SheetJS Spreadsheet data parser and writer
npm install codenautas-xlsxParser and writer for various spreadsheet formats. Pure-JS cleanroom
implementation from official specifications, related documents, and test files.
Emphasis on parsing and writing robustness, cross-format feature compatibility
with a unified JS representation, and ES3/ES5 browser compatibility back to IE6.
This is the community version. We also offer a pro version with performance
enhancements, additional features by request, and dedicated support.
File format support for known spreadsheet data formats:
Graph of supported formats (click to show)
!circo graph of format support
Expand to show Table of Contents
- Installation
* JS Ecosystem Demos
* Optional Modules
* ECMAScript 5 Compatibility
- Philosophy
- Parsing Workbooks
* Parsing Examples
* Streaming Read
- Working with the Workbook
* Parsing and Writing Examples
- Writing Workbooks
* Writing Examples
* Streaming Write
- Interface
* Parsing functions
* Writing functions
* Utilities
- Common Spreadsheet Format
* General Structures
* Cell Object
+ Data Types
+ Dates
* Sheet Objects
+ Worksheet Object
+ Chartsheet Object
+ Macrosheet Object
+ Dialogsheet Object
* Workbook Object
+ Workbook File Properties
* Workbook-Level Attributes
+ Defined Names
+ Miscellaneous Workbook Properties
* Document Features
+ Formulae
+ Column Properties
+ Row Properties
+ Number Formats
+ Hyperlinks
+ Cell Comments
+ Sheet Visibility
+ VBA and Macros
- Parsing Options
* Input Type
* Guessing File Type
- Writing Options
* Supported Output Formats
* Output Type
- Utility Functions
* Array of Arrays Input
* Array of Objects Input
* HTML Table Input
* Formulae Output
* Delimiter-Separated Output
+ UTF-16 Unicode Text
* HTML Output
* JSON
- File Formats
* Excel 2007+ XML (XLSX/XLSM)
* Excel 2.0-95 (BIFF2/BIFF3/BIFF4/BIFF5)
* Excel 97-2004 Binary (BIFF8)
* Excel 2003-2004 (SpreadsheetML)
* Excel 2007+ Binary (XLSB, BIFF12)
* Delimiter-Separated Values (CSV/TXT)
* Other Workbook Formats
+ Lotus 1-2-3 (WKS/WK1/WK2/WK3/WK4/123)
+ Quattro Pro (WQ1/WQ2/WB1/WB2/WB3/QPW)
+ OpenDocument Spreadsheet (ODS/FODS)
+ Uniform Office Spreadsheet (UOS1/2)
* Other Single-Worksheet Formats
+ dBASE and Visual FoxPro (DBF)
+ Symbolic Link (SYLK)
+ Lotus Formatted Text (PRN)
+ Data Interchange Format (DIF)
+ HTML
+ Rich Text Format (RTF)
- Testing
* Node
* Browser
* Tested Environments
* Test Files
- Contributing
* OSX/Linux
* Windows
* Tests
- License
- References
In the browser, just add a script tag:
``html`
CDN Availability (click to show)
| CDN | URL |
|-----------:|:-----------------------------------------|
| unpkg | jsDelivr
| | CDNjs
| |
unpkg makes the latest version available at:
`html`
With npm:
`bash`
$ npm install xlsx
With bower:
`bash`
$ bower install js-xlsx
The demos directory includes sample projects for:
Frameworks and APIs
- angular 1.x
- angular 2.x / 4.x / 5.x
- meteor
- react and react-native
- vue 2.x and weex
- XMLHttpRequest and fetch
- nodejs server
Bundlers and Tooling
- browserify
- requirejs
- rollup
- systemjs
- webpack 2.x
Platforms and Integrations
- electron application
- nw.js application
- Adobe ExtendScript
- Headless Browsers
- canvas-datagrid
- Swift JSC and other engines
Optional features (click to show)
The node version automatically requires modules for additional features. Some
of these modules are rather large in size and are only needed in special
circumstances, so they do not ship with the core. For browser use, they must
be included directly:
`html`
An appropriate version for each dependency is included in the dist/ directory.
The complete single-file version is generated at dist/xlsx.full.min.js
Webpack and Browserify builds include optional modules by default. Webpack can
be configured to remove support with resolve.alias:
`js`
/ uncomment the lines below to remove support /
resolve: {
alias: { "./dist/cpexcel.js": "" } // <-- omit international support
}
Since the library uses functions like Array#forEach, older browsers require
shims to provide missing functions.
To use the shim, add the shim before the script tag that loads xlsx.js:
`html`
Philosophy (click to show)
Prior to SheetJS, APIs for processing spreadsheet files were format-specific.
Third-party libraries either supported one format, or they involved a separate
set of classes for each supported file type. Even though XLSB was introduced in
Excel 2007, nothing outside of SheetJS or Excel supported the format.
To promote a format-agnostic view, js-xlsx starts from a pure-JS representation
that we call the "Common Spreadsheet Format".
Emphasizing a uniform object representation enables new features like format
conversion (reading an XLSX template and saving as XLS) and circumvents the
"class trap". By abstracting the complexities of the various formats, tools
need not worry about the specific file type!
A simple object representation combined with careful coding practices enables
use cases in older browsers and in alternative environments like ExtendScript
and Web Workers. It is always tempting to use the latest and greatest features,
but they tend to require the latest versions of browsers, limiting usability.
Utility functions capture common use cases like generating JS objects or HTML.
Most simple operations should only require a few lines of code. More complex
operations generally should be straightforward to implement.
Excel pushes the XLSX format as default starting in Excel 2007. However, there
are other formats with more appealing properties. For example, the XLSB format
is spiritually similar to XLSX but files often tend up taking less than half the
space and open much faster! Even though an XLSX writer is available, other
format writers are available so users can take advantage of the unique
characteristics of each format.
For parsing, the first step is to read the file. This involves acquiring the
data and feeding it into the library. Here are a few common scenarios:
nodejs read a file (click to show)
readFile is only available in server environments. Browsers have no API for
reading arbitrary files given a path, so another strategy must be used.
