Spreadsheet::WriteExceUser Contributed Perl DocumentSpreadsheet::WriteExcel(3)NAMESpreadsheet::WriteExcel - Write to a cross-platform Excel binary file.
VERSION
This document refers to version 2.37 of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel,
released February 2, 2010.
SYNOPSIS
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->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)');
DESCRIPTION
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcel Perl 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, hyperlinks, images and charts can be written to the cells.
The file produced by this module is compatible with Excel 97, 2000,
2002, 2003 and 2007.
The module will work on the majority of Windows, UNIX and Mac
platforms. Generated files are also compatible with the Linux/UNIX
spreadsheet applications Gnumeric and OpenOffice.org.
This module cannot be used to write to an existing Excel file (See
"MODIFYING AND REWRITING EXCEL FILES").
QUICK STARTSpreadsheet::WriteExcel 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()".
2. Add a worksheet to the new workbook using "add_worksheet()".
3. Write to the worksheet using "write()".
Like this:
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel; # Step 0
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->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 80 examples that come with the
distribution and which you can use to get you started. See EXAMPLES.
Those of you who read the instructions first and assemble the furniture
afterwards will know how to proceed. ;-)
WORKBOOK METHODS
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module provides an object oriented
interface to a new Excel workbook. The following methods are available
through a new workbook.
new()add_worksheet()add_format()add_chart()add_chart_ext()close()compatibility_mode()set_properties()define_name()set_tempdir()set_custom_color()sheets()set_1904()set_codepage()
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.
new()
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->add_worksheet();
$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.
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:
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->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:
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:
# mod_perl 1
...
tie *XLS, 'Apache';
binmode(XLS);
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new(\*XLS);
...
# mod_perl 2
...
tie *XLS => $r; # Tie to the Apache::RequestRec object
binmode(*XLS);
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new(\*XLS);
...
See also, the "mod_perl1.pl" and "mod_perl2.pl" programs in the
"examples" directory of the distro.
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":
#!/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. Remember to binmode() the output
# filehandle before printing it.
binmode STDOUT;
print $str;
See also the "write_to_scalar.pl" and "filehandle.pl" programs in the
"examples" directory of the distro.
Note about the requirement for "binmode()". An Excel file is comprised
of binary data. Therefore, if you are using a filehandle you should
ensure that you "binmode()" it prior to passing it to "new()".You
should do this regardless of whether you are on a Windows platform or
not. This applies especially to users of perl 5.8 on systems where
"UTF-8" is likely to be in operation such as RedHat Linux 9. If your
program, either intentionally or not, writes "UTF-8" data to a
filehandle that is passed to "new()" it will corrupt the Excel file
that is created.
You don't have to worry about "binmode()" if you are using filenames
instead of filehandles. Spreadsheet::WriteExcel performs the
"binmode()" internally when it converts the filename to a filehandle.
For more information about "binmode()" see "perlfunc" and "perlopentut"
in the main Perl documentation.
add_worksheet($sheetname, $utf_16_be)
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. The $utf_16_be parameter is
optional, see below.
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.
On systems with "perl 5.8" and later the "add_worksheet()" method will
also handle strings in "UTF-8" format.
$worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet("\x{263a}"); # Smiley
On earlier Perl systems your can specify "UTF-16BE" worksheet names
using an additional optional parameter:
my $name = pack 'n', 0x263a;
$worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet($name, 1); # Smiley
add_format(%properties)
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.
add_chart(%properties)
This method is use to create a new chart either as a standalone
worksheet (the default) or as an embeddable object that can be inserted
into a worksheet via the "insert_chart()" Worksheet method.
my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'column' );
The properties that can be set are:
type (required)
name (optional)
embedded (optional)
· "type"
This is a required parameter. It defines the type of chart that
will be created.
my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'line' );
The available types are:
area
bar
column
line
pie
scatter
stock
· "name"
Set the name for the chart sheet. The name property is optional and
if it isn't supplied will default to "Chart1 .. n". The name must
be a valid Excel worksheet name. See "add_worksheet()" for more
details on valid sheet names. The "name" property can be omitted
for embedded charts.
my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'line', name => 'Results Chart' );
· "embedded"
Specifies that the Chart object will be inserted in a worksheet via
the "insert_chart()" Worksheet method. It is an error to try insert
a Chart that doesn't have this flag set.
my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'line', embedded => 1 );
# Configure the chart.
...
# Insert the chart into the a worksheet.
$worksheet->insert_chart( 'E2', $chart );
See Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Chart for details on how to configure the
chart object once it is created. See also the "chart_*.pl" programs in
the examples directory of the distro.
add_chart_ext($chart_data, $chartname)
This method is use to include externally generated charts in a
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel file.
my $chart = $workbook->add_chart_ext('chart01.bin', 'Chart1');
This feature is semi-deprecated in favour of the "native" charts
created using "add_chart()". Read "external_charts.txt" (or ".pod") in
the external_charts directory of the distro for a full explanation.
close()
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()".
· If the "new()", "add_worksheet()" or "add_format()" methods are
called in subroutines.
The reason for this is that Spreadsheet::WriteExcel 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.
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: $!";
compatibility_mode()
This method is used to improve compatibility with third party
applications that read Excel files.
$workbook->compatibility_mode();
An Excel file is comprised of binary records that describe properties
of a spreadsheet. Excel is reasonably liberal about this and, outside
of a core subset, it doesn't require every possible record to be
present when it reads a file. This is also true of Gnumeric and
OpenOffice.Org Calc.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel takes advantage of this fact to omit some
records in order to minimise the amount of data stored in memory and to
simplify and speed up the writing of files. However, some third party
applications that read Excel files often expect certain records to be
present. In "compatibility mode" Spreadsheet::WriteExcel writes these
records and tries to be as close to an Excel generated file as
possible.
Applications that require "compatibility_mode()" are Apache POI, Apple
Numbers, and Quickoffice on Nokia, Palm and other devices. You should
also use "compatibility_mode()" if your Excel file will be used as an
external data source by another Excel file.
If you encounter other situations that require "compatibility_mode()",
please let me know.
It should be noted that "compatibility_mode()" requires additional data
to be stored in memory and additional processing. This incurs a memory
and speed penalty and may not be suitable for very large files (>20MB).
You must call "compatibility_mode()" before calling "add_worksheet()".
set_properties()
The "set_properties" method can be used to set the document properties
of the Excel file created by "Spreadsheet::WriteExcel". These
properties are visible when you use the "File->Properties" menu option
in Excel and are also available to external applications that read or
index windows files.
The properties should be passed as a hash of values as follows:
$workbook->set_properties(
title => 'This is an example spreadsheet',
author => 'John McNamara',
comments => 'Created with Perl and Spreadsheet::WriteExcel',
);
The properties that can be set are:
title
subject
author
manager
company
category
keywords
comments
User defined properties are not supported due to effort required.
In perl 5.8+ you can also pass UTF-8 strings as properties. See
"UNICODE IN EXCEL".
my $smiley = chr 0x263A;
$workbook->set_properties(
subject => "Happy now? $smiley",
);
With older versions of perl you can use a module to convert a non-ASCII
string to a binary representation of UTF-8 and then pass an additional
"utf8" flag to "set_properties()":
my $smiley = pack 'H*', 'E298BA';
$workbook->set_properties(
subject => "Happy now? $smiley",
utf8 => 1,
);
Usually Spreadsheet::WriteExcel allows you to use UTF-16 with pre 5.8
versions of perl. However, document properties don't support UTF-16 for
these type of strings.
In order to promote the usefulness of Perl and the
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module consider adding a comment such as the
following when using document properties:
$workbook->set_properties(
...,
comments => 'Created with Perl and Spreadsheet::WriteExcel',
...,
);
This feature requires that the "OLE::Storage_Lite" module is installed
(which is usually the case for a standard Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
installation). However, this also means that the resulting OLE document
may possibly be buggy for files less than 7MB since it hasn't been as
rigorously tested in that domain. As a result of this "set_properties"
is currently incompatible with Gnumeric for files less than 7MB. This
is being investigated. If you encounter any problems with this features
let me know.
For convenience it is possible to pass either a hash or hash ref of
arguments to this method.
See also the "properties.pl" program in the examples directory of the
distro.
define_name()
This method is used to defined a name that can be used to represent a
value, a single cell or a range of cells in a workbook.
$workbook->define_name('Exchange_rate', '=0.96');
$workbook->define_name('Sales', '=Sheet1!$G$1:$H$10');
$workbook->define_name('Sheet2!Sales', '=Sheet2!$G$1:$G$10');
See the defined_name.pl program in the examples dir of the distro.
Note: This currently a beta feature. More documentation and examples
will be added.
set_tempdir()
For speed and efficiency "Spreadsheet::WriteExcel" stores worksheet
data in temporary files prior to assembling the final workbook.
If Spreadsheet::WriteExcel is unable to create these temporary files it
will store the required data in memory. This can be slow for large
files.
The problem occurs mainly with IIS on Windows although it could
feasibly occur on Unix systems as well. The problem generally occurs
because the default temp file directory is defined as "C:/" or some
other directory that IIS doesn't provide write access to.
To check if this might be a problem on a particular system you can run
a simple test program with "-w" or "use warnings". This will generate a
warning if the module cannot create the required temporary files:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new('test.xls');
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
To avoid this problem the "set_tempdir()" method can be used to specify
a directory that is accessible for the creation of temporary files.
The "File::Temp" module is used to create the temporary files.
File::Temp uses "File::Spec" to determine an appropriate location for
these files such as "/tmp" or "c:\windows\temp". You can find out which
directory is used on your system as follows:
perl -MFile::Spec -le "print File::Spec->tmpdir"
Even if the default temporary file directory is accessible you may wish
to specify an alternative location for security or maintenance reasons:
$workbook->set_tempdir('/tmp/writeexcel');
$workbook->set_tempdir('c:\windows\temp\writeexcel');
The directory for the temporary file must exist, "set_tempdir()" will
not create a new directory.
One disadvantage of using the "set_tempdir()" method is that on some
Windows systems it will limit you to approximately 800 concurrent
tempfiles. This means that a single program running on one of these
systems will be limited to creating a total of 800 workbook and
worksheet objects. You can run multiple, non-concurrent programs to
work around this if necessary.
set_custom_color($index, $red, $green, $blue)
The "set_custom_color()" method can be used to override one of the
built-in palette values with a more suitable colour.
The value for $index should be in the range 8..63, see "COLOURS IN
EXCEL".
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
33 => pink
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.
The "set_custom_color()" workbook method can also be used with a HTML
style "#rrggbb" hex value:
$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
);
sheets(0, 1, ...)
The "sheets()" method returns a list, or a sliced list, of the
worksheets in a workbook.
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.
set_1904()
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.
See also "DATES AND TIME IN EXCEL" for more information about working
with Excel's date system.
In general you probably won't need to use "set_1904()".
set_codepage($codepage)
The default code page or character set used by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
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.
Changing the code page may be required if your are using
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel 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.
WORKSHEET METHODS
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()write_utf16be_string()write_utf16le_string()keep_leading_zeros()write_blank()write_row()write_col()write_date_time()write_url()write_url_range()write_formula()store_formula()repeat_formula()write_comment()show_comments()add_write_handler()insert_image()insert_chart()data_validation()get_name()activate()select()hide()set_first_sheet()protect()set_selection()set_row()set_column()outline_settings()freeze_panes()split_panes()merge_range()set_zoom()right_to_left()hide_zero()set_tab_color()autofilter()
Cell notation
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', '=H1+1');
In formulas and applicable methods you can also use the "A:A" column
notation:
$worksheet->write('A1', '=SUM(B:B)');
The "Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Utility" module that is included in the
distro contains helper functions for dealing with A1 notation, for
example:
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Utility;
($row, $col) = xl_cell_to_rowcol('C2'); # (1, 2)
$str = xl_rowcol_to_cell(1, 2); # C2
For simplicity, the parameter lists for the worksheet method calls in
the following sections are given in terms of row-column notation. In
all cases it is also possible to use A1 notation.
