22 KiB
title | sidebar_label | description | pagination_prev | pagination_next |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blazing Fast Data Processing with V8 | C++ + V8 | Process structured data in C++ or Rust programs. Seamlessly integrate spreadsheets by paring V8 and SheetJS. Modernize workflows while preserving Excel compatibility. | demos/bigdata/index | solutions/input |
import current from '/version.js'; import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs'; import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem'; import CodeBlock from '@theme/CodeBlock';
V8 is an embeddable JavaScript engine written in C++. It powers Chromium and Chrome, NodeJS and Deno, Adobe UXP and other platforms.
SheetJS is a JavaScript library for reading and writing data from spreadsheets.
This demo uses V8 and SheetJS to read and write spreadsheets. We'll explore how to load SheetJS in a V8 context and process spreadsheets and structured data from C++ and Rust programs.
The "Complete Example" creates a C++ command-line tool for reading spreadsheet files and generating new workbooks. "Bindings" covers V8 engine bindings for other programming languages.
Integration Details
The SheetJS Standalone scripts can be parsed and evaluated in a V8 context.
Initialize V8
The official V8 hello-world
example covers initialization and cleanup. For the
purposes of this demo, the key variables are noted below:
v8::Isolate* isolate = v8::Isolate::New(create_params);
v8::Local<v8::Context> context = v8::Context::New(isolate);
The following helper function evaluates C strings as JS code:
v8::Local<v8::Value> eval_code(v8::Isolate *isolate, v8::Local<v8::Context> context, char* code, size_t sz = -1) {
v8::Local<v8::String> source = v8::String::NewFromUtf8(isolate, code, v8::NewStringType::kNormal, sz).ToLocalChecked();
v8::Local<v8::Script> script = v8::Script::Compile(context, source).ToLocalChecked();
return script->Run(context).ToLocalChecked();
}
Load SheetJS Scripts
The main library can be loaded by reading the scripts from the file system and evaluating in the V8 context:
/* simple wrapper to read the entire script file */
static char *read_file(const char *filename, size_t *sz) {
FILE *f = fopen(filename, "rb");
if(!f) return NULL;
long fsize; { fseek(f, 0, SEEK_END); fsize = ftell(f); fseek(f, 0, SEEK_SET); }
char *buf = (char *)malloc(fsize * sizeof(char));
*sz = fread((void *) buf, 1, fsize, f);
fclose(f);
return buf;
}
// ...
size_t sz; char *file = read_file("xlsx.full.min.js", &sz);
v8::Local<v8::Value> result = eval_code(isolate, context, file, sz);
To confirm the library is loaded, XLSX.version
can be inspected:
/* get version string */
v8::Local<v8::Value> result = eval_code(isolate, context, "XLSX.version");
v8::String::Utf8Value vers(isolate, result);
printf("SheetJS library version %s\n", *vers);
Reading Files
V8 supports ArrayBuffer
natively. Assuming buf
is a C byte array, with
length len
, this snippet stores the data as an ArrayBuffer
in global scope:
/* load C char array and save to an ArrayBuffer */
std::unique_ptr<v8::BackingStore> back = v8::ArrayBuffer::NewBackingStore(isolate, len);
memcpy(back->Data(), buf, len);
v8::Local<v8::ArrayBuffer> ab = v8::ArrayBuffer::New(isolate, std::move(back));
v8::Maybe<bool> res = context->Global()->Set(context, v8::String::NewFromUtf8Literal(isolate, "buf"), ab);
/* parse with SheetJS */
v8::Local<v8::Value> result = eval_code(isolate, context, "globalThis.wb = XLSX.read(buf)");
wb
will be a variable in the JS environment that can be inspected using the
various SheetJS API functions.
Writing Files
The underlying memory from an ArrayBuffer
can be recovered:
/* write with SheetJS using type: "array" */
v8::Local<v8::Value> result = eval_code(isolate, context, "XLSX.write(wb, {type:'array', bookType:'xlsb'})");
/* pull result back to C++ */
v8::Local<v8::ArrayBuffer> ab = v8::Local<v8::ArrayBuffer>::Cast(result);
size_t sz = ab->ByteLength();
char *buf = ab->Data();
The resulting buf
can be written to file with fwrite
.
