PHPExcel developer documentation¶

3.3.1.OpenXML / SpreadsheetML¶

• File format documentation :underline:``http://www.ecma- international.org/news/TC45_current_work/TC45_available_docs.htm <http://www.ecma- international.org/news/TC45_current_work/TC45_available_docs.htm>`_`
• OpenXML Explained e-book :underline:``http://openxmldeveloper.org/articles/1970.aspx <http://openxmldeveloper.org/articles/1970.aspx>`_`
• Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats :underline:``http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/de tails.aspx?familyid=941b3470-3ae9-4aee- 8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en <http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d etails.aspx?familyid=941b3470-3ae9-4aee- 8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en>`_`
• OpenXML Package Explorer :underline:``http://www.codeplex.com/PackageExplorer/ <http://www.codeplex.com/PackageExplorer/>`_`

3.3.2.Frequently asked questions¶

The up-to-date F.A.Q. page for PHPExcel can be found on:underline:``ht tp://www.codeplex.com/PHPExcel/Wiki/View.aspx?title=FAQ&referringTitle =Requirements <http://www.codeplex.com/PHPExcel/Wiki/View.aspx?title=F AQ&referringTitle=Requirements>`_` .

3.3.3.Tutorials¶

French PHPExcel tutorial :underline:``http://g-ernaelsten.developpez.com/tutoriels/excel2007/ <http://g-ernaelsten.developpez.com/tutoriels/excel2007/>`_`

5.3.1.Setting a cell value by coordinate¶

Setting a cell value by coordinate can be done using the worksheet’ssetCellValuemethod.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B8', 'Some value');

5.3.2.Retrieving a cell by coordinate¶

To retrieve the value of a cell, the cell should first be retrieved from the worksheet using thegetCellmethod. A cell’s value can be read again using the following line of code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B8')->getValue();

If you need the calculated value of a cell, use the following code. This is further explained in Setting the default column width.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B8')->getCalculatedValue();

5.3.3.Setting a cell value by column and row¶

Setting a cell value by coordinate can be done using the worksheet’ssetCellValueByColumnAndRowmethod.

// Set cell B8$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValueByColumnAndRow(1, 8, 'Some value');

5.3.4.Retrieving a cell by column and row¶

To retrieve the value of a cell, the cell should first be retrieved from the worksheet using thegetCellByColumnAndRowmethod. A cell’s value can be read again using the following line of code:

// Get cell B8$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCellByColumnAndRow(1, 8)->getValue();

If you need the calculated value of a cell, use the following code. This is further explained in Setting the default column width

// Get cell B8$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCellByColumnAndRow(1, 8)->getCalculatedValue();

5.3.5.Looping cells¶

5.3.6.Using value binders to facilitate data entry¶

Internally, PHPExcel uses a defaultPHPExcel_Cell_IValueBinderimplementation (PHPExcel_Cell_DefaultValueBinder) to determine data types of entered data using a cell’ssetValue()method.

Optionally, the default behaviour of PHPExcel can be modified, allowing easier data entry. For example, aPHPExcel_Cell_AdvancedValueBinderclass is present. It automatically converts percentages and dates entered as strings to the correct format, also setting the cell’s style information. The following example demonstrates how to set the value binder in PHPExcel:

/** PHPExcel */

require_once 'PHPExcel.php';

/** PHPExcel_Cell_AdvancedValueBinder */

require_once 'PHPExcel/Cell/AdvancedValueBinder.php';

/** PHPExcel_IOFactory */

require_once 'PHPExcel/IOFactory.php';

// Set value binder

PHPExcel_Cell::setValueBinder( new PHPExcel_Cell_AdvancedValueBinder() );

// Create new PHPExcel object

$objPHPExcel = new PHPExcel();

// ...

// Add some data, resembling some different data types

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A4', 'Percentage value:');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B4', '10%');// Converts to 0.1 and sets percentage cell style

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A5', 'Date/time value:');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B5', '21 December 1983');// Converts to date and sets date format cell style

Creating your own value binder is easy. When advanced value binding is required, you can implement the PHPExcel_Cell_IValueBinderinterface or extend the PHPExcel_Cell_DefaultValueBinderor PHPExcel_Cell_AdvancedValueBinderclasses.