Note: in Excel it is also possible to use a R1C1 notation. This is not
supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
write($row, $column, $token, $format)
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()
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_string()" if "keep_leading_zeros()" is set and $token is an
integer with leading zeros based on the following regex: "$token =~
/^0\d+$/".
"write_blank()" if $token is undef or a blank string: "undef", "" or
''.
"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()" if $token is an internal or external sheet reference
based on the following regex: "$token =~ m[^(in|ex)ternal:]".
"write_formula()" if the first character of $token is "=".
"write_row()" if $token is an array ref.
"write_col()" if $token is an array ref of array refs.
"write_string()" if none of the previous conditions apply.
The $format parameter is optional. It should be a valid Format object,
see "CELL FORMATTING":
my $format = $workbook->add_format();
$format->set_bold();
$format->set_color('red');
$format->set_align('center');
$worksheet->write(4, 0, 'Hello', $format); # Formatted string
The write() method will ignore empty strings or "undef" tokens unless a
format is also supplied. As such you needn't worry about special
handling for empty or "undef" values in your data. See also the
"write_blank()" method.
One problem with the "write()" method is that occasionally data looks
like a number but you don't want it treated as a number. For example,
zip codes or ID numbers often start with a leading zero. If you write
this data as a number then the leading zero(s) will be stripped. You
can change this default behaviour by using the "keep_leading_zeros()"
method. While this property is in place any integers with leading zeros
will be treated as strings and the zeros will be preserved. See the
"keep_leading_zeros()" section for a full discussion of this issue.
You can also add your own data handlers to the "write()" method using
"add_write_handler()".
On systems with "perl 5.8" and later the "write()" method will also
handle Unicode strings in "UTF-8" format.
The "write" methods return:
0 for success.
-1 for insufficient number of arguments.
-2 for row or column out of bounds.
-3 for string too long.
write_number($row, $column, $number, $format)
Write an integer or a float to the cell specified by $row and $column:
$worksheet->write_number(0, 0, 123456);
$worksheet->write_number('A2', 2.3451);
See the note about "Cell notation". The $format parameter is optional.
In general it is sufficient to use the "write()" method.
write_string($row, $column, $string, $format)
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 "UTF-8" format. With older perls you can also write
Unicode in "UTF16" format via the "write_utf16be_string()" method. See
also the "unicode_*.pl" programs in the examples directory of the
distro.
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', $format1);
See also the note about "Cell notation".
write_utf16be_string($row, $column, $string, $format)
This method is used to write "UTF-16BE" strings to a cell in Excel. It
is functionally the same as the "write_string()" method except that the
string should be in "UTF-16BE" Unicode format. It is generally easier,
when using Spreadsheet::WriteExcel, to write unicode strings in "UTF-8"
format, see "UNICODE IN EXCEL". The "write_utf16be_string()" method is
mainly of use in versions of perl prior to 5.8.
The following is a simple example showing how to write some Unicode
strings in "UTF-16BE" format:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;
use Unicode::Map();
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new('utf_16_be.xls');
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
# Increase the column width for clarity
$worksheet->set_column('A:A', 25);
# Write a Unicode character
#
my $smiley = pack 'n', 0x263a;
# Increase the font size for legibility.
my $big_font = $workbook->add_format(size => 72);
$worksheet->write_utf16be_string('A3', $smiley, $big_font);
# Write a phrase in Cyrillic using a hex-encoded string
#
my $str = pack 'H*', '042d0442043e0020044404400430043704300020043d' .
'043000200440044304410441043a043e043c0021';
$worksheet->write_utf16be_string('A5', $str);
# Map a string to UTF-16BE using an external module.
#
my $map = Unicode::Map->new('ISO-8859-1');
my $utf16 = $map->to_unicode('Hello world!');
$worksheet->write_utf16be_string('A7', $utf16);
You can convert ASCII encodings to the required "UTF-16BE" format using
one of the many Unicode modules on CPAN. For example "Unicode::Map" and
"Unicode::String":
http://search.cpan.org/author/MSCHWARTZ/Unicode-Map/Map.pm
<http://search.cpan.org/author/MSCHWARTZ/Unicode-Map/Map.pm> and
http://search.cpan.org/author/GAAS/Unicode-String/String.pm
<http://search.cpan.org/author/GAAS/Unicode-String/String.pm>.
For a full list of the Perl Unicode modules see:
<http://search.cpan.org/search?query=unicode&mode=all>.
"UTF-16BE" is the format most often returned by "Perl" modules that
generate "UTF-16". To write "UTF-16" strings in little-endian format
use the "write_utf16be_string_le()" method below.
The "write_utf16be_string()" method was previously called
"write_unicode()". That, overly general, name is still supported but
deprecated.
See also the "unicode_*.pl" programs in the examples directory of the
distro.
write_utf16le_string($row, $column, $string, $format)
This method is the same as "write_utf16be()" except that the string
should be 16-bit characters in little-endian format. This is generally
referred to as "UTF-16LE". See "UNICODE IN EXCEL".
"UTF-16" data can be changed from little-endian to big-endian format
(and vice-versa) as follows:
$utf16be = pack 'n*', unpack 'v*', $utf16le;
keep_leading_zeros()
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 "@":
# 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
$worksheet->keep_leading_zeros(0); # Set off
See also the "add_write_handler()" method.
write_blank($row, $column, $format)
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()
$worksheet->write('A2', undef ); # Ignored
This seemingly uninteresting fact means that you can write arrays of
data without special treatment for undef or empty string values.
See the note about "Cell notation".
write_row($row, $column, $array_ref, $format)
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".
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.
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::WriteExcel;
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->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>;
write_col($row, $column, $array_ref, $format)
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]);
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 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);
Would produce a worksheet as follows:
-----------------------------------------------------------
| | 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.
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.
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', [ $array_ref ]); # Same thing
To find out more about array references refer to "perlref" and
"perlreftut" in the main Perl documentation. To find out more about 2D
arrays or "lists of lists" refer to "perllol".
The "write_col()" method returns the first error encountered when
writing the elements of the data or zero if no errors were encountered.
See the return values described for the "write()" method above.
See also the "write_arrays.pl" program in the "examples" directory of
the distro.
write_date_time($row, $col, $date_string, $format)
The "write_date_time()" method can be used to write a date or time to
the cell specified by $row and $column:
$worksheet->write_date_time('A1', '2004-05-13T23:20', $date_format);
The $date_string should be in the following format:
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.
A date should always have a $format, otherwise it will appear as a
number, see "DATES AND TIME IN EXCEL" and "CELL FORMATTING". 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', $date_format);
Valid dates should be in the range 1900-01-01 to 9999-12-31, for the
1900 epoch and 1904-01-01 to 9999-12-31, for the 1904 epoch. As with
Excel, dates outside these ranges will be written as a string.
See also the date_time.pl program in the "examples" directory of the
distro.
write_url($row, $col, $url, $label, $format)
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 label is specified. The parameters $label and the $format
are optional and their position is interchangeable.
The label is written using the "write()" method. Therefore it is
possible to write strings, numbers or formulas as labels.
There are four web style URI's supported: "http://", "https://",
"ftp://" and "mailto:":
$worksheet->write_url(0, 0, 'ftp://www.perl.org/' );
$worksheet->write_url(1, 0, 'http://www.perl.com/', 'Perl home' );
$worksheet->write_url('A3', 'http://www.perl.com/', $format );
$worksheet->write_url('A4', 'http://www.perl.com/', 'Perl', $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:
$worksheet->write_url('A6', 'internal:Sheet2!A1' );
$worksheet->write_url('A7', 'internal:Sheet2!A1', $format );
$worksheet->write_url('A8', 'internal:Sheet2!A1:B2' );
$worksheet->write_url('A9', q{internal:'Sales Data'!A1} );
$worksheet->write_url('A10', 'external:c:\temp\foo.xls' );
$worksheet->write_url('A11', 'external:c:\temp\foo.xls#Sheet2!A1' );
$worksheet->write_url('A12', 'external:..\..\..\foo.xls' );
$worksheet->write_url('A13', 'external:..\..\..\foo.xls#Sheet2!A1' );
$worksheet->write_url('A13', 'external:\\\\NETWORK\share\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".
In external links the workbook and worksheet name must be separated by
the "#" character: "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:
$worksheet->write_url('A14', 'external:c:\temp\foo.xls#my_name');
Note, you cannot currently create named ranges with
"Spreadsheet::WriteExcel".
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.
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'.
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" );
$worksheet->write_url('A15', 'external://NETWORK/share/foo.xls' );
See also, the note about "Cell notation".
write_url_range($row1, $col1, $row2, $col2, $url, $string, $format)
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".
There is no way to force this behaviour through the "write()" method.
The parameters $string and the $format are optional and their position
is interchangeable. However, they are applied only to the first cell in
the range.
See also, the note about "Cell notation".
write_formula($row, $column, $formula, $format, $value)
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"
See also the section "Improving performance when working with formulas"
and the "store_formula()" and "repeat_formula()" methods.
If required, it is also possible to specify the calculated value of the
formula. This is occasionally necessary when working with non-Excel
applications that don't calculated the value of the formula. The
calculated $value is added at the end of the argument list:
$worksheet->write('A1', '=2+2', $format, 4);
However, this probably isn't something that will ever need to do. If
you do use this feature then do so with care.
store_formula($formula)
The "store_formula()" method is used in conjunction with
"repeat_formula()" to speed up the generation of repeated formulas. See
"Improving performance when working with formulas" in "FORMULAS AND
FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL".
The "store_formula()" method pre-parses a textual representation of a
formula and stores it for use at a later stage by the
"repeat_formula()" method.
"store_formula()" carries the same speed penalty as "write_formula()".
However, in practice it will be used less frequently.
The return value of this method is a scalar that can be thought of as a
reference to a formula.
my $sin = $worksheet->store_formula('=SIN(A1)');
my $cos = $worksheet->store_formula('=COS(A1)');
$worksheet->repeat_formula('B1', $sin, $format, 'A1', 'A2');
$worksheet->repeat_formula('C1', $cos, $format, 'A1', 'A2');
Although "store_formula()" is a worksheet method the return value can
be used in any worksheet:
my $now = $worksheet->store_formula('=NOW()');
$worksheet1->repeat_formula('B1', $now);
$worksheet2->repeat_formula('B1', $now);
$worksheet3->repeat_formula('B1', $now);
repeat_formula($row, $col, $formula, $format, ($pattern => $replace, ...))
The "repeat_formula()" method is used in conjunction with
"store_formula()" to speed up the generation of repeated formulas. See
"Improving performance when working with formulas" in "FORMULAS AND
FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL".
In many respects "repeat_formula()" behaves like "write_formula()"
except that it is significantly faster.
The "repeat_formula()" method creates a new formula based on the pre-
parsed tokens returned by "store_formula()". The new formula is
generated by substituting $pattern, $replace pairs in the stored
formula:
my $formula = $worksheet->store_formula('=A1 * 3 + 50');
for my $row (0..99) {
$worksheet->repeat_formula($row, 1, $formula, $format, 'A1', 'A'.($row +1));
}
It should be noted that "repeat_formula()" doesn't modify the tokens.
In the above example the substitution is always made against the
original token, "A1", which doesn't change.
