Transform XMLDocument to XLS using XSLT in C# without Excel

Question

I'd like to transform my XMLDocument containing what you'd call simple xml content into an xls file, possibly using XSLT (judging from what I've found so far) to transform the data, and I'd like the save the created file as an xls file to be opened with Excel whilst not being able to use Excel in the process of creating this file (thus being unable to use MS.Office.Interop.Excel from what I've heard). How exactly would I do this and which classes would I utilize to create this document?

Any help on this one would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Dennis

Adrian · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-22 11:48:45Z

2

Probably your best bet is NPOI, a .NET port of the Apache POI library.

answered Aug 22, 2011 at 11:48

Adrian

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Dennis Röttger Over a year ago

Excellent suggestion, this is really easy to get into!

Daniel Hilgarth · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-22 11:44:16Z

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You can't use XSLT to create a XLS file, because XLS is a binary format.
If you are talking about ExcelML, this can be done. If you want to do it by hand, I think the best way to start is the following: Create an ExcelML file using Excel that looks like what you need. Open this file in a text editor and analyse it. Additionally, you should download the reference of the format (Open Help -> OfficeXMLSDK.chm).

answered Aug 22, 2011 at 11:44

Daniel Hilgarth

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Dennis Röttger Over a year ago

Well ... now that's kind of disappointing. IS there any way to transform data stored in XML (or any way that you can create using XML Data) to an XLS format? Thanks!

Dennis Röttger Over a year ago

Thanks, this is also a good suggestions, using NPOI seems a bit more straight-forward to me though.

William Walseth · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-22 15:42:36Z

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There are 3 wasy to convert XML to Excel XLS.
- If the XLS file layout is simple, just transform your XML to an HTML table, and load in Excel (either from a disk file, or HTTP response). This works for many cases, however beware that column / row spanning really confuses Excel.
- If you have a complex layout, with lots of formatting / worksheets, jump into the OfficeXMLSDK, it's pretty hairy with tons of namespaces - If you have Excel on the server, create a template document in Excel, and use the Excel.Interop

answered Aug 22, 2011 at 15:42

William Walseth

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