5.4.1.Setting a spreadsheet’s metadata¶

PHPExcel allows an easy way to set a spreadsheet’s metadata, using document property accessors. Spreadsheet metadata can be useful for finding a specific document in a file repository or a document management system. For example Microsoft Sharepoint uses document metadata to search for a specific document in its document lists.

Setting spreadsheet metadata is done as follows:

$objPHPExcel->getProperties()->setCreator("Maarten Balliauw");

$objPHPExcel->getProperties()->setLastModifiedBy("Maarten Balliauw");

$objPHPExcel->getProperties()->setTitle("Office 2007 XLSX Test Document");

$objPHPExcel->getProperties()->setSubject("Office 2007 XLSX Test Document");

$objPHPExcel->getProperties()->setDescription("Test document for Office 2007 XLSX, generated using PHP classes.");

$objPHPExcel->getProperties()->setKeywords("office 2007 openxml php");

$objPHPExcel->getProperties()->setCategory("Test result file");

5.4.2.Setting a spreadsheet’s active sheet¶

The following line of code sets the active sheet index to the first sheet:

$objPHPExcel->setActiveSheetIndex(0);

5.4.3.Write a date into a cell¶

In Excel, dates are stored as numeric values counting the number of days elapsed since 1900-01-01. For example, the date '2008-12-31' is represented as 39813. You can verify this in Microsoft Office Excel by entering that date in a cell and afterwards changing the number format to 'General' so the true numeric value is revealed.

Writing a date value in a cell consists of 2 lines of code. Select the method that suits you the best. Here are some examples:

/* PHPExcel_Cell_AdvanceValueBinder required for this sample */

require_once 'PHPExcel/Cell/AdvancedValueBinder.php';// MySQL-like timestamp '2008-12-31'

PHPExcel_Cell::setValueBinder( new PHPExcel_Cell_AdvancedValueBinder() );

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('D1', '2008-12-31')

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('D1')->getNumberFormat()->set FormatCode(PHPExcel_Style_NumberFormat::FORMAT_DATE_YYYYMMDDSLASH)

// PHP-time (Unix time)

$time = gmmktime(0,0,0,12,31,2008); // int(1230681600)

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('D1', PHPExcel_Shared_Date::PHPToExcel($time))

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('D1')->getNumberFormat()->set FormatCode(PHPExcel_Style_NumberFormat::FORMAT_DATE_YYYYMMDDSLASH)

// Excel-time

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('D1', 39813)

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('D1')->getNumberFormat()->set FormatCode(PHPExcel_Style_NumberFormat::FORMAT_DATE_YYYYMMDDSLASH)

The above methods for entering a date all yield the same result. PHPExcel_Style_NumberFormat provides a lot of pre-defined date formats.

Notes:

See section "Using value binders to facilitate data entry" to learn more about the AdvancedValueBinder used in the first example.

In previous versions of PHPExcel up to and including 1.6.6, when a cell had a date-like number format code, it was possible to enter a date directly using an integer PHP-time without converting to Excel date format. Starting with PHPExcel 1.6.7 this is no longer supported.

Excel can also operate in a 1904-based calendar (default for workbooks saved on Mac). Normally, you do not have to worry about this when using PHPExcel.

5.4.4.Write a formula into a cell¶

Inside the Excel file, formulas are always stored as they would appear in an English version of Microsoft Office Excel. This is regardless of which language version of Microsoft Office Excel you may have used to create the Excel file.

Therefore, when you write formulas with PHPExcel, you must always use English formulas. The following rules hold:

• Decimal separator is '.' (period)
• Function argument separator is ',' (comma)
• Matrix row separator is ';' (semicolon)
• Always use English function names

When the final workbook is opened by the user, Microsoft Office Excel will take care of displaying the formula according the applications language. Translation is taken care of by the application!

