Create Excel file in Java

Question

I want to create an Excel file and write data just like writing a text file with Java. I tried to change file extension from .txt to .xls. But I want to bold letters in the Excel file. How can I do that?

I have tried using the JXL API, but every time I have to create a label I want add no label. Can't O edit row and column of the table?

Chuch

What are you using to create your excel? can you show your code? – Sturdy

Answer 1

//Find jar from here "http://poi.apache.org/download.html"
import  java.io.*;
import  org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFSheet;
import  org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook;
import  org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFRow;

public class CreateExlFile{
    public static void main(String[]args) {
        try {
            String filename = "C:/NewExcelFile.xls" ;
            HSSFWorkbook workbook = new HSSFWorkbook();
            HSSFSheet sheet = workbook.createSheet("FirstSheet");  

            HSSFRow rowhead = sheet.createRow((short)0);
            rowhead.createCell(0).setCellValue("No.");
            rowhead.createCell(1).setCellValue("Name");
            rowhead.createCell(2).setCellValue("Address");
            rowhead.createCell(3).setCellValue("Email");

            HSSFRow row = sheet.createRow((short)1);
            row.createCell(0).setCellValue("1");
            row.createCell(1).setCellValue("Sankumarsingh");
            row.createCell(2).setCellValue("India");
            row.createCell(3).setCellValue("[email protected]");

            FileOutputStream fileOut = new FileOutputStream(filename);
            workbook.write(fileOut);
            fileOut.close();
            workbook.close();
            System.out.println("Your excel file has been generated!");

        } catch ( Exception ex ) {
            System.out.println(ex);
        }
    }
}

Hydrokinetics

Hi, this created for me a binary file. how can I create an excel file that I can open with Excel? – Wolfhound

Small question here - why are you casting the int value into HSSFSheet.createRow to a short? The API takes an int. – Huge

HI @Fangming If I have an array and I want to create sheets up to the length of that array. For example: if I have an array of length 5, then I have to create 5 sheets and if that length is 4, then I have to create 4 sheets. And the length is not fixed. So how can I do that? Thanks in advance. – Ulpian

@Me_developer. you are posting a new question as comment. Please raise a new question instead. – Hydrokinetics

this gives back a tar.gz file how can i get the jar file ??? – Mutate

Answer 2

You can use Apache POI for creating native binary xls files.

Or you can use JExcelApi which is another, and somewhat light-weight as far as I can remember, Java library for Excel.

Galinagalindo

Answer 3

Fair warning about Apache POI's Excel generation... (I know this is an old post, but it's important in case someone looks this up again like I just did)

It had a memory leak issue, which supposedly was solved by 2006, but which people quite recently have still been experiencing. If you want to automate generating a large amount of excel (i.e., if you want to generate a single, large file, a large number of small files, or both), I'd recommend using a different API. Either that, or increasing the JVM stack size to preposterous proportions, and maybe looking into interning strings if you know you won't actually be working with many different strings (although, of course, interning strings means that if you have a large number of different strings, you'll have an entirely different program-crashing memory problem. So, consider that before you go that route).

Chico

Now in 2015 and was interested in using Apache POI but have doubts due to your experience, however just wanted to share this FAQ question on their website that I thought may be relevant for troubleshooting similar issues. – Vassallo

@Hesham's link no longer links to a specific question. This one and this one seem relevant. – Pixie

I found that creating Excel files with GemBox.Spreadsheet for Java gave faster performances and less memory consumption/allocation. For instance, try out this example. – Autoionization

Answer 4

File fileName = new File(".....\\Fund.xlsx");

public static void createWorkbook(File fileName) throws IOException {
    try {
        FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(fileName);
        XSSFWorkbook  workbook = new XSSFWorkbook();            

        XSSFSheet sheet = workbook.createSheet("fund");  

        Row row = sheet.createRow(0);   
        Cell cell0 = row.createCell(0);
        cell0.setCellValue("Nav Value");

        Cell cell1 = row.createCell(1);

        cell1.setCellValue("Amount Change");       

        Cell cell2 = row.createCell(2);
        cell2.setCellValue("Percent Change");

        workbook.write(fos);
        fos.flush();
        fos.close();
    } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated catch block
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

Uriel

How can i see that file existence. I am working on it from morning but no use. please help me out. – Veil

Answer 5

Flat files do not allow providing meta information.

