Write and save Excel spreadsheets from your C#/VB.NET applications
The following example shows how you can write Excel spreadsheets by using only the GemBox.Spreadsheet .NET component.
GemBox.Spreadsheet can create an Excel file in many formats (including XLSX, XLS, XLSB, ODS, CSV, and HTML) in the same manner. You can use it to quickly and easily export your data to the file format of your choice. Files can be saved to disk, or to a stream that can then be saved to a database or sent to a client's web browser. You can write Excel files with just a few lines of code. You only need an IDE like Visual Studio or JetBrains Rider and .NET Framework, .NET Core, or any other platform that implements .NET Standard. Follow these steps to create an empty file, write data to it, and save it as a file from a disk: You can test writing content to an Excel file with the interactive example below. After clicking on Run example, the C#/VB.NET code will be compiled, and the content will be written to an Excel file with only .NET framework and the GemBox.Spreadsheet component. The following example shows how you can write typical table data to an excel file. It also shows how to merge cells, specify column properties, set cell values and style properties. Note that this example creates an entire Excel file from scratch. In most cases, you would use a template Excel file with a predefined table to accomplish the same task by writing cell values into that template. With GemBox.Spreadsheet you can also export data from a You can use You can test inserting a The example creates a Since GemBox.Spreadsheet is completely written in C# and uses caching techniques, it offers both speed and memory optimizations. Your users will not need to wait for their reports to be generated any more. With GemBox.Spreadsheet you can read and write 1,000,000 rows with less than 256MB RAM and less than 4 seconds. You can try the performance yourself with the Performance example. MS Excel supports a large variety of file formats suited for spreadsheets, from old legacy file formats to the newest open, XML-based file formats. Microsoft Office Interop (Excel Automation) is an option when writing/exporting Excel files from C# or VB.NET applications, but it has many drawbacks. GemBox.Spreadsheet is one of the best alternatives to Excel Automation. With it you can write the following file formats using the same API in a simple and efficient manner: XLSX, XLS, XLSB, PDF, HTML, MHTML, ODS, CSV, TXT, XLSM, XLTX, XLTM, XPS, PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WMP, SVG.Steps for writing Excel spreadsheet files
Try writing Excel spreadsheet files online
using GemBox.Spreadsheet;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// If you are using the Professional version, enter your serial key below.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");
var workbook = new ExcelFile();
var worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("Writing");
// Tabular sample data for writing into an Excel file.
var skyscrapers = new object[21, 8]
{
{ "Rank", "Building", "City", "Country", "Metric", "Imperial", "Floors", "Built (Year)" },
{ 1, "Burj Khalifa", "Dubai", "United Arab Emirates", 828, 2717, 163, 2010 },
{ 2, "Shanghai Tower", "Shanghai", "China", 632, 2073, 128, 2015 },
{ 3, "Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower", "Mecca", "Saudi Arabia", 601, 1971, 120, 2012 },
{ 4, "Ping An Finance Centre", "Shenzhen", "China", 599, 1965, 115, 2017 },
{ 5, "Lotte World Tower", "Seoul", "South Korea", 554.5, 1819, 123, 2016 },
{ 6, "One World Trade Center", "New York City", "United States", 541.3, 1776, 104, 2014 },
{ 7, "Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre", "Guangzhou", "China", 530, 1739, 111, 2016 },
{ 7, "Tianjin CTF Finance Centre", "Tianjin", "China", 530, 1739, 98, 2018 },
{ 9, "China Zun", "Beijing", "China", 528, 1732, 108, 2018 },
{ 10, "Taipei 101", "Taipei", "Taiwan", 508, 1667, 101, 2004 },
{ 11, "Shanghai World Financial Center", "Shanghai", "China", 492, 1614, 101, 2008 },
{ 12, "International Commerce Centre", "Hong Kong", "China", 484, 1588, 118, 2010 },
{ 13, "Lakhta Center", "St. Petersburg", "Russia", 462, 1516, 86, 2018 },
{ 14, "Landmark 81", "Ho Chi Minh City", "Vietnam", 461.2, 1513, 81, 2018 },
{ 15, "Changsha IFS Tower T1", "Changsha", "China", 452.1, 1483, 88, 2017 },
{ 16, "Petronas Tower 1", "Kuala Lumpur", "Malaysia", 451.9, 1483, 88, 1998 },
{ 16, "Petronas Tower 2", "Kuala Lumpur", "Malaysia", 451.9, 1483, 88, 1998 },
{ 16, "The Exchange 106", "Kuala Lumpur", "Malaysia", 451.9, 1483, 97, 2018 },
{ 19, "Zifeng Tower", "Nanjing", "China", 450, 1476, 89, 2010 },
{ 19, "Suzhou IFS", "Suzhou", "China", 450, 1476, 92, 2017 }
};
worksheet.Cells["A1"].Value = "Example of writing typical table - tallest buildings in the world (2019):";
// Column width of 8, 30, 16, 20, 9, 11, 9, 9, 4 and 5 characters.