The following line of code writes the formula “=MIN(B2:C5)” into the cell B8. Note that the formula must start with “=“ to make PHPExcel recognise this as a formula.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B8', '=MIN(B2:C5)');

A cell’s formula can be read again using the following line of code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B8')->getValue();

If you need the calculated value of a cell, use the following code. This is further explained in Setting the default column width.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B8')->getCalculatedValue();

5.4.5.Explicitly set a cell’s datatype¶

You can set a cell’s datatype explicitly by using the cell’ssetValueExplicitmethod, or thesetCellValueExplicitmethod of a worksheet. Here’s an example:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('A1')->setValueExplicit('25', PHPExcel_Cell_DataType::TYPE_NUMERIC);

5.4.6.Change a cell into a clickable URL¶

You can make a cell a clickable URL by setting its hyperlink property:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('E26', 'www.phpexcel.net');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('E26')->getHyperlink()->setUrl ('http://www.phpexcel.net');

If you want to make a hyperlink to another worksheet/cell, use the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('E26', 'www.phpexcel.net');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('E26')->getHyperlink()->setUrl (“sheet://'Sheetname'!A1”);

5.4.7.Setting a worksheet’s page orientation and size¶

Setting a worksheet’s page orientation and size can be done using the following lines of code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getPageSetup()->setOrientation(PHPExce l_Worksheet_PageSetup::ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getPageSetup()->setPaperSize(PHPExcel_Worksheet_PageSetup::PAPERSIZE_A4);

Note that there are additional page settings available. Please refer to the API documentation for all possible options.

5.4.8.Center a page horizontally/vertically¶

To center a page horizontally/vertically, you can use the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getPageSetup()->setHorizontalCentered( true);$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getPageSetup()->setVerticalCente red(false);

5.4.9.Setting the print header and footer of a worksheet¶

Setting a worksheet’s print header and footer can be done using the following lines of code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getHeaderFooter()->setOddHeader('&C&HP lease treat this document as confidential!');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getHeaderFooter()->setOddFooter('&L&B' . $objPHPExcel->getProperties()->getTitle() . '&RPage &P of &N');

Substitution and formatting codes (starting with &) can be used inside headers and footers. There is no required order in which these codes must appear.

The first occurrence of the following codes turns the formatting ON, the second occurrence turns it OFF again:

• Strikethrough
• Superscript
• Subscript

Superscript and subscript cannot both be ON at same time. Whichever comes first wins and the other is ignored, while the first is ON.

The following codes are supported by Excel2007:

5.4.10.Setting printing breaks on a row or column¶

To set a print break, use the following code, which sets a row break on row 10.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setBreak( 'A10' , PHPExcel_Worksheet::BREAK_ROW );

The following line of code sets a print break on column D:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setBreak( 'D10' , PHPExcel_Worksheet::BREAK_COLUMN );

5.4.11.Show/hide gridlines when printing¶

To show/hide gridlines when printing, use the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setShowGridlines(true);

5.4.12.Setting rows/columns to repeat at top/left¶

PHPExcel can repeat specific rows/cells at top/left of a page. The following code is an example of how to repeat row 1 to 5 on each printed page of a specific worksheet:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getPageSetup()->setRowsToRepeatAtTopBy StartAndEnd(1, 5);

5.4.13.Specify printing area¶

To specify a worksheet’s printing area, use the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getPageSetup()->setPrintArea('A1:E5');

5.4.14.Formatting cells¶

A cell can be formatted with font, border, fill, … style information. For example, one can set the foreground colour of a cell to red, aligned to the right, and the border to black and thick border style. Let’s do that on cell B2:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->getFont()->getColor()- >setARGB(PHPExcel_Style_Color::COLOR_RED);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->getAlignment()->setHor izontal(PHPExcel_Style_Alignment::HORIZONTAL_RIGHT);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->getBorders()->getTop() ->setBorderStyle(PHPExcel_Style_Border::BORDER_THICK);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->getBorders()->getBotto m()->setBorderStyle(PHPExcel_Style_Border::BORDER_THICK);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->getBorders()->getLeft( )->setBorderStyle(PHPExcel_Style_Border::BORDER_THICK);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->getBorders()->getRight ()->setBorderStyle(PHPExcel_Style_Border::BORDER_THICK);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->getFill()->setFillType (PHPExcel_Style_Fill::FILL_SOLID);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->getFill()->getStartCol or()->setARGB('FFFF0000');

Starting with PHPExcel 1.7.0 getStyle() also accepts a cell range as a parameter. For example, you can set a red background color on a range of cells:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B3:B7')->getFill()

->setFillType(PHPExcel_Style_Fill::FILL_SOLID)

->getStartColor()->setARGB('FFFF0000');

Tip It is recommended to style many cells at once, using e.g. getStyle('A1:M500'), rather than styling the cells individually in a loop. This is much faster compared to looping through cells and styling them individually.