`js`
if(typeof require !== 'undefined') XLSX = require('xlsx');
var workbook = XLSX.readFile('test.xlsx');
/ DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE /
Browser read TABLE element from page (click to show)
The table_to_book and table_to_sheet utility functions take a DOM TABLE
element and iterate through the child nodes.
`js`
var worksheet = XLSX.utils.table_to_book(document.getElementById('tableau'));
/ DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE /
Alternatively, the HTML code can be extracted and parsed:
`js`
var htmlstr = document.getElementById('tableau').outerHTML;
var worksheet = XLSX.read(htmlstr, {type:'string'});
Browser download file (ajax) (click to show)
Note: for a more complete example that works in older browsers, check the demo
at
includes more examples with XMLHttpRequest and fetch.
`js
var url = "http://oss.sheetjs.com/test_files/formula_stress_test.xlsx";
/ set up async GET request /
var req = new XMLHttpRequest();
req.open("GET", url, true);
req.responseType = "arraybuffer";
req.onload = function(e) {
var data = new Uint8Array(req.response);
var workbook = XLSX.read(data, {type:"array"});
/ DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE /
}
req.send();
`
Browser drag-and-drop (click to show)
Drag-and-drop uses the HTML5 FileReader API, loading the data withreadAsBinaryString or readAsArrayBuffer. Since not all browsers support theFileReader
full API, dynamic feature tests are highly recommended.
`js
var rABS = true; // true: readAsBinaryString ; false: readAsArrayBuffer
function handleDrop(e) {
e.stopPropagation(); e.preventDefault();
var files = e.dataTransfer.files, f = files[0];
var reader = new FileReader();
reader.onload = function(e) {
var data = e.target.result;
if(!rABS) data = new Uint8Array(data);
var workbook = XLSX.read(data, {type: rABS ? 'binary' : 'array'});
/ DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE /
};
if(rABS) reader.readAsBinaryString(f); else reader.readAsArrayBuffer(f);
}
drop_dom_element.addEventListener('drop', handleDrop, false);
`
Browser file upload form element (click to show)
Data from file input elements can be processed using the same FileReader API
as in the drag-and-drop example:
`js
var rABS = true; // true: readAsBinaryString ; false: readAsArrayBuffer
function handleFile(e) {
var files = e.target.files, f = files[0];
var reader = new FileReader();
reader.onload = function(e) {
var data = e.target.result;
if(!rABS) data = new Uint8Array(data);
var workbook = XLSX.read(data, {type: rABS ? 'binary' : 'array'});
/ DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE /
};
if(rABS) reader.readAsBinaryString(f); else reader.readAsArrayBuffer(f);
}
input_dom_element.addEventListener('change', handleFile, false);
`
-
Note that older versions of IE do not support HTML5 File API, so the Base64 mode
is used for testing.
Get Base64 encoding on OSX / Windows (click to show)
On OSX you can get the Base64 encoding with:
`bash`
$
On Windows XP and up you can get the Base64 encoding using certutil:
`cmd`
> certutil -encode target_file target_file.b64
(note: You have to open the file and remove the header and footer lines)
-
Why is there no Streaming Read API? (click to show)
The most common and interesting formats (XLS, XLSX/M, XLSB, ODS) are ultimately
ZIP or CFB containers of files. Neither format puts the directory structure at
the beginning of the file: ZIP files place the Central Directory records at the
end of the logical file, while CFB files can place the storage info anywhere in
the file! As a result, to properly handle these formats, a streaming function
would have to buffer the entire file before commencing. That belies the
expectations of streaming, so we do not provide any streaming read API.
When dealing with Readable Streams, the easiest approach is to buffer the stream
and process the whole thing at the end. This can be done with a temporary file
or by explicitly concatenating the stream:
Explicitly concatenating streams (click to show)
`js
var fs = require('fs');
var XLSX = require('xlsx');
function process_RS(stream/:ReadStream/, cb/:(wb:Workbook)=>void/)/:void/{
var buffers = [];
stream.on('data', function(data) { buffers.push(data); });
stream.on('end', function() {
var buffer = Buffer.concat(buffers);
var workbook = XLSX.read(buffer, {type:"buffer"});
/ DO SOMETHING WITH workbook IN THE CALLBACK /
cb(workbook);
});
}
`
More robust solutions are available using modules like concat-stream.
Writing to filesystem first (click to show)
This example uses tempfile to generate file names:
`js
var fs = require('fs'), tempfile = require('tempfile');
var XLSX = require('xlsx');
function process_RS(stream/:ReadStream/, cb/:(wb:Workbook)=>void/)/:void/{
var fname = tempfile('.sheetjs');
console.log(fname);
var ostream = fs.createWriteStream(fname);
stream.pipe(ostream);
ostream.on('finish', function() {
var workbook = XLSX.readFile(fname);
fs.unlinkSync(fname);
/ DO SOMETHING WITH workbook IN THE CALLBACK /
cb(workbook);
});
}
`
The full object format is described later in this README.
Reading a specific cell (click to show)
This example extracts the value stored in cell A1 from the first worksheet:
`js
var first_sheet_name = workbook.SheetNames[0];
var address_of_cell = 'A1';
/ Get worksheet /
var worksheet = workbook.Sheets[first_sheet_name];
/ Find desired cell /
var desired_cell = worksheet[address_of_cell];
/ Get the value /
var desired_value = (desired_cell ? desired_cell.v : undefined);
`
Adding a new worksheet to a workbook (click to show)
This example uses XLSX.utils.aoa_to_sheet to make a
worksheet and appends the new worksheet to the workbook:
`js
var new_ws_name = "SheetJS";
/ make worksheet /
var ws_data = [
[ "S", "h", "e", "e", "t", "J", "S" ],
[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
];
var ws = XLSX.utils.aoa_to_sheet(ws_data);
/ Add the sheet name to the list /
wb.SheetNames.push(ws_name);
/ Load the worksheet object /
wb.Sheets[ws_name] = ws;
`
-
-
The node version installs a command line tool xlsx which can read spreadsheetxlsx.njs
files and output the contents in various formats. The source is available at in the bin directory.
