Manage Comments and Notes with JavaScript via C++

Introduction

Comments are used to add additional information to cells. Aspose.Cells for JavaScript via C++ provides two methods for adding comments to cells. The first is to create comments in a designer file manually. These comments are then imported using Aspose.Cells. The second is to add comments using the Aspose.Cells API at runtime. This topic discusses adding comments to cells using the Aspose.Cells API. Formatting comments will also be explained.

Adding a Comment

Add a comment to a cell by calling the Comments collection’s CommentCollection.add(number, number) method (encapsulated in the Worksheet object). The new Comment object can be accessed from the Comments collection by passing the comment index. After accessing the Comment object, customize the comment note by using the note property.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Aspose.Cells Example</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>Add Comment Example</h1>
        <input type="file" id="fileInput" accept=".xls,.xlsx,.csv" />
        <button id="runExample">Run Example</button>
        <a id="downloadLink" style="display: none;">Download Result</a>
        <div id="result"></div>
    </body>

    <script src="aspose.cells.js.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        const { Workbook, SaveFormat } = AsposeCells;
        
        AsposeCells.onReady({
            license: "/lic/aspose.cells.enc",
            fontPath: "/fonts/",
            fontList: [
                "arial.ttf",
                "NotoSansSC-Regular.ttf"
            ]
        }).then(() => {
            console.log("Aspose.Cells initialized");
        });

        document.getElementById('runExample').addEventListener('click', async () => {
            // Instantiating a Workbook object
            const workbook = new Workbook();

            // Adding a new worksheet to the Workbook object
            const sheetIndex = workbook.worksheets.add();

            // Obtaining the reference of the newly added worksheet by passing its sheet index
            const worksheet = workbook.worksheets.get(sheetIndex);

            // Adding a comment to "F5" cell
            const commentIndex = worksheet.comments.add("F5");

            // Accessing the newly added comment
            const comment = worksheet.comments.get(commentIndex);

            // Setting the comment note
            comment.note = "Hello Aspose!";

            // Saving the Excel file
            const outputData = workbook.save(SaveFormat.Excel97To2003);
            const blob = new Blob([outputData]);
            const downloadLink = document.getElementById('downloadLink');
            downloadLink.href = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
            downloadLink.download = 'book1.out.xls';
            downloadLink.style.display = 'block';
            downloadLink.textContent = 'Download Excel File';

            document.getElementById('result').innerHTML = '<p style="color: green;">Comment added successfully! Click the download link to get the modified file.</p>';
        });
    </script>
</html>

Comment Formatting

It is also possible to format comments' appearance by configuring their height, width and font settings.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Aspose.Cells Example - Add Comment</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>Add Comment Example</h1>
        <input type="file" id="fileInput" accept=".xls,.xlsx,.csv" />
        <button id="runExample">Run Example</button>
        <a id="downloadLink" style="display: none;">Download Result</a>
        <div id="result"></div>
    </body>

    <script src="aspose.cells.js.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        const { Workbook, SaveFormat } = AsposeCells;
        
        AsposeCells.onReady({
            license: "/lic/aspose.cells.enc",
            fontPath: "/fonts/",
            fontList: [
                "arial.ttf",
                "NotoSansSC-Regular.ttf"
            ]
        }).then(() => {
            console.log("Aspose.Cells initialized");
        });

        document.getElementById('runExample').addEventListener('click', async () => {
            // Creating a new Workbook object
            const workbook = new Workbook();

            // Adding a new worksheet to the Workbook object
            const sheetIndex = workbook.worksheets.add();

            // Obtaining the reference of the newly added worksheet by passing its sheet index
            const worksheet = workbook.worksheets.get(sheetIndex);

            // Adding a comment to "F5" cell
            const commentIndex = worksheet.comments.add("F5");

            // Accessing the newly added comment
            const comment = worksheet.comments.get(commentIndex);

            // Setting the comment note
            comment.note = "Hello Aspose!";

            // Setting the font size of a comment to 14
            comment.font.size = 14;

            // Setting the font of a comment to bold
            comment.font.isBold = true;

            // Setting the height of the font to 10
            comment.heightCM = 10;

            // Setting the width of the font to 2
            comment.widthCM = 2;