There is also an alternative manner to set styles. The following code sets a cell’s style to font bold, alignment right, top border thin and a gradient fill:

$styleArray = array(

'font' => array(

'bold' => true,

),

'alignment' => array(

'horizontal' => PHPExcel_Style_Alignment::HORIZONTAL_RIGHT,

),

'borders' => array(

'top' => array(

'style' => PHPExcel_Style_Border::BORDER_THIN,

),

),

'fill' => array(

'type' => PHPExcel_Style_Fill::FILL_GRADIENT_LINEAR,

'rotation' => 90,

'startcolor' => array(

'argb' => 'FFA0A0A0',

),

'endcolor' => array(

'argb' => 'FFFFFFFF',

),

),

);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('A3')->applyFromArray($styleA rray);

Or with a range of cells:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B3:B7')->applyFromArray($sty leArray);

This alternative method using arrays should be faster in terms of execution whenever you are setting more than one style property. But the difference may barely be measurable unless you have many different styles in your workbook.

Prior to PHPExcel 1.7.0 duplicateStyleArray() was the recommended method for styling a cell range, but this method has now been deprecated since getStyle() has started to accept a cell range.

5.4.15.Number formats¶

You often want to format numbers in Excel. For example you may want a thousands separator plus a fixed number of decimals after the decimal separator. Or perhaps you want some numbers to be zero-padded.

In Microsoft Office Excel you may be familiar with selecting a number format from the "Format Cells" dialog. Here there are some predefined number formats available including some for dates. The dialog is designed in a way so you don't have to interact with the underlying raw number format code unless you need a custom number format.

In PHPExcel, you can also apply various predefined number formats. Example:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('A1')->getNumberFormat()

->setFormatCode(PHPExcel_Style_NumberFormat::FORMAT_NUMBER_COMMA_ SEPARATED1);

This will format a number e.g. 1587.2 so it shows up as 1,587.20 when you open the workbook in MS Office Excel. (Depending on settings for decimal and thousands separators in Microsoft Office Excel it may show up as 1.587,20)

You can achieve exactly the same as the above by using this:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('A1')->getNumberFormat()

->setFormatCode('#,##0.00');

In Microsoft Office Excel, as well as in PHPExcel, you will have to interact with raw number format codes whenever you need some special custom number format. Example:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('A1')->getNumberFormat()

->setFormatCode('[Blue][>=3000]$#,##0;[Red][<0]$#,##0;$#,##0');

Tip The rules for composing a number format code in Excel can be rather complicated. Sometimes you know how to create some number format in Microsoft Office Excel, but don't know what the underlying number format code looks like. How do you find it?The readers shipped with PHPExcel come to the rescue. Load your template workbook using e.g. Excel2007 reader to reveal the number format code. Example how read a number format code for cell A1:

$objReader = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createReader('Excel2007');$objPHPExcel = $objRead er->load('template.xlsx');var_dump($objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->ge tStyle('A1')->getNumberFormat()->getFormatCode());

Advanced users may find it faster to inspect the number format code directly by renaming template.xlsx to template.zip, unzipping, and looking for the relevant piece of XML code holding the number format code in xl/styles.xml .

5.4.16.Setting the default style of a workbook¶

It is possible to set the default style of a workbook. Let’s set the default font to Arial size 8:

$objPHPExcel->getDefaultStyle()->getFont()->setName('Arial');$objPHPEx cel->getDefaultStyle()->getFont()->setSize(8);

5.4.17.Styling cell borders¶

In PHPExcel it is easy to apply various borders on a rectangular selection. Here is how to apply a thick red border outline around cells B2:G8.

$styleArray = array(

'borders' => array(

'outline' => array(

'style' => PHPExcel_Style_Border::BORDER_THICK,

'color' => array('argb' => 'FFFF0000'),

),

),

);

$objWorksheet->getStyle('B2:G8')->applyFromArray($styleArray);

In Microsoft Office Excel, the above operation would correspond to selecting the cells B2:G8, launching the style dialog, choosing a thick red border, and clicking on the "Outline" border component.

Note that the border outline is applied to the rectangular selection B2:G8 as a whole, not on each cell individually.

You can achieve any border effect by using just the 5 basic borders and operating on a single cell at a time:

5.4.18.Conditional formatting a cell¶

A cell can be formatted conditionally, based on a specific rule. For example, one can set the foreground colour of a cell to red if its value is below zero, and to green if its value is zero or more.

