Documentation – Loading and managing Excel, OpenOffice, JSON, CSV, and HTML files

Nodejsjava: Different Ways to Open Files

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

With Aspose.Cells, it is simple to open files, for example to retrieve data or to use a designer template to speed up the development process.

How to Open an Excel File via a Path

Developers can open a Microsoft Excel file using its file path on the local computer by specifying it in the Workbook class constructor. Simply pass the path in the constructor as a string. Aspose.Cells will automatically detect the file format type.

Example File

How to Open an Excel File via a Stream

It is also simple to open an Excel file as a stream. To do so, use an overloaded version of the constructor that takes the Stream object that contains the file.

Example File

How to Open a File with Data Only

To open a file with data only, use the LoadOptions and LoadFilter classes to set the related attributes and options for the template file to be loaded.

Example File

Nodejsjava: Open Different Microsoft Excel Versions Files

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aspose.Cells for Node.js via Java can open a range of different Microsoft Excel version files, such as Microsoft Excel 95/97‐2003, SpreadsheetML, Microsoft Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Office 365 XLSX, or encrypted Excel files.

How to Open Files of Different Microsoft Excel Versions

An application often has to be able to open Microsoft Excel files created in different versions, for example, Microsoft Excel 95, 97, or Microsoft Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Office 365. You might need to load a file in any one of several formats, including XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLSB, SpreadsheetML, TabDelimited or TSV, CSV, ODS, and so on. Use the constructor, or specify the Workbook class’s FileFormat type attribute that specifies the format using the FileFormatType enumeration.

The FileFormatType enumeration contains many pre‐defined file formats; some of which are given below.

File Format Types	Description
CSV	Represents a CSV file
EXCEL_97_TO_2003	Represents an Excel 97‐2003 file
XLSX	Represents an Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Office 365 XLSX file
XLSM	Represents an Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Office 365 XLSM file
XLTX	Represents an Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Office 365 template XLTX file
XLTM	Represents an Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Office 365 macro‐enabled XLTM file
XLSB	Represents an Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Office 365 binary XLSB file
SPREADSHEET_ML	Represents a SpreadsheetML file
TSV	Represents a tab‐separated values file
TAB_DELIMITED	Represents a tab‐delimited text file
ODS	Represents an ODS file
HTML	Represents an HTML file
M_HTML	Represents an MHTML file

Open Microsoft Excel 95/5.0 Files

To open a Microsoft Excel 95/5.0 file, use LoadOptions and set the appropriate attribute for the LoadOptions class for the template file to be loaded. A sample file for testing this feature can be downloaded from the following link:

Excel95 File

Open Microsoft Excel 97‐2003 Files

To open a Microsoft Excel 97‐2003 file, use LoadOptions and set the appropriate attribute for the LoadOptions class for the template file to be loaded.

Open Microsoft Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Office 365 XLSX Files

To open a Microsoft Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Office 365 format (XLSX or XLSB), specify the file path. You can also use LoadOptions and set the related options of the LoadOptions class for the template file to be loaded.

Open Encrypted Excel Files

It’s possible to create encrypted Excel files using Microsoft Excel. To open an encrypted file, use LoadOptions and set its attributes and options (for example, provide a password) for the template file to be loaded.
A sample file for testing this feature can be downloaded from the following link:

Encrypted Excel

Aspose.Cells for Node.js via Java also supports opening password‐protected Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Office 365 files.

Nodejsjava: Opening Files with Different Formats

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Using Aspose.Cells you can open files with different formats. Aspose.Cells can open a range of file formats such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLSB), SpreadsheetML, Comma‐Separated values (CSV), Tab Delimited or Tab‐Separated values (TSV) files, etc.

If you need to know all supported file formats, please refer to the following page: Supported File Formats

Opening Files with Different Formats

Aspose.Cells allows developers to open spreadsheet files with different formats such as SpreadsheetML, Comma‐Separated values (CSV), Tab Delimited or Tab‐Separated values (TSV), ODS files. To open such files, developers can use the same methodology as they use for opening files of different Microsoft Excel versions.

Opening SpreadsheetML Files

SpreadsheetML files are XML representations of spreadsheets including all information about them, such as formatting, formulae, etc. Since Microsoft Excel XP, an XML export option has been added to Microsoft Excel that exports your spreadsheets to SpreadsheetML files.

