exporting data to excel using NPOI in c#

Question

I t but if I try to select the open option it errors out. Could someone tell me why this is happening. Could also someone tell me how do I export the records to xlsx

    var sheet1 = (HSSFSheet)hssfworkbook.CreateSheet("Sheet 1");

    //make a header row

    var row1 = (HSSFRow)sheet1.CreateRow(0);

    var cell0 = (HSSFCell)row1.CreateCell(0);
    cell0.SetCellValue("Firm Id");

    var cell1 = (HSSFCell)row1.CreateCell(1);
    cell1.SetCellValue("Account Number");

    var cell2 = (HSSFCell)row1.CreateCell(2);
    cell2.SetCellValue("Portfolio Name");


    for (int i = 0; i < result.Count; i++)
    {
        var row = (HSSFRow)sheet1.CreateRow(i + 1);

        var cellFirmID = (HSSFCell)row.CreateCell(0);
        cellFirmID.SetCellValue(result[i].FirmID);

        var cellAccountNumber = (HSSFCell)row.CreateCell(1);
        cellAccountNumber.SetCellValue(result[i].AccountNumber);
    }

    System.Web.HttpResponse response = System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response;
    response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel";
    response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", string.Format("attachment;filename={0}",          "BESTINVEST_fee_rebate_loader_.xls"));
    response.Clear();

    response.BinaryWrite(WriteToStream(hssfworkbook).GetBuffer());
    response.End();

private MemoryStream WriteToStream(HSSFWorkbook hssfworkbook)
{
    MemoryStream file = new MemoryStream();
    hssfworkbook.Write(file);
    return file;
}

Answer 1

I know I am a little late here but I think it may help others

check out this article https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/1241654/Export-to-Excel-using-NPOI-Csharp-and-WEB-API

Sample Code link: https://github.com/ansaridawood/.NET-Generic-Excel-Export-Sample

It uses NPOI DLL and it has 2 cs files to include and then you are good to go

Below is the first file for reference AbstractDataExport.cs:

using NPOI.SS.UserModel;
using NPOI.XSSF.UserModel;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;

namespace GenericExcelExport.ExcelExport
{
    public interface IAbstractDataExport
    {
        HttpResponseMessage Export(List exportData, string fileName, string sheetName);
    }

    public abstract class AbstractDataExport : IAbstractDataExport
    {
        protected string _sheetName;
        protected string _fileName;
        protected List _headers;
        protected List _type;
        protected IWorkbook _workbook;
        protected ISheet _sheet;
        private const string DefaultSheetName = "Sheet1";

        public HttpResponseMessage Export
              (List exportData, string fileName, string sheetName = DefaultSheetName)
        {
            _fileName = fileName;
            _sheetName = sheetName;

            _workbook = new XSSFWorkbook(); //Creating New Excel object
            _sheet = _workbook.CreateSheet(_sheetName); //Creating New Excel Sheet object

            var headerStyle = _workbook.CreateCellStyle(); //Formatting
            var headerFont = _workbook.CreateFont();
            headerFont.IsBold = true;
            headerStyle.SetFont(headerFont);

            WriteData(exportData); //your list object to NPOI excel conversion happens here

            //Header
            var header = _sheet.CreateRow(0);
            for (var i = 0; i < _headers.Count; i++)
            {
                var cell = header.CreateCell(i);
                cell.SetCellValue(_headers[i]);
                cell.CellStyle = headerStyle;
            }

            for (var i = 0; i < _headers.Count; i++)
            {
                _sheet.AutoSizeColumn(i);
            }

            using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream()) //creating memoryStream
            {
                _workbook.Write(memoryStream);
                var response = new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.OK)
                {
                    Content = new ByteArrayContent(memoryStream.ToArray())
                };

                response.Content.Headers.ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue
                       ("application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet");
                response.Content.Headers.ContentDisposition = 
                       new ContentDispositionHeaderValue("attachment")
                {
                    FileName = $"{_fileName}_{DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss")}.xlsx"
                };

                return response;
            }
        }

        //Generic Definition to handle all types of List
        public abstract void WriteData(List exportData);
    }
}

and this the second and final file AbstractDataExportBridge.cs:

using NPOI.SS.UserModel;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

namespace GenericExcelExport.ExcelExport
{
    public class AbstractDataExportBridge : AbstractDataExport
    {
        public AbstractDataExportBridge()
        {
            _headers = new List<string>();
            _type = new List<string>();
        }

        public override void WriteData<T>(List<T> exportData)
        {
            PropertyDescriptorCollection properties = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(typeof(T));