Some helper functions in XLSX.utils generate different views of the sheets:
- XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv generates CSVXLSX.utils.sheet_to_html
- generates HTMLXLSX.utils.sheet_to_json
- generates an array of objectsXLSX.utils.sheet_to_formulae
- generates a list of formulae
For writing, the first step is to generate output data. The helper functions
write and writeFile will produce the data in various formats suitable forworkbook
dissemination. The second step is to actual share the data with the end point.
Assuming is a workbook object:
nodejs write a file (click to show)
writeFile is only available in server environments. Browsers have no API for
writing arbitrary files given a path, so another strategy must be used.
`js`
if(typeof require !== 'undefined') XLSX = require('xlsx');
/ output format determined by filename /
XLSX.writeFile(workbook, 'out.xlsb');
/ at this point, out.xlsb is a file that you can distribute /
Browser add to web page (click to show)
The sheet_to_html utility function generates HTML code that can be added to
any DOM element.
`js`
var worksheet = workbook.Sheets[workbook.SheetNames[0]];
var container = document.getElementById('tableau');
container.innerHTML = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(worksheet);
Browser save file (click to show)
Note: browser generates binary blob and forces a "download" to client. This
example uses FileSaver:
`js
/ bookType can be any supported output type /
var wopts = { bookType:'xlsx', bookSST:false, type:'binary' };
var wbout = XLSX.write(workbook,wopts);
function s2ab(s) {
var buf = new ArrayBuffer(s.length);
var view = new Uint8Array(buf);
for (var i=0; i!=s.length; ++i) view[i] = s.charCodeAt(i) & 0xFF;
return buf;
}
/ the saveAs call downloads a file on the local machine /
saveAs(new Blob([s2ab(wbout)],{type:"application/octet-stream"}), "test.xlsx");
`
Browser upload to server (click to show)
A complete example using XHR is included in the XHR demo, along
with examples for fetch and wrapper libraries. This example assumes the server
can handle Base64-encoded files (see the demo for a basic nodejs server):
`js
/ in this example, send a base64 string to the server /
var wopts = { bookType:'xlsx', bookSST:false, type:'base64' };
var wbout = XLSX.write(workbook,wopts);
var req = new XMLHttpRequest();
req.open("POST", "/upload", true);
var formdata = new FormData();
formdata.append('file', 'test.xlsx'); // <-- server expects file to hold namedata
formdata.append('data', wbout); // <-- holds the base64-encoded data`
req.send(formdata);
-
-
The streaming write functions are available in the XLSX.stream object. They
take the same arguments as the normal write functions but return a Readable
Stream. They are only exposed in NodeJS.
- XLSX.stream.to_csv is the streaming version of XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv.XLSX.stream.to_html
- is the streaming version of XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html.
nodejs convert to CSV and write file (click to show)
`js`
var output_file_name = "out.csv";
var stream = XLSX.stream.to_csv(worksheet);
stream.pipe(fs.createWriteStream(output_file_name));
XLSX is the exposed variable in the browser and the exported node variable
XLSX.version is the version of the library (added by the build script).
XLSX.SSF is an embedded version of the format library.
XLSX.read(data, read_opts) attempts to parse data.
XLSX.readFile(filename, read_opts) attempts to read filename and parse.
Parse options are described in the Parsing Options section.
XLSX.write(wb, write_opts) attempts to write the workbook wb
XLSX.writeFile(wb, filename, write_opts) attempts to write wb to filename
XLSX.writeFileAsync(filename, wb, o, cb) attempts to write wb to filename.o
If is omitted, the writer will use the third argument as the callback.
XLSX.stream contains a set of streaming write functions.
Write options are described in the Writing Options section.
Utilities are available in the XLSX.utils object and are described in the
Utility Functions section:
Importing:
- aoa_to_sheet converts an array of arrays of JS data to a worksheet.json_to_sheet
- converts an array of JS objects to a worksheet.table_to_sheet
- converts a DOM TABLE element to a worksheet.
Exporting:
- sheet_to_json converts a worksheet object to an array of JSON objects.sheet_to_csv
- generates delimiter-separated-values output.sheet_to_html
- generates HTML output.sheet_to_formulae
- generates a list of the formulae (with value fallbacks).
Cell and cell address manipulation:
- format_cell generates the text value for a cell (using number formats).encode_row / decode_row
- converts between 0-indexed rows and 1-indexed rows.encode_col / decode_col
- converts between 0-indexed columns and column names.encode_cell / decode_cell
- converts cell addresses.encode_range / decode_range
- converts cell ranges.
js-xlsx conforms to the Common Spreadsheet Format (CSF):
Cell address objects are stored as {c:C, r:R} where C and R are 0-indexedB5
column and row numbers, respectively. For example, the cell address is{c:1, r:4}
represented by the object .
Cell range objects are stored as {s:S, e:E} where S is the first cell andE is the last cell in the range. The ranges are inclusive. For example, theA3:B7
range is represented by the object {s:{c:0, r:2}, e:{c:1, r:6}}.
Utility functions perform a row-major order walk traversal of a sheet range:
`js`
for(var R = range.s.r; R <= range.e.r; ++R) {
for(var C = range.s.c; C <= range.e.c; ++C) {
var cell_address = {c:C, r:R};
/ if an A1-style address is needed, encode the address /
var cell_ref = XLSX.utils.encode_cell(cell_address);
}
}
| Key | Description |
| --- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| v | raw value (see Data Types section for more info) |w
| | formatted text (if applicable) |t
| | cell type: b Boolean, n Number, e error, s String, d Date |f
| | cell formula encoded as an A1-style string (if applicable) |F
| | range of enclosing array if formula is array formula (if applicable) |r
| | rich text encoding (if applicable) |h
| | HTML rendering of the rich text (if applicable) |c
| | comments associated with the cell |z
| | number format string associated with the cell (if requested) |l
| | cell hyperlink object (.Target holds link, .Tooltip is tooltip) |s
| | the style/theme of the cell (if applicable) |
Built-in export utilities (such as the CSV exporter) will use the w text if itcell.w
is available. To change a value, be sure to delete (or set it toundefined) before attempting to export. The utilities will regenerate the w
text from the number format () and the raw value if possible.
