Provided by: libexcel-writer-xlsx-perl_0.76-1_all 
NAME
Excel::Writer::XLSX - Create a new file in the Excel 2007+ XLSX format.
VERSION
This document refers to version 0.76 of Excel::Writer::XLSX, released December 31, 2013.
SYNOPSIS
To write a string, a formatted string, a number and a formula to the first worksheet in an
Excel workbook called perl.xlsx:
use Excel::Writer::XLSX;
# Create a new Excel workbook
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'perl.xlsx' );
# Add a worksheet
$worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
# Add and define a format
$format = $workbook->add_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 "Excel::Writer::XLSX" module can be used to create an Excel file in the 2007+ XLSX
format.
The XLSX format is the Office Open XML (OOXML) format used by Excel 2007 and later.
Multiple worksheets can be added to a workbook and formatting can be applied to cells.
Text, numbers, and formulas can be written to the cells.
This module cannot, as yet, be used to write to an existing Excel XLSX file.
Excel::Writer::XLSX and Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
"Excel::Writer::XLSX" uses the same interface as the Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module which
produces an Excel file in binary XLS format.
Excel::Writer::XLSX supports all of the features of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel and in some
cases has more functionality. For more details see "Compatibility with
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel".
The main advantage of the XLSX format over the XLS format is that it allows a larger
number of rows and columns in a worksheet. The XLSX file format also produces much smaller
files than the XLS file format.
QUICK START
Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 Excel::Writer::XLSX; # Step 0
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'perl.xlsx' ); # Step 1
$worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet(); # Step 2
$worksheet->write( 'A1', 'Hi Excel!' ); # Step 3
This will create an Excel file called "perl.xlsx" 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 many 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 Excel::Writer::XLSX 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_shape()
add_vba_project()
close()
set_properties()
define_name()
set_tempdir()
set_custom_color()
sheets()
set_1904()
set_optimization()
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 = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'filename.xlsx' );
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
$worksheet->write( 0, 0, 'Hi Excel!' );
Here are some other examples of using "new()" with filenames:
my $workbook1 = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( $filename );
my $workbook2 = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( '/tmp/filename.xlsx' );
my $workbook3 = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( "c:\\tmp\\filename.xlsx" );
my $workbook4 = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'c:\tmp\filename.xlsx' );
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?".
It is recommended that the filename uses the extension ".xlsx" rather than ".xls" since
the latter causes an Excel warning when used with the XLSX format.
The "new()" constructor returns a Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'protected.xlsx' );
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 = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( \*STDOUT );
The requirement for "binmode()" is explained below.
See also, the "cgi.pl" program in the "examples" directory of the distro.
In "mod_perl" programs where you will have to do something like the following:
# mod_perl 1
...
tie *XLSX, 'Apache';
binmode( XLSX );
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( \*XLSX );
...
# mod_perl 2
...
tie *XLSX => $r; # Tie to the Apache::RequestRec object
binmode( *XLSX );
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( \*XLSX );
...
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:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Excel::Writer::XLSX;
open my $fh, '>', \my $str or die "Failed to open filehandle: $!";
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->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.
You don't have to worry about "binmode()" if you are using filenames instead of
filehandles. Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 )
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 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.
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)
subtype (optional)
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
• "subtype"
Used to define a chart subtype where available.
my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'bar', subtype => 'stacked' );
See the Excel::Writer::XLSX::Chart documentation for a list of available chart
subtypes.
• "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 Excel::Writer::XLSX::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_shape( %properties )
The "add_shape()" method can be used to create new shapes that may be inserted into a
worksheet.
You can either define the properties at creation time via a hash of property values or
later via method calls.
# Set properties at creation.
$plus = $workbook->add_shape(
type => 'plus',
id => 3,
width => $pw,
height => $ph
);
# Default rectangle shape. Set properties later.
$rect = $workbook->add_shape();
See Excel::Writer::XLSX::Shape for details on how to configure the shape object once it is
created.
See also the "shape*.pl" programs in the examples directory of the distro.
add_vba_project( 'vbaProject.bin' )
The "add_vba_project()" method can be used to add macros or functions to an
Excel::Writer::XLSX file using a binary VBA project file that has been extracted from an
existing Excel "xlsm" file.
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'file.xlsm' );
$workbook->add_vba_project( './vbaProject.bin' );
The supplied "extract_vba" utility can be used to extract the required "vbaProject.bin"
file from an existing Excel file:
$ extract_vba file.xlsm
Extracted 'vbaProject.bin' successfully
Macros can be tied to buttons using the worksheet "insert_button()" method (see the
"WORKSHEET METHODS" section for details):
$worksheet->insert_button( 'C2', { macro => 'my_macro' } );
Note, Excel uses the file extension "xlsm" instead of "xlsx" for files that contain
macros. It is advisable to follow the same convention.
See also the "macros.pl" example file.
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 Excel::Writer::XLSX 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: $!";
set_properties()
The "set_properties" method can be used to set the document properties of the Excel file
created by "Excel::Writer::XLSX". These properties are visible when you use the "Office
Button -> Prepare -> Properties" option in Excel and are also available to external
applications that read or index windows files.
The properties should be passed in hash format as follows:
$workbook->set_properties(
title => 'This is an example spreadsheet',
author => 'John McNamara',
comments => 'Created with Perl and Excel::Writer::XLSX',
);
The properties that can be set are:
title
subject
author
manager
company
category
keywords
comments
status
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.
For example to set a global/workbook name:
# Global/workbook names.
$workbook->define_name( 'Exchange_rate', '=0.96' );
$workbook->define_name( 'Sales', '=Sheet1!$G$1:$H$10' );
It is also possible to define a local/worksheet name by prefixing the name with the sheet
name using the syntax "sheetname!definedname":
# Local/worksheet name.
$workbook->define_name( 'Sheet2!Sales', '=Sheet2!$G$1:$G$10' );
If the sheet name contains spaces or special characters you must enclose it in single
quotes like in Excel:
$workbook->define_name( "'New Data'!Sales", '=Sheet2!$G$1:$G$10' );
See the defined_name.pl program in the examples dir of the distro.
Refer to the following to see Excel's syntax rules for defined names:
<http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/excel-help/define-and-use-names-in-formulas-HA010147120.aspx#BMsyntax_rules_for_names>
set_tempdir()
"Excel::Writer::XLSX" stores worksheet data in temporary files prior to assembling the
final workbook.
The "File::Temp" module is used to create these 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()"
If the default temporary file directory isn't accessible to your application, or doesn't
contain enough space, you can specify an alternative location using the "set_tempdir()"
method:
$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.
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 ); # 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
);
Note, In the XLSX format the color palette isn't actually confined to 53 unique colors.
The Excel::Writer::XLSX module will be extended at a later stage to support the newer,
semi-infinite, palette.
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:
for $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 the 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:
for $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.
Excel::Writer::XLSX 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_optimization()
The "set_optimization()" method is used to turn on optimizations in the
Excel::Writer::XLSX module. Currently there is only one optimization available and that is
to reduce memory usage.
$workbook->set_optimization();
See "SPEED AND MEMORY USAGE" for more background information.
Note, that with this optimization turned on a row of data is written and then discarded
when a cell in a new row is added via one of the Worksheet "write_*()" methods. As such
data should be written in sequential row order once the optimization is turned on.
This method must be called before any calls to "add_worksheet()".
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_rich_string()
keep_leading_zeros()
write_blank()
write_row()
write_col()
write_date_time()
write_url()
write_url_range()
write_formula()
write_comment()
show_comments()
set_comments_author()
add_write_handler()
insert_image()
insert_chart()
insert_shape()
insert_button()
data_validation()
conditional_formatting()
add_sparkline()
add_table()
get_name()
activate()
select()
hide()
set_first_sheet()
protect()
set_selection()
set_row()
set_default_row()
set_column()
outline_settings()
freeze_panes()
split_panes()
merge_range()
merge_range_type()
set_zoom()
right_to_left()
hide_zero()
set_tab_color()
autofilter()
filter_column()
filter_column_list()
Cell notation
Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 "Excel::Writer::XLSX::Utility" module that is included in the distro contains helper
functions for dealing with A1 notation, for example:
use Excel::Writer::XLSX::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
Excel::Writer::XLSX.
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.xlsx' ); # write_url()
$worksheet->write( 'A12', '=A3 + 3*A4' ); # write_formula()
$worksheet->write( 'A13', '=SIN(PI()/4)' ); # write_formula()
$worksheet->write( 'A14', \@array ); # write_row()
$worksheet->write( 'A15', [\@array] ); # write_col()
# And if the keep_leading_zeros property is set:
$worksheet->write( 'A16', '2' ); # write_number()
$worksheet->write( 'A17', '02' ); # write_string()
$worksheet->write( 'A18', '00002' ); # write_string()
# Write an array formula. Not available in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
$worksheet->write( 'A19', '{=SUM(A1:B1*A2:B2)}' ); # write_formula()
The "looks like" rule is defined by regular expressions:
"write_number()" if $token is a number based on the following regex: "$token =~
/^([+-]?)(?=\d|\.\d)\d*(\.\d*)?([Ee]([+-]?\d+))?$/".
"write_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_array_formula()" if the $token matches "/^{=.*}$/".
"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()".
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.
Note: some versions of Excel 2007 do not display the calculated values of formulas written
by Excel::Writer::XLSX. Applying all available Service Packs to Excel should fix this.
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.