            DataTable table = new DataTable();

            foreach (PropertyDescriptor prop in properties)
            {
                var type = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(prop.PropertyType) ?? prop.PropertyType;
                _type.Add(type.Name);
                table.Columns.Add(prop.Name, Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(prop.PropertyType) ?? 
                                  prop.PropertyType);
                string name = Regex.Replace(prop.Name, "([A-Z])", " $1").Trim(); //space separated 
                                                                           //name by caps for header
                _headers.Add(name);
            }

            foreach (T item in exportData)
            {
                DataRow row = table.NewRow();
                foreach (PropertyDescriptor prop in properties)
                    row[prop.Name] = prop.GetValue(item) ?? DBNull.Value;
                table.Rows.Add(row);
            }

            IRow sheetRow = null;

            for (int i = 0; i < table.Rows.Count; i++)
            {
                sheetRow = _sheet.CreateRow(i + 1);
                for (int j = 0; j < table.Columns.Count; j++)
                {
                    ICell Row1 = sheetRow.CreateCell(j);

                    string type = _type[j].ToLower();
                    var currentCellValue = table.Rows[i][j];

                    if (currentCellValue != null && 
                        !string.IsNullOrEmpty(Convert.ToString(currentCellValue)))
                    {
                        if (type == "string")
                        {
                            Row1.SetCellValue(Convert.ToString(currentCellValue));
                        }
                        else if (type == "int32")
                        {
                            Row1.SetCellValue(Convert.ToInt32(currentCellValue));
                        }
                        else if (type == "double")
                        {
                            Row1.SetCellValue(Convert.ToDouble(currentCellValue));
                        }
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        Row1.SetCellValue(string.Empty);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

For a detailed explanation, refer link provided in the beginning.

Answer 2

I find NPOI very usefull for working with Excel Files, here is my implementation (Comments are in Spanish, sorry for that):

This Method Opens an Excel (both xls or xlsx) file and converts it into a DataTable.

        /// <summary>Abre un archivo de Excel (xls o xlsx) y lo convierte en un DataTable.
    /// LA PRIMERA FILA DEBE CONTENER LOS NOMBRES DE LOS CAMPOS.</summary>
    /// <param name="pRutaArchivo">Ruta completa del archivo a abrir.</param>
    /// <param name="pHojaIndex">Número (basado en cero) de la hoja que se desea abrir. 0 es la primera hoja.</param>
    private DataTable Excel_To_DataTable(string pRutaArchivo, int pHojaIndex)
    {
        // --------------------------------- //
        /* REFERENCIAS:
         * NPOI.dll
         * NPOI.OOXML.dll
         * NPOI.OpenXml4Net.dll */
        // --------------------------------- //
        /* USING:
         * using NPOI.SS.UserModel;
         * using NPOI.HSSF.UserModel;
         * using NPOI.XSSF.UserModel; */
        // AUTOR: Ing. Jhollman Chacon R. 2015
        // --------------------------------- //
        DataTable Tabla = null;
        try
        {
            if (System.IO.File.Exists(pRutaArchivo))
            {

                IWorkbook workbook = null;  //IWorkbook determina si es xls o xlsx              
                ISheet worksheet = null;
                string first_sheet_name = "";

                using (FileStream FS = new FileStream(pRutaArchivo, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
                {
                    workbook = WorkbookFactory.Create(FS);          //Abre tanto XLS como XLSX
                    worksheet = workbook.GetSheetAt(pHojaIndex);    //Obtener Hoja por indice
                    first_sheet_name = worksheet.SheetName;         //Obtener el nombre de la Hoja

                    Tabla = new DataTable(first_sheet_name);
                    Tabla.Rows.Clear();
                    Tabla.Columns.Clear();

                    // Leer Fila por fila desde la primera
                    for (int rowIndex = 0; rowIndex <= worksheet.LastRowNum; rowIndex++)
                    {
                        DataRow NewReg = null;
                        IRow row = worksheet.GetRow(rowIndex);
                        IRow row2 = null;
                        IRow row3 = null;