The actual array formula is stored in the f field of the first cell in thef
array range. Other cells in the range will omit the field.
#### Data Types
The raw value is stored in the v field, interpreted based on the t field.
Type b is the Boolean type. v is interpreted according to JS truth tables.
Type e is the Error type. v holds the number and w holds the common name:
Error values and interpretation (click to show)
| Value | Error Meaning |
| -----: | :-------------- |
| 0x00 | #NULL! |0x07
| | #DIV/0! |0x0F
| | #VALUE! |0x17
| | #REF! |0x1D
| | #NAME? |0x24
| | #NUM! |0x2A
| | #N/A |0x2B
| | #GETTING_DATA |
Type n is the Number type. This includes all forms of data that Excel storesv
as numbers, such as dates/times and Boolean fields. Excel exclusively uses data
that can be fit in an IEEE754 floating point number, just like JS Number, so the field holds the raw number. The w field holds formatted text. Dates areXLSX.SSF.parse_date_code
stored as numbers by default and converted with .
Type d is the Date type, generated only when the option cellDates is passed.date.toISOString()
Since JSON does not have a natural Date type, parsers are generally expected to
store ISO 8601 Date strings like you would get from . On
the other hand, writers and exporters should be able to handle date strings and
JS Date objects. Note that Excel disregards timezone modifiers and treats all
dates in the local timezone. js-xlsx does not correct for this error.
Type s is the String type. v should be explicitly stored as a string to
avoid possible confusion.
Type z represents blank stub cells. These do not have any data or type, andsheetStubs
are not processed by any of the core library functions. By default these cells
will not be generated; the parser option must be set to true.
#### Dates
Excel Date Code details (click to show)
By default, Excel stores dates as numbers with a format code that specifies date
processing. For example, the date 19-Feb-17 is stored as the number 42785
with a number format of . The SSF module understands number formats
and performs the appropriate conversion.
XLSX also supports a special date type d where the data is an ISO 8601 date
string. The formatter converts the date back to a number.
The default behavior for all parsers is to generate number cells. Setting
cellDates to true will force the generators to store dates.
Time Zones and Dates (click to show)
Excel has no native concept of universal time. All times are specified in the
local time zone. Excel limitations prevent specifying true absolute dates.
Following Excel, this library treats all dates as relative to local time zone.
Epochs: 1900 and 1904 (click to show)
Excel supports two epochs (January 1 1900 and January 1 1904), see
"1900 vs. 1904 Date System" article.
The workbook's epoch can be determined by examining the workbook's
wb.Workbook.WBProps.date1904 property:
`js`
!!(((wb.Workbook||{}).WBProps||{}).date1904)
Each key that does not start with ! maps to a cell (using A-1 notation)
sheet[address] returns the cell object for the specified address.
Special sheet keys (accessible as sheet[key], each starting with !):
- sheet['!ref']: A-1 based range representing the sheet range. Functions that
work with sheets should use this parameter to determine the range. Cells that
are assigned outside of the range are not processed. In particular, when
writing a sheet by hand, cells outside of the range are not included
Functions that handle sheets should test for the presence of !ref field.!ref
If the is omitted or is not a valid range, functions are free to treat
the sheet as empty or attempt to guess the range. The standard utilities that
ship with this library treat sheets as empty (for example, the CSV output is
empty string).
When reading a worksheet with the sheetRows property set, the ref parameterws['!fullref']
will use the restricted range. The original range is set at
- sheet['!margins']: Object representing the page margins. The default values
follow Excel's "normal" preset. Excel also has a "wide" and a "narrow" preset
but they are stored as raw measurements. The main properties are listed below:
Page margin details (click to show)
| key | description | "normal" | "wide" | "narrow" |
|----------|------------------------|:---------|:-------|:-------- |
| left | left margin (inches) | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.25 |right
| | right margin (inches) | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.25 |top
| | top margin (inches) | 0.75 | 1.0 | 0.75 |bottom
| | bottom margin (inches) | 0.75 | 1.0 | 0.75 |header
| | header margin (inches) | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 |footer
| | footer margin (inches) | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
`js`
/ Set worksheet sheet to "normal" /
ws["!margins"]={left:0.7, right:0.7, top:0.75,bottom:0.75,header:0.3,footer:0.3}
/ Set worksheet sheet to "wide" /
ws["!margins"]={left:1.0, right:1.0, top:1.0, bottom:1.0, header:0.5,footer:0.5}
/ Set worksheet sheet to "narrow" /
ws["!margins"]={left:0.25,right:0.25,top:0.75,bottom:0.75,header:0.3,footer:0.3}
#### Worksheet Object
In addition to the base sheet keys, worksheets also add:
- ws['!cols']: array of column properties objects. Column widths are actuallywpx
stored in files in a normalized manner, measured in terms of the "Maximum
Digit Width" (the largest width of the rendered digits 0-9, in pixels). When
parsed, the column objects store the pixel width in the field, characterwch
width in the field, and the maximum digit width in the MDW field.
- ws['!rows']: array of row properties objects as explained later in the docs.
Each row object encodes properties including row height and visibility.
- ws['!merges']: array of range objects corresponding to the merged cells in
the worksheet. Plain text formats do not support merge cells. CSV export
will write all cells in the merge range if they exist, so be sure that only
the first cell (upper-left) in the range is set.
- ws['!protect']: object of write sheet protection properties. The password
key specifies the password for formats that support password-protected sheets
(XLSX/XLSB/XLS). The writer uses the XOR obfuscation method. The following
keys control the sheet protection -- set to to enable a feature whentrue
sheet is locked or set to to disable a feature:
Worksheet Protection Details (click to show)
| key | feature (true=disabled / false=enabled) | default |
|:----------------------|:----------------------------------------|:-----------|
| selectLockedCells | Select locked cells | enabled |selectUnlockedCells
| | Select unlocked cells | enabled |formatCells
| | Format cells | disabled |formatColumns
| | Format columns | disabled |formatRows
| | Format rows | disabled |insertColumns
| | Insert columns | disabled |insertRows
| | Insert rows | disabled |insertHyperlinks
| | Insert hyperlinks | disabled |deleteColumns
| | Delete columns | disabled |deleteRows
| | Delete rows | disabled |sort
| | Sort | disabled |autoFilter
| | Filter | disabled |pivotTables
| | Use PivotTable reports | disabled |objects
| | Edit objects | enabled |scenarios
| | Edit scenarios | enabled |
- ws['!autofilter']: AutoFilter object following the schema:
`typescript`
type AutoFilter = {
ref:string; // A-1 based range representing the AutoFilter table range
}
#### Chartsheet Object
Chartsheets are represented as standard sheets. They are distinguished with the
!type property set to "chart".