I would suggest writing out a HTML table containing the information you need, and let Excel read it instead. You can then use <b> tags to do what you ask for.

Showman

Answer 6

I've created an API to create an Excel file more easier.

Create Excel - Creating Excel from Template

Just set the required values upon instantiation then invoke execute(), it will be created based on your desired output directory.

But before you use this, you must have an Excel Template which will be use as a template of the newly created Excel file.

Also, you need Apache POI in your project's class path.

Terricolous

Do you have other tools to generate pdf, csv... ? – Huck

@PashaGharibi You may try JasperReports to generate PDF. It has IDE for creating the template of the report. Jaspersoft Studio – Terricolous

Answer 7

Changing the extension of a file does not in any way change its contents. The extension is just a label.

If you want to work with Excel spreadsheets using Java, read up on the Apache POI library.

Silvio

Answer 8

I used also JXLS: it receives the data as a Map and a template EXCEL with the correct syntax and return the file correctly populated. The data in every cell must be a JavaBean with visibility public.

It not worws if you must insert data in more than 1 sheet: in this case I used POI.

Kaine

Answer 9

To create a spreadsheet and format a cell using POI, see the Working with Fonts example, and use:

font.setBoldweight(Font.BOLDWEIGHT_BOLD);

POI works very well. There are some things you can't do (e.g. create VBA macros), but it'll read/write spreadsheets with macros, so you can create a suitable template sheet, read it and manipulate it with POI, and then write it out.

Perfumery

Answer 10

I've created the API "generator-excel" to create an Excel file, below the dependecy:

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.github.bld-commons.excel</groupId>
  <artifactId>generator-excel</artifactId>
  <version>3.1.0</version>
</dependency>

This library can to configure the styles, the functions, the charts, the pivot table and etc. through a series of annotations.
You can write rows by getting data from a datasource trough a query with or without parameters.
Below an example to develop

1. I created 2 classes that represents the row of the table.

package bld.generator.report.junit.entity;
    
    import java.util.Date;
    
    import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.HorizontalAlignment;
    
    import bld.generator.report.excel.RowSheet;
    import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelCellLayout;
    import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelColumn;
    import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelDate;
    import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelImage;
    import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelRowHeight;
    
    @ExcelRowHeight(height = 3)
    public class UtenteRow implements RowSheet {
        
        @ExcelColumn(columnName = "Id", indexColumn = 0)
        @ExcelCellLayout(horizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.RIGHT)
        private Integer idUtente; 
        @ExcelColumn(columnName = "Nome", indexColumn = 2)
        @ExcelCellLayout
        private String nome; 
        @ExcelColumn(columnName = "Cognome", indexColumn = 1)
        @ExcelCellLayout
        private String cognome;
        @ExcelColumn(columnName = "Data di nascita", indexColumn = 3)
        @ExcelCellLayout(horizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.CENTER)
        @ExcelDate
        private Date dataNascita;
        @ExcelColumn(columnName = "Immagine", indexColumn = 4)
        @ExcelCellLayout
        @ExcelImage(resizeHeight = 0.7, resizeWidth = 0.6)
        private byte[] image;   
        
        @ExcelColumn(columnName = "Path", indexColumn = 5)
        @ExcelCellLayout
        @ExcelImage(resizeHeight = 0.7, resizeWidth = 0.6)
        private String path;    
        
    
        public UtenteRow() {
        }
    
    
        public UtenteRow(Integer idUtente, String nome, String cognome, Date dataNascita) {
            super();
            this.idUtente = idUtente;
            this.nome = nome;
            this.cognome = cognome;
            this.dataNascita = dataNascita;
        }
    
    
        public Integer getIdUtente() {
            return idUtente;
        }
    
    
        public void setIdUtente(Integer idUtente) {
            this.idUtente = idUtente;
        }
    