The "write()" method will also handle strings in "UTF-8" format. 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_rich_string( $row, $column, $format, $string, ..., $cell_format )
The "write_rich_string()" method is used to write strings with multiple formats. For
example to write the string "This is bold and this is italic" you would use the following:
my $bold = $workbook->add_format( bold => 1 );
my $italic = $workbook->add_format( italic => 1 );
$worksheet->write_rich_string( 'A1',
'This is ', $bold, 'bold', ' and this is ', $italic, 'italic' );
The basic rule is to break the string into fragments and put a $format object before the
fragment that you want to format. For example:
# Unformatted string.
'This is an example string'
# Break it into fragments.
'This is an ', 'example', ' string'
# Add formatting before the fragments you want formatted.
'This is an ', $format, 'example', ' string'
# In Excel::Writer::XLSX.
$worksheet->write_rich_string( 'A1',
'This is an ', $format, 'example', ' string' );
String fragments that don't have a format are given a default format. So for example when
writing the string "Some bold text" you would use the first example below but it would be
equivalent to the second:
# With default formatting:
my $bold = $workbook->add_format( bold => 1 );
$worksheet->write_rich_string( 'A1',
'Some ', $bold, 'bold', ' text' );
# Or more explicitly:
my $bold = $workbook->add_format( bold => 1 );
my $default = $workbook->add_format();
$worksheet->write_rich_string( 'A1',
$default, 'Some ', $bold, 'bold', $default, ' text' );
As with Excel, only the font properties of the format such as font name, style, size,
underline, color and effects are applied to the string fragments. Other features such as
border, background, text wrap and alignment must be applied to the cell.
The "write_rich_string()" method allows you to do this by using the last argument as a
cell format (if it is a format object). The following example centers a rich string in the
cell:
my $bold = $workbook->add_format( bold => 1 );
my $center = $workbook->add_format( align => 'center' );
$worksheet->write_rich_string( 'A5',
'Some ', $bold, 'bold text', ' centered', $center );
See the "rich_strings.pl" example in the distro for more examples.
my $bold = $workbook->add_format( bold => 1 );
my $italic = $workbook->add_format( italic => 1 );
my $red = $workbook->add_format( color => 'red' );
my $blue = $workbook->add_format( color => 'blue' );
my $center = $workbook->add_format( align => 'center' );
my $super = $workbook->add_format( font_script => 1 );
# Write some strings with multiple formats.
$worksheet->write_rich_string( 'A1',
'This is ', $bold, 'bold', ' and this is ', $italic, 'italic' );
$worksheet->write_rich_string( 'A3',
'This is ', $red, 'red', ' and this is ', $blue, 'blue' );
$worksheet->write_rich_string( 'A5',
'Some ', $bold, 'bold text', ' centered', $center );
$worksheet->write_rich_string( 'A7',
$italic, 'j = k', $super, '(n-1)', $center );
As with "write_sting()" the maximum string size is 32767 characters. See also the note
about "Cell notation".
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 Excel::Writer::XLSX;
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'file.xlsx' );
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, $format, $label )
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 $label parameter is
optional. The label is written using the "write()" method. Therefore it is possible to
write strings, numbers or formulas as labels.
The $format parameter is also optional, however, without a format the link won't look like
a link.
The suggested format is:
my $format = $workbook->add_format( color => 'blue', underline => 1 );
Note, this behaviour is different from Spreadsheet::WriteExcel which provides a default
hyperlink format if one isn't specified by the user.
There are four web style URI's supported: "http://", "https://", "ftp://" and "mailto:":
$worksheet->write_url( 0, 0, 'ftp://www.perl.org/', $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A3', 'http://www.perl.com/', $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A4', 'mailto:jmcnamara@cpan.org', $format );
You can display an alternative string using the $label parameter:
$worksheet->write_url( 1, 0, 'http://www.perl.com/', $format, 'Perl' );
If you wish to have some other cell data such as a number or a formula you can overwrite
the cell using another call to "write_*()":
$worksheet->write_url( 'A1', 'http://www.perl.com/' );
# Overwrite the URL string with a formula. The cell is still a link.
$worksheet->write_formula( 'A1', '=1+1', $format );
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', $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A7', 'internal:Sheet2!A1', $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A8', 'internal:Sheet2!A1:B2', $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A9', q{internal:'Sales Data'!A1}, $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A10', 'external:c:\temp\foo.xlsx', $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A11', 'external:c:\foo.xlsx#Sheet2!A1', $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A12', 'external:..\foo.xlsx', $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A13', 'external:..\foo.xlsx#Sheet2!A1', $format );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A13', 'external:\\\\NET\share\foo.xlsx', $format );
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.xlsx#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.xlsx" you could link to it as
follows:
$worksheet->write_url( 'A14', 'external:c:\temp\foo.xlsx#my_name' );
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.xlsx" );
$worksheet->write_url( 'A15', 'external://NETWORK/share/foo.xlsx' );
Note: Excel::Writer::XLSX will escape the following characters in URLs as required by
Excel: "\s " < > \ [ ] ` ^ { }" unless the URL already contains %xx style escapes. In
which case it is assumed that the URL was escaped correctly by the user and will by passed
directly to Excel.
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")' );
Array formulas are also supported:
$worksheet->write_formula( 'A7', '{=SUM(A1:B1*A2:B2)}' );
See also the "write_array_formula()" method below.
See the note about "Cell notation". For more information about writing Excel formulas see
"FORMULAS AND FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL"
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 calculate the
value of the formula. The calculated $value is added at the end of the argument list:
$worksheet->write( 'A1', '=2+2', $format, 4 );
However, this probably isn't something that you will ever need to do. If you do use this
feature then do so with care.
write_array_formula($first_row, $first_col, $last_row, $last_col, $formula, $format, $value)
Write an array formula to a cell range. In Excel an array formula is a formula that
performs a calculation on a set of values. It can return a single value or a range of
values.
An array formula is indicated by a pair of braces around the formula:
"{=SUM(A1:B1*A2:B2)}". If the array formula returns a single value then the $first_ and
$last_ parameters should be the same:
$worksheet->write_array_formula('A1:A1', '{=SUM(B1:C1*B2:C2)}');
It this case however it is easier to just use the "write_formula()" or "write()" methods:
# Same as above but more concise.
$worksheet->write( 'A1', '{=SUM(B1:C1*B2:C2)}' );
$worksheet->write_formula( 'A1', '{=SUM(B1:C1*B2:C2)}' );
For array formulas that return a range of values you must specify the range that the
return values will be written to:
$worksheet->write_array_formula( 'A1:A3', '{=TREND(C1:C3,B1:B3)}' );
$worksheet->write_array_formula( 0, 0, 2, 0, '{=TREND(C1:C3,B1:B3)}' );
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 calculate the
value of the formula. The calculated $value is added at the end of the argument list:
$worksheet->write_array_formula( 'A1:A3', '{=TREND(C1:C3,B1:B3)}', $format, 105 );
In addition, some early versions of Excel 2007 don't calculate the values of array
formulas when they aren't supplied. Installing the latest Office Service Pack should fix
this issue.
See also the "array_formula.pl" program in the "examples" directory of the distro.
Note: Array formulas are not supported by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
store_formula( $formula )
Deprecated. This is a Spreadsheet::WriteExcel method that is no longer required by
Excel::Writer::XLSX. See below.
repeat_formula( $row, $col, $formula, $format )
Deprecated. This is a Spreadsheet::WriteExcel method that is no longer required by
Excel::Writer::XLSX.
In Spreadsheet::WriteExcel it was computationally expensive to write formulas since they
were parsed by a recursive descent parser. The "store_formula()" and "repeat_formula()"
methods were used as a way of avoiding the overhead of repeated formulas by reusing a pre-
parsed formula.
In Excel::Writer::XLSX this is no longer necessary since it is just as quick to write a
formula as it is to write a string or a number.
The methods remain for backward compatibility but new Excel::Writer::XLSX programs
shouldn't use them.
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.' );
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:
author
visible
x_scale
width
y_scale
height
color
start_cell
start_row
start_col
x_offset
y_offset
Option: author
This option is used to indicate who is the author of the cell comment. 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' );
The default author for all cell comments can be set using the "set_comments_author()"
method (see below).
$worksheet->set_comments_author( 'Perl' );
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 Excel::Writer::XLSX
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 Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 using options that adjust the position of the cell comment such as start_cell,
start_row, start_col, x_offset and y_offset: Excel only displays offset cell comments when
they are displayed as "visible". Excel does not display hidden cells as moved when you
mouse over them.
Note about row height and comments. If you specify the height of a row that contains a
comment then Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 the module 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.
$worksheet->show_comments();
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->show_comments();
$worksheet->write_comment( 'C3', 'Hello', visible => 0 );
set_comments_author()
This method is used to set the default author of all cell comments.
$worksheet->set_comments_author( 'Perl' );
Individual comment authors can be set using the "author" parameter of the "write_comment"
method (see above).
The default comment author is an empty string, '', if no author is specified.
add_write_handler( $re, $code_ref )
This method is used to extend the Excel::Writer::XLSX write() method to handle user
defined data.
If you refer to the section on "write()" above you will see that it acts as an alias for
several more specific "write_*" methods. However, it doesn't always act in exactly the way
that you would like it to.
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, $x_scale, $y_scale )
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, $x_scale and $y_scale 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 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 $x_scale and $y_scale 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 );
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.
insert_chart( $row, $col, $chart, $x, $y, $x_scale, $y_scale )
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
Excel::Writer::XLSX::Chart for details on how to configure it. See also the "chart_*.pl"
programs in the examples directory of the distro.
The $x, $y, $x_scale and $y_scale 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.