                        if (rowIndex == 0)
                        {
                            row2 = worksheet.GetRow(rowIndex + 1); //Si es la Primera fila, obtengo tambien la segunda para saber el tipo de datos
                            row3 = worksheet.GetRow(rowIndex + 2); //Y la tercera tambien por las dudas
                        }

                        if (row != null) //null is when the row only contains empty cells 
                        {
                            if (rowIndex > 0) NewReg = Tabla.NewRow();

                            int colIndex = 0;
                            //Leer cada Columna de la fila
                            foreach (ICell cell in row.Cells)
                            {
                                object valorCell = null;
                                string cellType = "";
                                string[] cellType2 = new string[2];

                                if (rowIndex == 0) //Asumo que la primera fila contiene los titlos:
                                {
                                    for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
                                    {
                                        ICell cell2 = null;
                                        if (i == 0) { cell2 = row2.GetCell(cell.ColumnIndex); }
                                        else { cell2 = row3.GetCell(cell.ColumnIndex); }

                                        if (cell2 != null)
                                        {
                                            switch (cell2.CellType)
                                            {
                                                case CellType.Blank: break;
                                                case CellType.Boolean: cellType2[i] = "System.Boolean"; break;
                                                case CellType.String: cellType2[i] = "System.String"; break;
                                                case CellType.Numeric:
                                                    if (HSSFDateUtil.IsCellDateFormatted(cell2)) { cellType2[i] = "System.DateTime"; }
                                                    else
                                                    {
                                                        cellType2[i] = "System.Double";  //valorCell = cell2.NumericCellValue;
                                                    }
                                                    break;

                                                case CellType.Formula:                                                      
                                                    bool continuar = true;
                                                    switch (cell2.CachedFormulaResultType)
                                                    {
                                                        case CellType.Boolean: cellType2[i] = "System.Boolean"; break;
                                                        case CellType.String: cellType2[i] = "System.String"; break;
                                                        case CellType.Numeric:
                                                            if (HSSFDateUtil.IsCellDateFormatted(cell2)) { cellType2[i] = "System.DateTime"; }
                                                            else
                                                            {
                                                                try
                                                                {
                                                                    //DETERMINAR SI ES BOOLEANO
                                                                    if (cell2.CellFormula == "TRUE()") { cellType2[i] = "System.Boolean"; continuar = false; }
                                                                    if (continuar && cell2.CellFormula == "FALSE()") { cellType2[i] = "System.Boolean"; continuar = false; }
                                                                    if (continuar) { cellType2[i] = "System.Double"; continuar = false; }
                                                                }
                                                                catch { }
                                                            } break;
                                                    }
                                                    break;
                                                default:
                                                    cellType2[i] = "System.String"; break;
                                            }
                                        }
                                    }

                                    //Resolver las diferencias de Tipos
                                    if (cellType2[0] == cellType2[1]) { cellType = cellType2[0]; }
                                    else
                                    {
                                        if (cellType2[0] == null) cellType = cellType2[1];
                                        if (cellType2[1] == null) cellType = cellType2[0];
                                        if (cellType == "") cellType = "System.String";
                                    }

                                    //Obtener el nombre de la Columna
                                    string colName = "Column_{0}";
                                    try { colName = cell.StringCellValue; }
                                    catch { colName = string.Format(colName, colIndex); }

                                    //Verificar que NO se repita el Nombre de la Columna
                                    foreach (DataColumn col in Tabla.Columns)
                                    {
                                        if (col.ColumnName == colName) colName = string.Format("{0}_{1}", colName, colIndex);
                                    }