    
        public String getNome() {
            return nome;
        }
    
    
        public void setNome(String nome) {
            this.nome = nome;
        }
    
    
        public String getCognome() {
            return cognome;
        }
    
    
        public void setCognome(String cognome) {
            this.cognome = cognome;
        }
    
    
        public Date getDataNascita() {
            return dataNascita;
        }
    
    
        public void setDataNascita(Date dataNascita) {
            this.dataNascita = dataNascita;
        }
    
    
        public byte[] getImage() {
            return image;
        }
    
    
        public String getPath() {
            return path;
        }
    
    
        public void setImage(byte[] image) {
            this.image = image;
        }
    
    
        public void setPath(String path) {
            this.path = path;
        }
    
    }




package bld.generator.report.junit.entity;

import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.DataConsolidateFunction;
import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.HorizontalAlignment;

import bld.generator.report.excel.RowSheet;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelCellLayout;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelColumn;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelFont;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelSubtotal;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelSubtotals;

@ExcelSubtotals(labelTotalGroup = "Total",endLabel = "total")
public class SalaryRow implements RowSheet {

    @ExcelColumn(columnName = "Name", indexColumn = 0)
    @ExcelCellLayout
    private String name;
    @ExcelColumn(columnName = "Amount", indexColumn = 1)
    @ExcelCellLayout(horizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.RIGHT)
    @ExcelSubtotal(dataConsolidateFunction = DataConsolidateFunction.SUM,excelCellLayout = @ExcelCellLayout(horizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.RIGHT,font=@ExcelFont(bold = true)))
    private Double amount;
    
    public SalaryRow() {
        super();
    }
    public SalaryRow(String name, Double amount) {
        super();
        this.name = name;
        this.amount = amount;
    }
    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }
    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }
    public Double getAmount() {
        return amount;
    }
    public void setAmount(Double amount) {
        this.amount = amount;
    }
    
}

2. I created 2 class that represents the sheets.

package bld.generator.report.junit.entity;

import javax.validation.constraints.Size;

import bld.generator.report.excel.QuerySheetData;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelHeaderLayout;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelMarginSheet;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelQuery;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelSheetLayout;

@ExcelSheetLayout
@ExcelHeaderLayout
@ExcelMarginSheet(bottom = 1.5, left = 1.5, right = 1.5, top = 1.5)
@ExcelQuery(select = "SELECT id_utente, nome, cognome, data_nascita,image,path "
        + "FROM utente "
        + "WHERE cognome=:cognome "
        + "order by cognome,nome")
public class UtenteSheet extends QuerySheetData<UtenteRow> {
    

    public UtenteSheet(@Size(max = 31) String sheetName) {
        super(sheetName);
    }

    
}




package bld.generator.report.junit.entity;

import javax.validation.constraints.Size;

import bld.generator.report.excel.SheetData;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelHeaderLayout;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelMarginSheet;
import bld.generator.report.excel.annotation.ExcelSheetLayout;
@ExcelSheetLayout
@ExcelHeaderLayout
@ExcelMarginSheet(bottom = 1.5,left = 1.5,right = 1.5,top = 1.5)
public class SalarySheet extends SheetData<SalaryRow> {

    public SalarySheet(@Size(max = 31) String sheetName) {
        super(sheetName);
    }

}

3. Class test, in the test function there are antoher sheets

package bld.generator.report.junit;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.GregorianCalendar;
import java.util.List;

import org.junit.Before;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationProperties;
import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringRunner;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.EnableTransactionManagement;

import bld.generator.report.excel.BaseSheet;
import bld.generator.report.excel.GenerateExcel;
import bld.generator.report.excel.data.ReportExcel;
import bld.generator.report.junit.entity.AutoreLibriSheet;
import bld.generator.report.junit.entity.CasaEditrice;
import bld.generator.report.junit.entity.GenereSheet;
import bld.generator.report.junit.entity.SalaryRow;
import bld.generator.report.junit.entity.SalarySheet;
import bld.generator.report.junit.entity.TotaleAutoreLibriRow;
import bld.generator.report.junit.entity.TotaleAutoreLibriSheet;
import bld.generator.report.junit.entity.UtenteSheet;
import bld.generator.report.utils.ExcelUtils;