$worksheet1->insert_chart( 'E2', $chart, 3, 3 );
The parameters $x_scale and $y_scale can be used to scale the inserted chart horizontally
and vertically:
# Scale the width by 120% and the height by 150%
$worksheet->insert_chart( 'E2', $chart, 0, 0, 1.2, 1.5 );
insert_shape( $row, $col, $shape, $x, $y, $x_scale, $y_scale )
This method can be used to insert a Shape object into a worksheet. The Shape must be
created by the "add_shape()" Workbook method.
my $shape = $workbook->add_shape( name => 'My Shape', type => 'plus' );
# Configure the shape.
$shape->set_text('foo');
...
# Insert the shape into the a worksheet.
$worksheet->insert_shape( 'E2', $shape );
See "add_shape()" for details on how to create the Shape object and
Excel::Writer::XLSX::Shape for details on how to configure it.
The $x, $y, $x_scale and $y_scale 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.
$worksheet1->insert_shape( 'E2', $chart, 3, 3 );
The parameters $x_scale and $y_scale can be used to scale the inserted shape horizontally
and vertically:
# Scale the width by 120% and the height by 150%
$worksheet->insert_shape( 'E2', $shape, 0, 0, 1.2, 1.5 );
See also the "shape*.pl" programs in the examples directory of the distro.
insert_button( $row, $col, { %properties })
The "insert_button()" method can be used to insert an Excel form button into a worksheet.
This method is generally only useful when used in conjunction with the Workbook
"add_vba_project()" method to tie the button to a macro from an embedded VBA project:
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'file.xlsm' );
...
$workbook->add_vba_project( './vbaProject.bin' );
$worksheet->insert_button( 'C2', { macro => 'my_macro' } );
The properties of the button that can be set are:
macro
caption
width
height
x_scale
y_scale
x_offset
y_offset
Option: macro
This option is used to set the macro that the button will invoke when the user clicks
on it. The macro should be included using the Workbook "add_vba_project()" method
shown above.
$worksheet->insert_button( 'C2', { macro => 'my_macro' } );
The default macro is "ButtonX_Click" where X is the button number.
Option: caption
This option is used to set the caption on the button. The default is "Button X" where
X is the button number.
$worksheet->insert_button( 'C2', { macro => 'my_macro', caption => 'Hello' } );
Option: width
This option is used to set the width of the button in pixels.
$worksheet->insert_button( 'C2', { macro => 'my_macro', width => 128 } );
The default button width is 64 pixels which is the width of a default cell.
Option: height
This option is used to set the height of the button in pixels.
$worksheet->insert_button( 'C2', { macro => 'my_macro', height => 40 } );
The default button height is 20 pixels which is the height of a default cell.
Option: x_scale
This option is used to set the width of the button as a factor of the default width.
$worksheet->insert_button( 'C2', { macro => 'my_macro', x_scale => 2.0 );
Option: y_scale
This option is used to set the height of the button as a factor of the default height.
$worksheet->insert_button( 'C2', { macro => 'my_macro', y_scale => 2.0 );
Option: x_offset
This option is used to change the x offset, in pixels, of a button within a cell:
$worksheet->insert_button( 'C2', { macro => 'my_macro', x_offset => 2 );
Option: y_offset
This option is used to change the y offset, in pixels, of a comment within a cell.
Note: Button is the only Excel form element that is available in Excel::Writer::XLSX. Form
elements represent a lot of work to implement and the underlying VML syntax isn't very
much fun.
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
conditional_formatting()
The "conditional_formatting()" method is used to add formatting to a cell or range of
cells based on user defined criteria.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:J10',
{
type => 'cell',
criteria => '>=',
value => 50,
format => $format1,
}
);
This method contains a lot of parameters and is described in detail in a separate section
"CONDITIONAL FORMATTING IN EXCEL".
See also the "conditional_format.pl" program in the examples directory of the distro
add_sparkline()
The "add_sparkline()" worksheet method is used to add sparklines to a cell or a range of
cells.
$worksheet->add_sparkline(
{
location => 'F2',
range => 'Sheet1!A2:E2',
type => 'column',
style => 12,
}
);
This method contains a lot of parameters and is described in detail in a separate section
"SPARKLINES IN EXCEL".
See also the "sparklines1.pl" and "sparklines2.pl" example programs in the "examples"
directory of the distro.
Note: Sparklines are a feature of Excel 2010+ only. You can write them to an XLSX file
that can be read by Excel 2007 but they won't be displayed.
add_table()
The "add_table()" method is used to group a range of cells into an Excel Table.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { ... } );
This method contains a lot of parameters and is described in detail in a separate section
"TABLES IN EXCEL".
See also the "tables.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:
for my $sheet ( $workbook->sheets() ) {
print $sheet->get_name();
}
For reasons related to the design of Excel::Writer::XLSX 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, \%options )
The "protect()" method is used to protect a worksheet from modification:
$worksheet->protect();
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 and this property is on
by default for all cells. A hidden cell will display the results of a formula but not the
formula itself.
See the "protection.pl" program in the examples directory of the distro for an
illustrative example and the "set_locked" and "set_hidden" format methods in "CELL
FORMATTING".
You can optionally add a password to the worksheet protection:
$worksheet->protect( 'drowssap' );
Passing the empty string '' is the same as turning on protection without a password.
Note, the worksheet level password in Excel provides very weak protection. It does not
encrypt your data and is very easy to deactivate. Full workbook encryption is not
supported by "Excel::Writer::XLSX" since it requires a completely different file format
and would take several man months to implement.
You can specify which worksheet elements you wish to protect by passing a hash_ref with
any or all of the following keys:
# Default shown.
%options = (
objects => 0,
scenarios => 0,
format_cells => 0,
format_columns => 0,
format_rows => 0,
insert_columns => 0,
insert_rows => 0,
insert_hyperlinks => 0,
delete_columns => 0,
delete_rows => 0,
select_locked_cells => 1,
sort => 0,
autofilter => 0,
pivot_tables => 0,
select_unlocked_cells => 1,
);
The default boolean values are shown above. Individual elements can be protected as
follows:
$worksheet->protect( 'drowssap', { insert_rows => 1 } );
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 Calibri 11.
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".
set_default_row( $height, $hide_unused_rows )
The "set_default_row()" method is used to set the limited number of default row properties
allowed by Excel. These are the default height and the option to hide unused rows.
$worksheet->set_default_row( 24 ); # Set the default row height to 24.
The option to hide unused rows is used by Excel as an optimisation so that the user can
hide a large number of rows without generating a very large file with an entry for each
hidden row.
$worksheet->set_default_row( undef, 1 );
See the "hide_row_col.pl" example program.
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 "Excel::Writer::XLSX" 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 15 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( 15, 0, ); # First row
$worksheet->split_panes( 0, 8.43 ); # First column
$worksheet->split_panes( 15, 8.43 ); # 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.
merge_range( $first_row, $first_col, $last_row, $last_col, $token, $format )
The "merge_range()" method allows you to merge cells that contain other types of alignment
in addition to the merging:
my $format = $workbook->add_format(
border => 6,
valign => 'vcenter',
align => 'center',
);
$worksheet->merge_range( 'B3:D4', 'Vertical and horizontal', $format );
"merge_range()" writes its $token argument using the worksheet "write()" method. Therefore
it will handle numbers, strings, formulas or urls as required. If you need to specify the
required "write_*()" method use the "merge_range_type()" method, see below.
The full possibilities of this method are shown in the "merge3.pl" to "merge6.pl" programs
in the "examples" directory of the distribution.
merge_range_type( $type, $first_row, $first_col, $last_row, $last_col, ... )
The "merge_range()" method, see above, uses "write()" to insert the required data into to
a merged range. However, there may be times where this isn't what you require so as an
alternative the "merge_range_type ()" method allows you to specify the type of data you
wish to write. For example:
$worksheet->merge_range_type( 'number', 'B2:C2', 123, $format1 );
$worksheet->merge_range_type( 'string', 'B4:C4', 'foo', $format2 );
$worksheet->merge_range_type( 'formula', 'B6:C6', '=1+2', $format3 );
The $type must be one of the following, which corresponds to a "write_*()" method:
'number'
'string'
'formula'
'array_formula'
'blank'
'rich_string'
'date_time'
'url'
Any arguments after the range should be whatever the appropriate method accepts:
$worksheet->merge_range_type( 'rich_string', 'B8:C8',
'This is ', $bold, 'bold', $format4 );
Note, you must always pass a $format object as an argument, even if it is a default
format.
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 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. 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 allows 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()" or "filter_column_list()"
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. "Excel::Writer::XLSX" 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'
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.
Note Spreadsheet::WriteExcel supports Top 10 style filters. These aren't currently
supported by Excel::Writer::XLSX but may be added later.
filter_column_list( $column, @matches )
Prior to Excel 2007 it was only possible to have either 1 or 2 filter conditions such as
the ones shown above in the "filter_column" method.
Excel 2007 introduced a new list style filter where it is possible to specify 1 or more
'or' style criteria. For example if your column contained data for the first six months
the initial data would be displayed as all selected as shown on the left. Then if you
selected 'March', 'April' and 'May' they would be displayed as shown on the right.
No criteria selected Some criteria selected.
[/] (Select all) [X] (Select all)
[/] January [ ] January
[/] February [ ] February
[/] March [/] March
[/] April [/] April
[/] May [/] May
[/] June [ ] June
The "filter_column_list()" method can be used to represent these types of filters:
$worksheet->filter_column_list( 'A', 'March', 'April', 'May' );
The $column parameter can either be a zero indexed column number or a string column name.
One or more criteria can be selected:
$worksheet->filter_column_list( 0, 'March' );
$worksheet->filter_column_list( 1, 100, 110, 120, 130 );
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. "Excel::Writer::XLSX" 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.
convert_date_time( $date_string )
The "convert_date_time()" method is used internally by the "write_date_time()" method to
convert date strings to a number that represents an Excel date and time.
