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

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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.

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
darwin-arm	5.8.1	18.5.0	2023-06-05
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
darwin-arm	4.0.0-rc.2	18.16.0	2023-06-05
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
darwin-arm	2.0.1	20.2.0	2023-06-05
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.

:::caution

When the demo was tested on darwin-arm, the mac-arm64 pre-built package was missing. The package must be built from source:

npx nexe xlsx-cli.js --build --python=$(which python3) --make="-j8"

:::

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, nexe generates xlsx-cli in macOS so the command is:

./xlsx-cli pres.numbers

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
darwin-mac	11.4.183.2	2023-05-22
linux-x64	11.4.183.2	2023-05-23
win32-x64	11.4.183.2	2023-05-23

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 (sheet2csv.exe in Windows):

cargo build --release --bin sheet2csv

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

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

6. Test the application:

mv target/release/sheet2csv .
./sheet2csv pres.numbers

mv target/release/sheet2csv.exe .
./sheet2csv 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
darwin-arm	1.34.1	2023-06-05
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