libxl

What it is

Node.js bindings for libxl.

How to use it

Installation

Pull the library into your project with npm install libxl and require the module via

var xl = require('libxl');

API

A new excel document is created via

var xlsBook = new xl.Book(xl.BOOK_TYPE_XLS);

or

var xlsxBook = new xl.Book(xl.BOOK_TYPE_XLSX);

(for xlsx documents). The document is written to disk via

xlsBook.writeSync('file.xls');

(loading and async writing are not implemented atm).

The API closely follows the libxl documentation. For example, adding a new sheet and writing two cells works as

var sheet = xlsBook.addSheet('Sheet 1');
sheet.writeStr(1, 0, 'A string');
sheet.writeNum(1, 1, 42);

Functions whose C++ counterpart returns void or an error status have been implemented to return the respective instance, so it is possible to chain calls

sheet
    .writeStr(1, 0, 'A string');
    .writeNum(1, 1, 42);

Errors are handled by throwing exceptions.

API coverage is a work in progress; see demo.js, jasmine specs and the class initializers (Book::Initialize, Sheet::Initialize, Format::Initialize) to find out what is currently supported :).

Unlocking the API

If you have purchased a licence key from XLware, you can build it into the bindings by modifying api_key.h and rebuilding the library via node-gyp rebuild (you'll have to install node-gyp for this) or npm install in the package directory. I might implement book.setKey at some point in the future, too.

Platform support

The package currently supports Linux and Windows. Mac support should be trivial to add, feel free to make a pull request if you need it before I find time and a mac ;)

How to contribute

I'll be happy to merge in all sensible pull requests. If you implement a new API method, please add a short test to the jasmine specs and a call to demo.js (if applicable).

Credits

• Torben Fitschen wrote the install script which pulls the necessary libxl SDK before building.
• Alexander Makarenko wrote node-excel-libxl Though node-libxl is rewritten from scratch, this package served as the starting point.