It is exposed as a public method for utility purposes.
The $date_string format is detailed in the "write_date_time()" method.
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 Excel::Writer::XLSX 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:
for $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/Layout" mode.
$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 0.7 inch. The default top and bottom margin is
0.75 inch. Note, these defaults are different from the defaults used in the binary file
format by Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
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 0.3 inch. Note, the default
margin is different from the default used in the binary file format by
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel. 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.
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( $string, $margin )
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:
$worksheet1->fit_to_pages( 1, 0 ); # 1 page wide and as long as necessary
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.
Note: When using "fit_to_pages()" it may also be required to set the printer paper size
using "set_paper()" or else Excel will default to "US Letter".
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 its 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 => 'Calibri',
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 if you prefer setting properties via method calls
(which the author did when the 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 => 'Calibri',
-size => 12,
-color => 'blue',
-bold => 1,
);
Working with formats
The default format is Calibri 11 with all other properties off.
Each unique format in Excel::Writer::XLSX 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
$format1->set_bold( 0 ); # Turns bold off
FORMAT METHODS
The Format object methods are described in more detail in the following sections. In
addition, there is a Perl program called "formats.pl" in the "examples" directory of the
WriteExcel distribution. This program creates an Excel workbook called "formats.xlsx"
which contains examples of almost all the format types.
The following Format methods are available:
set_font()
set_size()
set_color()
set_bold()
set_italic()
set_underline()
set_font_strikeout()
set_font_script()
set_font_outline()
set_font_shadow()
set_num_format()
set_locked()
set_hidden()
set_align()
set_rotation()
set_text_wrap()
set_text_justlast()
set_center_across()
set_indent()
set_shrink()
set_pattern()
set_bg_color()
set_fg_color()
set_border()
set_bottom()
set_top()
set_left()
set_right()
set_border_color()
set_bottom_color()
set_top_color()
set_left_color()
set_right_color()
The above methods can also be applied directly as properties. For example
"$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 Calibri
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 'Calibri', '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
Set the bold property of the font:
$format->set_bold(); # Turn bold on
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.
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 numerical 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', $format13 );
The number system used for dates is described in "DATES AND TIME IN EXCEL".
The colour format should have one of the following values:
[Black] [Blue] [Cyan] [Green] [Magenta] [Red] [White] [Yellow]
Alternatively you can specify the colour based on a colour index as follows: "[Color n]",
where n is a standard Excel colour index - 7. See the 'Standard colors' worksheet created
by formats.pl.
For more information refer to the documentation on formatting in the "docs" directory of
the Excel::Writer::XLSX distro, the Excel on-line help or
<http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/assistance/HP051995001033.aspx>.
You should ensure that the format string is valid in Excel prior to using it in
WriteExcel.
Excel's built-in formats are shown in the following table:
Index Index Format String
0 0x00 General
1 0x01 0
2 0x02 0.00
3 0x03 #,##0
4 0x04 #,##0.00
5 0x05 ($#,##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. The dollar sign appears as the defined local currency symbol.
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 Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 "Excel::Writer::XLSX".
For a more general introduction to Unicode handling in Perl see perlunitut and
perluniintro.
Excel::Writer::XLSX writer differs from Spreadsheet::WriteExcel in that it only handles
Unicode data in "UTF-8" format and doesn't try to handle legacy UTF-16 Excel formats.
If the data is in "UTF-8" format then Excel::Writer::XLSX will handle it automatically.
If you are dealing with non-ASCII characters that aren't in "UTF-8" then perl 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 Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 => 'Calibri',
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 );
You can generate and example of the Excel 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 Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 Excel::Writer::XLSX;
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'date_examples.xlsx' );
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
Excel::Writer::XLSX doesn't automatically convert date/time strings
Excel::Writer::XLSX 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 Excel::Writer::XLSX;
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'example.xlsx' );
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.
You can also use the "convert_date_time()" worksheet method to convert from an ISO8601
style date string to an Excel date and time number.
The Excel::Writer::XLSX::Utility module which is included in the distro has date/time
handling functions:
use Excel::Writer::XLSX::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>.
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 "Excel::Writer::XLSX" 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 Excel::Writer::XLSX 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.',
});
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 Excel::Writer::XLSX.
• 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 ISO8601 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 ISO8601 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 symbolic 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 => '$B$1:$B$3',
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
$worksheet->data_validation('A5',
{
validate => 'list',
source => '=$E$4:$G$4',
});
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.
CONDITIONAL FORMATTING IN EXCEL
Conditional formatting is a feature of Excel which allows you to apply a format to a cell
or a range of cells based on a certain criteria.
For example the following criteria is used to highlight cells >= 50 in red in the
"conditional_format.pl" example from the distro:
# Write a conditional format over a range.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'B3:K12',
{
type => 'cell',
criteria => '>=',
value => 50,
format => $format1,
}
);
conditional_formatting( $row, $col, { parameter => 'value', ... } )
The "conditional_formatting()" method is used to apply formatting based on user defined
criteria to an Excel::Writer::XLSX file.
It can be applied to a single cell or a range of cells. You can pass 3 parameters such as
"($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->conditional_formatting( 0, 0, {...} );
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 0, 0, 4, 1, {...} );
# Which are the same as:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1', {...} );
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:B5', {...} );
See also the note about "Cell notation" for more information.
Using "A1" style notation is is also possible to specify non-contiguous ranges, separated
by a comma. For example:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:D5,A8:D12', {...} );
The last parameter in "conditional_formatting()" must be a hash ref containing the
parameters that describe the type and style of the data validation. The main parameters
are:
type
format
criteria
value
minimum
maximum
Other, less commonly used parameters are:
min_type
mid_type
max_type
min_value
mid_value
max_value
min_color
mid_color
max_color
bar_color
Additional parameters which are used for specific conditional format types are shown in
the relevant sections below.
type
This parameter is passed in a hash ref to "conditional_formatting()".
The "type" parameter is used to set the type of conditional formatting that you wish to
apply. It is always required and it has no default value. Allowable "type" values and
their associated parameters are:
Type Parameters
==== ==========
cell criteria
value
minimum
maximum
date criteria
value
minimum
maximum
time_period criteria
text criteria
value
average criteria
duplicate (none)
unique (none)
top criteria
value
bottom criteria
value
blanks (none)
no_blanks (none)
errors (none)
no_errors (none)
2_color_scale (none)
3_color_scale (none)
data_bar (none)
formula criteria
All conditional formatting types have a "format" parameter, see below. Other types and
parameters such as icon sets will be added in time.
type => 'cell'
This is the most common conditional formatting type. It is used when a format is applied
to a cell based on a simple criterion. For example:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1',
{
type => 'cell',
criteria => 'greater than',
value => 5,
format => $red_format,
}
);
Or, using the "between" criteria:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'C1:C4',
{
type => 'cell',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => 20,
maximum => 30,
format => $green_format,
}
);
criteria
The "criteria" parameter is used to set the criteria by which the cell data will be
evaluated. It has no default value. The most common criteria as applied to "{ type =>
'cell' }" 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 symbolic alternatives.
Additional criteria which are specific to other conditional format types are shown in the
relevant sections below.
value
The "value" is generally used along with the "criteria" parameter to set the rule by which
the cell data will be evaluated.
type => 'cell',
criteria => '>',
value => 5
format => $format,
The "value" property can also be an cell reference.
type => 'cell',
criteria => '>',
value => '$C$1',
format => $format,
format
The "format" parameter is used to specify the format that will be applied to the cell when
the conditional formatting criterion is met. The format is created using the
"add_format()" method in the same way as cell formats:
$format = $workbook->add_format( bold => 1, italic => 1 );
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1',
{
type => 'cell',
criteria => '>',
value => 5
format => $format,
}
);
The conditional format follows the same rules as in Excel: it is superimposed over the
existing cell format and not all font and border properties can be modified. Font
properties that can't be modified are font name, font size, superscript and subscript. The
border property that cannot be modified is diagonal borders.
Excel specifies some default formats to be used with conditional formatting. You can
replicate them using the following Excel::Writer::XLSX formats:
# Light red fill with dark red text.
my $format1 = $workbook->add_format(
bg_color => '#FFC7CE',
color => '#9C0006',
);
# Light yellow fill with dark yellow text.
my $format2 = $workbook->add_format(
bg_color => '#FFEB9C',
color => '#9C6500',
);
# Green fill with dark green text.
my $format3 = $workbook->add_format(
bg_color => '#C6EFCE',
color => '#006100',
);
minimum
The "minimum" parameter is used to set the lower limiting value when the "criteria" is
either 'between' or 'not between':
validate => 'integer',
criteria => 'between',
minimum => 1,
maximum => 100,
maximum
The "maximum" parameter is used to set the upper limiting value when the "criteria" is
either 'between' or 'not between'. See the previous example.
type => 'date'
The "date" type is the same as the "cell" type and uses the same criteria and values.
