Aspose.Cells for SharePoint - Use and Benefits

SharePoint sites are meant for collaboration, communication, and content storage in order to fulfill particular business needs. Aspose.Cells for SharePoint has been introduced to perform certain operations on Microsoft Excel documents available in SharePoint document libraries. This article covers the following:

• A brief note about SharePoint document libraries.
• The benefits of Aspose.Cells for SharePoint.
• How to convert Microsoft Excel documents into other formats.

A Brief Note on SharePoint Document Libraries

The contents on SharePoint sites are in the form of documents shared at a centralized location called a SharePoint document library (sometimes known as a “shared document library”). Authorized users can upload documents from their local machine to the SharePoint site. These documents are stored in binary format in an SQL Server database used by the SharePoint site. Documents become available to other SharePoint users in the form of a list of hyperlinks as shown below:

A document library

Benefits

The following list highlights a few benefits of using Aspose.Cells for SharePoint:

• The SharePoint site server does not have built-in capability to convert Microsoft Excel files directly on the server. Aspose.Cells for SharePoint adds this feature to the SharePoint site server.
• Aspose.Cells for SharePoint does not require Microsoft Excel to work. It is installed on the server so SharePoint users do not need Microsoft Excel on their local systems to convert Microsoft Excel documents from one format to another.
• Aspose.Cells for SharePoint does not require any prerequisites except those required for creating a SharePoint site.
• Aspose.Cells for SharePoint is easy to deploy on a SharePoint site server.
• Aspose.Cells for SharePoint supports a number of input and output formats.
• Aspose.Cells for SharePoint exposes a public API for developers who need to develop their own SharePoint solutions.

Converting Microsoft Excel Documents with Aspose.Cells for SharePoint

Once Aspose.Cells for SharePoint is installed on the SharePoint server, the option Convert with Aspose.Cells.SharePoint is available in the context menu:

Finding the Convert with… option

To convert a Microsoft Excel document from your SharePoint document library into other formats, follow the steps below:

1. Click on the desired Microsoft Excel document and then click Convert with Aspose.Cells for SharePoint. The Conversion Settings screen is displayed.

   Deciding to convert

2. Select the output format. Here, you can also change the output file name and the destination folder.

3. Click Convert.

   Selecting the output format

4. When the conversion is complete, a success message is displayed.

   Successful conversion

5. Click Return to get back to the document library.

6. The converted document is listed in the SharePoint document library.

   The converted file is listed in the document library

Summary

Installing and using Aspose.Cells for SharePoint is easy. It not only adds a feature for converting Microsoft Excel files directly on the SharePoint server, but also eliminates the need for Microsoft Excel to be installed on the client machines. Moreover, developers can use Aspose.Cells for SharePoint’s public API to develop their own SharePoint solutions.

In other words, it is beneficial for SharePoint site administrators, developers, and end users.