Generate XLS files using ruby. Rubyxls provides a simple DSL to express anything from simple ruby strings to complex Active Record models. Support for multi-sheet workbooks, chart generation, and formula based cells included.

This would not have been possible without the hard work of the Axlsx team. Thanks for creating the foundation that Rubyxls is built on top of! Please be sure to check out their repo here: https://github.com/randym/axlsx.

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'rubyxls'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install rubyxls

After installing, Rubyxls is easy to use.

Rubyxls has the same components of an actual excel spreadsheet, abstracting away the messy details.

I like to think of the components in the following way:

• Report: has_many workbooks (yes, a report can have many workbooks resulting in a zip file of all the workbooks)
• Workbook: has_many sheets (when creating a new workbook, you are essentially creating a new xls file)
• Sheet: has_many view models (tables)
• View Model (Table): this is where all of the data goes. More on ViewModels to come...
• Style Manager: create re-usable styles to make sure your reports are beautiful and consistent.

Please don't be fooled by the has_many term listed above. This has nothing to do with ActiveRecord or any database relation. As a ruby/rails developer, I have just gotten in the habit of using this association terminology to describe any kind of relationship : )

In order to create your very own excel report, all you have to do is inherit each component's functionality that Rubyxls gives you.

Note: Rubyxls is built with the intention that you will include each of the listed components in your excel project, allowing each component to play nicely with each other.

class YourVeryOwnReport < Rubyxls::Report

  def initialize(whatever_data_you_need)
    @data = whatever_data_you_need
    super()                               # Call #super with no parameters
  end

  private

  def build_workbooks!
    @workbooks << YourVeryOwnWorkbook.new(whatever_data_you_need)
  end
end

• Extend Rubyxls::Report - this will give you all the functionality a report needs to build itself.
• Call super() in #initialize - this will create an instance variable @workbooks to hold all of the beautfiul workbooks you are about to create!
• #build_workbooks! - append any workbooks that you create into @workbooks so that your report "has_many" workbooks just like the real excel!

class YourVeryOwnWorkbook < Rubyxls::Workbook

  def initialize(whatever_data_you_neeed)
    @data = whatever_data_you_need
    super(name: "your_very_own_workbook")   # Call #super passing in only a name parameter
  end

  private

  def build_sheets!
    @sheets << YourVeryOwnSheet.new(whatever_data_you_need)
  end

end

• Extend Rubyxls::Workbook - get all of that groovy (not the programming language) functionality that Rubyxls gives your Workbook.
• Call super() in #initialize passing in a "name" parameter - this will create an instance variable @sheets to hold all of your sheets and will name the workbook you are creating.
• #build_sheets! - append any sheets that you create into @sheets so that your workbook "has_many" sheets!

class YourVeryOwnSheet < Rubyxls::Sheet

  def initialize(whatever_data_you_need)
    @data = whatever_data_you_need
    super(sheet_name: "YourVeryOwnSheet")    # Call #super passing in only a sheet_name parameter
  end

  private

  def build_cells
    Rubyxls::Builders::CellBuilder.new(model_data_rows: YourVeryOwnViewModel.new(title: "Your Very Own View Model").data_rows, start_row: 1, start_column: "A").cells
    .+ Rubyxls::Builders::CellBuilder.new(model_data_rows: AnotherViewModel.new(title: "Another View Model").data_rows, start_row: 4, start_column: "L").cells
  end

end

• Extend Rubyxls::Sheet - gotta get that sheet functionality
• Call super() in #initialize passing in a "name" parameter - this will give your sheet a name
• #build_cells! - this is the dumping ground for all of your data. The CellBuilder, which takes in a view model as a parameter will break apart your view models / tables into invidual cells and organize them properly. Don't forget to specify where on the sheet you would like your view models to be drawn using start_row and start_column! Behind the scenes, we are taking all of your modularized view models, breaking them apart into individual cells, throwing all of those cells into one LARGE pot and re-arranging them in the proper order. Cool, huh!

class YourVeryOwnViewModel < Rubyxls::ViewModel

  def initialize(whatever_data_you_need)
    @data = whatever_data_you_need
    super() # Call #super passing in no parameters
  end

  private

  def build_data_rows!
    @data_rows << [
                   { value: "Title Row", style: [:bold] }
                  ]
  end

end

• Extend Rubyxls::ViewModel

• Call super() in #initialize

• #build_data_rows! - this is where you decide what data goes into the workbook and how it looks. Let's break it down by describing the ruby version of each excel component that makes up a row.

  | Ruby  | Excel | Desciption                                             |
  | -----  -------  ------------------------------------------------------ |
  | Array | Row   | Each array has lots of individual cells or ruby hashes |
  | Hash  | Cell  | Each cell has a value and a style                      |
  

  @data_rows starts as an empty array that is defined when you call super() in the initialize method. The whole idea behind the View Model is to populate @data_rows with ruby arrays, each representing a row in excel. Each ruby array is filled with ruby hashes, representing an individual cell.

  Each individual cell is structured as follows:

  { value: <any value>, style: [<list of styles to apply to this cell>] }

  A list of default styles is provided below!

Once a Report object and all of its associated components are initialized, generating an output file is straightforward.

Rubyxls::Report#download! returns an IO stream that can be written to a file.

If a Report has more than one workbook, the generated output file will be a zip file (containing multiple spreadsheets) instead of an xslx (Excel) file. The #file_extension method will return the expected file extension for the file.

File.open("myfile.#{my_report.file_extension}", 'w') do |f|
  f << report.download!.read
end

• :bold
• :italic
• :underline
• :strike
• :indent
• :left_align
• :right_align
• :center_align
• :top_align
• :bottom_align
• :middle_align
• :border_right
• :border_left
• :border_top
• :border_bottom
• :border_all
• :number
• :decimal
• :date
• :time
• :currency
• :currency_precision
• :percent
• :wrap_text

class YourVeryOwnCustomStyleManager < Rubyxls::StyleManager

  GREY = 'CCCCCC'

  def initialize
    super                       # Call super
  end

  private

  def initialize_base_styles!
    define_style(style: :medium, attributes: { sz: 12 })
    define_style(style: :large, attributes: { sz: 14 })
    define_style(style: :total_row, attributes: { b: true, bg_color: GREY })
    super
  end

end

• Extend Rubyxls::StyleManager
• Call super in #initialize - in order to get all of those default styles that Rubyxls provides.
• #initialize_base_styles! - define your own styles according the the excel specification. Each style only needs a set of attributes.

Now you can apply your newly defined styles inside of any sheet.

Note: in order to use user-defined styles, you must specify which style manager you would like to use when creating your sheet.

class YourVeryOwnSheet

  def initialize(data)
    @data = data
    super(sheet_name: "YourVeryOwnSheet", style_manager: YourVeryOwnCustomStyleManager.new)
  end

end

Now you will have access to your user-defined styles and the default styles that ship with Rubyxls!

After checking out the repo, run bin/setup to install dependencies. Then, run rake spec to run the tests. You can also run bin/console for an interactive prompt that will allow you to experiment.

To install this gem onto your local machine, run bundle exec rake install. To release a new version, update the version number in version.rb, and then run bundle exec rake release, which will create a git tag for the version, push git commits and tags, and push the .gem file to rubygems.org.

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/viewthespace/rubyxls. This project is intended to be a safe, welcoming space for collaboration, and contributors are expected to adhere to the Contributor Covenant code of conduct.

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.