However it allows the "value", "minimum" and "maximum" properties to be specified in the
ISO8601 "yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.sss" date format which is detailed in the "write_date_time()"
method.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'date',
criteria => 'greater than',
value => '2011-01-01T',
format => $format,
}
);
type => 'time_period'
The "time_period" type is used to specify Excel's "Dates Occurring" style conditional
format.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'time_period',
criteria => 'yesterday',
format => $format,
}
);
The period is set in the "criteria" and can have one of the following values:
criteria => 'yesterday',
criteria => 'today',
criteria => 'last 7 days',
criteria => 'last week',
criteria => 'this week',
criteria => 'next week',
criteria => 'last month',
criteria => 'this month',
criteria => 'next month'
type => 'text'
The "text" type is used to specify Excel's "Specific Text" style conditional format. It is
used to do simple string matching using the "criteria" and "value" parameters:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'text',
criteria => 'containing',
value => 'foo',
format => $format,
}
);
The "criteria" can have one of the following values:
criteria => 'containing',
criteria => 'not containing',
criteria => 'begins with',
criteria => 'ends with',
The "value" parameter should be a string or single character.
type => 'average'
The "average" type is used to specify Excel's "Average" style conditional format.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'average',
criteria => 'above',
format => $format,
}
);
The type of average for the conditional format range is specified by the "criteria":
criteria => 'above',
criteria => 'below',
criteria => 'equal or above',
criteria => 'equal or below',
criteria => '1 std dev above',
criteria => '1 std dev below',
criteria => '2 std dev above',
criteria => '2 std dev below',
criteria => '3 std dev above',
criteria => '3 std dev below',
type => 'duplicate'
The "duplicate" type is used to highlight duplicate cells in a range:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'duplicate',
format => $format,
}
);
type => 'unique'
The "unique" type is used to highlight unique cells in a range:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'unique',
format => $format,
}
);
type => 'top'
The "top" type is used to specify the top "n" values by number or percentage in a range:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'top',
value => 10,
format => $format,
}
);
The "criteria" can be used to indicate that a percentage condition is required:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'top',
value => 10,
criteria => '%',
format => $format,
}
);
type => 'bottom'
The "bottom" type is used to specify the bottom "n" values by number or percentage in a
range.
It takes the same parameters as "top", see above.
type => 'blanks'
The "blanks" type is used to highlight blank cells in a range:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'blanks',
format => $format,
}
);
type => 'no_blanks'
The "no_blanks" type is used to highlight non blank cells in a range:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'no_blanks',
format => $format,
}
);
type => 'errors'
The "errors" type is used to highlight error cells in a range:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'errors',
format => $format,
}
);
type => 'no_errors'
The "no_errors" type is used to highlight non error cells in a range:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'no_errors',
format => $format,
}
);
type => '2_color_scale'
The "2_color_scale" type is used to specify Excel's "2 Color Scale" style conditional
format.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A12',
{
type => '2_color_scale',
}
);
This conditional type can be modified with "min_type", "max_type", "min_value",
"max_value", "min_color" and "max_color", see below.
type => '3_color_scale'
The "3_color_scale" type is used to specify Excel's "3 Color Scale" style conditional
format.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A12',
{
type => '3_color_scale',
}
);
This conditional type can be modified with "min_type", "mid_type", "max_type",
"min_value", "mid_value", "max_value", "min_color", "mid_color" and "max_color", see
below.
type => 'data_bar'
The "data_bar" type is used to specify Excel's "Data Bar" style conditional format.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A12',
{
type => 'data_bar',
}
);
This conditional type can be modified with "min_type", "max_type", "min_value",
"max_value" and "bar_color", see below.
type => 'formula'
The "formula" type is used to specify a conditional format based on a user defined
formula:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A4',
{
type => 'formula',
criteria => '=$A$1 > 5',
format => $format,
}
);
The formula is specified in the "criteria".
min_type, mid_type, max_type
The "min_type" and "max_type" properties are available when the conditional formatting
type is "2_color_scale", "3_color_scale" or "data_bar". The "mid_type" is available for
"3_color_scale". The properties are used as follows:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A12',
{
type => '2_color_scale',
min_type => 'percent',
max_type => 'percent',
}
);
The available min/mid/max types are:
num
percent
percentile
formula
min_value, mid_value, max_value
The "min_value" and "max_value" properties are available when the conditional formatting
type is "2_color_scale", "3_color_scale" or "data_bar". The "mid_value" is available for
"3_color_scale". The properties are used as follows:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A12',
{
type => '2_color_scale',
min_value => 10,
max_value => 90,
}
);
min_color, mid_color, max_color, bar_color
The "min_color" and "max_color" properties are available when the conditional formatting
type is "2_color_scale", "3_color_scale" or "data_bar". The "mid_color" is available for
"3_color_scale". The properties are used as follows:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:A12',
{
type => '2_color_scale',
min_color => "#C5D9F1",
max_color => "#538ED5",
}
);
The color can be specifies as an Excel::Writer::XLSX color index or, more usefully, as a
HTML style RGB hex number, as shown above.
Conditional Formatting Examples
Example 1. Highlight cells greater than an integer value.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'cell',
criteria => 'greater than',
value => 5,
format => $format,
}
);
Example 2. Highlight cells greater than a value in a reference cell.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'cell',
criteria => 'greater than',
value => '$H$1',
format => $format,
}
);
Example 3. Highlight cells greater than a certain date:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'date',
criteria => 'greater than',
value => '2011-01-01T',
format => $format,
}
);
Example 4. Highlight cells with a date in the last seven days:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'time_period',
criteria => 'last 7 days',
format => $format,
}
);
Example 5. Highlight cells with strings starting with the letter "b":
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'text',
criteria => 'begins with',
value => 'b',
format => $format,
}
);
Example 6. Highlight cells that are 1 std deviation above the average for the range:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'average',
format => $format,
}
);
Example 7. Highlight duplicate cells in a range:
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'duplicate',
format => $format,
}
);
Example 8. Highlight unique cells in a range.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'unique',
format => $format,
}
);
Example 9. Highlight the top 10 cells.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'top',
value => 10,
format => $format,
}
);
Example 10. Highlight blank cells.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'A1:F10',
{
type => 'blanks',
format => $format,
}
);
See also the "conditional_format.pl" example program in "EXAMPLES".
SPARKLINES IN EXCEL
Sparklines are a feature of Excel 2010+ which allows you to add small charts to worksheet
cells. These are useful for showing visual trends in data in a compact format.
In Excel::Writer::XLSX Sparklines can be added to cells using the "add_sparkline()"
worksheet method:
$worksheet->add_sparkline(
{
location => 'F2',
range => 'Sheet1!A2:E2',
type => 'column',
style => 12,
}
);
Note: Sparklines are a feature of Excel 2010+ only. You can write them to an XLSX file
that can be read by Excel 2007 but they won't be displayed.
add_sparkline( { parameter => 'value', ... } )
The "add_sparkline()" worksheet method is used to add sparklines to a cell or a range of
cells.
The parameters to "add_sparkline()" must be passed in a hash ref. The main sparkline
parameters are:
location (required)
range (required)
type
style
markers
negative_points
axis
reverse
Other, less commonly used parameters are:
high_point
low_point
first_point
last_point
max
min
empty_cells
show_hidden
date_axis
weight
series_color
negative_color
markers_color
first_color
last_color
high_color
low_color
These parameters are explained in the sections below:
location
This is the cell where the sparkline will be displayed:
location => 'F1'
The "location" should be a single cell. (For multiple cells see "Grouped Sparklines"
below).
To specify the location in row-column notation use the "xl_rowcol_to_cell()" function from
the Excel::Writer::XLSX::Utility module.
use Excel::Writer::XLSX::Utility ':rowcol';
...
location => xl_rowcol_to_cell( 0, 5 ), # F1
range
This specifies the cell data range that the sparkline will plot:
$worksheet->add_sparkline(
{
location => 'F1',
range => 'A1:E1',
}
);
The "range" should be a 2D array. (For 3D arrays of cells see "Grouped Sparklines" below).
If "range" is not on the same worksheet you can specify its location using the usual Excel
notation:
range => 'Sheet1!A1:E1',
If the worksheet contains spaces or special characters you should quote the worksheet name
in the same way that Excel does:
range => q('Monthly Data'!A1:E1),
To specify the location in row-column notation use the "xl_range()" or
"xl_range_formula()" functions from the Excel::Writer::XLSX::Utility module.
use Excel::Writer::XLSX::Utility ':rowcol';
...
range => xl_range( 1, 1, 0, 4 ), # 'A1:E1'
range => xl_range_formula( 'Sheet1', 0, 0, 0, 4 ), # 'Sheet1!A2:E2'
type
Specifies the type of sparkline. There are 3 available sparkline types:
line (default)
column
win_loss
For example:
{
location => 'F1',
range => 'A1:E1',
type => 'column',
}
style
Excel provides 36 built-in Sparkline styles in 6 groups of 6. The "style" parameter can be
used to replicate these and should be a corresponding number from 1 .. 36.
{
location => 'A14',
range => 'Sheet2!A2:J2',
style => 3,
}
The style number starts in the top left of the style grid and runs left to right. The
default style is 1. It is possible to override colour elements of the sparklines using the
*_color parameters below.
markers
Turn on the markers for "line" style sparklines.
{
location => 'A6',
range => 'Sheet2!A1:J1',
markers => 1,
}
Markers aren't shown in Excel for "column" and "win_loss" sparklines.
negative_points
Highlight negative values in a sparkline range. This is usually required with "win_loss"
sparklines.