As usual, you can use "undef" if you don't wish to specify a $format:
$worksheet->repeat_formula('B2', $formula, $format, 'A1', 'A2');
$worksheet->repeat_formula('B3', $formula, undef, 'A1', 'A3');
The substitutions are made from left to right and you can use as many
$pattern, $replace pairs as you need. However, each substitution is
made only once:
my $formula = $worksheet->store_formula('=A1 + A1');
# Gives '=B1 + A1'
$worksheet->repeat_formula('B1', $formula, undef, 'A1', 'B1');
# Gives '=B1 + B1'
$worksheet->repeat_formula('B2', $formula, undef, ('A1', 'B1') x 2);
Since the $pattern is interpolated each time that it is used it is
worth using the "qr" operator to quote the pattern. The "qr" operator
is explained in the "perlop" man page.
$worksheet->repeat_formula('B1', $formula, $format, qr/A1/, 'A2');
Care should be taken with the values that are substituted. The formula
returned by "repeat_formula()" contains several other tokens in
addition to those in the formula and these might also match the
pattern that you are trying to replace. In particular you should avoid
substituting a single 0, 1, 2 or 3.
You should also be careful to avoid false matches. For example the
following snippet is meant to change the stored formula in steps from
"=A1 + SIN(A1)" to "=A10 + SIN(A10)".
my $formula = $worksheet->store_formula('=A1 + SIN(A1)');
for my $row (1 .. 10) {
$worksheet->repeat_formula($row -1, 1, $formula, undef,
qw/A1/, 'A' . $row, #! Bad.
qw/A1/, 'A' . $row #! Bad.
);
}
However it contains a bug. In the last iteration of the loop when $row
is 10 the following substitutions will occur:
s/A1/A10/; changes =A1 + SIN(A1) to =A10 + SIN(A1)
s/A1/A10/; changes =A10 + SIN(A1) to =A100 + SIN(A1) # !!
The solution in this case is to use a more explicit match such as
"qw/^A1$/":
$worksheet->repeat_formula($row -1, 1, $formula, undef,
qw/^A1$/, 'A' . $row,
qw/^A1$/, 'A' . $row
);
Another similar problem occurs due to the fact that substitutions are
made in order. For example the following snippet is meant to change the
stored formula from "=A10 + A11" to "=A11 + A12":
my $formula = $worksheet->store_formula('=A10 + A11');
$worksheet->repeat_formula('A1', $formula, undef,
qw/A10/, 'A11', #! Bad.
qw/A11/, 'A12' #! Bad.
);
However, the actual substitution yields "=A12 + A11":
s/A10/A11/; changes =A10 + A11 to =A11 + A11
s/A11/A12/; changes =A11 + A11 to =A12 + A11 # !!
The solution here would be to reverse the order of the substitutions or
to start with a stored formula that won't yield a false match such as
"=X10 + Y11":
my $formula = $worksheet->store_formula('=X10 + Y11');
$worksheet->repeat_formula('A1', $formula, undef,
qw/X10/, 'A11',
qw/Y11/, 'A12'
);
If you think that you have a problem related to a false match you can
check the tokens that you are substituting against as follows.
my $formula = $worksheet->store_formula('=A1*5+4');
print "@$formula\n";
See also the "repeat.pl" program in the "examples" directory of the
distro.
write_comment($row, $column, $string, ...)
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 reveal the comment.
The following example shows how to add a comment to a cell:
$worksheet->write (2, 2, 'Hello');
$worksheet->write_comment(2, 2, 'This is a comment.');
As usual you can replace the $row and $column parameters with an "A1"
cell reference. See the note about "Cell notation".
$worksheet->write ('C3', 'Hello');
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'This is a comment.');
On systems with "perl 5.8" and later the "write_comment()" method will
also handle strings in "UTF-8" format.
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', "\x{263a}"); # Smiley
$worksheet->write_comment('C4', 'Comment ca va?');
In addition to the basic 3 argument form of "write_comment()" you can
pass in several optional key/value pairs to control the format of the
comment. For example:
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', visible => 1, author => 'Perl');
Most of these options are quite specific and in general the default
comment behaviour will be all that you need. However, should you need
greater control over the format of the cell comment the following
options are available:
encoding
author
author_encoding
visible
x_scale
width
y_scale
height
color
start_cell
start_row
start_col
x_offset
y_offset
Option: encoding
This option is used to indicate that the comment string is encoded
as "UTF-16BE".
my $comment = pack 'n', 0x263a; # UTF-16BE Smiley symbol
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', $comment, encoding => 1);
If you wish to use Unicode characters in the comment string then
the preferred method is to use perl 5.8 and "UTF-8" strings, see
"UNICODE IN EXCEL".
Option: author
This option is used to indicate who the author of the comment is.
Excel displays the author of the comment in the status bar at the
bottom of the worksheet. This is usually of interest in corporate
environments where several people might review and provide comments
to a workbook.
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Atonement', author => 'Ian McEwan');
Option: author_encoding
This option is used to indicate that the author string is encoded
as "UTF-16BE".
Option: visible
This option is used to make a cell comment visible when the
worksheet is opened. The default behaviour in Excel is that
comments are initially hidden. However, it is also possible in
Excel to make individual or all comments visible. In
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel individual comments can be made visible as
follows:
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', visible => 1);
It is possible to make all comments in a worksheet visible using
the "show_comments()" worksheet method (see below). Alternatively,
if all of the cell comments have been made visible you can hide
individual comments:
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', visible => 0);
Option: x_scale
This option is used to set the width of the cell comment box as a
factor of the default width.
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', x_scale => 2);
$worksheet->write_comment('C4', 'Hello', x_scale => 4.2);
Option: width
This option is used to set the width of the cell comment box
explicitly in pixels.
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', width => 200);
Option: y_scale
This option is used to set the height of the cell comment box as a
factor of the default height.
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', y_scale => 2);
$worksheet->write_comment('C4', 'Hello', y_scale => 4.2);
Option: height
This option is used to set the height of the cell comment box
explicitly in pixels.
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', height => 200);
Option: color
This option is used to set the background colour of cell comment
box. You can use one of the named colours recognised by
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel or a colour index. See "COLOURS IN EXCEL".
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', color => 'green');
$worksheet->write_comment('C4', 'Hello', color => 0x35); # Orange
Option: start_cell
This option is used to set the cell in which the comment will
appear. By default Excel displays comments one cell to the right
and one cell above the cell to which the comment relates. However,
you can change this behaviour if you wish. In the following example
the comment which would appear by default in cell "D2" is moved to
"E2".
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', start_cell => 'E2');
Option: start_row
This option is used to set the row in which the comment will
appear. See the "start_cell" option above. The row is zero indexed.
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', start_row => 0);
Option: start_col
This option is used to set the column in which the comment will
appear. See the "start_cell" option above. The column is zero
indexed.
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', start_col => 4);
Option: x_offset
This option is used to change the x offset, in pixels, of a comment
within a cell:
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', $comment, x_offset => 30);
Option: y_offset
This option is used to change the y offset, in pixels, of a comment
within a cell:
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', $comment, x_offset => 30);
You can apply as many of these options as you require.
Note about row height and comments. If you specify the height of a row
that contains a comment then Spreadsheet::WriteExcel will adjust the
height of the comment to maintain the default or user specified
dimensions. However, the height of a row can also be adjusted
automatically by Excel if the text wrap property is set or large fonts
are used in the cell. This means that the height of the row is unknown
to WriteExcel at run time and thus the comment box is stretched with
the row. Use the "set_row()" method to specify the row height
explicitly and avoid this problem.
show_comments()
This method is used to make all cell comments visible when a worksheet
is opened.
Individual comments can be made visible using the "visible" parameter
of the "write_comment" method (see above):
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', visible => 1);
If all of the cell comments have been made visible you can hide
individual comments as follows:
$worksheet->write_comment('C3', 'Hello', visible => 0);
add_write_handler($re, $code_ref)
This method is used to extend the Spreadsheet::WriteExcelwrite()
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.
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:
$worksheet->add_write_handler(qr/^\d\d\d\d$/, \&my_write);
(In the these examples the "qr" operator is used to quote the regular
expression strings, see perlop for more details).
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.
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
$worksheet->write('B1', '0000000'); # Writes 0
You may add more than one handler in which case they will be called in
the order that they were added.
Note, the "add_write_handler()" method is particularly suited for
handling dates.
See the "write_handler 1-4" programs in the "examples" directory for
further examples.
insert_image($row, $col, $filename, $x, $y, $scale_x, $scale_y)
This method can be used to insert a image into a worksheet. The image
can be in PNG, JPEG or BMP format. The $x, $y, $scale_x and $scale_y
parameters are optional.
$worksheet1->insert_image('A1', 'perl.bmp');
$worksheet2->insert_image('A1', '../images/perl.bmp');
$worksheet3->insert_image('A1', '.c:\images\perl.bmp');
The parameters $x and $y can be used to specify an offset from the top
left hand corner of the cell specified by $row and $col. The offset
values are in pixels.
$worksheet1->insert_image('A1', 'perl.bmp', 32, 10);
The default width of a cell is 63 pixels. The default height of a cell
is 17 pixels. The pixels offsets can be calculated using the following
relationships:
Wp = int(12We) if We < 1
Wp = int(7We +5) if We >= 1
Hp = int(4/3He)
where:
We is the cell width in Excels units
Wp is width in pixels
He is the cell height in Excels units
Hp is height in pixels
The offsets can be greater than the width or height of the underlying
cell. This can be occasionally useful if you wish to align two or more
images relative to the same cell.
The parameters $scale_x and $scale_y can be used to scale the inserted
image horizontally and vertically:
# Scale the inserted image: width x 2.0, height x 0.8
$worksheet->insert_image('A1', 'perl.bmp', 0, 0, 2, 0.8);
See also the "images.pl" program in the "examples" directory of the
distro.
Note: you must call "set_row()" or "set_column()" before
"insert_image()" if you wish to change the default dimensions of any of
the rows or columns that the image occupies. The height of a row can
also change if you use a font that is larger than the default. This in
turn will affect the scaling of your image. To avoid this you should
explicitly set the height of the row using "set_row()" if it contains a
font size that will change the row height.
BMP images must be 24 bit, true colour, bitmaps. In general it is best
to avoid BMP images since they aren't compressed. The older
"insert_bitmap()" method is still supported but deprecated.
insert_chart($row, $col, $chart, $x, $y, $scale_x, $scale_y)
This method can be used to insert a Chart object into a worksheet. The
Chart must be created by the "add_chart()" Workbook method and it must
have the "embedded" option set.
my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'line', embedded => 1 );
# Configure the chart.
...
# Insert the chart into the a worksheet.
$worksheet->insert_chart('E2', $chart);
See "add_chart()" for details on how to create the Chart object and
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Chart for details on how to configure it. See
also the "chart_*.pl" programs in the examples directory of the distro.
The $x, $y, $scale_x and $scale_y parameters are optional.
The parameters $x and $y can be used to specify an offset from the top
left hand corner of the cell specified by $row and $col. The offset
values are in pixels. See the "insert_image" method above for more
information on sizes.
$worksheet1->insert_chart('E2', $chart, 3, 3);
The parameters $scale_x and $scale_y can be used to scale the inserted
image horizontally and vertically:
# Scale the width by 120% and the height by 150%
$worksheet->insert_chart('E2', $chart, 0, 0, 1.2, 1.5);
The easiest way to calculate the required scaling is to create a test
chart worksheet with Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. Then open the file,
select the chart and drag the corner to get the required size. While
holding down the mouse the scale of the resized chart is shown to the
left of the formula bar.
Note: you must call "set_row()" or "set_column()" before
"insert_chart()" if you wish to change the default dimensions of any of
the rows or columns that the chart occupies. The height of a row can
also change if you use a font that is larger than the default. This in
turn will affect the scaling of your chart. To avoid this you should
explicitly set the height of the row using "set_row()" if it contains a
font size that will change the row height.
embed_chart($row, $col, $filename, $x, $y, $scale_x, $scale_y)
This method can be used to insert a externally generated chart into a
worksheet. The chart must first be extracted from an existing Excel
file. This feature is semi-deprecated in favour of the "native" charts
created using "add_chart()". Read "external_charts.txt" (or ".pod") in
the external_charts directory of the distro for a full explanation.