Complete Example
:::note
This demo was tested in the following deployments:
V8 Version | Platform | OS Version | Compiler | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
11.8.82 |
darwin-x64 |
macOS 13.5.1 | clang 14.0.3 |
2023-08-26 |
12.0.175 |
darwin-arm |
macOS 14.0 | clang 15.0.0 |
2023-10-20 |
11.8.82 |
win10-x64 |
Windows 10 | CL 19.37.32822 |
2023-08-26 |
12.0.72 |
linux-x64 |
HoloOS 3.4.11 | gcc 12.2.0 |
2023-10-11 |
11.8.82 |
linux-arm |
Debian 11 | gcc 10.2.1 |
2023-09-26 |
:::
This program parses a file and prints CSV data from the first worksheet. It also generates an XLSB file and writes to the filesystem.
:::caution pass
When the demo was last tested, there were errors in the official V8 embed guide. The correct instructions are included below.
:::
:::caution pass
The build process is long and will test your patience.
:::
Preparation
- Prepare
/usr/local/lib
:
mkdir -p /usr/local/lib
cd /usr/local/lib
:::caution pass
If this step throws a permission error, run:
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/lib
sudo chmod 777 /usr/local/lib
:::
- Follow the official "Visual Studio" installation steps.
:::info pass
Using the installer tool, the "Desktop development with C++" workload must be installed. In the sidebar, verify the following components are checked:
- "C++ ATL for latest ... build tools" (
v143
when last tested) - "C++ MFC for latest ... build tools" (
v143
when last tested)
In the "Individual components" tab, search for "Windows 11 SDK" and verify that "Windows 11 SDK (10.0.22621.0)" is checked.
Click "Modify" and allow the installer to finish.
The SDK debugging tools must be installed after the SDK is installed.
-
Using the Search bar, search "Apps & features".
-
When the setting panel opens, scroll down to "Windows Software Development Kit - Windows 10.0.22621 and click "Modify".
-
In the new window, select "Change" and click "Next"
-
Check "Debugging Tools for Windows" and click "Change"
:::
The following git
settings should be changed:
git config --global core.autocrlf false
git config --global core.filemode false
git config --global branch.autosetuprebase always
- Download and install
depot_tools
:
git clone https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/tools/depot_tools.git
The bundle is a ZIP file that should be downloaded and extracted.
The demo was last tested on an exFAT-formatted drive (mounted at E:\
).
After extracting, verify that the depot_tools
folder is not read-only.
- Add the path to the
PATH
environment variable:
export PATH="/usr/local/lib/depot_tools:$PATH"
At this point, it is strongly recommended to add the line to a shell startup
script such as .bashrc
or .zshrc
:::caution pass
These instructions are for cmd
use. Do not run in PowerShell!
It is strongly recommended to use the "Developer Command Prompt" from Visual Studio as it prepares the console to run build tools.
:::
set DEPOT_TOOLS_WIN_TOOLCHAIN=0
set PATH=E:\depot_tools;%PATH%
In addition, the vs2022_install
variable must be set to the Visual Studio
folder. For example, using the "Community Edition", the assignment should be
set vs2022_install="C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community"
These environment variables can be persisted in the Control Panel.
- Run
gclient
once to updatedepot_tools
:
gclient
gclient
:::caution pass
gclient
may throw errors related to git
and permissions issues:
fatal: detected dubious ownership in repository at 'E:/depot_tools'
'E:/depot_tools' is on a file system that doesnot record ownership
To add an exception for this directory, call:
git config --global --add safe.directory E:/depot_tools
These issues are related to the exFAT file system. They were resolved by running
the recommended commands and re-running gclient
.
:::
:::caution pass
There were errors pertaining to gitconfig
:
error: could not write config file E:/depot_tools/bootstrap-2@3_8_10_chromium_26_bin/git/etc/gitconfig: File exists
This can happen if the depot_tools
folder is read-only. The workaround is to
unset the read-only flag for the E:\depot_tools
folder.