{
location => 'A21',
range => 'Sheet2!A3:J3',
type => 'win_loss',
negative_points => 1,
}
axis
Display a horizontal axis in the sparkline:
{
location => 'A10',
range => 'Sheet2!A1:J1',
axis => 1,
}
reverse
Plot the data from right-to-left instead of the default left-to-right:
{
location => 'A24',
range => 'Sheet2!A4:J4',
type => 'column',
reverse => 1,
}
weight
Adjust the default line weight (thickness) for "line" style sparklines.
weight => 0.25,
The weight value should be one of the following values allowed by Excel:
0.25 0.5 0.75
1 1.25
2.25
3
4.25
6
high_point, low_point, first_point, last_point
Highlight points in a sparkline range.
high_point => 1,
low_point => 1,
first_point => 1,
last_point => 1,
max, min
Specify the maximum and minimum vertical axis values:
max => 0.5,
min => -0.5,
As a special case you can set the maximum and minimum to be for a group of sparklines
rather than one:
max => 'group',
See "Grouped Sparklines" below.
empty_cells
Define how empty cells are handled in a sparkline.
empty_cells => 'zero',
The available options are:
gaps : show empty cells as gaps (the default).
zero : plot empty cells as 0.
connect: Connect points with a line ("line" type sparklines only).
show_hidden
Plot data in hidden rows and columns:
show_hidden => 1,
Note, this option is off by default.
date_axis
Specify an alternative date axis for the sparkline. This is useful if the data being
plotted isn't at fixed width intervals:
{
location => 'F3',
range => 'A3:E3',
date_axis => 'A4:E4',
}
The number of cells in the date range should correspond to the number of cells in the data
range.
series_color
It is possible to override the colour of a sparkline style using the following parameters:
series_color
negative_color
markers_color
first_color
last_color
high_color
low_color
The color should be specified as a HTML style "#rrggbb" hex value:
{
location => 'A18',
range => 'Sheet2!A2:J2',
type => 'column',
series_color => '#E965E0',
}
Grouped Sparklines
The "add_sparkline()" worksheet method can be used multiple times to write as many
sparklines as are required in a worksheet.
However, it is sometimes necessary to group contiguous sparklines so that changes that are
applied to one are applied to all. In Excel this is achieved by selecting a 3D range of
cells for the data "range" and a 2D range of cells for the "location".
In Excel::Writer::XLSX, you can simulate this by passing an array refs of values to
"location" and "range":
{
location => [ 'A27', 'A28', 'A29' ],
range => [ 'Sheet2!A5:J5', 'Sheet2!A6:J6', 'Sheet2!A7:J7' ],
markers => 1,
}
Sparkline examples
See the "sparklines1.pl" and "sparklines2.pl" example programs in the "examples" directory
of the distro.
TABLES IN EXCEL
Tables in Excel are a way of grouping a range of cells into a single entity that has
common formatting or that can be referenced from formulas. Tables can have column headers,
autofilters, total rows, column formulas and default formatting.
For more information see "An Overview of Excel Tables"
<http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/overview-of-excel-tables-HA010048546.aspx>.
Note, tables don't work in Excel::Writer::XLSX when "set_optimization()" mode in on.
add_table( $row1, $col1, $row2, $col2, { parameter => 'value', ... })
Tables are added to a worksheet using the "add_table()" method:
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { %parameters } );
The data range can be specified in 'A1' or 'row/col' notation (see also the note about
"Cell notation" for more information):
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7' );
# Same as:
$worksheet->add_table( 2, 1, 6, 5 );
The last parameter in "add_table()" should be a hash ref containing the parameters that
describe the table options and data. The available parameters are:
data
autofilter
header_row
banded_columns
banded_rows
first_column
last_column
style
total_row
columns
name
The table parameters are detailed below. There are no required parameters and the hash ref
isn't required if no options are specified.
data
The "data" parameter can be used to specify the data in the cells of the table.
my $data = [
[ 'Apples', 10000, 5000, 8000, 6000 ],
[ 'Pears', 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 ],
[ 'Bananas', 6000, 6000, 6500, 6000 ],
[ 'Oranges', 500, 300, 200, 700 ],
];
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { data => $data } );
Table data can also be written separately, as an array or individual cells.
# These two statements are the same as the single statement above.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7' );
$worksheet->write_col( 'B4', $data );
Writing the cell data separately is occasionally required when you need to control the
"write_*()" method used to populate the cells or if you wish to tweak the cell formatting.
The "data" structure should be an array ref of array refs holding row data as shown above.
header_row
The "header_row" parameter can be used to turn on or off the header row in the table. It
is on by default.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B4:F7', { header_row => 0 } ); # Turn header off.
The header row will contain default captions such as "Column 1", "Column 2", etc. These
captions can be overridden using the "columns" parameter below.
autofilter
The "autofilter" parameter can be used to turn on or off the autofilter in the header row.
It is on by default.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { autofilter => 0 } ); # Turn autofilter off.
The "autofilter" is only shown if the "header_row" is on. Filters within the table are not
supported.
banded_rows
The "banded_rows" parameter can be used to used to create rows of alternating colour in
the table. It is on by default.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { banded_rows => 0 } );
banded_columns
The "banded_columns" parameter can be used to used to create columns of alternating colour
in the table. It is off by default.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { banded_columns => 1 } );
first_column
The "first_column" parameter can be used to highlight the first column of the table. The
type of highlighting will depend on the "style" of the table. It may be bold text or a
different colour. It is off by default.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { first_column => 1 } );
last_column
The "last_column" parameter can be used to highlight the last column of the table. The
type of highlighting will depend on the "style" of the table. It may be bold text or a
different colour. It is off by default.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { last_column => 1 } );
style
The "style" parameter can be used to set the style of the table. Standard Excel table
format names should be used (with matching capitalisation):
$worksheet11->add_table(
'B3:F7',
{
data => $data,
style => 'Table Style Light 11',
}
);
The default table style is 'Table Style Medium 9'.
name
The "name" parameter can be used to set the name of the table.
By default tables are named "Table1", "Table2", etc. If you override the table name you
must ensure that it doesn't clash with an existing table name and that it follows Excel's
requirements for table names.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { name => 'SalesData' } );
If you need to know the name of the table, for example to use it in a formula, you can get
it as follows:
my $table = $worksheet2->add_table( 'B3:F7' );
my $table_name = $table->{_name};
total_row
The "total_row" parameter can be used to turn on the total row in the last row of a table.
It is distinguished from the other rows by a different formatting and also with dropdown
"SUBTOTAL" functions.
$worksheet->add_table( 'B3:F7', { total_row => 1 } );
The default total row doesn't have any captions or functions. These must by specified via
the "columns" parameter below.
columns
The "columns" parameter can be used to set properties for columns within the table.
The sub-properties that can be set are:
header
formula
total_string
total_function
format
The column data must be specified as an array ref of hash refs. For example to override
the default 'Column n' style table headers:
$worksheet->add_table(
'B3:F7',
{
data => $data,
columns => [
{ header => 'Product' },
{ header => 'Quarter 1' },
{ header => 'Quarter 2' },
{ header => 'Quarter 3' },
{ header => 'Quarter 4' },
]
}
);
If you don't wish to specify properties for a specific column you pass an empty hash ref
and the defaults will be applied:
...
columns => [
{ header => 'Product' },
{ header => 'Quarter 1' },
{ }, # Defaults to 'Column 3'.
{ header => 'Quarter 3' },
{ header => 'Quarter 4' },
]
...
Column formulas can by applied using the "formula" column property:
$worksheet8->add_table(
'B3:G7',
{
data => $data,
columns => [
{ header => 'Product' },
{ header => 'Quarter 1' },
{ header => 'Quarter 2' },
{ header => 'Quarter 3' },
{ header => 'Quarter 4' },
{
header => 'Year',
formula => '=SUM(Table8[@[Quarter 1]:[Quarter 4]])'
},
]
}
);
The Excel 2007 "[#This Row]" and Excel 2010 "@" structural references are supported within
the formula.
As stated above the "total_row" table parameter turns on the "Total" row in the table but
it doesn't populate it with any defaults. Total captions and functions must be specified
via the "columns" property and the "total_string" and "total_function" sub properties:
$worksheet10->add_table(
'B3:F8',
{
data => $data,
total_row => 1,
columns => [
{ header => 'Product', total_string => 'Totals' },
{ header => 'Quarter 1', total_function => 'sum' },
{ header => 'Quarter 2', total_function => 'sum' },
{ header => 'Quarter 3', total_function => 'sum' },
{ header => 'Quarter 4', total_function => 'sum' },
]
}
);
The supported totals row "SUBTOTAL" functions are:
average
count_nums
count
max
min
std_dev
sum
var
User defined functions or formulas aren't supported.
Format can also be applied to columns:
my $currency_format = $workbook->add_format( num_format => '$#,##0' );
$worksheet->add_table(
'B3:D8',
{
data => $data,
total_row => 1,
columns => [
{ header => 'Product', total_string => 'Totals' },
{
header => 'Quarter 1',
total_function => 'sum',
format => $currency_format,
},
{
header => 'Quarter 2',
total_function => 'sum',
format => $currency_format,
},
]
}
);
Standard Excel::Writer::XLSX format objects can be used. However, they should be limited
to numerical formats. Overriding other table formatting may produce inconsistent results.
FORMULAS AND FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL
Introduction
The following is a brief introduction to formulas and functions in Excel and
Excel::Writer::XLSX.
A formula is a string that begins with an equals sign:
'=A1+B1'
'=AVERAGE(1, 2, 3)'
The formula can contain numbers, strings, boolean values, cell references, cell ranges and
functions. Named ranges are not supported. Formulas should be written as they appear in
Excel, that is cells and functions must be in uppercase.
Cells in Excel are referenced using the A1 notation system where the column is designated
by a letter and the row by a number. Columns range from A to XFD i.e. 0 to 16384, rows
range from 1 to 1048576. The "Excel::Writer::XLSX::Utility" module that is included in the
distro contains helper functions for dealing with A1 notation, for example:
use Excel::Writer::XLSX::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 or parentheses then Excel requires that
the name is enclosed in single quotes as shown in the last two examples above. In order to
avoid using a lot of escape characters you can use the quote operator "q{}" to protect the
quotes. See "perlop" in the main Perl documentation. Only valid sheet names that have been
added using the "add_worksheet()" method can be used in formulas. You cannot reference
external workbooks.
