sheetjs/docbits/32_egress.md

Generating JSON and JS Data

JSON and JS data tend to represent single worksheets. The utility functions in this section work with single worksheets.

The "Common Spreadsheet Format" section describes the object structure in more detail. workbook.SheetNames is an ordered list of the worksheet names. workbook.Sheets is an object whose keys are sheet names and whose values are worksheet objects.

The "first worksheet" is stored at workbook.Sheets[workbook.SheetNames[0]].

API

Create an array of JS objects from a worksheet

var jsa = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(worksheet, opts);

Create an array of arrays of JS values from a worksheet

var aoa = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(worksheet, {...opts, header: 1});

The sheet_to_json utility function walks a workbook in row-major order, generating an array of objects. The second opts argument controls a number of export decisions including the type of values (JS values or formatted text). The "JSON" section describes the argument in more detail.

By default, sheet_to_json scans the first row and uses the values as headers. With the header: 1 option, the function exports an array of arrays of values.

Examples

x-spreadsheet is an interactive data grid for previewing and modifying structured data in the web browser. The xspreadsheet demo includes a sample script with the stox function for converting from a workbook to x-spreadsheet data object. https://oss.sheetjs.com/sheetjs/x-spreadsheet is a live demo.

Previewing data in a React data grid (click to show)

react-data-grid is a data grid tailored for react. It expects two properties: rows of data objects and columns which describe the columns. For the purposes of massaging the data to fit the react data grid API it is easiest to start from an array of arrays.

This demo starts by fetching a remote file and using XLSX.read to extract:

import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import DataGrid from "react-data-grid";
import { read, utils } from "xlsx";

const url = "https://oss.sheetjs.com/test_files/RkNumber.xls";

export default function App() {
  const [columns, setColumns] = useState([]);
  const [rows, setRows] = useState([]);
  useEffect(() => {(async () => {
    const wb = read(await (await fetch(url)).arrayBuffer(), { WTF: 1 });

    /* use sheet_to_json with header: 1 to generate an array of arrays */
    const data = utils.sheet_to_json(wb.Sheets[wb.SheetNames[0]], { header: 1 });

    /* see react-data-grid docs to understand the shape of the expected data */
    setColumns(data[0].map((r) => ({ key: r, name: r })));
    setRows(data.slice(1).map((r) => r.reduce((acc, x, i) => {
      acc[data[0][i]] = x;
      return acc;
    }, {})));
  })(); });

  return <DataGrid columns={columns} rows={rows} />;
}

Populating a database (SQL or no-SQL) (click to show)

The database demo includes examples of working with databases and query results.

Numerical Computations with TensorFlow.js (click to show)

@tensorflow/tfjs and other libraries expect data in simple arrays, well-suited for worksheets where each column is a data vector. That is the transpose of how most people use spreadsheets, where each row is a vector.

A single Array#map can pull individual named rows from sheet_to_json export:

const XLSX = require("xlsx");
const tf = require('@tensorflow/tfjs');

const key = "age"; // this is the field we want to pull
const ages = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(worksheet).map(r => r[key]);
const tf_data = tf.tensor1d(ages);

All fields can be processed at once using a transpose of the 2D tensor generated with the sheet_to_json export with header: 1. The first row, if it contains header labels, should be removed with a slice:

const XLSX = require("xlsx");
const tf = require('@tensorflow/tfjs');

/* array of arrays of the data starting on the second row */
const aoa = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json(worksheet, {header: 1}).slice(1);
/* dataset in the "correct orientation" */
const tf_dataset = tf.tensor2d(aoa).transpose();
/* pull out each dataset with a slice */
const tf_field0 = tf_dataset.slice([0,0], [1,tensor.shape[1]]).flatten();
const tf_field1 = tf_dataset.slice([1,0], [1,tensor.shape[1]]).flatten();

The array demo shows a complete example.

Generating HTML Tables

API

Generate HTML Table from Worksheet

var html = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(worksheet);

The sheet_to_html utility function generates HTML code based on the worksheet data. Each cell in the worksheet is mapped to a <TD> element. Merged cells in the worksheet are serialized by setting colspan and rowspan attributes.

Examples

The sheet_to_html utility function generates HTML code that can be added to any DOM element by setting the innerHTML:

var container = document.getElementById("tavolo");
container.innerHTML = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(worksheet);

Combining with fetch, constructing a site from a workbook is straightforward:

Vanilla JS + HTML fetch workbook and generate table previews (click to show)

<body>
  <style>TABLE { border-collapse: collapse; } TD { border: 1px solid; }</style>
  <div id="tavolo"></div>
  <script src="https://unpkg.com/xlsx/dist/xlsx.full.min.js"></script>
  <script type="text/javascript">
(async() => {
  /* fetch and parse workbook -- see the fetch example for details */
  const workbook = XLSX.read(await (await fetch("sheetjs.xlsx")).arrayBuffer());

  let output = [];
  /* loop through the worksheet names in order */
  workbook.SheetNames.forEach(name => {

    /* generate HTML from the corresponding worksheets */
    const worksheet = workbook.Sheets[name];
    const html = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(worksheet);

    /* add a header with the title name followed by the table */
    output.push(`<H3>${name}</H3>${html}`);
  });
  /* write to the DOM at the end */
  tavolo.innerHTML = output.join("\n");
})();
  </script>
</body>

React fetch workbook and generate HTML table previews (click to show)

It is generally recommended to use a React-friendly workflow, but it is possible to generate HTML and use it in React with dangerouslySetInnerHTML:

function Tabeller(props) {
  /* the workbook object is the state */
  const [workbook, setWorkbook] = React.useState(XLSX.utils.book_new());

  /* fetch and update the workbook with an effect */
  React.useEffect(() => { (async() => {
    /* fetch and parse workbook -- see the fetch example for details */
    const wb = XLSX.read(await (await fetch("sheetjs.xlsx")).arrayBuffer());
    setWorkbook(wb);
  })(); });

  return workbook.SheetNames.map(name => (<>
    <h3>name</h3>
    <div dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{
      /* this __html mantra is needed to set the inner HTML */
      __html: XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html(workbook.Sheets[name])
    }} />
  </>));
}

The react demo includes more React examples.

VueJS fetch workbook and generate HTML table previews (click to show)

It is generally recommended to use a VueJS-friendly workflow, but it is possible to generate HTML and use it in VueJS with the v-html directive:

import { read, utils } from 'xlsx';
import { reactive } from 'vue';

const S5SComponent = {
  mounted() { (async() => {
    /* fetch and parse workbook -- see the fetch example for details */
    const workbook = read(await (await fetch("sheetjs.xlsx")).arrayBuffer());
    /* loop through the worksheet names in order */
    workbook.SheetNames.forEach(name => {
      /* generate HTML from the corresponding worksheets */
      const html = utils.sheet_to_html(workbook.Sheets[name]);
      /* add to state */
      this.wb.wb.push({ name, html });
    });
  })(); },
  /* this state mantra is required for array updates to work */
  setup() { return { wb: reactive({ wb: [] }) }; },
  template: `
  <div v-for="ws in wb.wb" :key="ws.name">
    <h3>{{ ws.name }}</h3>
    <div v-html="ws.html"></div>
  </div>`
};

The vuejs demo includes more React examples.