The underlying data and !ref refer to the cached data in the chartsheet. The
first row of the chartsheet is the underlying header.
#### Macrosheet Object
Macrosheets are represented as standard sheets. They are distinguished with the
!type property set to "macro".
#### Dialogsheet Object
Dialogsheets are represented as standard sheets. They are distinguished with the
!type property set to "dialog".
workbook.SheetNames is an ordered list of the sheets in the workbook
wb.Sheets[sheetname] returns an object representing the worksheet.
wb.Props is an object storing the standard properties. wb.Custprops stores
custom properties. Since the XLS standard properties deviate from the XLSX
standard, XLS parsing stores core properties in both places.
wb.Workbook stores workbook-level attributes.
#### Workbook File Properties
The various file formats use different internal names for file properties. The
workbook Props object normalizes the names:
File Properties (click to show)
| JS Name | Excel Description |
|:--------------|:-------------------------------|
| Title | Summary tab "Title" |Subject
| | Summary tab "Subject" |Author
| | Summary tab "Author" |Manager
| | Summary tab "Manager" |Company
| | Summary tab "Company" |Category
| | Summary tab "Category" |Keywords
| | Summary tab "Keywords" |Comments
| | Summary tab "Comments" |LastAuthor
| | Statistics tab "Last saved by" |CreatedDate
| | Statistics tab "Created" |
For example, to set the workbook title property:
`js`
if(!wb.Props) wb.Props = {};
wb.Props.Title = "Insert Title Here";
Custom properties are added in the workbook Custprops object:
`js`
if(!wb.Custprops) wb.Custprops = {};
wb.Custprops["Custom Property"] = "Custom Value";
Writers will process the Props key of the options object:
`js`
/ force the Author to be "SheetJS" /
XLSX.write(wb, {Props:{Author:"SheetJS"}});
wb.Workbook stores workbook-level attributes.
#### Defined Names
wb.Workbook.Names is an array of defined name objects which have the keys:
Defined Name Properties (click to show)
| Key | Description |
|:----------|:-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sheet | Name scope. Sheet Index (0 = first sheet) or null (Workbook) |Name
| | Case-sensitive name. Standard rules apply ** |Ref
| | A1-style Reference ("Sheet1!$A$1:$D$20") |Comment
| | Comment (only applicable for XLS/XLSX/XLSB) |
Excel allows two sheet-scoped defined names to share the same name. However, a
sheet-scoped name cannot collide with a workbook-scope name. Workbook writers
may not enforce this constraint.
#### Miscellaneous Workbook Properties
wb.Workbook.WBProps holds other workbook properties:
| Key | Description |
|:----------------|:----------------------------------------------------|
| date1904 | epoch: 0/false for 1900 system, 1/true for 1904 |filterPrivacy
| | Warn or strip personally identifying info on save |
Even for basic features like date storage, the official Excel formats store the
same content in different ways. The parsers are expected to convert from the
underlying file format representation to the Common Spreadsheet Format. Writers
are expected to convert from CSF back to the underlying file format.
#### Formulae
The A1-style formula string is stored in the f field. Even though different=
file formats store the formulae in different ways, the formats are translated.
Even though some formats store formulae with a leading equal sign, CSF formulae
do not start with .
Representation of A1=1, A2=2, A3=A1+A2 (click to show)
`js`
{
"!ref": "A1:A3",
A1: { t:'n', v:1 },
A2: { t:'n', v:2 },
A3: { t:'n', v:3, f:'A1+A2' }
}
Shared formulae are decompressed and each cell has the formula corresponding to
its cell. Writers generally do not attempt to generate shared formulae.
Cells with formula entries but no value will be serialized in a way that Excel
and other spreadsheet tools will recognize. This library will not automatically
compute formula results! For example, to compute BESSELJ in a worksheet:
Formula without known value (click to show)
`js`
{
"!ref": "A1:A3",
A1: { t:'n', v:3.14159 },
A2: { t:'n', v:2 },
A3: { t:'n', f:'BESSELJ(A1,A2)' }
}
Array Formulae
Array formulae are stored in the top-left cell of the array block. All cells
of an array formula have a F field corresponding to the range. A single-cellF
formula can be distinguished from a plain formula by the presence of field.
Array Formula examples (click to show)
For example, setting the cell C1 to the array formula {=SUM(A1:A3*B1:B3)}:
`js`
worksheet['C1'] = { t:'n', f: "SUM(A1:A3*B1:B3)", F:"C1:C1" };
For a multi-cell array formula, every cell has the same array range but only the
first cell specifies the formula. Consider D1:D3=A1:A3*B1:B3:
`js`
worksheet['D1'] = { t:'n', F:"D1:D3", f:"A1:A3*B1:B3" };
worksheet['D2'] = { t:'n', F:"D1:D3" };
worksheet['D3'] = { t:'n', F:"D1:D3" };
Utilities and writers are expected to check for the presence of a F field andf
ignore any possible formula element in cells other than the starting cell.
They are not expected to perform validation of the formulae!
Formula Output Utility Function (click to show)
The sheet_to_formulae method generates one line per formula or array formula.range=formula
Array formulae are rendered in the form while plain cells arecell=formula or value
rendered in the form . Note that string literals are'
prefixed with an apostrophe , consistent with Excel's formula bar display.