The following table lists the operators that are available in Excel's formulas. The
majority of the operators are the same as Perl's, differences are indicated:
Arithmetic operators:
=====================
Operator Meaning Example
+ Addition 1+2
- Subtraction 2-1
* Multiplication 2*3
/ Division 1/4
^ Exponentiation 2^3 # Equivalent to **
- Unary minus -(1+2)
% Percent (Not modulus) 13%
Comparison operators:
=====================
Operator Meaning Example
= Equal to A1 = B1 # Equivalent to ==
<> Not equal to A1 <> B1 # Equivalent to !=
> Greater than A1 > B1
< Less than A1 < B1
>= Greater than or equal to A1 >= B1
<= Less than or equal to A1 <= B1
String operator:
================
Operator Meaning Example
& Concatenation "Hello " & "World!" # [1]
Reference operators:
====================
Operator Meaning Example
: Range operator A1:A4 # [2]
, Union operator SUM(1, 2+2, B3) # [3]
Notes:
[1]: Equivalent to "Hello " . "World!" in Perl.
[2]: This range is equivalent to cells A1, A2, A3 and A4.
[3]: The comma behaves like the list separator in Perl.
The range and comma operators can have different symbols in non-English versions of Excel.
These may be supported in a later version of Excel::Writer::XLSX. In the meantime European
users of Excel take note:
$worksheet->write('A1', '=SUM(1; 2; 3)'); # Wrong!!
$worksheet->write('A1', '=SUM(1, 2, 3)'); # Okay
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>.
If your formula doesn't work in Excel::Writer::XLSX try the following:
1. Verify that the formula works in Excel.
2. Ensure that cell references and formula names are in uppercase.
3. Ensure that you are using ':' as the range operator, A1:A4.
4. Ensure that you are using ',' as the union operator, SUM(1,2,3).
5. If you verify that the formula works in Gnumeric, OpenOffice.org
or LibreOffice, make sure to note items 2-4 above, since these
applications are more flexible than Excel with formula syntax.
EXAMPLES
See Excel::Writer::XLSX::Examples for a full list of examples.
Example 1
The following example shows some of the basic features of Excel::Writer::XLSX.
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Excel::Writer::XLSX;
# Create a new workbook called simple.xlsx and add a worksheet
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'simple.xlsx' );
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, 1 );
$worksheet->write( 3, 0, 1.00000 );
$worksheet->write( 4, 0, 2.00001 );
$worksheet->write( 5, 0, 3.14159 );
# 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 Excel::Writer::XLSX;
# Create a new Excel workbook
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'regions.xlsx' );
# 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
for 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
Example of how to add conditional formatting to an Excel::Writer::XLSX file. The example
below highlights cells that have a value greater than or equal to 50 in red and cells
below that value in green.
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Excel::Writer::XLSX;
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'conditional_format.xlsx' );
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
# This example below highlights cells that have a value greater than or
# equal to 50 in red and cells below that value in green.
# Light red fill with dark red text.
my $format1 = $workbook->add_format(
bg_color => '#FFC7CE',
color => '#9C0006',
);
# Green fill with dark green text.
my $format2 = $workbook->add_format(
bg_color => '#C6EFCE',
color => '#006100',
);
# Some sample data to run the conditional formatting against.
my $data = [
[ 34, 72, 38, 30, 75, 48, 75, 66, 84, 86 ],
[ 6, 24, 1, 84, 54, 62, 60, 3, 26, 59 ],
[ 28, 79, 97, 13, 85, 93, 93, 22, 5, 14 ],
[ 27, 71, 40, 17, 18, 79, 90, 93, 29, 47 ],
[ 88, 25, 33, 23, 67, 1, 59, 79, 47, 36 ],
[ 24, 100, 20, 88, 29, 33, 38, 54, 54, 88 ],
[ 6, 57, 88, 28, 10, 26, 37, 7, 41, 48 ],
[ 52, 78, 1, 96, 26, 45, 47, 33, 96, 36 ],
[ 60, 54, 81, 66, 81, 90, 80, 93, 12, 55 ],
[ 70, 5, 46, 14, 71, 19, 66, 36, 41, 21 ],
];
my $caption = 'Cells with values >= 50 are in light red. '
. 'Values < 50 are in light green';
# Write the data.
$worksheet->write( 'A1', $caption );
$worksheet->write_col( 'B3', $data );
# Write a conditional format over a range.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'B3:K12',
{
type => 'cell',
criteria => '>=',
value => 50,
format => $format1,
}
);
# Write another conditional format over the same range.
$worksheet->conditional_formatting( 'B3:K12',
{
type => 'cell',
criteria => '<',
value => 50,
format => $format2,
}
);
Example 4
The following is a simple example of using functions.
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Excel::Writer::XLSX;
# Create a new workbook and add a worksheet
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'stats.xlsx' );
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.xlsx".
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Excel::Writer::XLSX;
open( TABFILE, 'tab.txt' ) or die "tab.txt: $!";
my $workbook = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'tab.xlsx' );
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
# Row and column are zero indexed
my $row = 0;
while ( <TABFILE> ) {
chomp;
# Split on single tab
my @fields = split( '\t', $_ );
my $col = 0;
for my $token ( @fields ) {
$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>.
Additional Examples
The following is a description of the example files that are provided in the standard
Excel::Writer::XLSX distribution. They demonstrate the different features and options of
the module. See Excel::Writer::XLSX::Examples for more details.
Getting started
===============
a_simple.pl A simple demo of some of the features.
bug_report.pl A template for submitting bug reports.
demo.pl A demo of some of the available features.
formats.pl All the available formatting on several worksheets.
regions.pl A simple example of multiple worksheets.
stats.pl Basic formulas and functions.
Intermediate
============
autofilter.pl Examples of worksheet autofilters.
array_formula.pl Examples of how to write array formulas.
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_radar.pl A demo of radar style charts.
chart_scatter.pl A demo of scatter style charts.
chart_secondary_axis.pl A demo of a line chart with a secondary axis.
chart_stock.pl A demo of stock style charts.
chart_data_table.pl A demo of a chart with a data table on the axis.
chart_data_tools.pl A demo of charts with data highlighting options.
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.
conditional_format.pl Add conditional formats to a range of cells.
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.
filehandle.pl Examples of working with filehandles.
headers.pl Examples of worksheet headers and footers.
hide_row_col.pl Example of hiding rows and columns.
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.
indent.pl An example of cell indentation.
macros.pl An example of adding macros from an existing file.
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.
panes.pl An examples of how to create panes.
outline.pl An example of outlines and grouping.
outline_collapsed.pl An example of collapsed outlines.
protection.pl Example of cell locking and formula hiding.
rich_strings.pl Example of strings with multiple formats.
right_to_left.pl Change default sheet direction to right to left.
sales.pl An example of a simple sales spreadsheet.
shape1.pl Insert shapes in worksheet.
shape2.pl Insert shapes in worksheet. With properties.
shape3.pl Insert shapes in worksheet. Scaled.
shape4.pl Insert shapes in worksheet. With modification.
shape5.pl Insert shapes in worksheet. With connections.
shape6.pl Insert shapes in worksheet. With connections.
shape7.pl Insert shapes in worksheet. One to many connections.
shape8.pl Insert shapes in worksheet. One to many connections.
shape_all.pl Demo of all the available shape and connector types.
sparklines1.pl Simple sparklines demo.
sparklines2.pl Sparklines demo showing formatting options.
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.
tables.pl Add Excel tables to a worksheet.
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_2022_jp.pl Japanese: ISO-2022-JP.
unicode_8859_11.pl Thai: ISO-8859_11.
unicode_8859_7.pl Greek: ISO-8859_7.
unicode_big5.pl Chinese: BIG5.
unicode_cp1251.pl Russian: CP1251.
unicode_cp1256.pl Arabic: CP1256.
unicode_cyrillic.pl Russian: Cyrillic.
unicode_koi8r.pl Russian: KOI8-R.
unicode_polish_utf8.pl Polish : UTF8.
unicode_shift_jis.pl Japanese: Shift JIS.
LIMITATIONS
The following limits are imposed by Excel 2007+:
Description Limit
----------------------------------- ------
Maximum number of chars in a string 32,767
Maximum number of columns 16,384
Maximum number of rows 1,048,576
Maximum chars in a sheet name 31
Maximum chars in a header/footer 254
Maximum characters in hyperlink 255
Maximum number of unique hyperlinks* 65,530
* Per worksheet. Excel allows a greater number of non-unique hyperlinks if they are
contiguous and can be grouped into a single range. This will be supported in a later
version of Excel::Writer::XLSX if possible.
Compatibility with Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
The "Excel::Writer::XLSX" module is a drop-in replacement for "Spreadsheet::WriteExcel".
It supports all of the features of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel with some minor differences
noted below.
Workbook Methods Support
================ ======
new() Yes
add_worksheet() Yes
add_format() Yes
add_chart() Yes
add_shape() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
add_vba_project() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
close() Yes
set_properties() Yes
define_name() Yes
set_tempdir() Yes
set_custom_color() Yes
sheets() Yes
set_1904() Yes
set_optimization() Yes. Not required in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
add_chart_ext() Not supported. Not required in Excel::Writer::XLSX.
compatibility_mode() Deprecated. Not required in Excel::Writer::XLSX.
set_codepage() Deprecated. Not required in Excel::Writer::XLSX.
