Alignment Settings

Configuring Alignment Settings

Alignment settings in Microsoft Excel

Anyone who has used Microsoft Excel to format cells will be familiar with the alignment settings in Microsoft Excel.

As you can see from the above figure, there are different kinds of alignment options:

  • Text alignment(horizontal & vertical)
  • Indentation.
  • Orientation.
  • Text control.
  • Text direction.

All of these alignment settings are fully supported by Aspose.Cells for Python via .NET and are discussed in more detail below.

Alignment settings in Aspose.Cells for Python via .NET

Aspose.Cells for Python via .NET provides a class, Workbook, that represents an Excel file. The Workbook class contains a worksheets collection that allows access to each worksheet in the Excel file. A worksheet is represented by the Worksheet class. The Worksheet class provides a cells collection. Each item in the cells collection represents an object of the Cell class.

Aspose.Cells for Python via .NET provides get_style and set_style methods for the Cell class that are used to get and set a cell’s formatting. The Style class provides useful properties for configuring alignment settings.

Select any text alignment type using the TextAlignmentType enumeration. The pre-defined text alignment types in the TextAlignmentType enumeration are:

Text Alignment Types Description
GENERAL Represents general text alignment
BOTTOM Represents bottom text alignment
CENTER Represents center text alignment
CENTER_ACROSS Represents center across text alignment
DISTRIBUTED Represents distributed text alignment
FILL Represents fill text alignment
JUSTIFY Represents justify text alignment
LEFT Represents left text alignment
RIGHT Represents right text alignment
TOP Represents top text alignment
JUSTIFIED_LOW Aligns the text with an adjusted kashida length for Arabic text
THAI_DISTRIBUTED Distributes Thai text specially, because each character is treated as a word

Horizontal Alignment

Use the Style object’s horizontal_alignment property to align the text horizontally.

from aspose.cells import SaveFormat, TextAlignmentType, Workbook
from os import os, path
# For complete examples and data files, please go to https:# github.com/aspose-cells/Aspose.Cells-for-.NET
# The path to the documents directory.
dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir(".")
# Create directory if it is not already present.
IsExists = path.isdir(dataDir)
if notIsExists:
os.makedirs(dataDir)
# Instantiating a Workbook object
workbook = Workbook()
# Obtaining the reference of the worksheet
worksheet = workbook.worksheets[0]
# Accessing the "A1" cell from the worksheet
cell = worksheet.cells.get("A1")
# Adding some value to the "A1" cell
cell.put_value("Visit Aspose!")
# Setting the horizontal alignment of the text in the "A1" cell
style = cell.get_style()
style.horizontal_alignment = TextAlignmentType.CENTER
cell.set_style(style)
# Saving the Excel file
workbook.save(dataDir + "book1.out.xls", SaveFormat.EXCEL_97_TO_2003)

Vertical Alignment

Similar to horizontal alignment, use the Style object’s vertical_alignment property to align the text vertically.

from aspose.cells import SaveFormat, TextAlignmentType, Workbook
from os import os, path
# For complete examples and data files, please go to https:# github.com/aspose-cells/Aspose.Cells-for-.NET
# The path to the documents directory.
dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir(".")
# Create directory if it is not already present.
IsExists = path.isdir(dataDir)
if notIsExists:
os.makedirs(dataDir)
# Instantiating a Workbook object
workbook = Workbook()
# Clearing all the worksheets
workbook.worksheets.clear()
# Adding a new worksheet to the Excel object
i = workbook.worksheets.add()
# Obtaining the reference of the newly added worksheet by passing its sheet index
worksheet = workbook.worksheets[i]
# Accessing the "A1" cell from the worksheet
cell = worksheet.cells.get("A1")
# Adding some value to the "A1" cell
cell.put_value("Visit Aspose!")
# Setting the horizontal alignment of the text in the "A1" cell
style = cell.get_style()
# Setting the vertical alignment of the text in a cell
style.vertical_alignment = TextAlignmentType.CENTER
cell.set_style(style)
# Saving the Excel file
workbook.save(dataDir + "book1.out.xls", SaveFormat.EXCEL_97_TO_2003)