:::
Clone V8
- Create a base directory:
mkdir -p ~/dev/v8
cd ~/dev/v8
fetch v8
cd v8
Note that the actual repo will be placed in ~/dev/v8/v8
.
cd E:\
mkdir v8
cd v8
fetch v8
cd v8
:::caution pass
On exFAT, every cloned repo elicited the same git
permissions error. fetch
will fail with a clear remedy message such as
git config --global --add safe.directory E:/v8/v8
Run the command then run gclient sync
, repeating each time the command fails.
:::
:::caution pass
There were occasional git
conflict errors:
v8/tools/clang (ERROR)
----------------------------------------
[0:00:01] Started.
...
error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by checkout:
plugins/FindBadRawPtrPatterns.cpp
...
Please commit your changes or stash them before you switch branches.
Aborting
error: could not detach HEAD
----------------------------------------
Error: 28> Unrecognized error, please merge or rebase manually.
28> cd E:\v8\v8\tools\clang && git rebase --onto 65ceb79efbc9d1dec9b1a0f4bc0b8d010b9d7a66 refs/remotes/origin/main
The recommended fix is to delete the referenced folder and re-run gclient sync
:::
- Checkout the desired version. The following command pulls
12.0.72
:
git checkout refs/tags/12.0.72 -b sample -t
git checkout tags/12.0.72 -b sample
:::caution pass
The official documentation recommends:
git checkout refs/tags/12.0.72 -b sample -t
This command failed in local testing:
E:\v8\v8>git checkout refs/tags/12.0.72 -b sample -t
fatal: cannot set up tracking information; starting point 'refs/tags/12.0.72' is not a branch
:::
Build V8
- Build the static library.
tools/dev/v8gen.py x64.release.sample
ninja -C out.gn/x64.release.sample v8_monolith
tools/dev/v8gen.py arm64.release.sample
ninja -C out.gn/arm64.release.sample v8_monolith
tools/dev/v8gen.py x64.release.sample
ninja -C out.gn/x64.release.sample v8_monolith
:::caution pass
In the most recent Linux x64 test, there were build errors:
../../src/compiler/turboshaft/wasm-gc-type-reducer.cc:212:18: error: 'back_insert_iterator' may not intend to support class template argument deduction [-Werror,-Wctad-maybe-unsupported]
212 | std::back_insert_iterator(snapshots), [this](Block* pred) {
| ^
../../build/linux/debian_bullseye_amd64-sysroot/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/10/../../../../include/c++/10/bits/stl_iterator.h:596:11: note: add a deduction guide to suppress this warning
596 | class back_insert_iterator
| ^
1 error generated.
This was resolved by manually editing out.gn/x64.release.sample/args.gn
:
treat_warnings_as_errors = false
:::
tools/dev/v8gen.py arm64.release.sample
Append the following line to out.gn/arm64.release.sample/args.gn
:
is_clang = false
Run the build:
ninja -C out.gn/arm64.release.sample v8_monolith
python3 tools\dev\v8gen.py -vv x64.release.sample
ninja -C out.gn\x64.release.sample v8_monolith
:::caution pass
In local testing, the build sometimes failed with a dbghelp.dll
error:
Exception: dbghelp.dll not found in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\dbghelp.dll"
This issue was fixed by removing and reinstalling "Debugging Tools for Windows" from the Control Panel as described in step 0.
:::
:::caution pass
In local testing, the ninja
build failed with C++ deprecation errors:
../..\src/wasm/wasm-code-manager.h(789,28): error: 'atomic_load<v8::base::OwnedVector<const unsigned char>>' is deprecated: warning STL4029: std::atomic_*() overloads for shared_ptr are deprecated in C++20. The shared_ptr specialization of std::atomic provides superior functionality. You can define _SILENCE_CXX20_OLD_SHARED_PTR_ATOMIC_SUPPORT_DEPRECATION_WARNING or _SILENCE_ALL_CXX20_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS to suppress this warning. [-Werror,-Wdeprecated-declarations]
789 | auto wire_bytes = std::atomic_load(&wire_bytes_);
| ^
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.37.32822\include\memory(3794,1): note: 'atomic_load<v8::base::OwnedVector<const unsigned char>>' has been explicitly marked deprecated here
3794 | _CXX20_DEPRECATE_OLD_SHARED_PTR_ATOMIC_SUPPORT _NODISCARD shared_ptr<_Ty> atomic_load(
| ^
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.37.32822\include\yvals_core.h(1317,7): note: expanded from macro '_CXX20_DEPRECATE_OLD_SHARED_PTR_ATOMIC_SUPPORT'
1317 | [[deprecated("warning STL4029: " \
| ^
2 errors generated.