Opening HTML Files

Aspose.Cells allows you to open an HTML file into a Workbook object. The HTML file should be Microsoft Excel‐oriented, i.e., MS‐Excel should be able to open it.

Opening CSV Files

Comma‐Separated Values (CSV) files contain records where the values are separated by commas. Data is stored as a table where each column is separated by the comma character and quoted by the double‐quote character. If a field value contains a double‐quote character, it is escaped with a pair of double‐quote characters. You can also use Microsoft Excel to export spreadsheet data to CSV.

Opening CSV files and replacing invalid characters

In Excel, when a CSV file with special characters is opened, the characters are automatically replaced. The same is done by the Aspose.Cells API, which is demonstrated in the code example given below.

Opening Text Files with Custom Separator

Text files are used to hold spreadsheet data without formatting. The file is a kind of plain text file that can have some customized delimiters.

Opening Tab Delimited Files

Tab delimited (Text) files contain spreadsheet data but without any formatting. Data is arranged in rows and columns like in tables and spreadsheets. Basically, a tab delimited file is a special kind of plain text file with a tab between each column.

Opening Tab‐Separated Values (TSV) Files

Tab‐separated values (TSV) files contain spreadsheet data but without any formatting. They are the same as Tab‐Delimited files, where data is arranged in rows and columns like in tables and spreadsheets.

Opening SXC Files

StarOffice Calc is similar to Microsoft Excel and supports formulas, charts, functions, and macros. The spreadsheets created with this software are saved with the SXC extension. The SXC file is also used for OpenOffice.org Calc spreadsheet files. Aspose.Cells can read SXC files as demonstrated by the following code sample.

Opening FODS Files

A FODS file is a spreadsheet saved in OpenDocument XML without any compression. Aspose.Cells can read FODS files as demonstrated by the following code sample.

Nodejsjava: Filter Defined Names while loading Workbook

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Possible Usage Scenarios

Aspose.Cells allows you to filter or remove defined names present inside the workbook. Please use LoadDataFilterOptions.DEFINED_NAMES to load defined names and use ~LoadDataFilterOptions.DEFINED_NAMES to remove them while loading the workbook. Please note that if you remove defined names, formulas inside the workbook may break.

Filter Defined Names while loading Workbook

The following sample code loads the sample Excel file which has a formula in cell C1 containing the defined names, i.e., =SUM(MyName1, MyName2). Since we are using ~LoadDataFilterOptions.DEFINED_NAMES to remove the defined names while loading the workbook, the formula in cell C1 of the output Excel file breaks, and you see #NAME? instead. Please see the following screenshot that shows the effect of the code on the sample Excel file.

Sample Code

Nodejsjava: Read Numbers Spreadsheet Developed by Apple Inc. using Aspose.Cells

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Possible Usage Scenarios

Numbers is a spreadsheet application developed by Apple Inc. Aspose.Cells can read Numbers spreadsheets, but it does not support writing to them. It can read a Numbers spreadsheet’s data, style, and formulas.

Read Numbers Spreadsheet Developed by Apple Inc. using Aspose.Cells

The following sample code loads the Sample Numbers Spreadsheet and converts it to Output PDF Format. You will have to use the LoadOptions class and specify LoadFormat.NUMBERS as a parameter in its constructor to load it successfully. Please download both of them from the given links. You can try the code with any Numbers spreadsheet. Please also read the code comments for more help.

Sample Code

Nodejsjava: Optimizing Memory Usage while Working with Big Files having Large Datasets

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

When building a workbook with large data sets, or reading a big Microsoft Excel file, the total amount of RAM the process will take is always a concern. There are measures that can be adapted to cope with the challenge. Aspose.Cells provides some relevant options and API calls to lower, reduce, and optimize memory use. It can also help the process work more efficiently and run faster.

Use the MemorySetting.MEMORY_PREFERENCE option to optimize memory use for cell data and decrease the overall memory cost. When building a large data set for cells, it can save a certain amount of memory compared to using the default setting (MemorySetting.NORMAL).

Optimizing Memory

Reading Large Excel Files

The following example shows how to read a large Microsoft Excel file in optimized mode.

