docs.sheetjs.com/docz/docs/03-demos/06-desktop/09-cli.md

title	pagination_prev	pagination_next	sidebar_custom_props
Command-Line Tools	demos/mobile/index	demos/data/index	cli true

import current from '/version.js'; import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs'; import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem'; import CodeBlock from '@theme/CodeBlock';

With the availability of JS engines and the success of server-side platforms, it is feasible to build command-line tools for various workflows.

This demo covers a number of strategies for building standalone processors. The goal is to generate CSV output from an arbitrary spreadsheet file.

V8

The V8 demo covers standalone programs that embed the V8 engine. This demo uses the Rust integration to generate a command line tool.

Tested Deployments (click to show)

This demo was last tested in the following deployments:

Architecture	V8 Version	Date
darwin-x64	11.4.183.2	2023-05-22

0. Make a new folder for the project:

mkdir sheetjs2csv
cd sheetjs2csv

1. Download the following scripts:

• Cargo.toml
• snapshot.rs
• sheet2csv.rs

curl -LO https://docs.sheetjs.com/cli/Cargo.toml
curl -LO https://docs.sheetjs.com/cli/snapshot.rs
curl -LO https://docs.sheetjs.com/cli/sheet2csv.rs

2. Download the standalone build:

{\ curl -LO https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/package/dist/xlsx.full.min.js}

3. Build the V8 snapshot:

cargo build --bin snapshot
cargo run --bin snapshot

4. Build sheet2csv:

cargo build --release --bin sheet2csv
mv target/release/sheet2csv .

5. Download the test file https://sheetjs.com/pres.numbers:

curl -LO https://sheetjs.com/pres.numbers

Test by running ./sheet2csv pres.numbers

NodeJS

There are a few popular tools for compiling NodeJS scripts to CLI programs.

The demo script presents a friendly command line interface including flags:

$ ./xlsx-cli -h
Usage: xlsx-cli [options] <file> [sheetname]

Options:
  -V, --version            output the version number
  -f, --file <file>        use specified workbook
  -s, --sheet <sheet>      print specified sheet (default first sheet)
...

Tested Deployments (click to show)

This demo was tested in the following deployments:

pkg

Architecture	Version	Node Target	Date
darwin-x64	5.8.1	18.5.0	2023-05-08
win32-x64	5.8.1	18.5.0	2023-05-08
linux-x64	5.8.1	18.5.0	2023-05-08

nexe

Architecture	Version	Node Target	Date
darwin-x64	4.0.0-rc.2	14.15.3	2023-05-08
win32-x64	4.0.0-rc.2	14.15.3	2023-05-08
linux-x64	4.0.0-rc.2	14.15.3	2023-05-08

boxednode

Architecture	Version	Node Target	Date
darwin-x64	2.0.1	20.1.0	2023-05-08
linux-x64	2.0.1	20.1.0	2023-05-08

0. Download the test file https://sheetjs.com/pres.numbers:

curl -LO https://sheetjs.com/pres.numbers

1. Download xlsx-cli.js

curl -LO https://docs.sheetjs.com/cli/xlsx-cli.js

2. Install the dependencies:

{`\ npm i --save https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/xlsx-${current}.tgz exit-on-epipe commander@2`} {`\ pnpm install https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/xlsx-${current}.tgz exit-on-epipe commander@2`} {`\ yarn add https://cdn.sheetjs.com/xlsx-${current}/xlsx-${current}.tgz exit-on-epipe commander@2`}

3. Follow tooling steps:

Run nexe and manually specify NodeJS version 14.15.3

npx nexe -t 14.15.3 xlsx-cli.js

This generates xlsx-cli or xlsx-cli.exe depending on platform.

Run pkg:

npx pkg xlsx-cli.js

This generates xlsx-cli-linux, xlsx-cli-macos, and xlsx-cli-win.exe .

Run boxednode:

npx boxednode@2.0.1 -s xlsx-cli.js -t xlsx-cli

4. Run the generated program, passing pres.numbers as the argument. For example, on an Intel Mac, nexe generates xlsx-cli so the command is:

./xlsx-cli pres.numbers

Deno

deno compile generates a standalone executable that includes the entire JS runtime as well as user JS code.

When compiling, the --allow-read option must be specified to allow the script to read files from the filesystem with Deno.readFileSync.

https://docs.sheetjs.com/cli/sheet2csv.ts can be compiled and run from Deno.

Tested Deployments (click to show)

This demo was last tested in the following deployments:

Architecture	Version	Date
darwin-x64	1.33.2	2023-05-08
win32-x64	1.33.2	2023-05-08
linux-x64	1.33.2	2023-05-08

0. Download the test file https://sheetjs.com/pres.numbers:

curl -LO https://sheetjs.com/pres.numbers

1. Test the script with deno run:

deno run -r --allow-read https://docs.sheetjs.com/cli/sheet2csv.ts pres.numbers

If this worked, the program will print a CSV of the first worksheet.

2. Compile and run sheet2csv:

deno compile -r --allow-read https://docs.sheetjs.com/cli/sheet2csv.ts
./sheet2csv pres.numbers

Dedicated Engines

The following demos for JS engines produce standalone programs:

• Duktape
• ChakraCore
• QuickJS
• Goja
• JavaScriptCore