/**
 * The Class ReportTest.
 */
@RunWith(SpringRunner.class)
@SpringBootTest
@ConfigurationProperties
@ComponentScan(basePackages = {"bld.generator","bld.read"})
@EnableTransactionManagement
public class ReportTestJpa {

    /** The Constant PATH_FILE. */
    private static final String PATH_FILE = "/mnt/report/";

    /** The generate excel. */
    @Autowired
    private GenerateExcel generateExcel;

    /**
     * Sets the up.
     *
     * @throws Exception the exception
     */
    @Before
    public void setUp() throws Exception {
    }

    /**
     * Test.
     *
     * @throws Exception the exception
     */
    @Test
    public void test() throws Exception {
        List<BaseSheet> listBaseSheet = new ArrayList<>();
        
        UtenteSheet utenteSheet=new UtenteSheet("Utente");
        utenteSheet.getMapParameters().put("cognome", "Rossi");
        listBaseSheet.add(utenteSheet);
        
        CasaEditrice casaEditrice = new CasaEditrice("Casa Editrice","Mondadori", new GregorianCalendar(1955, Calendar.MAY, 10), "Roma", "/home/francesco/Documents/git-project/dev-excel/linux.jpg","Drammatico");
        listBaseSheet.add(casaEditrice);
        
        
        AutoreLibriSheet autoreLibriSheet = new AutoreLibriSheet("Libri d'autore","Test label");
        TotaleAutoreLibriSheet totaleAutoreLibriSheet=new TotaleAutoreLibriSheet();
        totaleAutoreLibriSheet.getListRowSheet().add(new TotaleAutoreLibriRow("Totale"));
        autoreLibriSheet.setSheetFunctionsTotal(totaleAutoreLibriSheet);
        listBaseSheet.add(autoreLibriSheet);
        GenereSheet genereSheet=new GenereSheet("Genere");
        listBaseSheet.add(genereSheet);
        SalarySheet salarySheet=new SalarySheet("salary");
        salarySheet.getListRowSheet().add(new SalaryRow("a",2.0));
        salarySheet.getListRowSheet().add(new SalaryRow("a",2.0));
        salarySheet.getListRowSheet().add(new SalaryRow("a",2.0));
        salarySheet.getListRowSheet().add(new SalaryRow("a",2.0));
        salarySheet.getListRowSheet().add(new SalaryRow("c",1.0));
        salarySheet.getListRowSheet().add(new SalaryRow("c",1.0));
        salarySheet.getListRowSheet().add(new SalaryRow("c",1.0));
        salarySheet.getListRowSheet().add(new SalaryRow("c",1.0));
        listBaseSheet.add(salarySheet);
        ReportExcel excel = new ReportExcel("Mondadori JPA", listBaseSheet);

        byte[] byteReport = this.generateExcel.createFileXlsx(excel);

        ExcelUtils.writeToFile(PATH_FILE,excel.getTitle(), ".xlsx", byteReport);

    }

    

}

4. Application yaml

logging:
  level:
    root: WARN
    org:
      springframework:
        web: DEBUG
      hibernate: ERROR



spring:
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/excel_db
    username: ${EXCEL_USER_DB}
    password: ${EXCEL_PASSWORD_DB}
  jpa:
    show-sql: true
    properties:
      hibernate:
        default_schema: public
        jdbc:
          lob:
            non_contextual_creation: true 
        format_sql: true    
        ddl-auto: auto
    database-platform: org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect
    generate-ddl: true

below the link of the project on github:

• https://github.com/bld-commons/dev-excel

Neils

Answer 11

I personally work with IntelliJ IDEA, where things are a little bit more complicated... I think.

So if you want to create and Excel File with extension: .CSV , .XLSX , .XLS , you must download the Apache Poi( last version ). https://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.lua/poi/release/bin/poi-bin-5.1.0-20211024.zip

After that you must create a project of MAVEN and in pom.xml you must add some dependency. https://www.tutorialspoint.com/maven/maven_external_dependencies.htm

And there you go. It worked for me, hope you'll be satisfied!

Best regards, TalladegaRS6

Unbelt

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