[14/1303] CXX obj/torque_generated_definitions/js-atomics-synchronization-tq.obj
FAILED: obj/torque_generated_definitions/js-atomics-synchronization-tq.obj
The workaround is to append a line to out.gn\x64.release.sample\args.gn
:
treat_warnings_as_errors = false
:::
- Ensure the sample
hello-world
compiles and runs:
g++ -I. -Iinclude samples/hello-world.cc -o hello_world -fno-rtti -lv8_monolith \
-lv8_libbase -lv8_libplatform -ldl -Lout.gn/x64.release.sample/obj/ -pthread \
-std=c++17 -DV8_COMPRESS_POINTERS=1 -DV8_ENABLE_SANDBOX
./hello_world
g++ -I. -Iinclude samples/hello-world.cc -o hello_world -fno-rtti -lv8_monolith \
-lv8_libbase -lv8_libplatform -ldl -Lout.gn/arm64.release.sample/obj/ -pthread \
-std=c++17 -DV8_COMPRESS_POINTERS=1 -DV8_ENABLE_SANDBOX
./hello_world
g++ -I. -Iinclude samples/hello-world.cc -o hello_world -fno-rtti -lv8_monolith \
-lv8_libbase -lv8_libplatform -ldl -Lout.gn/x64.release.sample/obj/ -pthread \
-std=c++17 -DV8_COMPRESS_POINTERS=1 -DV8_ENABLE_SANDBOX
./hello_world
g++ -I. -Iinclude samples/hello-world.cc -o hello_world -fno-rtti -lv8_monolith \
-lv8_libbase -lv8_libplatform -ldl -Lout.gn/arm64.release.sample/obj/ -pthread \
-std=c++17 -DV8_COMPRESS_POINTERS=1 -DV8_ENABLE_SANDBOX
./hello_world
cl /I. /Iinclude samples/hello-world.cc /GR- v8_monolith.lib Advapi32.lib Winmm.lib Dbghelp.lib /std:c++17 /DV8_COMPRESS_POINTERS=1 /DV8_ENABLE_SANDBOX /link /out:hello_world.exe /LIBPATH:out.gn\x64.release.sample\obj\
.\hello_world.exe
Prepare Project
- Make a new project folder:
cd ~/dev
mkdir -p sheetjs-v8
cd sheetjs-v8
cd E:\
mkdir sheetjs-v8
cd sheetjs-v8
- Copy the sample source:
cp ~/dev/v8/v8/samples/hello-world.cc .
- Create symbolic links to the
include
headers andobj
library folders:
ln -s ~/dev/v8/v8/include
ln -s ~/dev/v8/v8/out.gn/x64.release.sample/obj
ln -s ~/dev/v8/v8/include
ln -s ~/dev/v8/v8/out.gn/arm64.release.sample/obj
ln -s ~/dev/v8/v8/include
ln -s ~/dev/v8/v8/out.gn/x64.release.sample/obj
ln -s ~/dev/v8/v8/include
ln -s ~/dev/v8/v8/out.gn/arm64.release.sample/obj
copy E:\v8\v8\samples\hello-world.cc .\
- Observe that exFAT does not support symbolic links and move on to step 11.