One can set a conditional style ruleset to a cell using the following code:

$objConditional1 = new PHPExcel_Style_Conditional();

$objConditional1->setConditionType(PHPExcel_Style_Conditional::CONDI TION_CELLIS);

$objConditional1->setOperatorType(PHPExcel_Style_Conditional::OPERAT OR_LESSTHAN);

$objConditional1->addCondition('0');

$objConditional1->getStyle()->getFont()->getColor()->setARGB(PHPExcel_Style_Color::COLOR_RED);

$objConditional1->getStyle()->getFont()->setBold(true);

$objConditional2 = new PHPExcel_Style_Conditional();

$objConditional2->setConditionType(PHPExcel_Style_Conditional::CONDI TION_CELLIS);

$objConditional2->setOperatorType(PHPExcel_Style_Conditional::OPERAT OR_GREATERTHANOREQUAL);

$objConditional2->addCondition('0');

$objConditional2->getStyle()->getFont()->getColor()->setARGB(PHPExcel_Style_Color::COLOR_GREEN);

$objConditional2->getStyle()->getFont()->setBold(true);

$conditionalStyles = $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->g etConditionalStyles();

array_push($conditionalStyles, $objConditional1);

array_push($conditionalStyles, $objConditional2);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2')->setConditionalStyles($ conditionalStyles);

If you want to copy the ruleset to other cells, you can duplicate the style object:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->duplicateStyle( $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B2'), 'B3:B7' );

5.4.19.Add a comment to a cell¶

To add a comment to a cell, use the following code. The example below adds a comment to cell E11:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getComment('E11')->setAuthor('PHPExcel ');

$objCommentRichText = $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getComment('E11' )->getText()->createTextRun('PHPExcel:');

$objCommentRichText->getFont()->setBold(true);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getComment('E11')->getText()->createTe xtRun("rn");

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getComment('E11')->getText()->createTe xtRun('Total amount on the current invoice, excluding VAT.');

5.4.20.Apply autofilter to a range of cells¶

To apply an autofilter to a range of cells, use the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setAutoFilter('A1:C9');

Make sure that you always include the complete filter range! Excel does support setting only the caption row, but that's **not** a best practice...

5.4.21.Setting security on a spreadsheet¶

Excel offers 3 levels of “protection”: document security, sheet security and cell security.

• Document security allows you to set a password on a complete spreadsheet, allowing changes to be made only when that password is entered.
• Worksheet security offers other security options: you can disallow inserting rows on a specific sheet, disallow sorting, …
• Cell security offers the option to lock/unlock a cell as well as show/hide the internal formula

An example on setting document security:

$objPHPExcel->getSecurity()->setLockWindows(true);

$objPHPExcel->getSecurity()->setLockStructure(true);

$objPHPExcel->getSecurity()->setWorkbookPassword("PHPExcel");

An example on setting worksheet security:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getProtection()->setPassword('PHPExcel ');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getProtection()->setSheet(true);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getProtection()->setSort(true);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getProtection()->setInsertRows(true);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getProtection()->setFormatCells(true);

An example on setting cell security:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('B1')->getProtection()->setLo cked(

PHPExcel_Style_Protection::PROTECTION_UNPROTECTED

);

Make sure you enable worksheet protection if you need any of the worksheet protection features! This can be done using the following code: $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getProtection()->setSheet(true);

5.4.22.Setting data validation on a cell¶

Data validation is a powerful feature of Excel2007. It allows to specify an input filter on the data that can be inserted in a specific cell. This filter can be a range (i.e. value must be between 0 and 10), a list (i.e. value must be picked from a list), …

The following piece of code only allows numbers between 10 and 20 to be entered in cell B3:

$objValidation = $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B3')->getDataValidation();

$objValidation->setType( PHPExcel_Cell_DataValidation::TYPE_WHOLE );

$objValidation->setErrorStyle( PHPExcel_Cell_DataValidation::STYLE_STOP );

$objValidation->setAllowBlank(true);

$objValidation->setShowInputMessage(true);

$objValidation->setShowErrorMessage(true);

$objValidation->setErrorTitle('Input error');

$objValidation->setError('Number is not allowed!');

$objValidation->setPromptTitle('Allowed input');