Here is an example:
$worksheet->embed_chart('B2', 'sales_chart.bin');
The $x, $y, $scale_x and $scale_y parameters are optional. See
"insert_chart()" above for details.
data_validation()
The "data_validation()" method is used to construct an Excel data
validation or to limit the user input to a dropdown list of values.
$worksheet->data_validation('B3',
{
validate => 'integer',
criteria => '>',
value => 100,
});
$worksheet->data_validation('B5:B9',
{
validate => 'list',
value => ['open', 'high', 'close'],
});
This method contains a lot of parameters and is described in detail in
a separate section "DATA VALIDATION IN EXCEL".
See also the "data_validate.pl" program in the examples directory of
the distro
get_name()
The "get_name()" method is used to retrieve the name of a worksheet.
For example:
foreach my $sheet ($workbook->sheets()) {
print $sheet->get_name();
}
For reasons related to the design of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel and to the
internals of Excel there is no "set_name()" method. The only way to set
the worksheet name is via the "add_worksheet()" method.
activate()
The "activate()" method is used to specify which worksheet is initially
visible in a multi-sheet workbook:
$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, see below, however
only one worksheet can be active.
The default active worksheet 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.
hide()
The "hide()" method is used to hide a worksheet:
$worksheet2->hide();
You may wish to hide a worksheet in order to avoid confusing a user
with intermediate data or calculations.
A hidden worksheet can not be activated or selected so this method is
mutually exclusive with the "activate()" and "select()" methods. In
addition, since the first worksheet will default to being the active
worksheet, you cannot hide the first worksheet without activating
another sheet:
$worksheet2->activate();
$worksheet1->hide();
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
"set_first_sheet()":
for (1..20) {
$workbook->add_worksheet;
}
$worksheet21 = $workbook->add_worksheet();
$worksheet22 = $workbook->add_worksheet();
$worksheet21->set_first_sheet();
$worksheet22->activate();
This method is not required very often. The default value is the first
worksheet.
protect($password)
The "protect()" method is used to protect a worksheet from
modification:
$worksheet->protect();
It can be turned off in Excel via the "Tools->Protection->Unprotect
Sheet" menu command.
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.
# 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".
You can optionally add a password to the worksheet protection:
$worksheet->protect('drowssap');
Note, the worksheet level password in Excel provides very weak
protection. It does not encrypt your data in any way and it is very
easy to deactivate. Therefore, do not use the above method if you wish
to protect sensitive data or calculations. However, before you get
worried, Excel's own workbook level password protection does provide
strong encryption in Excel 97+. For technical reasons this will never
be supported by "Spreadsheet::WriteExcel".
set_selection($first_row, $first_col, $last_row, $last_col)
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".
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.
$worksheet6->set_selection('G7:D4'); # Same as 3.
The default cell selections is (0, 0), 'A1'.
set_row($row, $height, $format, $hidden, $level, $collapsed)
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:
$worksheet->set_row(0, 20, $format, 1);
$worksheet->set_row(1, undef, undef, 1);
The $level parameter is used to set the outline level of the row.
Outlines are described in "OUTLINES AND GROUPING IN EXCEL". Adjacent
rows with the same outline level are grouped together into a single
outline.
The following example sets an outline level of 1 for rows 1 and 2
(zero-indexed):
$worksheet->set_row(1, undef, undef, 0, 1);
$worksheet->set_row(2, undef, undef, 0, 1);
The $hidden parameter can also be used to hide collapsed outlined rows
when used in conjunction with the $level parameter.
$worksheet->set_row(1, undef, undef, 1, 1);
$worksheet->set_row(2, undef, undef, 1, 1);
For collapsed outlines you should also indicate which row has the
collapsed "+" symbol using the optional $collapsed parameter.
$worksheet->set_row(3, undef, undef, 0, 0, 1);
For a more complete example see the "outline.pl" and
"outline_collapsed.pl" programs in the examples directory of the
distro.
Excel allows up to 7 outline levels. Therefore the $level parameter
should be in the range "0 <= $level <= 7".
set_column($first_col, $last_col, $width, $format, $hidden, $level,
$collapsed)
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.
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.
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".
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. 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.
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);
The $level parameter is used to set the outline level of the column.
Outlines are described in "OUTLINES AND GROUPING IN EXCEL". Adjacent
columns with the same outline level are grouped together into a single
outline.
The following example sets an outline level of 1 for columns B to G:
$worksheet->set_column('B:G', undef, undef, 0, 1);
The $hidden parameter can also be used to hide collapsed outlined
columns when used in conjunction with the $level parameter.
$worksheet->set_column('B:G', undef, undef, 1, 1);
For collapsed outlines you should also indicate which row has the
collapsed "+" symbol using the optional $collapsed parameter.
$worksheet->set_column('H:H', undef, undef, 0, 0, 1);
For a more complete example see the "outline.pl" and
"outline_collapsed.pl" programs in the examples directory of the
distro.
Excel allows up to 7 outline levels. Therefore the $level parameter
should be in the range "0 <= $level <= 7".
outline_settings($visible, $symbols_below, $symbols_right, $auto_style)
The "outline_settings()" method is used to control the appearance of
outlines in Excel. Outlines are described in "OUTLINES AND GROUPING IN
EXCEL".
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.
$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.
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.
The $auto_style parameter is used to control whether the automatic
outline generator in Excel uses automatic styles when creating an
outline. This has no effect on a file generated by
"Spreadsheet::WriteExcel" but it does have an effect on how the
worksheet behaves after it is created. The default setting is 0 for
"Automatic Styles" to be turned off.
The default settings for all of these parameters correspond to Excel's
default parameters.
The worksheet parameters controlled by "outline_settings()" are rarely
used.
freeze_panes($row, $col, $top_row, $left_col)
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
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 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 $left_col parameters.
See also the "panes.pl" program in the "examples" directory of the
distribution.
split_panes($y, $x, $top_row, $left_col)
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->split_panes(12.75, 0, 1, 0); # First row
$worksheet->split_panes(0, 8.43, 0, 1); # First column
$worksheet->split_panes(12.75, 8.43, 1, 1); # First row and column
You cannot use A1 notation with this method.
See also the "freeze_panes()" method and the "panes.pl" program in the
"examples" directory of the distribution.
Note: This "split_panes()" method was called "thaw_panes()" in older
versions. The older name is still available for backwards
compatibility.
merge_range($first_row, $first_col, $last_row, $last_col, $token, $format,
$utf_16_be)
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);
WARNING. The format object that is used with a "merge_range()" method
call is marked internally as being associated with a merged range. It
is a fatal error to use a merged format in a non-merged cell. Instead
you should use separate formats for merged and non-merged cells. This
restriction will be removed in a future release.
The $utf_16_be parameter is optional, see below.
"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.
On systems with "perl 5.8" and later the "merge_range()" method will
also handle strings in "UTF-8" format.
$worksheet->merge_range('B3:D4', "\x{263a}", $format); # Smiley
On earlier Perl systems your can specify "UTF-16BE" worksheet names
using an additional optional parameter:
my $str = pack 'n', 0x263a;
$worksheet->merge_range('B3:D4', $str, $format, 1); # Smiley
The full possibilities of this method are shown in the "merge3.pl" to
"merge6.pl" programs in the "examples" directory of the distribution.
set_zoom($scale)
Set the worksheet zoom factor in the range "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()".
right_to_left()
The "right_to_left()" method is used to change the default direction of
the worksheet from left-to-right, with the A1 cell in the top left, to
right-to-left, with the he A1 cell in the top right.
$worksheet->right_to_left();
This is useful when creating Arabic, Hebrew or other near or far
eastern worksheets that use right-to-left as the default direction.
hide_zero()
The "hide_zero()" method is used to hide any zero values that appear in
cells.
$worksheet->hide_zero();
In Excel this option is found under Tools->Options->View.
set_tab_color()
The "set_tab_color()" method is used to change the colour of the
worksheet tab. This feature is only available in Excel 2002 and later.
You can use one of the standard colour names provided by the Format
object or a colour index. See "COLOURS IN EXCEL" and the
"set_custom_color()" method.
$worksheet1->set_tab_color('red');
$worksheet2->set_tab_color(0x0C);
See the "tab_colors.pl" program in the examples directory of the
distro.
autofilter($first_row, $first_col, $last_row, $last_col)
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);
$worksheet->autofilter('A1:D11'); # Same as above in A1 notation.
Filter conditions can be applied using the "filter_column()" method.
See the "autofilter.pl" program in the examples directory of the distro
for a more detailed example.
filter_column($column, $expression)
The "filter_column" method can be used to filter columns in a
autofilter range based on simple conditions.
NOTE: It isn't sufficient to just specify the filter condition. You
must also hide any rows that don't match the filter condition. Rows are
hidden using the "set_row()" "visible" parameter.
"Spreadsheet::WriteExcel" cannot do this automatically since it isn't
part of the file format. See the "autofilter.pl" program in the
examples directory of the distro for an example.
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:
'x < 2000'
'x > 2000'
'x == 2000'
'x > 2000 and x < 5000'
'x == 2000 or x == 5000'
Filtering of blank or non-blank data can be achieved by using a value
of "Blanks" or "NonBlanks" in the expression:
'x == Blanks'
'x == NonBlanks'
Top 10 style filters can be specified using a expression like the
following:
Top|Bottom 1-500 Items|%
For example:
'Top 10 Items'
'Bottom 5 Items'
'Top 25 %'
'Bottom 50 %'
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. Excel's regular expression characters
can be escaped using "~".
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 < 2000'
'col < 2000'
'Price < 2000'
Also, note that a filter condition can only be applied to a column in a
range specified by the "autofilter()" Worksheet method.
See the "autofilter.pl" program in the examples directory of the distro
for a more detailed example.
PAGE SET-UP METHODS
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_page_view()set_paper()center_horizontally()center_vertically()set_margins()set_header()set_footer()repeat_rows()repeat_columns()hide_gridlines()print_row_col_headers()print_area()print_across()fit_to_pages()set_start_page()set_print_scale()set_h_pagebreaks()set_v_pagebreaks()
A common requirement when working with Spreadsheet::WriteExcel 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:
foreach $worksheet ($workbook->sheets()) {
$worksheet->set_landscape();
}
set_landscape()
This method is used to set the orientation of a worksheet's printed
page to landscape:
$worksheet->set_landscape(); # Landscape mode
set_portrait()
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
set_page_view()
This method is used to display the worksheet in "Page View" mode. This
is currently only supported by Mac Excel, where it is the default.
$worksheet->set_page_view();
set_paper($index)
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_horizontally()
Center the worksheet data horizontally between the margins on the
printed page:
$worksheet->center_horizontally();
center_vertically()
Center the worksheet data vertically between the margins on the printed
page:
$worksheet->center_vertically();
set_margins($inches)
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.
set_header($string, $margin)
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 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.
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:
$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":
$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.
On systems with "perl 5.8" and later the "set_header()" method can also
handle Unicode strings in "UTF-8" format.
$worksheet->set_header("&C\x{263a}")
See, also the "headers.pl" program in the "examples" directory of the
distribution.
set_footer()
The syntax of the "set_footer()" method is the same as "set_header()",
see above.
repeat_rows($first_row, $last_row)
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:
$worksheet1->repeat_rows(0); # Repeat the first row
$worksheet2->repeat_rows(0, 1); # Repeat the first two rows
repeat_columns($first_col, $last_col)
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".