Formulae File Format Details (click to show)
| Storage Representation | Formats | Read | Write |
|:-----------------------|:-------------------------|:-----:|:-----:|
| A1-style strings | XLSX | :o: | :o: |
| RC-style strings | XLML and plain text | :o: | :o: |
| BIFF Parsed formulae | XLSB and all XLS formats | :o: | |
| OpenFormula formulae | ODS/FODS/UOS | :o: | :o: |
Since Excel prohibits named cells from colliding with names of A1 or RC style
cell references, a (not-so-simple) regex conversion is possible. BIFF Parsed
formulae have to be explicitly unwound. OpenFormula formulae can be converted
with regular expressions.
#### Column Properties
The !cols array in each worksheet, if present, is a collection of ColInfo
objects which have the following properties:
`typescript
type ColInfo = {
/ visibility /
hidden?: boolean; // if true, the column is hidden
/ column width is specified in one of the following ways: /
wpx?: number; // width in screen pixels
width?: number; // width in Excel's "Max Digit Width", width*256 is integral
wch?: number; // width in characters
/ other fields for preserving features from files /
MDW?: number; // Excel's "Max Digit Width" unit, always integral
};
`
Why are there three width types? (click to show)
There are three different width types corresponding to the three different ways
spreadsheets store column widths:
SYLK and other plain text formats use raw character count. Contemporaneous tools
like Visicalc and Multiplan were character based. Since the characters had the
same width, it sufficed to store a count. This tradition was continued into the
BIFF formats.
SpreadsheetML (2003) tried to align with HTML by standardizing on screen pixel
count throughout the file. Column widths, row heights, and other measures use
pixels. When the pixel and character counts do not align, Excel rounds values.
XLSX internally stores column widths in a nebulous "Max Digit Width" form. The
Max Digit Width is the width of the largest digit when rendered (generally the
"0" character is the widest). The internal width must be an integer multiple of
the the width divided by 256. ECMA-376 describes a formula for converting
between pixels and the internal width. This represents a hybrid approach.
Read functions attempt to populate all three properties. Write functions will
try to cycle specified values to the desired type. In order to avoid potential
conflicts, manipulation should delete the other properties first. For example,
when changing the pixel width, delete the wch and width properties.
Implementation details (click to show)
Given the constraints, it is possible to determine the MDW without actually
inspecting the font! The parsers guess the pixel width by converting from width
to pixels and back, repeating for all possible MDW and selecting the MDW that
minimizes the error. XLML actually stores the pixel width, so the guess works
in the opposite direction.
Even though all of the information is made available, writers are expected to
follow the priority order:
1) use width field if availablewpx
2) use pixel width if availablewch
3) use character count if available
#### Row Properties
The !rows array in each worksheet, if present, is a collection of RowInfo
objects which have the following properties:
`typescript
type RowInfo = {
/ visibility /
hidden?: boolean; // if true, the row is hidden
/ row height is specified in one of the following ways: /
hpx?: number; // height in screen pixels
hpt?: number; // height in points
level?: number; // 0-indexed outline / group level
};
`
Note: Excel UI displays the base outline level as 1 and the max level as 8.level
The field stores the base outline as 0 and the max level as 7.
Implementation details (click to show)
Excel internally stores row heights in points. The default resolution is 72 DPI
or 96 PPI, so the pixel and point size should agree. For different resolutions
they may not agree, so the library separates the concepts.
Even though all of the information is made available, writers are expected to
follow the priority order:
1) use hpx pixel height if availablehpt
2) use point height if available
#### Number Formats
The cell.w formatted text for each cell is produced from cell.v and cell.z
format. If the format is not specified, the Excel format is used.workbook.SSF
The format can either be specified as a string or as an index into the format
table. Parsers are expected to populate with the number format
table. Writers are expected to serialize the table.
Custom tools should ensure that the local table has each used format string
somewhere in the table. Excel convention mandates that the custom formats start
at index 164. The following example creates a custom format from scratch:
New worksheet with custom format (click to show)
`js`
var wb = {
SheetNames: ["Sheet1"],
Sheets: {
Sheet1: {
"!ref":"A1:C1",
A1: { t:"n", v:10000 }, // <-- General format
B1: { t:"n", v:10000, z: "0%" }, // <-- Builtin format
C1: { t:"n", v:10000, z: "\"T\"\ #0.00" } // <-- Custom format
}
}
}
The rules are slightly different from how Excel displays custom number formats.
In particular, literal characters must be wrapped in double quotes or preceded
by a backslash. For more info, see the Excel documentation article
Create or delete a custom number format or ECMA-376 18.8.31 (Number Formats)
Default Number Formats (click to show)
The default formats are listed in ECMA-376 18.8.30:
| ID | Format |
|---:|:---------------------------|
| 0 | General |0
| 1 | |0.00
| 2 | |#,##0
| 3 | |#,##0.00
| 4 | |0%
| 9 | |0.00%
| 10 | |0.00E+00
| 11 | |# ?/?
| 12 | |# ??/??
| 13 | |m/d/yy
| 14 | (see below) |d-mmm-yy
| 15 | |d-mmm
| 16 | |mmm-yy
| 17 | |h:mm AM/PM
| 18 | |h:mm:ss AM/PM
| 19 | |h:mm
| 20 | |h:mm:ss
| 21 | |m/d/yy h:mm
| 22 | |#,##0 ;(#,##0)
| 37 | |#,##0 ;Red
| 38 | |#,##0.00;(#,##0.00)
| 39 | |#,##0.00;Red
| 40 | |mm:ss
| 45 | |[h]:mm:ss
| 46 | |mmss.0
| 47 | |##0.0E+0
| 48 | |@
| 49 | |
Format 14 (m/d/yy) is localized by Excel: even though the file specifies thatdateNF
number format, it will be drawn differently based on system settings. It makes
sense when the producer and consumer of files are in the same locale, but that
is not always the case over the Internet. To get around this ambiguity, parse
functions accept the option to override the interpretation of that
specific format string.
#### Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks are stored in the l key of cell objects. The Target field of theTooltip
hyperlink object is the target of the link, including the URI fragment. Tooltips
are stored in the field and are displayed when you move your mouse
over the text.
For example, the following snippet creates a link from cell A3 to"Find us @ SheetJS.com!":
`js`
ws['A3'].l = { Target:"http://sheetjs.com", Tooltip:"Find us @ SheetJS.com!" };
Note that Excel does not automatically style hyperlinks -- they will generally
be displayed as normal text.