Writing Large Excel Files

The following example shows how to write a large dataset to a worksheet in an optimized mode.

Caution

The default option, MemorySetting.NORMAL is applied for all versions. For some situations, such as building a workbook with a large data set for cells, the MemorySetting.MEMORY_PREFERENCE option may optimize memory use and decrease the memory cost for the application. However, this option may degrade performance in some special cases, such as the following.

Accessing Cells Randomly and Repeatedly: The most efficient sequence for accessing the cells collection is cell by cell in one row, and then row by row. Especially, if you access rows/cells by the enumerator acquired from Cells, RowCollection and Row, performance is maximized with MemorySetting.MEMORY_PREFERENCE.
Inserting & Deleting Cells & Rows: Please note that if there are many insert/delete operations for cells/rows, performance degradation will be notable for MEMORY_PREFERENCE mode compared to the Normal mode.
Operating on Different Cell Types: If most of the cells contain string values or formulas, the memory cost will be the same as Normal mode, but if there are many empty cells or cell values are numeric, boolean, and so on, the MemorySetting.MEMORY_PREFERENCE option will give better performance.

Nodejsjava: Filter Objects while loading Workbook or Worksheet

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Possible Usage Scenarios

Please use LoadOptions.setLoadFilter method while filtering data from the workbook. But if you want to filter data from individual worksheets, then you will have to override the LoadFilter.startSheet method. Please provide an appropriate value from the LoadDataFilterOptions enumeration while creating or working with LoadFilter.

The LoadDataFilterOptions enumeration has the following possible values.

ALL
BOOK_SETTINGS
CELL_BLANK
CELL_BOOL
CELL_DATA
CELL_ERROR
CELL_NUMERIC
CELL_STRING
CELL_VALUE
CHART
CONDITIONAL_FORMATTING
DATA_VALIDATION
DEFINED_NAMES
DOCUMENT_PROPERTIES
DRAWING
FORMULA
HYPERLINKS
MERGED_AREA
NONE
OLE_OBJECT
PICTURE
PIVOT_TABLE
REVISION
SETTINGS
SHAPE
SHEET_DATA
SHEET_SETTINGS
STRUCTURE
STYLE
TABLE
VBA
XML_MAP

Filter Objects while loading Workbook

The following sample code illustrates how to filter charts from the workbook. Please check the sample excel file used in this code and the output PDF generated by it. As you can see in the output PDF, all charts have been filtered out of the workbook.

Nodejsjava: Filtering the kind of data while loading the workbook from template file

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes, you want to specify which kind of data should be loaded when building the workbook from the template file. Filtering loaded data can improve performance for your specific purpose, especially when using LightCells APIs. Please use the LoadOptions.setLoadFilter() method for this purpose.

The following sample code loads only shape objects while loading the workbook from the template file, which you can download from the given link. The following screenshot shows the template file contents and also explains that the data in red color and yellow background will not be loaded because the LoadOptions.setLoadFilter() method has been set to aspose.cells.LoadDataFilterOptions.ALL & ~aspose.cells.LoadDataFilterOptions.CELL_DAT.

The following screenshot shows the output PDF, which you can download from the given link. Here you can see that the data in red color and yellow background is not present, but all shapes are there.

Nodejsjava: Load Source Excel File Without Charts

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aspose.Cells for Node.js via Java allows you to load your Excel file without charts. Please use LoadOptions.setLoadFilter property for this purpose.

Load Spreadsheet Without Charts

The following sample code loads the sample Excel file without charts and saves it in output PDF format.

Nodejsjava: Load Workbook with Specified Printer Paper Size

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can specify the printer paper size of your choice while loading your workbook using the LoadOptions.setPaperSize method. Please note that if you create a new file in Microsoft Excel, you will find that the paper size is the same as the setting of the default printer on your machine.

The following sample code illustrates the usage of the LoadOptions.setPaperSize method. It first creates a workbook, then saves it to a memory stream in XLSX format. Then it loads it with A5 paper size and saves it in PDF format. After that, it loads it again with A3 paper size and saves it again in PDF format. If you open the output PDFs and check their paper sizes, you will see that they are different: one is A5 and the other is A3. Please download the A5 output PDF and the A3 output PDF generated by the code for your reference.