Insert Hyperlinks into Excel or OpenOffice with C++

A hyperlink is used to create a link between two entities. Everybody is familiar with the use of hyperlinks, especially on websites. Using Aspose.Cells, developers can create different kinds of hyperlinks in Microsoft Excel files. This topic discusses what types of hyperlinks are supported by Aspose.Cells and how they can be used in our Excel files.

Adding Hyperlinks

Aspose.Cells allows developers to add hyperlinks to Excel files either using the API or designer spreadsheets (spreadsheets where hyperlinks are created manually and Aspose.Cells is used to import them into other spreadsheets).

Aspose.Cells provides a class, Workbook that represents a Microsoft Excel file. The Workbook class contains a WorksheetCollection that allows access to each worksheet in the Excel file. A worksheet is represented by the Worksheet class. The Worksheet class provides different methods for adding different hyperlinks to Excel files.

Adding Link to a URL

The Worksheet class contains a GetHyperlinks() collection. Each item in the GetHyperlinks() collection represents a Hyperlink. Add hyperlinks to URLs by calling the Hyperlinks collection’s Add method. The Add method takes the following parameters:

Cell name, the name of the cell the hyperlink will be added to.
Number of rows, the number of rows in this hyperlink range.
Number of columns, the number of columns in this hyperlink range.
URL, the URL address.

#include <iostream>
#include "Aspose.Cells.h"

using namespace Aspose::Cells;

int main()
{
    Aspose::Cells::Startup();

    // Source directory path
    U16String srcDir(u"..\\Data\\01_SourceDirectory\\");

    // Output directory path
    U16String outDir(u"..\\Data\\02_OutputDirectory\\");

    // Path of output excel file
    U16String outputFilePath = outDir + u"output.out.xls";

    // Create a new workbook
    Workbook workbook;

    // Get the first worksheet
    Worksheet worksheet = workbook.GetWorksheets().Get(0);

    // Add a hyperlink to cell "A1"
    worksheet.GetHyperlinks().Add(u"A1", 1, 1, u"http://www.aspose.com");

    // Save the workbook
    workbook.Save(outputFilePath);

    std::cout << "Hyperlink added successfully!" << std::endl;

    Aspose::Cells::Cleanup();
}

In the above example, a hyperlink is added to a URL in an empty cell, A1. In such cases, if a cell is empty then the URL address is also added to that empty cell as its value. If the cell is not empty and a hyperlink is added, the value of the cell looks like plain text. To make it look like a hyperlink, apply the appropriate formatting settings on that cell.

Adding a Link to a Cell in the Same File

It is possible to add hyperlinks to cells in the same Excel file by calling the Hyperlinks collection’s Add method. The Add method works for both internal and external hyperlinks. One version of the overloaded method takes the following parameters:

Cell name, the name of the cell the hyperlink will be added to.
Number of rows, the number of rows in this hyperlink range.
Number of columns, the number of columns in this hyperlink range.
URL, the address of the target cell.

#include <iostream>
#include "Aspose.Cells.h"
using namespace Aspose::Cells;

int main()
{
    Aspose::Cells::Startup();

    // Source directory path
    U16String srcDir(u"..\\Data\\01_SourceDirectory\\");

    // Output directory path
    U16String outDir(u"..\\Data\\02_OutputDirectory\\");

    // Instantiating a Workbook object
    Workbook workbook;

    // Adding a new worksheet to the Workbook object
    workbook.GetWorksheets().Add();

    // Obtaining the reference of the first (default) worksheet
    Worksheet worksheet = workbook.GetWorksheets().Get(0);

    // Adding an internal hyperlink to the "B9" cell of the other worksheet "Sheet2" in
    // The same Excel file
    worksheet.GetHyperlinks().Add(u"B3", 1, 1, u"Sheet2!B9");

    // Saving the Excel file
    workbook.Save(outDir + u"output.out.xls");

    std::cout << "Hyperlink added successfully!" << std::endl;

    Aspose::Cells::Cleanup();
}

Adding a Link to an External File

It is possible to add hyperlinks to external Excel files by calling the Hyperlinks collection’s Add method. The Add method takes the following parameters:

Cell name, the name of the cell the hyperlink will be added to.
Number of rows, the number of rows in this hyperlink range.
Number of columns, the number of columns in this hyperlink range.
URL, the address of the target, external Excel file.

#include <iostream>
#include "Aspose.Cells.h"

using namespace Aspose::Cells;

int main()
{
    Aspose::Cells::Startup();

    // Source directory path
    U16String srcDir(u"..\\Data\\01_SourceDirectory\\");

    // Output directory path
    U16String outDir(u"..\\Data\\02_OutputDirectory\\");

    // Create a new workbook
    Workbook workbook;

    // Add a new worksheet to the workbook
    int i = workbook.GetWorksheets().Add();

    // Get the reference of the newly added worksheet by passing its sheet index
    Worksheet worksheet = workbook.GetWorksheets().Get(i);

    // Add an internal hyperlink to the "A5" cell of the other worksheet "Sheet2" in the same Excel file
    worksheet.GetHyperlinks().Add(U16String(u"A5"), 1, 1, srcDir + U16String(u"book1.xls"));

    // Save the Excel file
    workbook.Save(outDir + U16String(u"output.out.xls"));

    std::cout << "Hyperlink added successfully!" << std::endl;

    Aspose::Cells::Cleanup();
}

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