Worksheet Methods Support
================= =======
write() Yes
write_number() Yes
write_string() Yes
write_rich_string() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
write_blank() Yes
write_row() Yes
write_col() Yes
write_date_time() Yes
write_url() Yes
write_formula() Yes
write_array_formula() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
keep_leading_zeros() Yes
write_comment() Yes
show_comments() Yes
set_comments_author() Yes
add_write_handler() Yes
insert_image() Yes.
insert_chart() Yes
insert_shape() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
insert_button() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
data_validation() Yes
conditional_formatting() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
add_sparkline() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
add_table() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
get_name() Yes
activate() Yes
select() Yes
hide() Yes
set_first_sheet() Yes
protect() Yes
set_selection() Yes
set_row() Yes.
set_column() Yes.
set_default_row() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
outline_settings() Yes
freeze_panes() Yes
split_panes() Yes
merge_range() Yes
merge_range_type() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
set_zoom() Yes
right_to_left() Yes
hide_zero() Yes
set_tab_color() Yes
autofilter() Yes
filter_column() Yes
filter_column_list() Yes. Not in Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
write_utf16be_string() Deprecated. Use Perl utf8 strings instead.
write_utf16le_string() Deprecated. Use Perl utf8 strings instead.
store_formula() Deprecated. See docs.
repeat_formula() Deprecated. See docs.
write_url_range() Not supported. Not required in Excel::Writer::XLSX.
Page Set-up Methods Support
=================== =======
set_landscape() Yes
set_portrait() Yes
set_page_view() Yes
set_paper() Yes
center_horizontally() Yes
center_vertically() Yes
set_margins() Yes
set_header() Yes
set_footer() Yes
repeat_rows() Yes
repeat_columns() Yes
hide_gridlines() Yes
print_row_col_headers() Yes
print_area() Yes
print_across() Yes
fit_to_pages() Yes
set_start_page() Yes
set_print_scale() Yes
set_h_pagebreaks() Yes
set_v_pagebreaks() Yes
Format Methods Support
============== =======
set_font() Yes
set_size() Yes
set_color() Yes
set_bold() Yes
set_italic() Yes
set_underline() Yes
set_font_strikeout() Yes
set_font_script() Yes
set_font_outline() Yes
set_font_shadow() Yes
set_num_format() Yes
set_locked() Yes
set_hidden() Yes
set_align() Yes
set_rotation() Yes
set_text_wrap() Yes
set_text_justlast() Yes
set_center_across() Yes
set_indent() Yes
set_shrink() Yes
set_pattern() Yes
set_bg_color() Yes
set_fg_color() Yes
set_border() Yes
set_bottom() Yes
set_top() Yes
set_left() Yes
set_right() Yes
set_border_color() Yes
set_bottom_color() Yes
set_top_color() Yes
set_left_color() Yes
set_right_color() Yes
REQUIREMENTS
<http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Archive-Zip/>.
Perl 5.8.2.
SPEED AND MEMORY USAGE
"Spreadsheet::WriteExcel" was written to optimise speed and reduce memory usage. However,
these design goals meant that it wasn't easy to implement features that many users
requested such as writing formatting and data separately.
As a result "Excel::Writer::XLSX" takes a different design approach and holds a lot more
data in memory so that it is functionally more flexible.
The effect of this is that Excel::Writer::XLSX is about 30% slower than
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel and uses 5 times more memory.
In addition the extended row and column ranges in Excel 2007+ mean that it is possible to
run out of memory creating large files. This was almost never an issue with
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
This memory usage can be reduced almost completely by using the Workbook
"set_optimization()" method:
$workbook->set_optimization();
This also gives an increase in performance to within 1-10% of Spreadsheet::WriteExcel, see
below.
The trade-off is that you won't be able to take advantage of any new features that
manipulate cell data after it is written. One such feature is Tables.
Performance figures
The performance figures below show execution speed and memory usage for 60 columns x N
rows for a 50/50 mixture of strings and numbers. Percentage speeds are relative to
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
Excel::Writer::XLSX
Rows Time (s) Memory (bytes) Rel. Time
400 0.66 6,586,254 129%
800 1.26 13,099,422 125%
1600 2.55 26,126,361 123%
3200 5.16 52,211,284 125%
6400 10.47 104,401,428 128%
12800 21.48 208,784,519 131%
25600 43.90 417,700,746 126%
51200 88.52 835,900,298 126%
Excel::Writer::XLSX + set_optimisation()
Rows Time (s) Memory (bytes) Rel. Time
400 0.70 63,059 135%
800 1.10 63,059 110%
1600 2.30 63,062 111%
3200 4.44 63,062 107%
6400 8.91 63,062 109%
12800 17.69 63,065 108%
25600 35.15 63,065 101%
51200 70.67 63,065 101%
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
Rows Time (s) Memory (bytes)
400 0.51 1,265,583
800 1.01 2,424,855
1600 2.07 4,743,400
3200 4.14 9,411,139
6400 8.20 18,766,915
12800 16.39 37,478,468
25600 34.72 75,044,423
51200 70.21 150,543,431
DOWNLOADING
The latest version of this module is always available at:
<http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Excel-Writer-XLSX/>.
INSTALLATION
The module can be installed using the standard Perl procedure:
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install # You may need to be sudo/root
DIAGNOSTICS
Filename required by Excel::Writer::XLSX->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.
Can't call method "XXX" on an undefined value at someprogram.pl.
On Windows this is usually caused by the file that you are trying to create clashing
with a version that is already open and locked by Excel.
The file you are trying to open 'file.xls' is in a different format than specified by the
file extension.
This warning occurs when you create an XLSX file but give it an xls extension.
WRITING EXCEL FILES
Depending on your requirements, background and general sensibilities you may prefer one of
the following methods of getting data into Excel:
• Spreadsheet::WriteExcel
This module is the precursor to Excel::Writer::XLSX and uses the same interface. It
produces files in the Excel Biff xls format that was used in Excel versions 97-2003.
These files can still be read by Excel 2007 but have some limitations in relation to
the number of rows and columns that the format supports.
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel.
• Win32::OLE module and office automation
This requires a Windows platform and an installed copy of Excel. This is the most
powerful and complete method for interfacing with Excel.
Win32::OLE
• CSV, comma separated variables or text
Excel will open and automatically convert files with a "csv" extension.
To create CSV files refer to the Text::CSV_XS module.
• 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.
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::XLSX
A module for reading formatted or unformatted data form XLSX files.
Spreadsheet::XLSX
• SimpleXlsx
A lightweight module for reading data from XLSX files.
SimpleXlsx
• Spreadsheet::ParseExcel
This module can read data from an Excel XLS file but it doesn't support the XLSX
format.
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel
• Win32::OLE module and office automation (reading)
See above.
• DBI with DBD::ADO or DBD::ODBC.
See above.
For other Perl-Excel modules try the following search:
<http://search.cpan.org/search?mode=module&query=excel>.
BUGS
• Memory usage is very high for large worksheets.
If you run out of memory creating large worksheets use the "set_optimization()"
method. See "SPEED AND MEMORY USAGE" for more information.
• Perl packaging programs can't find chart modules.
When using Excel::Writer::XLSX charts with Perl packagers such as PAR or Cava you
should explicitly include the chart that you are trying to create in your "use"
statements. This isn't a bug as such but it might help someone from banging their head
off a wall:
...
use Excel::Writer::XLSX;
use Excel::Writer::XLSX::Chart::Column;
...
If you wish to submit a bug report run the "bug_report.pl" program in the "examples"
directory of the distro.
The bug tracker is on Github: <https://github.com/jmcnamara/excel-writer-xlsx/issues>.
TO DO
The roadmap is as follows:
• New separated data/formatting API to allow cells to be formatted after data is added.
• More charting features.
• Excel::Reader::XLSX and Excel::Rewriter::XLSX. Hopefully.
• Pivot tables, maybe.
REPOSITORY
The Excel::Writer::XLSX source code in host on github:
<http://github.com/jmcnamara/excel-writer-xlsx>.
MAILING LIST
There is a Google group for discussing and asking questions about Excel::Writer::XLSX.
This is a good place to search to see if your question has been asked before:
<http://groups.google.com/group/spreadsheet-writeexcel>.
DONATIONS and SPONSORSHIP
If you'd care to donate to the Excel::Writer::XLSX project or sponsor a new feature, you
can do so via PayPal: <http://tinyurl.com/7ayes>.
SEE ALSO
Spreadsheet::WriteExcel: <http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-WriteExcel>.
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel: <http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel>.
Spreadsheet::XLSX: <http://search.cpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-XLSX>.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The following people contributed to the debugging, testing or enhancement of
Excel::Writer::XLSX:
Rob Messer of IntelliSurvey gave me the initial prompt to port Spreadsheet::WriteExcel to
the XLSX format. IntelliSurvey (<http://www.intellisurvey.com>) also sponsored large files
optimisations and the charting feature.
Bariatric Advantage (<http://www.bariatricadvantage.com>) sponsored work on chart
formatting.
Eric Johnson provided the ability to use secondary axes with charts. Thanks to Foxtons
(<http://foxtons.co.uk>) for sponsoring this work.
BuildFax (<http://www.buildfax.com>) sponsored the Tables feature and the Chart point
formatting feature.
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>.
AUTHOR
John McNamara jmcnamara@cpan.org
Wilderness for miles, eyes so mild and wise
Oasis child, born and so wild
Don't I know you better than the rest
All deception, all deception from you
Any way you run, you run before us
Black and white horse arching among us
Any way you run, you run before us
Black and white horse arching among us
-- Beach House
COPYRIGHT
Copyright MM-MMXIIII, 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.