$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
$worksheet4->repeat_columns('A:B'); # Repeat the first two columns
hide_gridlines($option)
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.
Screen and printed gridlines are turned on by default in an Excel
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:
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.
print_row_col_headers()
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 :
$worksheet->print_row_col_headers();
Do not confuse these headers with page headers as described in the
"set_header()" section above.
print_area($first_row, $first_col, $last_row, $last_col)
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
print_across()
The "print_across" method is used to change the default print
direction. This is referred to by Excel as the sheet "page order".
$worksheet->print_across();
The default page order is shown below for a worksheet that extends over
4 pages. The order is called "down then across":
[1] [3]
[2] [4]
However, by using the "print_across" method the print order will be
changed to "across then down":
[1] [2]
[3] [4]
fit_to_pages($width, $height)
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.
$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.
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:
$worksheet1->fit_to_pages(1, 0); # 1 page wide and as long as necessary
$worksheet2->fit_to_pages(1); # The same
Note that although it is valid to use both "fit_to_pages()" and
"set_print_scale()" on the same worksheet only one of these options can
be active at a time. The last method call made will set the active
option.
Note that "fit_to_pages()" will override any manual page breaks that
are defined in the worksheet.
set_start_page($start_page)
The "set_start_page()" method is used to set the number of the starting
page when the worksheet is printed out. The default value is 1.
$worksheet->set_start_page(2);
set_print_scale($scale)
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.
set_h_pagebreaks(@breaks)
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:
$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.
set_v_pagebreaks(@breaks)
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:
$worksheet2->set_v_pagebreaks( 20, 40, 60, 80, 100); # Add breaks
$worksheet2->set_v_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.
CELL FORMATTING
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.
Creating and using a Format object
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.
$worksheet->set_row(0, 15, $format);
$worksheet->set_column(0, 0, 15, $format);
Format methods and Format properties
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_format_properties()" method as follows:
my $format = $workbook->add_format();
$format->set_format_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,
);
Working with formats
The default format is Arial 10 with all other properties off.
Each unique format in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel 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
$format1->set_bold(0); # Turns bold off
FORMAT METHODS
The Format object methods are described in more detail in the following
sections. In addition, there is a Perl program called "formats.pl" in
the "examples" directory of the WriteExcel distribution. This program
creates an Excel workbook called "formats.xls" which contains examples
of almost all the format types.
The following Format methods are available:
set_font()set_size()set_color()set_bold()set_italic()set_underline()set_font_strikeout()set_font_script()set_font_outline()set_font_shadow()set_num_format()set_locked()set_hidden()set_align()set_rotation()set_text_wrap()set_text_justlast()set_center_across()set_indent()set_shrink()set_pattern()set_bg_color()set_fg_color()set_border()set_bottom()set_top()set_left()set_right()set_border_color()set_bottom_color()set_top_color()set_left_color()set_right_color()
The above methods can also be applied directly as properties. For
example "$format->set_bold()" is equivalent to
"$workbook->add_format(bold => 1)".
set_format_properties(%properties)
The properties of an existing Format object can be also be set by means
of "set_format_properties()":
my $format = $workbook->add_format();
$format->set_format_properties(bold => 1, color => 'red');
However, this method is here mainly for legacy reasons. It is
preferable to set the properties in the format constructor:
my $format = $workbook->add_format(bold => 1, color => 'red');
set_font($fontname)
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
set_size()
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);
set_color()
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'
'pink'
'purple'
'red'
'silver'
'white'
'yellow'
Set the font colour. The "set_color()" method is used as follows:
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.
For additional examples see the 'Named colors' and 'Standard colors'
worksheets created by formats.pl in the examples directory.
See also "COLOURS IN EXCEL".
set_bold()
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.
set_italic()
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
set_underline()
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
set_font_strikeout()
Default state: Strikeout is off
Default action: Turn strikeout on
Valid args: 0, 1
Set the strikeout property of the font.
set_font_script()
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.
set_font_outline()
Default state: Outline is off
Default action: Turn outline on
Valid args: 0, 1
Macintosh only.
set_font_shadow()
Default state: Shadow is off
Default action: Turn shadow on
Valid args: 0, 1
Macintosh only.
set_num_format()
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', $format13);
The number system used for dates is described in "DATES AND TIME IN
EXCEL".
The colour format should have one of the following values:
[Black] [Blue] [Cyan] [Green] [Magenta] [Red] [White] [Yellow]
Alternatively you can specify the colour based on a colour index as
follows: "[Color n]", where n is a standard Excel colour index - 7. See
the 'Standard colors' worksheet created by formats.pl.
For more information refer to the documentation on formatting in the
"docs" directory of the Spreadsheet::WriteExcel distro, the Excel on-
line help or
http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/assistance/HP051995001033.aspx
<http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/assistance/HP051995001033.aspx>.
You should ensure that the format string is valid in Excel prior to
using it in WriteExcel.
Excel's built-in formats are shown in the following table:
Index Index Format String
0 0x00 General
1 0x01 0
2 0x02 0.00
3 0x03 #,##0
4 0x04 #,##0.00
5 0x05 ($#,##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 "docs" 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.
set_locked()
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.
set_hidden()
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);
Note: This offers weak protection even with a password, see the note in
relation to the "protect()" method.
set_align()
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.
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.
set_center_across()
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.
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 "merge6.pl" programs in the "examples"
directory and the "merge_range()" method.
set_text_wrap()
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->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_rotation()
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.
set_indent()
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.
set_shrink()
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);
set_text_justlast()
Default state: Justify last is off
Default action: Turn justify last on
Valid args: 0, 1
Only applies to Far Eastern versions of Excel.
set_pattern()
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.
set_bg_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.
set_fg_color()
Default state: Color is off
Default action: Solid fill.
Valid args: See set_color()
The "set_fg_color()" method can be used to set the foreground colour of
a pattern.
For further examples see the 'Patterns' worksheet created by
formats.pl.
set_border()
Also applies to: set_bottom()set_top()set_left()set_right()
Default state: Border is off
Default action: Set border type 1
Valid args: 0-13, See below.
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.
The following shows the border styles sorted by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
index number:
Index Name Weight Style
===== ============= ====== ===========
0 None 0
1 Continuous 1 -----------
2 Continuous 2 -----------
3 Dash 1 - - - - - -
4 Dot 1 . . . . . .
5 Continuous 3 -----------
6 Double 3 ===========
7 Continuous 0 -----------
8 Dash 2 - - - - - -
9 Dash Dot 1 - . - . - .
10 Dash Dot 2 - . - . - .
11 Dash Dot Dot 1 - . . - . .
12 Dash Dot Dot 2 - . . - . .
13 SlantDash Dot 2 / - . / - .
The following shows the borders sorted by style:
Name Weight Style Index
============= ====== =========== =====
Continuous 0 ----------- 7
Continuous 1 ----------- 1
Continuous 2 ----------- 2
Continuous 3 ----------- 5
Dash 1 - - - - - - 3
Dash 2 - - - - - - 8
Dash Dot 1 - . - . - . 9
Dash Dot 2 - . - . - . 10
Dash Dot Dot 1 - . . - . . 11
Dash Dot Dot 2 - . . - . . 12
Dot 1 . . . . . . 4
Double 3 =========== 6
None 0 0
SlantDash Dot 2 / - . / - . 13
The following shows the borders in the order shown in the Excel Dialog.
Index Style Index Style
===== ===== ===== =====
0 None 12 - . . - . .
7 ----------- 13 / - . / - .
4 . . . . . . 10 - . - . - .
11 - . . - . . 8 - - - - - -
9 - . - . - . 2 -----------
3 - - - - - - 5 -----------
1 ----------- 6 ===========
Examples of the available border styles are shown in the 'Borders'
worksheet created by formats.pl.
set_border_color()
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.
copy($format)
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.
Note: this is not a copy constructor, both objects must exist prior to
copying.
UNICODE IN EXCEL
The following is a brief introduction to handling Unicode in
"Spreadsheet::WriteExcel".
For a more general introduction to Unicode handling in Perl see
perlunitut and perluniintro.
When using Spreadsheet::WriteExcel the best and easiest way to write
unicode strings to an Excel file is to use "UTF-8" encoded strings and
perl 5.8 (or later). Spreadsheet::WriteExcel also allows you to write
unicode strings using older perls but it generally requires more work,
as explained below.
Internally, Excel encodes unicode data as "UTF-16LE" (where LE means
little-endian). If you are using perl 5.8+ then Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
will convert "UTF-8" strings to "UTF-16LE" when required. No further
intervention is required from the programmer, for example:
# perl 5.8+ example:
my $smiley = "\x{263A}";
$worksheet->write('A1', 'Hello world'); # ASCII
$worksheet->write('A2', $smiley); # UTF-8
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel also lets you write unicode data as "UTF-16".
Since the majority of CPAN modules default to "UTF-16BE" (big-endian)
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel also uses "UTF-16BE" and converts it internally
to "UTF-16LE":
# perl 5.005 example:
my $smiley = pack 'n', 0x263A;
$worksheet->write ('A3', 'Hello world'); # ASCII
$worksheet->write_utf16be_string('A4', $smiley); # UTF-16
Although the above examples look similar there is an important
difference. With "uft8" and perl 5.8+ Spreadsheet::WriteExcel treats
"UTF-8" strings in exactly the same way as any other string. However,
with "UTF16" data we need to distinguish it from other strings either
by calling a separate function or by passing an additional flag to
indicate the data type.
If you are dealing with non-ASCII characters that aren't in "UTF-8"
then perl 5.8+ provides useful tools in the guise of the "Encode"
module to help you to convert to the required format. For example:
use Encode 'decode';
my $string = 'some string with koi8-r characters';
$string = decode('koi8-r', $string); # koi8-r to utf8
Alternatively you can read data from an encoded file and convert it to
"UTF-8" as you read it in:
my $file = 'unicode_koi8r.txt';
open FH, '<:encoding(koi8-r)', $file or die "Couldn't open $file: $!\n";
my $row = 0;
while (<FH>) {
# Data read in is now in utf8 format.
chomp;
$worksheet->write($row++, 0, $_);
}
These methodologies are explained in more detail in perlunitut,
perluniintro and perlunicode.
See also the "unicode_*.pl" programs in the examples directory of the
distro.
COLOURS IN EXCEL
Excel provides a colour palette of 56 colours. In
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel 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
pink => 33
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
"docs" directory of the distro. You can generate an Excel version of
the palette using "colors.pl" in the "examples" directory.
DATES AND TIME IN EXCEL
There are two important things to understand about dates and times in
Excel:
1 A date/time in Excel is a real number plus an Excel number format.
2 Spreadsheet::WriteExcel doesn't automatically convert date/time
strings in "write()" to an Excel date/time.
These two points are explained in more detail below along with some
suggestions on how to convert times and dates to the required format.
An Excel date/time is a number plus a format
If you write a date string with "write()" then all you will get is a
string:
$worksheet->write('A1', '02/03/04'); # !! Writes a string not a date. !!
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.
A date or time in Excel is just like any other number. To have the
number display as a date you must apply an Excel number format to it.
Here are some examples.
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new('date_examples.xls');
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
$worksheet->set_column('A:A', 30); # For extra visibility.
my $number = 39506.5;
$worksheet->write('A1', $number); # 39506.5
my $format2 = $workbook->add_format(num_format => 'dd/mm/yy');
$worksheet->write('A2', $number , $format2); # 28/02/08
my $format3 = $workbook->add_format(num_format => 'mm/dd/yy');
$worksheet->write('A3', $number , $format3); # 02/28/08
my $format4 = $workbook->add_format(num_format => 'd-m-yyyy');
$worksheet->write('A4', $number , $format4); # 28-2-2008
my $format5 = $workbook->add_format(num_format => 'dd/mm/yy hh:mm');
$worksheet->write('A5', $number , $format5); # 28/02/08 12:00
my $format6 = $workbook->add_format(num_format => 'd mmm yyyy');
$worksheet->write('A6', $number , $format6); # 28 Feb 2008
my $format7 = $workbook->add_format(num_format => 'mmm d yyyy hh:mm AM/PM');
$worksheet->write('A7', $number , $format7); # Feb 28 2008 12:00 PM
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel doesn't automatically convert date/time strings
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel doesn't automatically convert input date
strings into Excel's formatted date numbers due to the large number of
possible date formats and also due to the possibility of
misinterpretation.