            // Saving the Excel file
            const outputData = workbook.save(SaveFormat.Excel97To2003);
            const blob = new Blob([outputData]);
            const downloadLink = document.getElementById('downloadLink');
            downloadLink.href = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
            downloadLink.download = 'book1.out.xls';
            downloadLink.style.display = 'block';
            downloadLink.textContent = 'Download Excel File';

            document.getElementById('result').innerHTML = '<p style="color: green;">Workbook created and saved. Click the download link to get the file.</p>';
        });
    </script>
</html>

Add an Image to Comment

With Microsoft Excel 2007, it is also possible to have an image as the background to a cell comment. In Excel 2007 this is accomplished by doing the following steps. (They suppose that you have already added a cell comment.)

  1. Right-click the cell that contains the comment.
  2. Select Show/Hide Comments, and clear any text from the comment.
  3. Click on the border of the comment to select it.
  4. Select Format, then Comment.
  5. On the Colors and Lines tab, expand the Color list.
  6. Click Fill Effects.
  7. On the Picture tab, click Select Picture.
  8. Locate and select the picture.
  9. Click OK until all dialogs have closed.

Aspose.Cells also provides this feature. Below is a code sample that creates an XLSX file from scratch, adding a comment to cell “A1” with a picture set as its background.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Aspose.Cells Example - Add Comment with Image</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>Add Comment with Image Example</h1>
        <p>
            Select an existing Excel file to modify (optional). If no file is selected, a new workbook will be created.
        </p>
        <input type="file" id="fileInput" accept=".xls,.xlsx,.csv" />
        <p>
            Select an image file to attach to the comment (required):
        </p>
        <input type="file" id="imageInput" accept="image/*" />
        <br/><br/>
        <button id="runExample">Run Example</button>
        <a id="downloadLink" style="display: none;">Download Result</a>
        <div id="result"></div>
    </body>

    <script src="aspose.cells.js.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        const { Workbook, SaveFormat, Worksheet, Cell } = AsposeCells;
        
        AsposeCells.onReady({
            license: "/lic/aspose.cells.enc",
            fontPath: "/fonts/",
            fontList: [
                "arial.ttf",
                "NotoSansSC-Regular.ttf"
            ]
        }).then(() => {
            console.log("Aspose.Cells initialized");
        });

        document.getElementById('runExample').addEventListener('click', async () => {
            const resultEl = document.getElementById('result');
            resultEl.innerHTML = '';

            const fileInput = document.getElementById('fileInput');
            const imageInput = document.getElementById('imageInput');

            if (!imageInput.files.length) {
                resultEl.innerHTML = '<p style="color: red;">Please select an image file for the comment.</p>';
                return;
            }

            // Load or create workbook
            let workbook;
            if (fileInput.files.length) {
                const file = fileInput.files[0];
                const arrayBuffer = await file.arrayBuffer();
                workbook = new Workbook(new Uint8Array(arrayBuffer));
            } else {
                workbook = new Workbook();
            }

            // Get a reference of comments collection with the first sheet
            const comments = workbook.worksheets.get(0).comments;

            // Add a comment to cell A1
            const commentIndex = comments.add(0, 0);
            const comment = comments.get(commentIndex);

            // Set the comment note and font name (converted from set/get to properties)
            comment.note = "First note.";
            comment.font.name = "Times New Roman";

            // Load image file data
            const imgFile = imageInput.files[0];
            const imgArrayBuffer = await imgFile.arrayBuffer();
            const imgUint8 = new Uint8Array(imgArrayBuffer);

            // Set image data to the shape associated with the comment
            comment.commentShape.fill.imageData = imgUint8;

            // Save the workbook to browser-downloadable file
            const outputData = workbook.save(SaveFormat.Xlsx);
            const blob = new Blob([outputData], { type: "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet" });
            const downloadLink = document.getElementById('downloadLink');
            downloadLink.href = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
            downloadLink.download = 'book1.out.xlsx';
            downloadLink.style.display = 'block';
            downloadLink.textContent = 'Download Modified Excel File';

            resultEl.innerHTML = '<p style="color: green;">Comment added with image successfully! Click the download link to get the modified file.</p>';
        });
    </script>
</html>

Advance topics

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