$objValidation->setPrompt('Only numbers between 10 and 20 are allowed.');

$objValidation->setFormula1(10);

$objValidation->setFormula2(20);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B3')->setDataValidation($objV alidation);

The following piece of code only allows an item picked from a list of data to be entered in cell B3:

$objValidation = $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B5')->getDataValidation();

$objValidation->setType( PHPExcel_Cell_DataValidation::TYPE_LIST );

$objValidation->setErrorStyle( PHPExcel_Cell_DataValidation::STYLE_INFORMATION );

$objValidation->setAllowBlank(false);

$objValidation->setShowInputMessage(true);

$objValidation->setShowErrorMessage(true);

$objValidation->setShowDropDown(true);

$objValidation->setErrorTitle('Input error');

$objValidation->setError('Value is not in list.');

$objValidation->setPromptTitle('Pick from list');

$objValidation->setPrompt('Please pick a value from the drop-down list.');

$objValidation->setFormula1('"Item A,Item B,Item C"');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B5')->setDataValidation($objV alidation);

When using a data validation list, make sure you put the list between “ and “ and that you split the items with a comma (,).

If you need data validation on multiple cells, one can clone the ruleset:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('B8')->setDataValidation(clone $objValidation);

5.4.23.Setting a column’s width¶

A column’s width can be set using the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getColumnDimension('D')->setWidth(12);

If you want PHPExcel to perform an automatic width calculation, use the following code. PHPExcel will approximate the column with to the width of the widest column value.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getColumnDimension('B')->setAutoSize(t rue);

5.4.24.Show/hide a column¶

To set a worksheet’s column visibility, you can use the following code. The first line explicitly shows the column C, the second line hides column D.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getColumnDimension('C')->setVisible(tr ue);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getColumnDimension('D')->setVisible(fa lse);

5.4.25.Group/outline a column¶

To group/outline a column, you can use the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getColumnDimension('E')->setOutlineLev el(1);

You can also collapse the column. Note that you should also set the column invisible, otherwise the collapse will not be visible in Excel 2007.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getColumnDimension('E')->setCollapsed( true);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getColumnDimension('E')->setVisible(fa lse);

Please refer to the part “group/outline a row” for a complete example on collapsing.

You can instruct PHPExcel to add a summary to the right (default), or to the left. The following code adds the summary to the left:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setShowSummaryRight(false);

5.4.26.Setting a row’s height¶

A row’s height can be set using the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getRowDimension('10')->setRowHeight(10 0);

5.4.27.Show/hide a row¶

To set a worksheet’s row visibility, you can use the following code. The following example hides row number 10.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getRowDimension('10')->setVisible(fals e);

5.4.28.Group/outline a row¶

To group/outline a row, you can use the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getRowDimension('5')->setOutlineLevel( 1);

You can also collapse the row. Note that you should also set the row invisible, otherwise the collapse will not be visible in Excel 2007.

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getRowDimension('5')->setCollapsed(tru e);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getRowDimension('5')->setVisible(false );

Here’s an example which collapses rows 50 to 80:

for ($i = 51; $i <= 80; $i++) {

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A' . $i, "FName $i");

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B' . $i, "LName $i");

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('C' . $i, "PhoneNo $i");

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('D' . $i, "FaxNo $i");

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('E' . $i, true);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getRowDimension($i)->setOutlineLevel(1 );

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getRowDimension($i)->setVisible(false) ;

}

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getRowDimension(81)->setCollapsed(true );

You can instruct PHPExcel to add a summary below the collapsible rows (default), or above. The following code adds the summary above:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setShowSummaryBelow(false);

5.4.29.Merge/unmerge cells¶

If you have a big piece of data you want to display in a worksheet, you can merge two or more cells together, to become one cell. This can be done using the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->mergeCells('A18:E22');

Removing a merge can be done using theunmergeCellsmethod:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->unmergeCells('A18:E22');

5.4.30.Inserting rows/columns¶

You can insert/remove rows/columns at a specific position. The following code inserts 2 new rows, right before row 7:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->insertNewRowBefore(7, 2);

5.4.31.Add a drawing to a worksheet¶

A drawing is always represented as a separate object, which can be added to a worksheet. Therefore, you must first instantiate a newPHPExcel_Worksheet_Drawing, and assign its properties a meaningful value:

