Provided by: libexcel-template-perl_0.34-2_all 
NAME
Excel::Template - Excel::Template
SYNOPSIS
First, make a template. This is an XML file, describing the layout of the spreadsheet.
For example, test.xml:
<workbook>
<worksheet name="tester">
<cell text="$HOME" />
<cell text="$PATH" />
</worksheet>
</workbook>
Now, create a small program to use it:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Excel::Template;
# Create the Excel template
my $template = Excel::Template->new(
filename => 'test.xml',
);
# Add a few parameters
$template->param(
HOME => $ENV{HOME},
PATH => $ENV{PATH},
);
$template->write_file('test.xls');
If everything worked, then you should have a spreadsheet called text.xls in your working directory that
looks something like:
A B C
+----------------+----------------+----------------
1 | /home/me | /bin:/usr/bin |
+----------------+----------------+----------------
2 | | |
+----------------+----------------+----------------
3 | | |
DESCRIPTION
This is a module used for templating Excel files. Its genesis came from the need to use the same
datastructure as HTML::Template, but provide Excel files instead. The existing modules don't do the
trick, as they require replication of logic that's already been done within HTML::Template.
MOTIVATION
I do a lot of Perl/CGI for reporting purposes. In nearly every place I've been, I've been asked for HTML,
PDF, and Excel. HTML::Template provides the first, and PDF::Template does the second pretty well. But,
generating Excel was the sticking point. I already had the data structure for the other templating
modules, but I just didn't have an easy mechanism to get that data structure into an XLS file.
USAGE
new()
This creates a Excel::Template object.
Parameters
• FILE / FILENAME
Excel::Template will parse the template in the given file or filehandle automatically. (You can also
use the parse() method, described below.)
If you want to use the __DATA__ section, you can do so by passing
FILE => \*DATA
• RENDERER
The default rendering engine is Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. You may, if you choose, change that to
another choice. The legal values are:
• Excel::Template->RENDER_NML
This is the default of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
• Excel::Template->RENDER_BIG
This attempts to load Spreadsheet::WriteExcel::Big.
• Excel::Template->RENDER_XML
This attempts to load Spreadsheet::WriteExcelXML.
• USE_UNICODE
This will use Unicode::String to represent strings instead of Perl's internal string handling. You
must already have Unicode::String installed on your system.
The USE_UNICODE parameter will be ignored if you are using Perl 5.8 or higher as Perl's internal
string handling is unicode-aware.
NOTE: Certain older versions of OLE::Storage_Lite and mod_perl clash for some reason. Upgrading to
the latest version of OLE::Storage_Lite should fix the problem.
Deprecated
• BIG_FILE
Instead, use RENDERER => Excel::Template->RENDER_BIG
param()
This method is exactly like HTML::Template's param() method.
parse() / parse_xml()
This method actually parses the template file. It can either be called separately or through the new()
call. It will die() if it runs into a situation it cannot handle.
If a filename is passed in (vs. a filehandle), the directory name will be passed in to XML::Parser as the
Base parameter. This will allow for XML directives to work as expected.
write_file()
Create the Excel file and write it to the specified filename, if possible. (This is when the actual
merging of the template and the parameters occurs.)
output()
It will act just like HTML::Template's output() method, returning the resultant file as a stream, usually
for output to the web. (This is when the actual merging of the template and the parameters occurs.)
register()
This allows you to register a class as handling a node. q.v. Excel::Template::Factory for more info.
SUPPORTED NODES
This is a partial list of nodes. See the other classes in this distro for more details on specific
parameters and the like.
Every node can set the ROW and COL parameters. These are the actual ROW/COL values that the next CELL-
type tag will write into.
• WORKBOOK
This is the node representing the workbook. It is the parent for all other nodes.
• WORKSHEET
This is the node representing a given worksheet.
• IF
This node represents a conditional expression. Its children may or may not be rendered. It behaves
just like HTML::Template's TMPL_IF.
• LOOP
This node represents a loop. It behaves just like HTML::Template's TMPL_LOOP.
• ROW
This node represents a row of data. This is the 1 in A1. There is no COLUMN node, as of yet.