For example, does "02/03/04" mean March 2 2004, February 3 2004 or even
March 4 2002.
Therefore, in order to handle dates you will have to convert them to
numbers and apply an Excel format. Some methods for converting dates
are listed in the next section.
The most direct way is to convert your dates to the ISO8601
"yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.sss" date format and use the "write_date_time()"
worksheet method:
$worksheet->write_date_time('A2', '2001-01-01T12:20', $format);
See the "write_date_time()" section of the documentation for more
details.
A general methodology for handling date strings with
"write_date_time()" is:
1. Identify incoming date/time strings with a regex.
2. Extract the component parts of the date/time using the same regex.
3. Convert the date/time to the ISO8601 format.
4. Write the date/time using write_date_time() and a number format.
Here is an example:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel;
my $workbook = Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new('example.xls');
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
# Set the default format for dates.
my $date_format = $workbook->add_format(num_format => 'mmm d yyyy');
# Increase column width to improve visibility of data.
$worksheet->set_column('A:C', 20);
# Simulate reading from a data source.
my $row = 0;
while (<DATA>) {
chomp;
my $col = 0;
my @data = split ' ';
for my $item (@data) {
# Match dates in the following formats: d/m/yy, d/m/yyyy
if ($item =~ qr[^(\d{1,2})/(\d{1,2})/(\d{4})$]) {
# Change to the date format required by write_date_time().
my $date = sprintf "%4d-%02d-%02dT", $3, $2, $1;
$worksheet->write_date_time($row, $col++, $date, $date_format);
}
else {
# Just plain data
$worksheet->write($row, $col++, $item);
}
}
$row++;
}
__DATA__
Item Cost Date
Book 10 1/9/2007
Beer 4 12/9/2007
Bed 500 5/10/2007
For a slightly more advanced solution you can modify the "write()"
method to handle date formats of your choice via the
"add_write_handler()" method. See the "add_write_handler()" section of
the docs and the write_handler3.pl and write_handler4.pl programs in
the examples directory of the distro.
Converting dates and times to an Excel date or time
The "write_date_time()" method above is just one way of handling dates
and times.
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Utility module which is included in the
distro has date/time handling functions:
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Utility;
$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
Note: some of these functions require additional CPAN modules.
For date conversions using the CPAN "DateTime" framework see
DateTime::Format::Excel
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=DateTime-Format-Excel
<http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=DateTime-Format-Excel>.
OUTLINES AND GROUPING IN EXCEL
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::WriteExcel" is achieved by setting the
outline level via the "set_row()" and "set_column()" worksheet methods:
set_row($row, $height, $format, $hidden, $level, $collapsed)
set_column($first_col, $last_col, $width, $format, $hidden, $level, $collapsed)
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:
$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".
Rows and columns can be collapsed by setting the $hidden flag for the
hidden rows/columns and setting the $collapsed flag for the row/column
that has the collapsed "+" symbol:
$worksheet->set_row(1, undef, undef, 1, 1);
$worksheet->set_row(2, undef, undef, 1, 1);
$worksheet->set_row(3, undef, undef, 0, 0, 1); # Collapsed flag.
$worksheet->set_column('B:G', undef, undef, 1, 1);
$worksheet->set_column('H:H', undef, undef, 0, 0, 1); # Collapsed flag.
Note: Setting the $collapsed flag is particularly important for
compatibility with OpenOffice.org and Gnumeric.
For a more complete example see the "outline.pl" and
"outline_collapsed.pl" programs in the examples directory of the
distro.
Some additional outline properties can be set via the
"outline_settings()" worksheet method, see above.
DATA VALIDATION IN EXCEL
Data validation is a feature of Excel which allows you to restrict the
data that a users enters in a cell and to display help and warning
messages. It also allows you to restrict input to values in a drop down
list.
A typical use case might be to restrict data in a cell to integer
values in a certain range, to provide a help message to indicate the
required value and to issue a warning if the input data doesn't meet
the stated criteria. In Spreadsheet::WriteExcel we could do that as
follows:
$worksheet->data_validation('B3',
{
validate => 'integer',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => 1,
maximum => 100,
input_title => 'Input an integer:',
input_message => 'Between 1 and 100',
error_message => 'Sorry, try again.',
});
The above example would look like this in Excel:
<http://homepage.eircom.net/~jmcnamara/perl/data_validation.jpg>.
For more information on data validation see the following Microsoft
support article "Description and examples of data validation in Excel":
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211485>.
The following sections describe how to use the "data_validation()"
method and its various options.
data_validation($row, $col, { parameter => 'value', ... })
The "data_validation()" method is used to construct an Excel data
validation.
It can be applied to a single cell or a range of cells. You can pass 3
parameters such as "($row, $col, {...})" or 5 parameters such as
"($first_row, $first_col, $last_row, $last_col, {...})". You can also
use "A1" style notation. For example:
$worksheet->data_validation(0, 0, {...});
$worksheet->data_validation(0, 0, 4, 1, {...});
# Which are the same as:
$worksheet->data_validation('A1', {...});
$worksheet->data_validation('A1:B5', {...});
See also the note about "Cell notation" for more information.
The last parameter in "data_validation()" must be a hash ref containing
the parameters that describe the type and style of the data validation.
The allowable parameters are:
validate
criteria
value | minimum | source
maximum
ignore_blank
dropdown
input_title
input_message
show_input
error_title
error_message
error_type
show_error
These parameters are explained in the following sections. Most of the
parameters are optional, however, you will generally require the three
main options "validate", "criteria" and "value".
$worksheet->data_validation('B3',
{
validate => 'integer',
criteria => '>',
value => 100,
});
The "data_validation" method returns:
0 for success.
-1 for insufficient number of arguments.
-2 for row or column out of bounds.
-3 for incorrect parameter or value.
validate
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "validate" parameter is used to set the type of data that you wish
to validate. It is always required and it has no default value.
Allowable values are:
any
integer
decimal
list
date
time
length
custom
· any is used to specify that the type of data is unrestricted. This
is the same as not applying a data validation. It is only provided
for completeness and isn't used very often in the context of
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
· integer restricts the cell to integer values. Excel refers to this
as 'whole number'.
validate => 'integer',
criteria => '>',
value => 100,
· decimal restricts the cell to decimal values.
validate => 'decimal',
criteria => '>',
value => 38.6,
· list restricts the cell to a set of user specified values. These
can be passed in an array ref or as a cell range (named ranges
aren't currently supported):
validate => 'list',
value => ['open', 'high', 'close'],
# Or like this:
value => 'B1:B3',
Excel requires that range references are only to cells on the same
worksheet.
· date restricts the cell to date values. Dates in Excel are
expressed as integer values but you can also pass an ISO860 style
string as used in "write_date_time()". See also "DATES AND TIME IN
EXCEL" for more information about working with Excel's dates.
validate => 'date',
criteria => '>',
value => 39653, # 24 July 2008
# Or like this:
value => '2008-07-24T',
· time restricts the cell to time values. Times in Excel are
expressed as decimal values but you can also pass an ISO860 style
string as used in "write_date_time()". See also "DATES AND TIME IN
EXCEL" for more information about working with Excel's times.
validate => 'time',
criteria => '>',
value => 0.5, # Noon
# Or like this:
value => 'T12:00:00',
· length restricts the cell data based on an integer string length.
Excel refers to this as 'Text length'.
validate => 'length',
criteria => '>',
value => 10,
· custom restricts the cell based on an external Excel formula that
returns a "TRUE/FALSE" value.
validate => 'custom',
value => '=IF(A10>B10,TRUE,FALSE)',
criteria
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "criteria" parameter is used to set the criteria by which the data
in the cell is validated. It is almost always required except for the
"list" and "custom" validate options. It has no default value.
Allowable values are:
'between'
'not between'
'equal to' | '==' | '='
'not equal to' | '!=' | '<>'
'greater than' | '>'
'less than' | '<'
'greater than or equal to' | '>='
'less than or equal to' | '<='
You can either use Excel's textual description strings, in the first
column above, or the more common operator alternatives. The following
are equivalent:
validate => 'integer',
criteria => 'greater than',
value => 100,
validate => 'integer',
criteria => '>',
value => 100,
The "list" and "custom" validate options don't require a "criteria". If
you specify one it will be ignored.
validate => 'list',
value => ['open', 'high', 'close'],
validate => 'custom',
value => '=IF(A10>B10,TRUE,FALSE)',
value | minimum | source
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "value" parameter is used to set the limiting value to which the
"criteria" is applied. It is always required and it has no default
value. You can also use the synonyms "minimum" or "source" to make the
validation a little clearer and closer to Excel's description of the
parameter:
# Use 'value'
validate => 'integer',
criteria => '>',
value => 100,
# Use 'minimum'
validate => 'integer',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => 1,
maximum => 100,
# Use 'source'
validate => 'list',
source => 'B1:B3',
maximum
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "maximum" parameter is used to set the upper limiting value when
the "criteria" is either 'between' or 'not between':
validate => 'integer',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => 1,
maximum => 100,
ignore_blank
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "ignore_blank" parameter is used to toggle on and off the 'Ignore
blank' option in the Excel data validation dialog. When the option is
on the data validation is not applied to blank data in the cell. It is
on by default.
ignore_blank => 0, # Turn the option off
dropdown
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "dropdown" parameter is used to toggle on and off the 'In-cell
dropdown' option in the Excel data validation dialog. When the option
is on a dropdown list will be shown for "list" validations. It is on by
default.
dropdown => 0, # Turn the option off
input_title
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "input_title" parameter is used to set the title of the input
message that is displayed when a cell is entered. It has no default
value and is only displayed if the input message is displayed. See the
"input_message" parameter below.
input_title => 'This is the input title',
The maximum title length is 32 characters. UTF8 strings are handled
automatically in perl 5.8 and later.
input_message
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "input_message" parameter is used to set the input message that is
displayed when a cell is entered. It has no default value.
validate => 'integer',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => 1,
maximum => 100,
input_title => 'Enter the applied discount:',
input_message => 'between 1 and 100',
The message can be split over several lines using newlines, "\n" in
double quoted strings.
input_message => "This is\na test.",
The maximum message length is 255 characters. UTF8 strings are handled
automatically in perl 5.8 and later.
show_input
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "show_input" parameter is used to toggle on and off the 'Show input
message when cell is selected' option in the Excel data validation
dialog. When the option is off an input message is not displayed even
if it has been set using "input_message". It is on by default.
show_input => 0, # Turn the option off
error_title
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "error_title" parameter is used to set the title of the error
message that is displayed when the data validation criteria is not met.
The default error title is 'Microsoft Excel'.
error_title => 'Input value is not valid',
The maximum title length is 32 characters. UTF8 strings are handled
automatically in perl 5.8 and later.
error_message
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "error_message" parameter is used to set the error message that is
displayed when a cell is entered. The default error message is "The
value you entered is not valid.\nA user has restricted values that can
be entered into the cell.".
validate => 'integer',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => 1,
maximum => 100,
error_title => 'Input value is not valid',
error_message => 'It should be an integer between 1 and 100',
The message can be split over several lines using newlines, "\n" in
double quoted strings.
input_message => "This is\na test.",
The maximum message length is 255 characters. UTF8 strings are handled
automatically in perl 5.8 and later.
error_type
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "error_type" parameter is used to specify the type of error dialog
that is displayed. There are 3 options:
'stop'
'warning'
'information'
The default is 'stop'.
show_error
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "data_validation()".
