Tutorial

Download the Java Excel library from the webpage http://jexcelapi.sourceforge.net/

To use this library in your Java program add the lib jxl.jar to your classpath in your project. See Changing classpath in Eclipse .

Create a new Java project "de.vogella.java.excel". Create a package "de.vogella.java.excel.writer" and the following class "CreateExcel".

I assume that the coding is pretty much self-explaining. I tried to add lots of comments to make it easier to understand.For more complex examples have a look at the excellent documentation of the Java Excel API which is also part of the distribution.

			
package writer;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Locale;

import jxl.CellView;
import jxl.Workbook;
import jxl.WorkbookSettings;
import jxl.format.UnderlineStyle;
import jxl.write.Formula;
import jxl.write.Label;
import jxl.write.Number;
import jxl.write.WritableCellFormat;
import jxl.write.WritableFont;
import jxl.write.WritableSheet;
import jxl.write.WritableWorkbook;
import jxl.write.WriteException;
import jxl.write.biff.RowsExceededException;


public class WriteExcel {

	private WritableCellFormat timesBoldUnderline;
	private WritableCellFormat times;
	private String inputFile;
	
public void setOutputFile(String inputFile) {
	this.inputFile = inputFile;
	}

	public void write() throws IOException, WriteException {
		File file = new File(inputFile);
		WorkbookSettings wbSettings = new WorkbookSettings();

		wbSettings.setLocale(new Locale("en", "EN"));

		WritableWorkbook workbook = Workbook.createWorkbook(file, wbSettings);
		workbook.createSheet("Report", 0);
		WritableSheet excelSheet = workbook.getSheet(0);
		createLabel(excelSheet);
		createContent(excelSheet);

		workbook.write();
		workbook.close();
	}

	private void createLabel(WritableSheet sheet)
			throws WriteException {
		// Lets create a times font
		WritableFont times10pt = new WritableFont(WritableFont.TIMES, 10);
		// Define the cell format
		times = new WritableCellFormat(times10pt);
		// Lets automatically wrap the cells
		times.setWrap(true);

		// Create create a bold font with unterlines
		WritableFont times10ptBoldUnderline = new WritableFont(
				WritableFont.TIMES, 10, WritableFont.BOLD, false,
				UnderlineStyle.SINGLE);
		timesBoldUnderline = new WritableCellFormat(times10ptBoldUnderline);
		// Lets automatically wrap the cells
		timesBoldUnderline.setWrap(true);

		CellView cv = new CellView();
		cv.setFormat(times);
		cv.setFormat(timesBoldUnderline);
		cv.setAutosize(true);

		// Write a few headers
		addCaption(sheet, 0, 0, "Header 1");
		addCaption(sheet, 1, 0, "This is another header");
		

	}

	private void createContent(WritableSheet sheet) throws WriteException,
			RowsExceededException {
		// Write a few number
		for (int i = 1; i < 10; i++) {
			// First column
			addNumber(sheet, 0, i, i + 10);
			// Second column
			addNumber(sheet, 1, i, i * i);
		}
		// Lets calculate the sum of it
		StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer();
		buf.append("SUM(A2:A10)");
		Formula f = new Formula(0, 10, buf.toString());
		sheet.addCell(f);
		buf = new StringBuffer();
		buf.append("SUM(B2:B10)");
		f = new Formula(1, 10, buf.toString());
		sheet.addCell(f);

		// Now a bit of text
		for (int i = 12; i < 20; i++) {
			// First column
			addLabel(sheet, 0, i, "Boring text " + i);
			// Second column
			addLabel(sheet, 1, i, "Another text");
		}
	}

	private void addCaption(WritableSheet sheet, int column, int row, String s)
			throws RowsExceededException, WriteException {
		Label label;
		label = new Label(column, row, s, timesBoldUnderline);
		sheet.addCell(label);
	}

	private void addNumber(WritableSheet sheet, int column, int row,
			Integer integer) throws WriteException, RowsExceededException {
		Number number;
		number = new Number(column, row, integer, times);
		sheet.addCell(number);
	}

	private void addLabel(WritableSheet sheet, int column, int row, String s)
			throws WriteException, RowsExceededException {
		Label label;
		label = new Label(column, row, s, times);
		sheet.addCell(label);
	}

	public static void main(String[] args) throws WriteException, IOException {
		WriteExcel test = new WriteExcel();
		test.setOutputFile("c:/temp/lars.xls");
		test.write();
		System.out
				.println("Please check the result file under c:/temp/lars.xls ");
	}
}

		

Re-use the project "de.vogella.java.excel". Create a package "de.vogella.java.excelreader" and the following class "ReadExcel".

			
package reader;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

import jxl.Cell;
import jxl.CellType;
import jxl.Sheet;
import jxl.Workbook;
import jxl.read.biff.BiffException;

public class ReadExcel {

	private String inputFile;

	public void setInputFile(String inputFile) {
		this.inputFile = inputFile;
	}

	public void read() throws IOException  {
		File inputWorkbook = new File(inputFile);
		Workbook w;
		try {
			w = Workbook.getWorkbook(inputWorkbook);
			// Get the first sheet
			Sheet sheet = w.getSheet(0);
			// Loop over first 10 column and lines

			for (int j = 0; j < sheet.getColumns(); j++) {
				for (int i = 0; i < sheet.getRows(); i++) {
					Cell cell = sheet.getCell(j, i);
					CellType type = cell.getType();
					if (cell.getType() == CellType.LABEL) {
						System.out.println("I got a label "
								+ cell.getContents());
					}

					if (cell.getType() == CellType.NUMBER) {
						System.out.println("I got a number "
								+ cell.getContents());
					}

				}
			}
		} catch (BiffException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
	}

	public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
		ReadExcel test = new ReadExcel();
		test.setInputFile("c:/temp/lars.xls");
		test.read();
	}

}

		

Create an excel spreadsheet and save it somewhere, e.g. "c:/temp/lars.xls".

I assume that the coding is pretty much self-explaining. I tried to add lots of comments to make it easier to understand.For more complex examples have a look at the excellent documentation of the Java Excel API which is also part of the distribution.

Please help me to support this article:

Before posting questions, please see the vogella FAQ. If you have questions or find an error in this article please use the www.vogella.de Google Group. I have created a short list how to create good questions which might also help you.