$objDrawing = new PHPExcel_Worksheet_Drawing();

$objDrawing->setName('Logo');

$objDrawing->setDescription('Logo');

$objDrawing->setPath('./images/officelogo.jpg');

$objDrawing->setHeight(36);

To add the above drawing to the worksheet, use the following snippet of code. PHPExcel creates the link between the drawing and the worksheet:

$objDrawing->setWorksheet($objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet());

You can set numerous properties on a drawing, here are some examples:

$objDrawing->setName('Paid');

$objDrawing->setDescription('Paid');

$objDrawing->setPath('./images/paid.png');

$objDrawing->setCoordinates('B15');

$objDrawing->setOffsetX(110);

$objDrawing->setRotation(25);

$objDrawing->getShadow()->setVisible(true);

$objDrawing->getShadow()->setDirection(45);

5.4.32.Add rich text to a cell¶

Adding rich text to a cell can be done usingPHPExcel_RichTextinstances. Here’s an example, which creates the following rich text string:

This invoice is *payable within thirty days after the end of the month* unless specified otherwise on the invoice.

$objRichText = new PHPExcel_RichText( $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getCell('A18') );

$objRichText->createText('This invoice is ');

$objPayable = $objRichText->createTextRun('payable within thirty days after the end of the month');

$objPayable->getFont()->setBold(true);

$objPayable->getFont()->setItalic(true);

$objPayable->getFont()->setColor( new PHPExcel_Style_Color( PHPExcel_Style_Color::COLOR_DARKGREEN ) );

$objRichText->createText(', unless specified otherwise on the invoice.');

5.4.33.Define a named range¶

PHPExcel supports the definition of named ranges. These can be defined using the following code:

// Add some data

$objPHPExcel->setActiveSheetIndex(0);

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A1', 'Firstname:');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A2', 'Lastname:');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B1', 'Maarten');

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B2', 'Balliauw');

// Define named ranges

$objPHPExcel->addNamedRange( new PHPExcel_NamedRange('PersonFN', $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet(), 'B1') );

$objPHPExcel->addNamedRange( new PHPExcel_NamedRange('PersonLN', $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet(), 'B2') );

Optionally, a fourth parameter can be passed defining the named range local (i.e. only usable on the current worksheet). Named ranges are global by default.

5.4.34.Redirect output to a client’s web browser¶

Sometimes, one really wants to output a file to a client’s browser, especially when creating spreadsheets on-the-fly. There are some easy steps that can be followed to do this:

Create your PHPExcel spreadsheet

Output HTTP headers for the type of document you wish to output

Use the PHPExcel_Writer_* of your choice, and save to “php://output”

PHPExcel_Writer_Excel2007 uses temporary storage when writing to php://output. By default, temporary files are stored in the script’s working directory. When there is no access, it falls back to the operating system’s temporary files location.

This may not be safe for unauthorized viewing! Depending on the configuration of your operating system, temporary storage can be read by anyone using the same temporary storage folder. When confidentiality of your document is needed, it is recommended not to use php://output.

5.4.35.Setting the default column width¶

Default column width can be set using the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getDefaultColumnDimension()->setWidth( 12);

5.4.36.Setting the default row height¶

Default row height can be set using the following code:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getDefaultRowDimension()->setRowHeight (15);

5.4.37.Add a GD drawing to a worksheet¶

There might be a situation where you want to generate an in-memory image using GD and add it to a PHPExcel worksheet without first having to save this file to a temporary location.

Here’s an example which generates an image in memory and adds it to the active worksheet:

// Generate an image

$gdImage = @imagecreatetruecolor(120, 20) or die('Cannot Initialize new GD image stream');

$textColor = imagecolorallocate($gdImage, 255, 255, 255);

imagestring($gdImage, 1, 5, 5, 'Created with PHPExcel', $textColor);

// Add a drawing to the worksheet

$objDrawing = new PHPExcel_Worksheet_MemoryDrawing();

$objDrawing->setName('Sample image');

$objDrawing->setDescription('Sample image');

$objDrawing->setImageResource($gdImage);

$objDrawing->setRenderingFunction(PHPExcel_Worksheet_MemoryDrawing:: RENDERING_JPEG);

$objDrawing->setMimeType(PHPExcel_Worksheet_MemoryDrawing::MIMETYPE_DEFAULT);

$objDrawing->setHeight(36);

$objDrawing->setWorksheet($objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet());

5.4.38.Setting worksheet zoom level¶

To set a worksheet’s zoom level, the following code can be used:

$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getSheetView()->setZoomScale(75);

Note that zoom level should be in range 10 – 400.