The "show_error" parameter is used to toggle on and off the 'Show error
alert after invalid data is entered' option in the Excel data
validation dialog. When the option is off an error message is not
displayed even if it has been set using "error_message". It is on by
default.
show_error => 0, # Turn the option off
Data Validation Examples
Example 1. Limiting input to an integer greater than a fixed value.
$worksheet->data_validation('A1',
{
validate => 'integer',
criteria => '>',
value => 0,
});
Example 2. Limiting input to an integer greater than a fixed value
where the value is referenced from a cell.
$worksheet->data_validation('A2',
{
validate => 'integer',
criteria => '>',
value => '=E3',
});
Example 3. Limiting input to a decimal in a fixed range.
$worksheet->data_validation('A3',
{
validate => 'decimal',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => 0.1,
maximum => 0.5,
});
Example 4. Limiting input to a value in a dropdown list.
$worksheet->data_validation('A4',
{
validate => 'list',
source => ['open', 'high', 'close'],
});
Example 5. Limiting input to a value in a dropdown list where the list
is specified as a cell range.
$worksheet->data_validation('A5',
{
validate => 'list',
source => '=E4:G4',
});
Example 6. Limiting input to a date in a fixed range.
$worksheet->data_validation('A6',
{
validate => 'date',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => '2008-01-01T',
maximum => '2008-12-12T',
});
Example 7. Displaying a message when the cell is selected.
$worksheet->data_validation('A7',
{
validate => 'integer',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => 1,
maximum => 100,
input_title => 'Enter an integer:',
input_message => 'between 1 and 100',
});
See also the "data_validate.pl" program in the examples directory of
the distro.
FORMULAS AND FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL
Caveats
The first thing to note is that there are still some outstanding issues
with the implementation of formulas and functions:
1. Writing a formula is much slower than writing the equivalent string.
2. You cannot use array constants, i.e. {1;2;3}, in functions.
3. Unary minus isn't supported.
4. Whitespace is not preserved around operators.
5. Named ranges are not supported.
6. Array formulas are not supported.
However, these constraints will be removed in future versions. They are
here because of a trade-off between features and time. Also, it is
possible to work around issue 1 using the "store_formula()" and
"repeat_formula()" methods as described later in this section.
Introduction
The following is a brief introduction to formulas and functions in
Excel and Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
A formula is a string that begins with an equals sign:
'=A1+B1'
'=AVERAGE(1, 2, 3)'
The formula can contain numbers, strings, boolean values, cell
references, cell ranges and functions. Named ranges are not supported.
Formulas should be written as they appear in Excel, that is cells and
functions must be in uppercase.
Cells in Excel are referenced using the A1 notation system where the
column is designated by a letter and the row by a number. Columns range
from A to IV i.e. 0 to 255, rows range from 1 to 65536. The
"Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Utility" module that is included in the
distro contains helper functions for dealing with A1 notation, for
example:
use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Utility;
($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) # 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. 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::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:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/CH062528031033.aspx
<http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/CH062528031033.aspx>.
If your formula doesn't work in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel 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).
6. Ensure that the function is in the above table.
If you go through steps 1-6 and you still have a problem, mail me.
Improving performance when working with formulas
Writing a large number of formulas with Spreadsheet::WriteExcel can be
slow. This is due to the fact that each formula has to be parsed and
with the current implementation this is computationally expensive.
However, in a lot of cases the formulas that you write will be quite
similar, for example:
$worksheet->write_formula('B1', '=A1 * 3 + 50', $format);
$worksheet->write_formula('B2', '=A2 * 3 + 50', $format);
...
...
$worksheet->write_formula('B99', '=A999 * 3 + 50', $format);
$worksheet->write_formula('B1000', '=A1000 * 3 + 50', $format);
In this example the cell reference changes in iterations from "A1" to
"A1000". The parser treats this variable as a token and arranges it
according to predefined rules. However, since the parser is oblivious
to the value of the token, it is essentially performing the same
calculation 1000 times. This is inefficient.
The way to avoid this inefficiency and thereby speed up the writing of
formulas is to parse the formula once and then repeatedly substitute
similar tokens.
A formula can be parsed and stored via the "store_formula()" worksheet
method. You can then use the "repeat_formula()" method to substitute
$pattern, $replace pairs in the stored formula:
my $formula = $worksheet->store_formula('=A1 * 3 + 50');
for my $row (0..999) {
$worksheet->repeat_formula($row, 1, $formula, $format, 'A1', 'A'.($row +1));
}
On an arbitrary test machine this method was 10 times faster than the
brute force method shown above.
For more information about how Spreadsheet::WriteExcel parses and
stores formulas see the "Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Formula" man page.
It should be noted however that the overall speed of direct formula
parsing will be improved in a future version.
EXAMPLES
See Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Examples for a full list of examples.
Example 1
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 = $workbook->add_worksheet();
# The general syntax is write($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/');
Example 2
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->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);
Example 3
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->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)
Example 4
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->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)');
Example 5
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->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
<http://search.cpan.org/~hmbrand/Text-CSV_XS/MANIFEST>.
Additional Examples
The following is a description of the example files that are provided
in the standard Spreadsheet::WriteExcel distribution. They demonstrate
the different features and options of the module. See
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Examples for more details.
Getting started
===============
a_simple.pl A get started example with some basic features.
demo.pl A demo of some of the available features.
regions.pl A simple example of multiple worksheets.
stats.pl Basic formulas and functions.
formats.pl All the available formatting on several worksheets.
bug_report.pl A template for submitting bug reports.
Advanced
========
autofilter.pl Examples of worksheet autofilters.
autofit.pl Simulate Excel's autofit for column widths.
bigfile.pl Write past the 7MB limit with OLE::Storage_Lite.
cgi.pl A simple CGI program.
chart_area.pl A demo of area style charts.
chart_bar.pl A demo of bar (vertical histogram) style charts.
chart_column.pl A demo of column (histogram) style charts.
chart_line.pl A demo of line style charts.
chart_pie.pl A demo of pie style charts.
chart_scatter.pl A demo of scatter style charts.
chart_stock.pl A demo of stock style charts.
chess.pl An example of reusing formatting via properties.
colors.pl A demo of the colour palette and named colours.
comments1.pl Add comments to worksheet cells.
comments2.pl Add comments with advanced options.
copyformat.pl Example of copying a cell format.
data_validate.pl An example of data validation and dropdown lists.
date_time.pl Write dates and times with write_date_time().
defined_name.pl Example of how to create defined names.
diag_border.pl A simple example of diagonal cell borders.
easter_egg.pl Expose the Excel97 flight simulator.
filehandle.pl Examples of working with filehandles.
formula_result.pl Formulas with user specified results.
headers.pl Examples of worksheet headers and footers.
hide_sheet.pl Simple example of hiding a worksheet.
hyperlink1.pl Shows how to create web hyperlinks.
hyperlink2.pl Examples of internal and external hyperlinks.
images.pl Adding images to worksheets.
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.
merge6.pl An example of merging with Unicode strings.
mod_perl1.pl A simple mod_perl 1 program.
mod_perl2.pl A simple mod_perl 2 program.
outline.pl An example of outlines and grouping.
outline_collapsed.pl An example of collapsed outlines.
panes.pl An examples of how to create panes.
properties.pl Add document properties to a workbook.
protection.pl Example of cell locking and formula hiding.
repeat.pl Example of writing repeated formulas.
right_to_left.pl Change default sheet direction to right to left.
row_wrap.pl How to wrap data from one worksheet onto another.
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.
tab_colors.pl Example of how to set worksheet tab colours.
textwrap.pl Demonstrates text wrapping options.
win32ole.pl A sample Win32::OLE example for comparison.
write_arrays.pl Example of writing 1D or 2D arrays of data.
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.
write_to_scalar.pl Example of writing an Excel file to a Perl scalar.
Unicode
=======
unicode_utf16.pl Simple example of using Unicode UTF16 strings.
unicode_utf16_japan.pl Write Japanese Unicode strings using UTF-16.
unicode_cyrillic.pl Write Russian Cyrillic strings using UTF-8.
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.
tab2xls.pl Program to convert a tab separated file to xls.
datecalc1.pl Convert Unix/Perl time to Excel time.
datecalc2.pl Calculate an Excel date using Date::Calc.
lecxe.pl Convert Excel to WriteExcel using Win32::OLE.
Developer
=========
convertA1.pl Helper functions for dealing with A1 notation.
function_locale.pl Add non-English function names to Formula.pm.
writeA1.pl Example of how to extend the module.
LIMITATIONS
The following limits are imposed by Excel:
Description Limit
----------------------------------- ------
Maximum number of chars in a string 32767
Maximum number of columns 256
Maximum number of rows 65536
Maximum chars in a sheet name 31
Maximum chars in a header/footer 254
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 installing Takanori Kawai's OLE::Storage_Lite module
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=OLE-Storage_Lite
<http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=OLE-Storage_Lite> see the
"bigfile.pl" example in the "examples" directory of the distro.
DOWNLOADING
The latest version of this module is always available at:
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Spreadsheet-WriteExcel/
<http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Spreadsheet-WriteExcel/>.
REQUIREMENTS
This module requires Perl >= 5.005, Parse::RecDescent, File::Temp and
OLE::Storage_Lite:
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Parse-RecDescent/ # For formulas.
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=File-Temp/ # For set_tempdir().
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=OLE-Storage_Lite/ # For files > 7MB.
Note, these aren't strict requirements. Spreadsheet::WriteExcel will
work without these modules if you don't use write_formula(),
set_tempdir() or create files greater than 7MB. However, it is best to
install them if possible and they will be installed automatically if
you use a tool such as CPAN.pm or ppm.
INSTALLATION
See the INSTALL or install.html docs that come with the distribution
or:
http://search.cpan.org/src/JMCNAMARA/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-2.31/INSTALL
<http://search.cpan.org/src/JMCNAMARA/Spreadsheet-
WriteExcel-2.31/INSTALL>.
PORTABILITYSpreadsheet::WriteExcel 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 it will be reversed if 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
<http://testers.cpan.org/search?request=dist&dist=Spreadsheet-
WriteExcel>.
DIAGNOSTICS
Filename required by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel->new()
A filename must be given in the constructor.
Can't open filename. It may be in use or protected.
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.
Unable to create tmp files via File::Temp::tempfile()...
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 creation
but it will affect the speed of execution for large files. See the
"set_tempdir" workbook method.
Maximum file size, 7087104, exceeded.
The current OLE implementation only supports a maximum BIFF file of
this size. This limit can be extended, see the LIMITATIONS section.
Can't locate Parse/RecDescent.pm in @INC ...
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel requires the Parse::RecDescent module.
Download it from CPAN:
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Parse-RecDescent
<http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Parse-RecDescent>
Couldn't parse formula ...
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. You should
also check the formula in Excel to ensure that it is valid.
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.
'file.xls' cannot be accessed. The file may be read-only ...
You may sometimes encounter the following error when trying to open
a file in Excel: "file.xls cannot be accessed. The file may be
read-only, or you may be trying to access a read-only location. Or,
the server the document is stored on may not be responding."
This error generally means that the Excel file has been corrupted.
There are two likely causes of this: the file was FTPed in ASCII
mode instead of binary mode or else the file was created with
"UTF-8" data returned by an XML parser. See "Warning about
XML::Parser and perl 5.6" for further details.
THE EXCEL BINARY FORMAT
The following is some general information about the Excel binary format
for anyone who may be interested.
