbook->addworksheet();
# The general syntax is write($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::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 Format
my $format = $workbook->addformat();
$format->set_bold();
$format->set_color('blue');
# Add a caption to each worksheet
foreach my $worksheet (@{$workbook->worksheets()}) {
$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::WriteExcel;
# Create a new workbook and add a worksheet
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("stocks.xls");
my $worksheet = $workbook->addworksheet();
# 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->addformat();
$header->set_bold();
$header->set_size(12);
$header->set_color('blue');
# Create a format for the stock price
my $f_price = $workbook->addformat();
$f_price->set_align('left');
$f_price->set_num_format('$0.00');
# Create a format for the stock volume
my $f_volume = $workbook->addformat();
$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->addformat();
$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::WriteExcel;
# Create a new workbook and add a worksheet
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new("stats.xls");
my $worksheet = $workbook->addworksheet('Test data');
# Set the column width for columns 1
$worksheet->set_column(0, 0, 20);
# Create a format for the headings
my $format = $workbook->addformat();
$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.
#!/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++;
}
The following limits are imposed by Excel or the version of the BIFF file that 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 16384 Excel 5
Maximum number of rows in Excel 97 65536 Excel 97
Note: the maximum row reference in a formula is the Excel 5 row limit of 16384.
The minimum file size is 6K due to the OLE overhead. The maximum file size
is approximately 7MB (7087104 bytes) of BIFF data. This can be extended by
using Takanori Kawai's OLE::Storage_Lite module http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=OLE-Storage_Lite
see the bigfile.pl example in the examples directory of the distro.
This module requires Perl 5.005 (or later) and Parse::RecDescent: http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Parse-RecDescent
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.pm will work on the majority of Windows, UNIX and Macintosh platforms. Specifically, the module will work on any system where perl packs floats in the 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. You can check which platforms the module has been tested on at the
CPAN testers site: http://testers.cpan.org/search?request=dist&dist=Spreadsheet-WriteExcel
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.
Operating system doesn't support 64 bit IEEE float or it is byte-ordered in a way unknown to WriteExcel.
This is a -w warning. You will see it if you are using Spreadsheet::WriteExcel in an
environment where temporary files cannot be created, in which case all data
will be stored in memory. The warning is for information only: it does not
affect execution but it may affect the speed of execution for large files.
The current OLE implementation only supports a maximum BIFF file of this size. This limit can be extended, see the LIMITATIONS section.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel requires the Parse::RecDescent module. Download it from CPAN: http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Parse-RecDescent
There are a large number of warnings which relate to badly formed formulas and functions. See the FORMULAS AND FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL section for suggestions on how to avoid these errors.
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. An older version of the BIFF documentation is available at http://www.cubic.org/source/archive/fileform/misc/excel.txt
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 that have different functions and that 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.
For a open source implementation of the OLE library see the 'cole' library at http://atena.com/libole2.php
The source code for the Excel plugin of the Gnumeric spreadsheet also contains information relevant to the Excel BIFF format and the OLE container, http://www.gnumeric.org/gnumeric
In addition the source code for OpenOffice is available at http://www.openoffice.org/
An article describing Spreadsheet::WriteExcel and how it works appears in
Issue #19 of The Perl Journal, http://www.tpj.com/ It is reproduced, by
kind permission, in the doc directory of the distro.
Please note that 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. ;-)
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. Generating a valid
CSV file isn't as easy as it seems. Have a look at the DBD::RAM, DBD::CSV
and Text::CSV_XS modules.
* 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.
* DBI::Excel, you can also access Spreadsheet::WriteExcel using the standard DBI interface via Kawai Takanori's DBI::Excel module http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=DBI-Excel.
* 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
* HTML tables. This is an easy way of adding formatting.
* XML, the Excel XML and HTML file specification are available from http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/officedev/ofxml2k/ofxml2k.htm
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/search?dist=Spreadsheet-ParseExcel
* 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. There is also an open source C/C++ project based on the LAOLA work. Try the Filters Project http://atena.com/libole2.php and the Excel to HTML converter at the xlHtml Project http://www.xlhtml.org/
* 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 with DBD::ADO or DBD::ODBC. See, the section WRITING EXCEL FILES.
* DBI::Excel, you can also access Spreadsheet::ParseExcel using the standard DBI interface via Kawai Takanori's DBI::Excel module http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=DBI-Excel.
* XML::Excel converts Excel files to XML using Spreadsheet::ParseExcel http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=XML-Excel.
* Win32::OLE module and office automation. See, the section WRITING EXCEL FILES.
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 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://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/downloaddetails/xlviewer.htm
Orange isn't.
Formulas are formulae.
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel: All formulas created by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel are read as having a value of zero. This is because Spreadsheet::WriteExcel only stores the formula and not the calculated result.
OpenOffice: Numerical formats are not displayed due to some missing records in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. Someone with a good knowledge of C++, and possibly of German, might help me to track this down in the OpenOffice source. URLs are not displayed as links.
Gnumeric: Some formatting is not displayed correctly. URLs are not displayed as links.
MS Access: The Excel files that are produced by this module are not compatible with MS Access. Use DBI or ODBC instead.
QuickView: If you wish to write files that are fully compatible with QuickView it is necessary to write the cells in a sequential row by row order.
The lack of a portable way of writing a little-endian 64 bit IEEE float.
The roadmap is as follows:
Also, here are some of the most requested features that probably won't get added:
If there is some feature of an Excel file that you really, really need then you should use Win32::OLE with Excel on Windows. If you are on Unix, then set up a Windows server and use SOAP or CORBA or get your clients to use Gnumeric, it's better than Excel anyway.
The following people contributed to the debugging and testing of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel:
Alexander Farber, Arthur@ais, Artur Silveira da Cunha, Borgar Olsen, Cedric Bouvier, CPAN testers, Daniel Berger, Daniel Gardner, Harold Bamford, James Holmes, Johan Ekenberg, J.C. Wren, Kenneth Stacey, Michael Buschauer, Mike Blazer, Paul J. Falbe, Paul Medynski, Peter Dintelmann, Rich Sorden, Shane Ashby, Shenyu Zheng.
The following people contributed code or examples:
Andrew Benham, Bill Young, Marco Geri, Sam Kington, Takanori Kawai, Tom O'Sullivan.
Additional thanks to Takanori Kawai for translating the documentation into Japanese: http://member.nifty.ne.jp/hippo2000/perltips/Spreadsheet/WriteExcel.htm
Thanks to Damian Conway for the excellent Parse::RecDescent. Thanks to Michael Meeks for his work on Gnumeric.
John McNamara jmcnamara@cpan.org
Waking up from bad dreams and smoking cigarettes
Cuddling a warm girl and smelling stale perfume
A hot summer's day, and sticky black tarmac
Feeding ducks in the park, and wishing you were far away
That's entertainment
Two lovers kissing amongst the scream of midnight
Two lovers missing the tranquility of solitude
Getting a cab and travelling on buses
Reading the graffiti about slash-seat affairs
That's entertainment.
--Paul Weller
© MM-MMI, 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.