Indentation

It is possible to set the indentation level of the text in a cell with the Style object’s indent_level property.

from aspose.cells import SaveFormat, Workbook
from os import os, path
# For complete examples and data files, please go to https:# github.com/aspose-cells/Aspose.Cells-for-.NET
# The path to the documents directory.
dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir(".")
# Create directory if it is not already present.
IsExists = path.isdir(dataDir)
if notIsExists:
os.makedirs(dataDir)
# Instantiating a Workbook object
workbook = Workbook()
# Obtaining the reference of the worksheet
worksheet = workbook.worksheets[0]
# Accessing the "A1" cell from the worksheet
cell = worksheet.cells.get("A1")
# Adding some value to the "A1" cell
cell.put_value("Visit Aspose!")
# Setting the horizontal alignment of the text in the "A1" cell
style = cell.get_style()
# Setting the indentation level of the text (inside the cell) to 2
style.indent_level = 2
cell.set_style(style)
# Saving the Excel file
workbook.save(dataDir + "book1.out.xls", SaveFormat.EXCEL_97_TO_2003)

Orientation

Set the orientation (rotation) of the text in a cell with the Style object’s rotation_angle property.

from aspose.cells import SaveFormat, Workbook
from os import os, path
# For complete examples and data files, please go to https:# github.com/aspose-cells/Aspose.Cells-for-.NET
# The path to the documents directory.
dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir(".")
# Create directory if it is not already present.
IsExists = path.isdir(dataDir)
if notIsExists:
os.makedirs(dataDir)
# Instantiating a Workbook object
workbook = Workbook()
# Obtaining the reference of the worksheet
worksheet = workbook.worksheets[0]
# Accessing the "A1" cell from the worksheet
cell = worksheet.cells.get("A1")
# Adding some value to the "A1" cell
cell.put_value("Visit Aspose!")
# Setting the horizontal alignment of the text in the "A1" cell
style = cell.get_style()
# Setting the rotation of the text (inside the cell) to 25
style.rotation_angle = 25
cell.set_style(style)
# Saving the Excel file
workbook.save(dataDir + "book1.out.xls", SaveFormat.EXCEL_97_TO_2003)

Text Control

The following section discusses how to control text by setting text wrapping, shrink to fit and other formatting options.

Wrapping Text

Wrapping text in a cell makes it easier to read: the height of the cell adjusts to fit all the text, instead of cutting it off or spilling over into adjacent cells. Set text wrapping on or off with the Style object’s is_text_wrapped property.

from aspose.cells import Workbook
# For complete examples and data files, please go to https:# github.com/aspose-cells/Aspose.Cells-for-.NET
# The path to the documents directory.
dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir(".")
# Create Workbook Object
wb = Workbook()
# Open first Worksheet in the workbook
ws = wb.worksheets[0]
# Get Worksheet Cells Collection
cell = ws.cells
# Increase the width of First Column Width
cell.set_column_width(0, 35)
# Increase the height of first row
cell.set_row_height(0, 36)
# Add Text to the Firts Cell
cell.get(0, 0).put_value("I am using the latest version of Aspose.Cells to test this functionality")
# Make Cell's Text wrap
style = cell.get(0, 0).get_style()
style.is_text_wrapped = True
cell.get(0, 0).set_style(style)
# Save Excel File
wb.save(dataDir + "WrappingText.out.xlsx")
Shrinking to Fit

An option to wrapping text in a field is to shrink the text size to fit a cell’s dimensions. This is done by setting the Style object’s is_text_wrapped property to true.