Excel data is stored in the "Binary Interchange File Format" (BIFF)
file format. Details of this format are given in "Excel 97-2007 Binary
File Format Specification"
<http://www.microsoft.com/interop/docs/OfficeBinaryFormats.mspx>.
Daniel Rentz of OpenOffice.org has also written a detailed description
of the Excel workbook records, see
<http://sc.openoffice.org/excelfileformat.pdf>.
Charles Wybble has collected together additional information about the
Excel file format. See "The Chicago Project" at
<http://chicago.sourceforge.net/devel/>.
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 OLE format is explained in the "Windows Compound Binary File Format
Specification"
<http://www.microsoft.com/interop/docs/supportingtechnologies.mspx>
The Digital Imaging Group have also detailed the OLE format in the
JPEG2000 specification: see Appendix A of
<http://www.i3a.org/pdf/wg1n1017.pdf>.
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. ;-)
WRITING EXCEL FILES
Depending on your requirements, background and general sensibilities
you may prefer one of the following methods of getting data into 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
<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
<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.
· 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
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/DBD-Excel>
· Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML
This module allows you to create an Excel XML file using the same
interface as Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. See:
http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcelXML
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcelXML>
· 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/
<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
<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
<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
<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>.
READING EXCEL FILES
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
<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
<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
<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
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/HTML-TableExtract>.
· DBI with DBD::ADO or DBD::ODBC.
See, the section "WRITING EXCEL FILES".
· XML::Excel
Converts Excel files to XML using Spreadsheet::ParseExcel
http://search.cpan.org/dist/XML-Excel
<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/ <http://user.cs.tu-
berlin.de/~schwartz/pmh/>. This has been superseded by the
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel module.
For other Perl-Excel modules try the following search:
<http://search.cpan.org/search?mode=module&query=excel>.
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>.
MODIFYING AND REWRITING EXCEL FILES
An Excel file is a binary file within a binary file. It contains
several interlinked checksums and changing even one byte can cause it
to become corrupted.
As such you cannot simply append or update an Excel file. The only way
to achieve this is to read the entire file into memory, make the
required changes or additions and then write the file out again.
You can read and rewrite an Excel file using the
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::SaveParser module which is a wrapper around
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel and Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. It is part of the
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel package:
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Spreadsheet-ParseExcel
<http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Spreadsheet-ParseExcel>.
However, you can only rewrite the features that Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
supports so macros, graphs and some other features in the original
Excel file will be lost. Also, formulas aren't rewritten, only the
result of a formula is written.
Here is an example:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Spreadsheet::ParseExcel;
use Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::SaveParser;
# Open the template with SaveParser
my $parser = new Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::SaveParser;
my $template = $parser->Parse('template.xls');
my $sheet = 0;
my $row = 0;
my $col = 0;
# Get the format from the cell
my $format = $template->{Worksheet}[$sheet]
->{Cells}[$row][$col]
->{FormatNo};
# Write data to some cells
$template->AddCell(0, $row, $col, 1, $format);
$template->AddCell(0, $row+1, $col, "Hello", $format);
# Add a new worksheet
$template->AddWorksheet('New Data');
# The SaveParser SaveAs() method returns a reference to a
# Spreadsheet::WriteExcel object. If you wish you can then
# use this to access any of the methods that aren't
# available from the SaveParser object. If you don't need
# to do this just use SaveAs().
#
my $workbook;
{
# SaveAs generates a lot of harmless warnings about unset
# Worksheet properties. You can ignore them if you wish.
local $^W = 0;
# Rewrite the file or save as a new file
$workbook = $template->SaveAs('new.xls');
}
# Use Spreadsheet::WriteExcel methods
my $worksheet = $workbook->sheets(0);
$worksheet->write($row+2, $col, "World2");
$workbook->close();
Warning about XML::Parser and perl 5.6
You must be careful when using Spreadsheet::WriteExcel in conjunction
with perl 5.6 and XML::Parser (and other XML parsers) due to the fact
that the data returned by the parser is generally in "UTF-8" format.
When "UTF-8" strings are added to Spreadsheet::WriteExcel's internal
data it causes the generated Excel file to become corrupt.
Note, this doesn't affect perl 5.005 (which doesn't try to handle
"UTF-8") or 5.8 (which handles it correctly).
To avoid this problem you should upgrade to perl 5.8, if possible, or
else you should convert the output data from XML::Parser to ASCII or
ISO-8859-1 using one of the following methods:
$new_str = pack 'C*', unpack 'U*', $utf8_str;
use Unicode::MapUTF8 'from_utf8';
$new_str = from_utf8({-str => $utf8_str, -charset => 'ISO-8859-1'});
Warning about Office Service Pack 3
If you have Office Service Pack 3 (SP3) installed you may see the
following warning when you open a file created by
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel:
"File Error: data may have been lost".
This is usually caused by multiple instances of data in a cell.
SP3 changed Excel's default behaviour when it encounters multiple data
in a cell so that it issues a warning when the file is opened and it
displays the first data that was written. Prior to SP3 it didn't issue
a warning and displayed the last data written.
For a longer discussion and some workarounds see the following:
http://groups.google.com/group/spreadsheet-writeexcel/browse_thread/thread/3dcea40e6620af3a
<http://groups.google.com/group/spreadsheet-
writeexcel/browse_thread/thread/3dcea40e6620af3a>.
BUGS
Formulas are formulae.
XML and "UTF-8" data on perl 5.6 can cause Excel files created by
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel to become corrupt. See "Warning about
XML::Parser and perl 5.6" for further details.
The format object that is used with a "merge_range()" method call is
marked internally as being associated with a merged range. It is a
fatal error to use a merged format in a non-merged cell. The current
workaround is to use separate formats for merged and non-merged cell.
This restriction will be removed in a future release.
Nested formulas sometimes aren't parsed correctly and give a result of
"#VALUE". If you come across a formula that parses like this, let me
know.
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.org: No known issues in this release.
Gnumeric: No known issues in this release.
If you wish to submit a bug report run the "bug_report.pl" program in
the "examples" directory of the distro.
TO DO
The roadmap is as follows:
· Enhance named ranges.
Also, here are some of the most requested features that probably won't
get added:
· Macros.
This would solve some other problems neatly. However, the format of
Excel macros isn't documented.
· Some feature that you really need. ;-)
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 you could consider connecting to a Windows server via Docserver or
SOAP, see "WRITING EXCEL FILES".
REPOSITORY
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcel source code in host on github:
http://github.com/jmcnamara/spreadsheet-writeexcel
<http://github.com/jmcnamara/spreadsheet-writeexcel>.
MAILING LIST
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
<http://groups.google.com/group/spreadsheet-writeexcel>.
Alternatively you can keep up to date with future releases by
subscribing at: <http://freshmeat.net/projects/writeexcel/>.
DONATIONS
If you'd care to donate to the Spreadsheet::WriteExcel project, you can
do so via PayPal: <http://tinyurl.com/7ayes>.
SEE ALSO
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel:
http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel>.
Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-FromXML:
http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-FromXML
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-FromXML>.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::FromDB:
http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-FromDB
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel-FromDB>.
Excel::Template: http://search.cpan.org/~rkinyon/Excel-Template/
<http://search.cpan.org/~rkinyon/Excel-Template/>.
DateTime::Format::Excel:
http://search.cpan.org/dist/DateTime-Format-Excel
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/DateTime-Format-Excel>.
"Reading and writing Excel files with Perl" by Teodor Zlatanov, at IBM
developerWorks: http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-pexcel/
<http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-pexcel/>.
"Excel-Dateien mit Perl erstellen - Controller im Gluck" by Peter
Dintelmann and Christian Kirsch in the German Unix/web journal iX:
<http://www.heise.de/ix/artikel/2001/06/175/>.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel documentation in Japanese by Takanori Kawai.
<http://member.nifty.ne.jp/hippo2000/perltips/Spreadsheet/WriteExcel.htm>.
Oesterly user brushes with fame:
<http://oesterly.com/releases/12102000.html>.
The csv2xls program that is part of Text::CSV_XS:
http://search.cpan.org/~hmbrand/Text-CSV_XS/MANIFEST
<http://search.cpan.org/~hmbrand/Text-CSV_XS/MANIFEST>.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The following people contributed to the debugging and testing of
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel:
Alexander Farber, Andre de Bruin, Arthur@ais, Artur Silveira da Cunha,
Bob Rose, Borgar Olsen, Brian Foley, Brian White, Bob Mackay, Cedric
Bouvier, Chad Johnson, CPAN testers, Damyan Ivanov, Daniel Berger,
Daniel Gardner, Dmitry Kochurov, Eric Frazier, Ernesto Baschny, Felipe
Perez Galiana, Gordon Simpson, Hanc Pavel, Harold Bamford, James
Holmes, James Wilkinson, Johan Ekenberg, Johann Hanne, Jonathan Scott
Duff, J.C. Wren, Kenneth Stacey, Keith Miller, Kyle Krom, Marc
Rosenthal, Markus Schmitz, Michael Braig, Michael Buschauer, Mike
Blazer, Michael Erickson, Michael W J West, Ning Xie, Paul J. Falbe,
Paul Medynski, Peter Dintelmann, Pierre Laplante, Praveen Kotha, Reto
Badertscher, Rich Sorden, Shane Ashby, Sharron McKenzie, Shenyu Zheng,
Stephan Loescher, Steve Sapovits, Sven Passig, Svetoslav Marinov, Tamas
Gulacsi, Troy Daniels, Vahe Sarkissian.
The following people contributed patches, examples or Excel
information:
Andrew Benham, Bill Young, Cedric Bouvier, Charles Wybble, Daniel
Rentz, David Robins, Franco Venturi, Guy Albertelli, Ian Penman, John
Heitmann, Jon Guy, Kyle R. Burton, Pierre-Jean Vouette, Rubio, Marco
Geri, Mark Fowler, Matisse Enzer, Sam Kington, Takanori Kawai, Tom
O'Sullivan.
Many thanks to Ron McKelvey, Ronzo Consulting for Siemens, who
sponsored the development of the formula caching routines.
Many thanks to Cassens Transport who sponsored the development of the
embedded charts and autofilters.
Additional thanks to Takanori Kawai for translating the documentation
into Japanese.
Gunnar Wolf maintains the Debian distro.
Thanks to Damian Conway for the excellent Parse::RecDescent.
Thanks to Tim Jenness for File::Temp.
Thanks to Michael Meeks and Jody Goldberg for their work on Gnumeric.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
Because this software is licensed free of charge, there is no warranty
for the software, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Except
when otherwise stated in writing the copyright holders and/or other
parties provide the software "as is" without warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied
warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The
entire risk as to the quality and performance of the software is with
you. Should the software prove defective, you assume the cost of all
necessary servicing, repair, or correction.
In no event unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing
will any copyright holder, or any other party who may modify and/or
redistribute the software as permitted by the above licence, be liable
to you for damages, including any general, special, incidental, or
consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the
software (including but not limited to loss of data or data being
rendered inaccurate or losses sustained by you or third parties or a
failure of the software to operate with any other software), even if
such holder or other party has been advised of the possibility of such
damages.
LICENSE
Either the Perl Artistic Licence
<http://dev.perl.org/licenses/artistic.html> or the GPL
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php
<http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php>.
AUTHOR
John McNamara jmcnamara@cpan.org
Another day in June, we'll pick eleven for football
(Pick eleven for football)
We're playing for our lives the referee gives us fuck all
(Ref you're giving us fuck all)
I saw you with the corner of my eye on the sidelines
Your dark mascara bids me to historical deeds
-- Belle and Sebastian
COPYRIGHT
Copyright MM-MMX, 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.
perl v5.14.2 2010-02-02 Spreadsheet::WriteExcel(3)