#### Cell Comments
Cell comments are objects stored in the c array of cell objects. The actuala
contents of the comment are split into blocks based on the comment author. The field of each comment object is the author of the comment and the t field
is the plain text representation.
For example, the following snippet appends a cell comment into cell A1:
`js`
if(!ws.A1.c) ws.A1.c = [];
ws.A1.c.push({a:"SheetJS", t:"I'm a little comment, short and stout!"});
Note: XLSB enforces a 54 character limit on the Author name. Names longer than
54 characters may cause issues with other formats.
#### Sheet Visibility
Excel enables hiding sheets in the lower tab bar. The sheet data is stored in
the file but the UI does not readily make it available. Standard hidden sheets
are revealed in the "Unhide" menu. Excel also has "very hidden" sheets which
cannot be revealed in the menu. It is only accessible in the VB Editor!
The visibility setting is stored in the Hidden property of sheet props array.
More details (click to show)
| Value | Definition |
|:-----:|:------------|
| 0 | Visible |
| 1 | Hidden |
| 2 | Very Hidden |
With
`js`
> wb.Workbook.Sheets.map(function(x) { return [x.name, x.Hidden] })
[ [ 'Visible', 0 ], [ 'Hidden', 1 ], [ 'VeryHidden', 2 ] ]
Non-Excel formats do not support the Very Hidden state. The best way to test
if a sheet is visible is to check if the Hidden property is logical truth:
`js`
> wb.Workbook.Sheets.map(function(x) { return [x.name, !x.Hidden] })
[ [ 'Visible', true ], [ 'Hidden', false ], [ 'VeryHidden', false ] ]
#### VBA and Macros
VBA Macros are stored in a special data blob that is exposed in the vbaraw
property of the workbook object when the option is true. They areXLSM
supported in , XLSB, and BIFF8 XLS formats. The supported format
writers automatically insert the data blobs if it is present in the workbook and
associate with the worksheet names.
Macrosheets (click to show)
Older versions of Excel also supported a non-VBA "macrosheet" sheet type that
stored automation commands. These are exposed in objects with the !type
property set to .
Detecting macros in workbooks (click to show)
The vbaraw field will only be set if macros are present, so testing is simple:
`js`
function wb_has_macro(wb/:workbook/)/:boolean/ {
if(!!wb.vbaraw) return true;
const sheets = wb.SheetNames.map((n) => wb.Sheets[n]);
return sheets.some((ws) => !!ws && ws['!type']=='macro');
}
The exported read and readFile functions accept an options argument:
| Option Name | Default | Description |
| :---------- | ------: | :--------------------------------------------------- |
|type | | Input data encoding (see Input Type below) |raw
| | false | If true, plain text parsing will not parse values ** |cellFormula
|| true | Save formulae to the .f field |cellHTML
| | true | Parse rich text and save HTML to the .h field |cellNF
| | false | Save number format string to the .z field |cellStyles
| | false | Save style/theme info to the .s field |cellText
| | true | Generated formatted text to the .w field |cellDates
| | false | Store dates as type d (default is n) |dateNF
| | | If specified, use the string for date code 14 ** |sheetStubs
| | false | Create cell objects of type z for stub cells |sheetRows
| | 0 | If >0, read the first sheetRows rows ** |bookDeps
| | false | If true, parse calculation chains |bookFiles
| | false | If true, add raw files to book object ** |bookProps
| | false | If true, only parse enough to get book metadata ** |bookSheets
| | false | If true, only parse enough to get the sheet names |bookVBA
| | false | If true, copy VBA blob to vbaraw field ** |password
| | "" | If defined and file is encrypted, use password ** |WTF
| | false | If true, throw errors on unexpected file features ** |
- Even if cellNF is false, formatted text will be generated and saved to .w
- In some cases, sheets may be parsed even if is false.raw
- Excel aggressively tries to interpret values from CSV and other plain text.
This leads to surprising behavior! The option suppresses value parsing.bookSheets
- and bookProps combine to give both sets of informationDeps
- will be an empty object if bookDeps is falsebookFiles
- behavior depends on file type:keys
* array (paths in the ZIP) for ZIP-based formatsfiles
* hash (mapping paths to objects representing the files) for ZIPcfb
* object for formats using CFB containerssheetRows-1
- rows will be generated when looking at the JSON object outputbookVBA
(since the header row is counted as a row when parsing the data)
- merely exposes the raw VBA CFB object. It does not parse the data.xl/vbaProject.bin
XLSM and XLSB store the VBA CFB object in . BIFF8 XLS mixesWTF:1
the VBA entries alongside the core Workbook entry, so the library generates a
new XLSB-compatible blob from the XLS CFB container.
- Currently only XOR encryption is supported. Unsupported error will be thrown
for files employing other encryption methods.
- WTF is mainly for development. By default, the parser will suppress read
errors on single worksheets, allowing you to read from the worksheets that do
parse properly. Setting forces those errors to be thrown.