                                    //Agregar el campos de la tabla:
                                    DataColumn codigo = new DataColumn(colName, System.Type.GetType(cellType));
                                    Tabla.Columns.Add(codigo); colIndex++;
                                }
                                else
                                {
                                    //Las demas filas son registros:
                                    switch (cell.CellType)
                                    {
                                        case CellType.Blank: valorCell = DBNull.Value; break;
                                        case CellType.Boolean: valorCell = cell.BooleanCellValue; break;
                                        case CellType.String: valorCell = cell.StringCellValue; break;
                                        case CellType.Numeric:
                                            if (HSSFDateUtil.IsCellDateFormatted(cell)) { valorCell = cell.DateCellValue; }
                                            else { valorCell = cell.NumericCellValue; } break;
                                        case CellType.Formula:
                                            switch (cell.CachedFormulaResultType)
                                            {
                                                case CellType.Blank: valorCell = DBNull.Value; break;
                                                case CellType.String: valorCell = cell.StringCellValue; break;
                                                case CellType.Boolean: valorCell = cell.BooleanCellValue; break;
                                                case CellType.Numeric:
                                                    if (HSSFDateUtil.IsCellDateFormatted(cell)) { valorCell = cell.DateCellValue; }
                                                    else { valorCell = cell.NumericCellValue; }
                                                    break;
                                            }
                                            break;
                                        default: valorCell = cell.StringCellValue; break;
                                    }
                                    //Agregar el nuevo Registro
                                    if (cell.ColumnIndex <= Tabla.Columns.Count - 1) NewReg[cell.ColumnIndex] = valorCell;
                                }
                            }
                        }
                        if (rowIndex > 0) Tabla.Rows.Add(NewReg);
                    }
                    Tabla.AcceptChanges();
                }
            }
            else
            {
                throw new Exception("ERROR 404: El archivo especificado NO existe.");
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            throw ex;
        }
        return Tabla;
    }

This Second method does the oposite, saves a DataTable into an Excel File, yeah it can either be xls or the new xlsx, your choise!

        /// <summary>Convierte un DataTable en un archivo de Excel (xls o Xlsx) y lo guarda en disco.</summary>
    /// <param name="pDatos">Datos de la Tabla a guardar. Usa el nombre de la tabla como nombre de la Hoja</param>
    /// <param name="pFilePath">Ruta del archivo donde se guarda.</param>
    private void DataTable_To_Excel(DataTable pDatos, string pFilePath)
    {
        try
        {
            if (pDatos != null && pDatos.Rows.Count > 0)
            {
                IWorkbook workbook = null;
                ISheet worksheet = null;

                using (FileStream stream = new FileStream(pFilePath, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.ReadWrite))
                {
                    string Ext = System.IO.Path.GetExtension(pFilePath); //<-Extension del archivo
                    switch (Ext.ToLower())
                    {
                        case ".xls":
                            HSSFWorkbook workbookH = new HSSFWorkbook();
                            NPOI.HPSF.DocumentSummaryInformation dsi = NPOI.HPSF.PropertySetFactory.CreateDocumentSummaryInformation();
                            dsi.Company = "Cutcsa"; dsi.Manager = "Departamento Informatico";
                            workbookH.DocumentSummaryInformation = dsi;
                            workbook = workbookH;
                            break;

                        case ".xlsx": workbook = new XSSFWorkbook(); break;
                    }

                    worksheet = workbook.CreateSheet(pDatos.TableName); //<-Usa el nombre de la tabla como nombre de la Hoja

                    //CREAR EN LA PRIMERA FILA LOS TITULOS DE LAS COLUMNAS
                    int iRow = 0;
                    if (pDatos.Columns.Count > 0)
                    {
                        int iCol = 0;
                        IRow fila = worksheet.CreateRow(iRow);
                        foreach (DataColumn columna in pDatos.Columns)
                        {
                            ICell cell = fila.CreateCell(iCol, CellType.String);
                            cell.SetCellValue(columna.ColumnName);
                            iCol++;
                        }
                        iRow++;
                    }

                    //FORMATOS PARA CIERTOS TIPOS DE DATOS
                    ICellStyle _doubleCellStyle = workbook.CreateCellStyle();
                    _doubleCellStyle.DataFormat = workbook.CreateDataFormat().GetFormat("#,##0.###");

                    ICellStyle _intCellStyle = workbook.CreateCellStyle();
                    _intCellStyle.DataFormat = workbook.CreateDataFormat().GetFormat("#,##0");

                    ICellStyle _boolCellStyle = workbook.CreateCellStyle();
                    _boolCellStyle.DataFormat = workbook.CreateDataFormat().GetFormat("BOOLEAN");

                    ICellStyle _dateCellStyle = workbook.CreateCellStyle();
                    _dateCellStyle.DataFormat = workbook.CreateDataFormat().GetFormat("dd-MM-yyyy");