• FORMAT
This node varies the format for its children. All formatting options supported in
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel are supported here. There are also a number of formatting shortcuts, such as
BOLD and ITALIC.
• BACKREF
This refers back to a cell previously named.
• CELL
This is the actual cell in a spreadsheet.
• FORMULA
This is a formula in a spreadsheet.
• RANGE
This is a BACKREF for a number of identically-named cells.
• VAR
This is a variable. It is generally used when the 'text' attribute isn't sufficient.
BUGS
None, that I know of.
SUPPORT
This is production quality software, used in several production web applications.
MAINTAINERS
Jens Gassmann <jegade@cpan.org>
Robert Bohne <rbo@cpan.org>
Rob Kinyon <rkinyon@cpan.org>
CONTRIBUTORS
There is a mailing list at http://groups.google.com/group/ExcelTemplate or exceltemplate@googlegroups.com
Robert Bohne <rbo@cpan.org>
• Swichting to Module::Install
• Add autofilter to worksheet
Robert Graff
• Finishing formats
• Fixing several bugs in worksheet naming
Jens Gassmann
• Add hide_gridlines to worksheet
TEST COVERAGE
I use Devel::Cover to test the coverage of my tests. Every release, I intend to improve these numbers.
Excel::Template is also part of the CPAN Kwalitee initiative, being one of the top 100 non-core modules
downloaded from CPAN. If you wish to help out, please feel free to contribute tests, patches, and/or
suggestions.
---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
File stmt bran cond sub pod time total
---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
blib/lib/Excel/Template.pm 93.8 60.0 58.8 100.0 100.0 31.8 83.3
...ib/Excel/Template/Base.pm 94.4 50.0 n/a 100.0 0.0 4.4 80.0
...cel/Template/Container.pm 100.0 50.0 33.3 100.0 0.0 2.0 83.3
...emplate/Container/Bold.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.1 95.0
.../Container/Conditional.pm 95.9 90.0 66.7 100.0 0.0 0.3 91.0
...plate/Container/Format.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 1.5 96.8
...plate/Container/Hidden.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 95.0
...plate/Container/Italic.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 95.0
...ainer/KeepLeadingZeros.pm 100.0 100.0 n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 96.3
...plate/Container/Locked.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 95.0
...emplate/Container/Loop.pm 96.8 50.0 50.0 100.0 0.0 0.1 82.7
...late/Container/Outline.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 95.0
...Template/Container/Row.pm 100.0 75.0 n/a 100.0 0.0 0.1 90.6
...mplate/Container/Scope.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 n/a 0.0 100.0
...plate/Container/Shadow.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 95.0
...te/Container/Strikeout.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 95.0
...ate/Container/Workbook.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 n/a 7.0 100.0
...te/Container/Worksheet.pm 95.5 87.5 100.0 100.0 0.0 1.1 90.2
...Excel/Template/Context.pm 98.0 80.0 75.0 100.0 73.3 17.0 90.7
...Excel/Template/Element.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 n/a 0.1 100.0
...mplate/Element/Backref.pm 100.0 50.0 33.3 100.0 0.0 0.1 87.1
.../Template/Element/Cell.pm 97.9 75.0 80.0 100.0 0.0 5.6 88.6
...mplate/Element/Formula.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 94.1
...te/Element/FreezePanes.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 95.5
...Template/Element/Image.pm 100.0 100.0 n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 94.3
...Template/Element/Range.pm 100.0 66.7 n/a 100.0 0.0 0.1 88.9
...l/Template/Element/Var.pm 100.0 n/a n/a 100.0 0.0 0.0 94.1
...Excel/Template/Factory.pm 100.0 73.1 66.7 100.0 100.0 22.3 91.4
.../Excel/Template/Format.pm 98.4 75.0 33.3 100.0 66.7 2.6 90.5
...xcel/Template/Iterator.pm 98.6 80.0 70.6 100.0 50.0 0.3 88.8
...el/Template/TextObject.pm 92.9 62.5 33.3 100.0 0.0 3.3 80.9
Total 97.8 74.7 64.6 100.0 35.7 100.0 89.4
---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
COPYRIGHT
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl
itself.
The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.
SEE ALSO
perl(1), HTML::Template, Spreadsheet::WriteExcel