How to convert CSV to Excel?

csv, excel, ruby, rubygems

Solution

According to this post, the spreadsheet gem is a possibility. It looks like this is a very popular gem. Check it out. Example:

book = Spreadsheet::Workbook.new
sheet1 = book.create_worksheet

header_format = Spreadsheet::Format.new(
  :weight => :bold,
  :horizontal_align => :center,
  :bottom => true,
  :locked => true
)

sheet1.row(0).default_format = header_format

FasterCSV.open(input_path, 'r') do |csv|
  csv.each_with_index do |row, i|
    sheet1.row(i).replace(row)
  end
end

book.write(output_path)

According to this post, write_xlsx is a possibility.

I've used the Apache POI library with JRuby to export xls files. Here's a quick example.

require 'java'
require 'poi.jar'
# require 'poi-ooxml.jar'
require 'rubygems'
require 'fastercsv'

java_import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook;

wb = HSSFWorkbook.new # OR XSSFWorkbook, for xlsx
sheet = wb.create_sheet('Sheet 1')

FasterCSV.open(ARGV.first) do |csv|
  csv.each_with_index do |csv_row, line_no|
    row = sheet.createRow(line_no)
    csv_row.each_with_index do |csv_value, col_no|
      cell = row.createCell(col_no)
      cell.setCellValue(csv_value) unless csv_value.nil? # can't pass nil.
    end
  end
end


f = java.io.FileOutputStream.new("workbook.xls")
wb.write(f)
f.close

Some useful methods for formatting POI spreadsheets are

- `sheet.createFreezePane(0,1,0,1)`

- `wb.setRepeatingRowsAndColumns(0, -1, -1, 0, 1)`

- `sheet.setColumnWidth(i, 100 *256)`

- `sheet.autoSizeColumn(i)`, but beware, if you're running in headless mode, you have to call `java.lang.System.setProperty("java.awt.headless", "true")`

You can also use Win32ole on Windows, if you have Excel installed

require 'win32ole'
require 'rubygems'
require 'fastercsv'

xl = WIN32OLE.new('Excel.Application')
xl.Visible = 0
wb = xl.Workbooks.Add
ws = wb.Worksheets(1)

FasterCSV.open(ARGV.first) do |csv|
  csv.each_with_index do |csv_row, line_no|
    csv_row.each_with_index do |value, col|
      ws.Cells(line_no + 1, col + 1).Value = value
    end
  end
end

wb.SaveAs("workbook.xls", 56) # 56 = xlExcel8 aka Excel 97-2003. i.e. xls
wb.SaveAs("workbook.xlsx", 51) # 51 = xlOpenXMLWorkbook
wb.SaveAs("workbook.xlsb", 50) # 50 = xlExcel12

wb.Close(2) #xlDoNotSaveChanges
xl.Quit

Some useful methods for formatting with Excel are

- `xl.Rows(1).Font.Bold = true`

- `ws.Cells.EntireColumn.AutoFit`

Yet another option is to write directly to Microsoft's XML Spreadsheet format, as Ryan Bates at Railscasts.com does at the end of his Exporting CSV and Excel episode.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Workbook xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet"
  xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
  xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel"
  xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet"
  xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
  <Worksheet ss:Name="Sheet1">
    <Table>
      <Row>
        <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">ID</Data></Cell>
        <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Name</Data></Cell>
        <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Release Date</Data></Cell>
        <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Price</Data></Cell>
      </Row>
    <% @products.each do |product| %>
      <Row>
        <Cell><Data ss:Type="Number"><%= product.id %></Data></Cell>
        <Cell><Data ss:Type="String"><%= product.name %></Data></Cell>
        <Cell><Data ss:Type="String"><%= product.released_on %></Data></Cell>
        <Cell><Data ss:Type="Number"><%= product.price %></Data></Cell>
      </Row>
    <% end %>
    </Table>
  </Worksheet>
</Workbook>

This gem looks promising, too.

Problem

Is there any plugin in Ruby that converts CSV file onto Excel. I did little Google but all I found was converting Excel file into CSV. I know few gems which I can tweak a little and use to convert Excel to CSV but I need to know if anyone has done that before.

Original source

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