from aspose.cells import SaveFormat, Workbook
from os import os, path
# For complete examples and data files, please go to https:# github.com/aspose-cells/Aspose.Cells-for-.NET
# The path to the documents directory.
dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir(".")
# Create directory if it is not already present.
IsExists = path.isdir(dataDir)
if notIsExists:
os.makedirs(dataDir)
# Instantiating a Workbook object
workbook = Workbook()
# Obtaining the reference of the worksheet
worksheet = workbook.worksheets[0]
# Accessing the "A1" cell from the worksheet
cell = worksheet.cells.get("A1")
# Adding some value to the "A1" cell
cell.put_value("Visit Aspose!")
# Setting the horizontal alignment of the text in the "A1" cell
style = cell.get_style()
# Shrinking the text to fit according to the dimensions of the cell
style.shrink_to_fit = True
cell.set_style(style)
# Saving the Excel file
workbook.save(dataDir + "book1.out.xls", SaveFormat.EXCEL_97_TO_2003)
Merging Cells

Like Microsoft Excel, Aspose.Cells for Python via .NET supports merging several cells into one. Aspose.Cells for Python via .NET provides two approaches to this task. One way is to call the cells collection’s merge method. The merge method takes the following parameters to merge the cells:

  • First row: the first row from where to start merging.
  • First column: the first column from where to start merging.
  • Number of rows: the number of rows to merge.
  • Number of columns: the number of columns to merge.
from aspose.cells import BackgroundType, Workbook
from aspose.pydrawing import Color
from os import os, path
# For complete examples and data files, please go to https:# github.com/aspose-cells/Aspose.Cells-for-.NET
# The path to the documents directory.
dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir(".")
# Create directory if it is not already present.
IsExists = path.isdir(dataDir)
if notIsExists:
os.makedirs(dataDir)
# Create a Workbook.
wbk = Workbook()
# Create a Worksheet and get the first sheet.
worksheet = wbk.worksheets[0]
# Create a Cells object ot fetch all the cells.
cells = worksheet.cells
# Merge some Cells (C6:E7) into a single C6 Cell.
cells.merge(5, 2, 2, 3)
# Input data into C6 Cell.
worksheet.cells.get(5, 2).put_value("This is my value")
# Create a Style object to fetch the Style of C6 Cell.
style = worksheet.cells.get(5, 2).get_style()
# Create a Font object
font = style.font
# Set the name.
font.name = "Times New Roman"
# Set the font size.
font.size = 18
# Set the font color
font.color = Color.blue
# Bold the text
font.is_bold = True
# Make it italic
font.is_italic = True
# Set the backgrond color of C6 Cell to Red
style.foreground_color = Color.red
style.pattern = BackgroundType.SOLID
# Apply the Style to C6 Cell.
cells.get(5, 2).set_style(style)
# Save the Workbook.
wbk.save(dataDir + "mergingcells.out.xls")

The other way is to first call the cells collection’s create_range method to create a range of the cells to be merged. The create_range method takes the same set of parameters as that of the merge method discussed above and returns a Range object. The Range object also provides a merge method that merges the range specified in the Range object.

Text Direction

It is possible to set the reading order of text in cells. The reading order is the visual order in which characters, words, etc. are displayed. For example, English is a left to right language while Arabic is a right to left language.

The reading order is set with the Style object’s text_direction property. Aspose.Cells for Python via .NET provides pre-defined text direction types in the TextDirectionType enumeration.

Text Direction Types Description
CONTEXT The reading order consistent with the language of the first entered character
LEFT_TO_RIGHT Left to right reading order
RIGHT_TO_LEFT Right to left reading order
from aspose.cells import TextDirectionType, Workbook
# Instantiating a Workbook object
workbook = Workbook()
# Obtaining the reference of first worksheet
worksheet = workbook.worksheets[0]
# Accessing the "A1" cell from the worksheet
cell = worksheet.cells.get("A1")
# Adding some value to the "A1" cell
cell.put_value("I am using the latest version of Aspose.Cells to test this functionality.")
# Gets style in the "A1" cell
style = cell.get_style()
# Shrinking the text to fit according to the dimensions of the cell
style.text_direction = TextDirectionType.LEFT_TO_RIGHT
cell.set_style(style)
# Saving the Excel file
workbook.save("book1.xlsx")

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