Strings can be interpreted in multiple ways. The type parameter for read
tells the library how to parse the data argument:
| type | expected input |"base64"
|------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| | string: Base64 encoding of the file |"binary"
| | string: binary string (byte n is data.charCodeAt(n)) |"string"
| | string: JS string (characters interpreted as UTF8) |"buffer"
| | nodejs Buffer |"array"
| | array: array of 8-bit unsigned int (byte n is data[n]) |"file"
| | string: path of file that will be read (nodejs only) |
Implementation Details (click to show)
Excel and other spreadsheet tools read the first few bytes and apply other
heuristics to determine a file type. This enables file type punning: renaming
files with the .xls extension will tell your computer to use Excel to open the
file but Excel will know how to handle it. This library applies similar logic:
| Byte 0 | Raw File Type | Spreadsheet Types |
|:-------|:--------------|:----------------------------------------------------|
| 0xD0 | CFB Container | BIFF 5/8 or password-protected XLSX/XLSB or WQ3/QPW |0x09
| | BIFF Stream | BIFF 2/3/4/5 |0x3C
| | XML/HTML | SpreadsheetML / Flat ODS / UOS1 / HTML / plain text |0x50
| | ZIP Archive | XLSB or XLSX/M or ODS or UOS2 or plain text |0x49
| | Plain Text | SYLK or plain text |0x54
| | Plain Text | DIF or plain text |0xEF
| | UTF8 Encoded | SpreadsheetML / Flat ODS / UOS1 / HTML / plain text |0xFF
| | UTF16 Encoded | SpreadsheetML / Flat ODS / UOS1 / HTML / plain text |0x00
| | Record Stream | Lotus WK\* or Quattro Pro or plain text |0x7B
| | Plain text | RTF or plain text |0x0A
| | Plain text | SpreadsheetML / Flat ODS / UOS1 / HTML / plain text |0x0D
| | Plain text | SpreadsheetML / Flat ODS / UOS1 / HTML / plain text |0x20
| | Plain text | SpreadsheetML / Flat ODS / UOS1 / HTML / plain text |
DBF files are detected based on the first byte as well as the third and fourth
bytes (corresponding to month and day of the file date)
Plain text format guessing follows the priority order:
| Format | Test |
|:-------|:--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| XML | appears in the first 1024 characters |
| HTML | starts with < and HTML tags appear in the first 1024 characters * |<
| XML | starts with |{\rt
| RTF | starts with |/sep=.$/
| DSV | starts with , separator is the specified character |";"
| DSV | more unquoted chars than "\t" or "," in the first 1024 |"\t"
| TSV | more unquoted chars than "," chars in the first 1024 |","
| CSV | one of the first 1024 characters is a comma |
| PRN | (default) |
- HTML tags include: html, table, head, meta, script, style, div
Why are random text files valid? (click to show)
Excel is extremely aggressive in reading files. Adding an XLS extension to any
display text file (where the only characters are ANSI display chars) tricks
Excel into thinking that the file is potentially a CSV or TSV file, even if it
is only one column! This library attempts to replicate that behavior.
The best approach is to validate the desired worksheet and ensure it has the
expected number of rows or columns. Extracting the range is extremely simple:
`js`
var range = XLSX.utils.decode_range(worksheet['!ref']);
var ncols = range.e.c - range.r.c + 1, nrows = range.e.r - range.s.r + 1;
The exported write and writeFile functions accept an options argument:
| Option Name | Default | Description |
| :---------- | -------: | :-------------------------------------------------- |
|type | | Output data encoding (see Output Type below) |cellDates
| | false | Store dates as type d (default is n) |bookSST
| | false | Generate Shared String Table ** |bookType
| | "xlsx" | Type of Workbook (see below for supported formats) |sheet
| | "" | Name of Worksheet for single-sheet formats ** |compression
|| false | Use ZIP compression for ZIP-based formats ** |Props
| | | Override workbook properties when writing ** |themeXLSX
| | | Override theme XML when writing XLSX/XLSB/XLSM ** |
- bookSST is slower and more memory intensive, but has better compatibilitycellDates
with older versions of iOS Numbers
- The raw data is the only thing guaranteed to be saved. Features not described
in this README may not be serialized.
- only applies to XLSX output and is not guaranteed to work withd
third-party readers. Excel itself does not usually write cells with type
so non-Excel tools may ignore the data or error in the presence of dates.
- is an object mirroring the workbook Props field. See the table fromthemeXLSX
the Workbook File Properties section.
- if specified, the string from will be saved as the primary themexl/theme/theme1.xml
for XLSX/XLSB/XLSM files (to in the ZIP)
For broad compatibility with third-party tools, this library supports many
output formats. The specific file type is controlled with bookType option:
| bookType | file ext | container | sheets | Description |xlsx
| :--------- | -------: | :-------: | :----- |:------------------------------- |
| | .xlsx | ZIP | multi | Excel 2007+ XML Format |xlsm
| | .xlsm | ZIP | multi | Excel 2007+ Macro XML Format |xlsb
| | .xlsb | ZIP | multi | Excel 2007+ Binary Format |biff8
| | .xls | CFB | multi | Excel 97-2004 Workbook Format |biff5
| | .xls | CFB | multi | Excel 5.0/95 Workbook Format |biff2
| | .xls | none | single | Excel 2.0 Worksheet Format |xlml
| | .xls | none | multi | Excel 2003-2004 (SpreadsheetML) |ods
| | .ods | ZIP | multi | OpenDocument Spreadsheet |fods
| | .fods | none | multi | Flat OpenDocument Spreadsheet |csv
| | .csv | none | single | Comma Separated Values |txt
| | .txt | none | single | UTF-16 Unicode Text (TXT) |sylk
| | .sylk | none | single | Symbolic Link (SYLK) |html
| | .html | none | single | HTML Document |dif
| | .dif | none | single | Data Interchange Format (DIF) |dbf
| | .dbf | none | single | dBASE II + VFP Extensions (DBF) |rtf
| | .rtf | none | single | Rich Text Format (RTF) |prn
| | .prn | none | single | Lotus Formatted Text |
- compression only applies to formats with ZIP containers.sheet
- Formats that only support a single sheet require a option specifyingwriteFile
the worksheet. If the string is empty, the first worksheet is used.
- will automatically guess the output file format based on the filebookType
extension if is not specified. It will choose the first format in
the aforementioned table that matches the extension.
The type argument for write mirrors the type argument for read:
| type | output |"base64"
|------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| | string: Base64 encoding of the file |"binary"
| | string: binary string (byte n is data.charCodeAt(n)) |"string"
| | string: JS string (characters interpreted as UTF8) |"buffer"
| | nodejs Buffer |"file"
| | string: path of file that will be created (nodejs only) |
The sheet_to_* functions accept a worksheet and an optional options object.
The *_to_sheet functions accept a data object and an optional options object.
The examples are based on the following worksheet:
`
XXX| A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
1 | S | h | e | e | t | J | S |
2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
XLSX.utils.aoa_to_sheet takes an array of arrays of JS values and returns aundefined
worksheet resembling the input data. Numbers, Booleans and Strings are stored
as the corresponding styles. Dates are stored as date or numbers. Array holes
and explicit values are skipped. null` v