- Build and run the
hello-world
example from this folder:
g++ -I. -Iinclude hello-world.cc -o hello_world -fno-rtti -lv8_monolith \
-lv8_libbase -lv8_libplatform -ldl -Lobj/ -pthread -std=c++17 \
-DV8_COMPRESS_POINTERS=1 -DV8_ENABLE_SANDBOX
./hello_world
cl /MT /I..\v8\v8\ /I..\v8\v8\include hello-world.cc /GR- v8_monolith.lib Advapi32.lib Winmm.lib Dbghelp.lib /std:c++17 /DV8_COMPRESS_POINTERS=1 /DV8_ENABLE_SANDBOX /link /out:hello_world.exe /LIBPATH:..\v8\v8\out.gn\x64.release.sample\obj\
.\hello_world.exe
Add SheetJS
- Download the SheetJS Standalone script and test file. Save both files in the project directory:
- xlsx.full.min.js
- pres.numbers
{\ curl -LO https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/package/dist/xlsx.full.min.js curl -LO https://sheetjs.com/pres.numbers
}
- Download
sheetjs.v8.cc
:
curl -LO https://docs.sheetjs.com/v8/sheetjs.v8.cc
- Compile standalone
sheetjs.v8
binary
g++ -I. -Iinclude sheetjs.v8.cc -o sheetjs.v8 -fno-rtti -lv8_monolith \
-lv8_libbase -lv8_libplatform -ldl -Lobj/ -pthread -std=c++17 \
-DV8_COMPRESS_POINTERS=1 -DV8_ENABLE_SANDBOX
cl /MT /I..\v8\v8\ /I..\v8\v8\include sheetjs.v8.cc /GR- v8_monolith.lib Advapi32.lib Winmm.lib Dbghelp.lib /std:c++17 /DV8_COMPRESS_POINTERS=1 /DV8_ENABLE_SANDBOX /link /out:sheetjs.v8.exe /LIBPATH:..\v8\v8\out.gn\x64.release.sample\obj\
- Run the demo:
./sheetjs.v8 pres.numbers
.\sheetjs.v8.exe pres.numbers
If the program succeeded, the CSV contents will be printed to console and the
file sheetjsw.xlsb
will be created. That file can be opened with Excel.
Bindings
Bindings exist for many languages. As these bindings require "native" code, they may not work on every platform.
Rust
The v8
crate provides binary builds and straightforward bindings. The Rust
code is similar to the C++ code.
Pulling data from an ArrayBuffer
back into Rust involves an unsafe operation:
/* assuming JS code returns an ArrayBuffer, copy result to a Vec<u8> */
fn eval_code_ab(scope: &mut v8::HandleScope, code: &str) -> Vec<u8> {
let source = v8::String::new(scope, &code).unwrap();
let script = v8::Script::compile(scope, source, None).unwrap();
let result: v8::Local<v8::ArrayBuffer> = script.run(scope).unwrap().try_into().unwrap();
/* In C++, `Data` returns a pointer. Collecting data into Vec<u8> is unsafe */
unsafe { return std::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(
result.data().unwrap().cast::<u8>().as_ptr(),
result.byte_length()
).to_vec(); }
}
:::note
This demo was last tested in the following deployments:
Architecture | V8 Crate | Date |
---|---|---|
darwin-x64 |
0.75.1 |
2023-08-26 |
darwin-arm |
0.79.2 |
2023-10-18 |
win10-x64 |
0.79.2 |
2023-10-09 |
linux-x64 |
0.79.2 |
2023-10-11 |
linux-arm |
0.75.1 |
2023-08-30 |
:::
- Create a new project:
cargo new sheetjs-rustyv8
cd sheetjs-rustyv8
cargo run
- Add the
v8
crate:
cargo add v8
cargo run
- Download the SheetJS Standalone script and move to the project directory:
- xlsx.full.min.js
{\ curl -LO https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/package/dist/xlsx.full.min.js
}
- Download
main.rs
and replacesrc/main.rs
:
curl -L -o src/main.rs https://docs.sheetjs.com/v8/main.rs
- Download the test file and run:
curl -LO https://sheetjs.com/pres.numbers
cargo run pres.numbers
If the program succeeded, the CSV contents will be printed to console and the
file sheetjsw.xlsb
will be created. That file can be opened with Excel.