## Parsing Workbooks For parsing, the first step is to read the file. This involves acquiring the data and feeding it into the library. Here are a few common scenarios:
nodejs read a file (click to show) `readFile` is only available in server environments. Browsers have no API for reading arbitrary files given a path, so another strategy must be used. ```js if(typeof require !== 'undefined') XLSX = require('xlsx'); var workbook = XLSX.readFile('test.xlsx'); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ ```
Photoshop ExtendScript read a file (click to show) `readFile` wraps the `File` logic in Photoshop and other ExtendScript targets. The specified path should be an absolute path: ```js #include "xlsx.extendscript.js" /* Read test.xlsx from the Documents folder */ var workbook = XLSX.readFile(Folder.myDocuments + '/' + 'test.xlsx'); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ ``` The [`extendscript` demo](demos/extendscript/) includes a more complex example.
Browser read TABLE element from page (click to show) The `table_to_book` and `table_to_sheet` utility functions take a DOM TABLE element and iterate through the child nodes. ```js var workbook = XLSX.utils.table_to_book(document.getElementById('tableau')); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ ``` Multiple tables on a web page can be converted to individual worksheets: ```js /* create new workbook */ var workbook = XLSX.utils.book_new(); /* convert table 'table1' to worksheet named "Sheet1" */ var ws1 = XLSX.utils.table_to_sheet(document.getElementById('table1')); XLSX.utils.book_append_sheet(workbook, ws1, "Sheet1"); /* convert table 'table2' to worksheet named "Sheet2" */ var ws2 = XLSX.utils.table_to_sheet(document.getElementById('table2')); XLSX.utils.book_append_sheet(workbook, ws2, "Sheet2"); /* workbook now has 2 worksheets */ ``` Alternatively, the HTML code can be extracted and parsed: ```js var htmlstr = document.getElementById('tableau').outerHTML; var workbook = XLSX.read(htmlstr, {type:'string'}); ```
Browser download file (ajax) (click to show) Note: for a more complete example that works in older browsers, check the demo at . The [`xhr` demo](demos/xhr/) includes more examples with `XMLHttpRequest` and `fetch`. ```js var url = "http://oss.sheetjs.com/test_files/formula_stress_test.xlsx"; /* set up async GET request */ var req = new XMLHttpRequest(); req.open("GET", url, true); req.responseType = "arraybuffer"; req.onload = function(e) { var workbook = XLSX.read(req.response); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ } req.send(); ```
Browser drag-and-drop (click to show) For modern browsers, `Blob#arrayBuffer` can read data from files: ```js async function handleDropAsync(e) { e.stopPropagation(); e.preventDefault(); const f = evt.dataTransfer.files[0]; const data = await f.arrayBuffer(); const workbook = XLSX.read(data); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ } drop_dom_element.addEventListener('drop', handleDropAsync, false); ``` For maximal compatibility, the `FileReader` API should be used: ```js function handleDrop(e) { e.stopPropagation(); e.preventDefault(); var f = e.dataTransfer.files[0]; var reader = new FileReader(); reader.onload = function(e) { var workbook = XLSX.read(e.target.result); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ }; reader.readAsArrayBuffer(f); } drop_dom_element.addEventListener('drop', handleDrop, false); ```
Browser file upload form element (click to show) Data from file input elements can be processed using the same APIs as in the drag-and-drop example. Using `Blob#arrayBuffer`: ```js async function handleFileAsync(e) { const file = evt.target.files[0]; const data = await file.arrayBuffer(); const workbook = XLSX.read(data); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ } input_dom_element.addEventListener('change', handleFileAsync, false); ``` Using `FileReader`: ```js function handleFile(e) { var files = e.target.files, f = files[0]; var reader = new FileReader(); reader.onload = function(e) { var workbook = XLSX.read(e.target.result); /* DO SOMETHING WITH workbook HERE */ }; reader.readAsArrayBuffer(f); } input_dom_element.addEventListener('change', handleFile, false); ``` The [`oldie` demo](demos/oldie/) shows an IE-compatible fallback scenario.
More specialized cases, including mobile app file processing, are covered in the [included demos](demos/) ### Parsing Examples - HTML5 File API / Base64 Text / Web Workers Note that older versions of IE do not support HTML5 File API, so the Base64 mode is used for testing.
Get Base64 encoding on OSX / Windows (click to show) On OSX you can get the Base64 encoding with: ```bash $ certutil -encode target_file target_file.b64 ``` (note: You have to open the file and remove the header and footer lines)
- XMLHttpRequest