6.2.1.Operator precedence¶

In Excel '+' wins over '&', just like '*' wins over '+' in ordinary algebra. The former rule is not what one finds using the calculation engine shipped with PHPExcel.

Reference for operator precedence in Excel:

:underline:``http://support.microsoft.com/kb/25189 <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/25189>`_`

Reference for operator precedence in PHP:

:underline:``http://www.php.net/operators <http://www.php.net/operators>`_`

6.2.2.X ^ N (Power)¶

Powers in a formula entered like '2 ^ 3' don't work. Using the POWER() function does work: '=POWER(2; 3)'. This is due to the fact that PHP treats ^ as bitwise XOR instead of power.

Reference for formulas in Excel:

:underline:``http://office.microsoft.com/en- us/excel/HP030561391033.aspx <http://office.microsoft.com/en- us/excel/HP030561391033.aspx>`_`

Reference for operators in PHP:

:underline:``http://www.php.net/operators <http://www.php.net/operators>`_`

6.2.3.Formulas involving numbers and text¶

Formulas involving numbers and text may produce unexpected results or even unreadable file contents. For example, the formula '=3+"Hello"' is expected to produce an error in Excel (#VALUE!). Due to the fact that PHP converts “Hello” to a numeric value (zero), the result of this formula is evaluated as 3 instead of evaluating as an error. This also causes the Excel document being generated as containing unreadable content.

Reference for this behaviour in PHP:

:underline:``http://be.php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php#lan guage.types.string.conversion <http://be.php.net/manual/en/language.ty pes.string.php#language.types.string.conversion>`_`

7.1.1.Creating PHPExcel_Reader_IReader using PHPExcel_IOFactory¶

There are 2 methods for reading in a file into PHPExcel: using automatic file type resolving or explicitly.

Automatic file type resolving checks the different PHPExcel_Reader_IReader distributed with PHPExcel. If one of them can load the specified file name, the file is loaded using that PHPExcel_Reader_IReader. Explicit mode requires you to specify which PHPExcel_Reader_IReader should be used.

You can create a PHPExcel_Reader_IReader instance using PHPExcel_IOFactory in automatic file type resolving mode using the following code sample:

$objPHPExcel = PHPExcel_IOFactory->load("05featuredemo.xlsx");

A typical use of this feature is when you need to read files uploaded by your users, and you don’t know whether they are uploading xls or xlsx files.

If you need to set some properties on the reader, (e.g. to only read data, see more about this later), then you may instead want to use this variant:

$objReader = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createReaderForFile("05featuredemo.xlsx");

$objReader->setReadDataOnly(true);

$objReader->load("05featuredemo.xlsx");

You can create a PHPExcel_Reader_IReader instance using PHPExcel_IOFactory in explicit mode using the following code sample:

$objReader = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createReader("Excel2007");$objPHPExcel = $objReader->load("05featuredemo.xlsx");

Note that automatic type resolving mode is slightly slower than explicit mode.

7.1.2.Creating PHPExcel_Writer_IWriter using PHPExcel_IOFactory¶

You can create a PHPExcel_Writer_Iwriter instance using PHPExcel_IOFactory:

$objWriter = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createWriter($objPHPExcel, "Excel2007");$objWriter->save("05featuredemo.xlsx");

7.2.1.PHPExcel_Reader_Excel2007¶

7.2.2.PHPExcel_Writer_Excel2007¶

7.3.1.PHPExcel_Reader_Serialized¶

7.3.2.PHPExcel_Writer_Serialized¶

7.4.1.PHPExcel_Reader_Excel5¶

7.4.2.PHPExcel_Writer_Excel5¶

7.5.1.PHPExcel_Reader_CSV¶

7.5.2.PHPExcel_Writer_CSV¶

7.6.1.PHPExcel_Writer_HTML¶

Please note that PHPExcel_Writer_HTML only outputs the first worksheet by default.

7.7.1.PHPExcel_Writer_PDF¶

Please note that PHPExcel_Writer_PDF only outputs the first worksheet by default.