                    ICellStyle _dateTimeCellStyle = workbook.CreateCellStyle();
                    _dateTimeCellStyle.DataFormat = workbook.CreateDataFormat().GetFormat("dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss");

                    //AHORA CREAR UNA FILA POR CADA REGISTRO DE LA TABLA
                    foreach (DataRow row in pDatos.Rows)
                    {
                        IRow fila = worksheet.CreateRow(iRow);
                        int iCol = 0;
                        foreach (DataColumn column in pDatos.Columns)
                        {
                            ICell cell = null; //<-Representa la celda actual                               
                            object cellValue = row[iCol]; //<- El valor actual de la celda

                            switch (column.DataType.ToString())
                            {
                                case "System.Boolean":
                                    if (cellValue != DBNull.Value)
                                    {
                                        cell = fila.CreateCell(iCol, CellType.Boolean);

                                        if (Convert.ToBoolean(cellValue)) { cell.SetCellFormula("TRUE()"); }
                                        else { cell.SetCellFormula("FALSE()"); }

                                        cell.CellStyle = _boolCellStyle;
                                    }
                                    break;

                                case "System.String":
                                    if (cellValue != DBNull.Value)
                                    {
                                        cell = fila.CreateCell(iCol, CellType.String);
                                        cell.SetCellValue(Convert.ToString(cellValue));
                                    }
                                    break;

                                case "System.Int32":
                                    if (cellValue != DBNull.Value)
                                    {
                                        cell = fila.CreateCell(iCol, CellType.Numeric);
                                        cell.SetCellValue(Convert.ToInt32(cellValue));
                                        cell.CellStyle = _intCellStyle;
                                    }
                                    break;
                                case "System.Int64":
                                    if (cellValue != DBNull.Value)
                                    {
                                        cell = fila.CreateCell(iCol, CellType.Numeric);
                                        cell.SetCellValue(Convert.ToInt64(cellValue));
                                        cell.CellStyle = _intCellStyle;
                                    }
                                    break;
                                case "System.Decimal":
                                    if (cellValue != DBNull.Value)
                                    {
                                        cell = fila.CreateCell(iCol, CellType.Numeric);
                                        cell.SetCellValue(Convert.ToDouble(cellValue));
                                        cell.CellStyle = _doubleCellStyle;
                                    }
                                    break;
                                case "System.Double":
                                    if (cellValue != DBNull.Value)
                                    {
                                        cell = fila.CreateCell(iCol, CellType.Numeric);
                                        cell.SetCellValue(Convert.ToDouble(cellValue));
                                        cell.CellStyle = _doubleCellStyle;
                                    }
                                    break;

                                case "System.DateTime":
                                    if (cellValue != DBNull.Value)
                                    {
                                        cell = fila.CreateCell(iCol, CellType.Numeric);
                                        cell.SetCellValue(Convert.ToDateTime(cellValue));

                                        //Si No tiene valor de Hora, usar formato dd-MM-yyyy
                                        DateTime cDate = Convert.ToDateTime(cellValue);
                                        if (cDate != null && cDate.Hour > 0) { cell.CellStyle = _dateTimeCellStyle; }
                                        else { cell.CellStyle = _dateCellStyle; }
                                    }
                                    break;
                                default:
                                    break;
                            }
                            iCol++;
                        }
                        iRow++;
                    }

                    workbook.Write(stream);
                    stream.Close();
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            throw ex;
        }
    }

With this 2 methods you can Open an Excel file, load it into a DataTable, do your modifications and save it back into an Excel file.

Hope you guys find this usefull.

Answer 3

NPOI 2.0+ uses different namespaces for old and new Excel formats. The XSSFWorkbook produces Excel 2007 (.xlsx) documents while the older HSSFWorkbook produces the older format.

You should use the XSSF namespace in your code to target the newer format. You should also remove the explicit casts, as CreateCell, CreateRow return interfaces with the methods you need without requiring a cast.

The correct ContentType for Excel 2007 documents is

application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet

Answer 4

I tried memory stream. Length and memorystream.getbuffer but that doesn't work.The error that I am getting while opening the file from the dialog box is "Excel file is not having valid file extension or format. I tried giving xlsx etension but that doesnt work to. However if I save the file to disk and open with xls extension it works.