worksheet.Columns["A"].SetWidth(8, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // Rank
worksheet.Columns["B"].SetWidth(30, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // Building
worksheet.Columns["C"].SetWidth(16, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // City
worksheet.Columns["D"].SetWidth(20, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // Country
worksheet.Columns["E"].SetWidth(9, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // Metric
worksheet.Columns["F"].SetWidth(11, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // Imperial
worksheet.Columns["G"].SetWidth(9, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // Floors
worksheet.Columns["H"].SetWidth(9, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // Built (Year)
worksheet.Columns["I"].SetWidth(4, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // Top 10
worksheet.Columns["J"].SetWidth(5, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth); // Top 20
int i, j;
// Write header data to Excel cells.
for (j = 0; j < 8; j++)
worksheet.Cells[3, j].Value = skyscrapers[0, j];
worksheet.Cells["E3"].Value = "Height";
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A3:A4").Merged = true; // Rank
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("B3:B4").Merged = true; // Building
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("C3:C4").Merged = true; // City
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("D3:D4").Merged = true; // Country
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("E3:F3").Merged = true; // Height
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("G3:G4").Merged = true; // Floors
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("H3:H4").Merged = true; // Built (Year)
var style = new CellStyle();
style.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentStyle.Center;
style.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignmentStyle.Center;
style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(237, 125, 49));
style.Font.Weight = ExcelFont.BoldWeight;
style.Font.Color = SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.White);
style.WrapText = true;
style.Borders.SetBorders(MultipleBorders.Right | MultipleBorders.Top, SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.Black), LineStyle.Thin);
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A3:H4").Style = style;
style = new CellStyle();
style.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentStyle.Center;
style.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignmentStyle.Center;
style.Font.Weight = ExcelFont.BoldWeight;
var mergedRange = worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("I5:I14");
mergedRange.Merged = true;
mergedRange.Value = "T o p 1 0";
style.Rotation = -90;
style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(198, 239, 206));
mergedRange.Style = style;
mergedRange = worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("J5:J24");
mergedRange.Merged = true;
mergedRange.Value = "T o p 2 0";
style.IsTextVertical = true;
style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(255, 235, 156));
mergedRange.Style = style;
mergedRange = worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("I15:I24");
mergedRange.Merged = true;
mergedRange.Style = style;
// Write and format sample data to Excel cells.
for (i = 0; i < 20; i++)
for (j = 0; j < 8; j++)
{
var cell = worksheet.Cells[i + 4, j];
cell.Value = skyscrapers[i + 1, j];
if (i % 2 == 0)
cell.Style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(221, 235, 247));
else
cell.Style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(210, 210, 230));
if (j == 4)
cell.Style.NumberFormat = "#\" m\"";
if (j == 5)
cell.Style.NumberFormat = "#\" ft\"";
if (j > 3)
cell.Style.Font.Name = "Courier New";
cell.Style.Borders[IndividualBorder.Right].LineStyle = LineStyle.Thin;
}
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A5", "J24").Style.Borders.SetBorders(MultipleBorders.Outside, SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.Black), LineStyle.Double);
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A3", "H4").Style.Borders.SetBorders(MultipleBorders.Vertical | MultipleBorders.Top, SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.Black), LineStyle.Double);
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A5", "I14").Style.Borders.SetBorders(MultipleBorders.Bottom | MultipleBorders.Right, SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.Black), LineStyle.Double);
worksheet.Cells["A27"].Value = "Notes:";
worksheet.Cells["A28"].Value = "a) \"Metric\" and \"Imperial\" columns use custom number formatting.";
worksheet.Cells["A29"].Value = "b) All number columns use \"Courier New\" font for improved number readability.";
worksheet.Cells["A30"].Value = "c) Multiple merged ranges were used for table header and categories header.";
worksheet.PrintOptions.FitWorksheetWidthToPages = 1;
workbook.Save("Writing.%OutputFileType%");
}
}Imports GemBox.Spreadsheet
Module Program
Sub Main()
' If you are using the Professional version, enter your serial key below.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")
Dim workbook = New ExcelFile
Dim worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("Writing")
' Tabular sample data for writing into an Excel file.
Dim skyscrapers = New Object(20, 7) _
{
{"Rank", "Building", "City", "Country", "Metric", "Imperial", "Floors", "Built (Year)"},
{1, "Burj Khalifa", "Dubai", "United Arab Emirates", 828, 2717, 163, 2010},
{2, "Shanghai Tower", "Shanghai", "China", 632, 2073, 128, 2015},
{3, "Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower", "Mecca", "Saudi Arabia", 601, 1971, 120, 2012},
{4, "Ping An Finance Centre", "Shenzhen", "China", 599, 1965, 115, 2017},
{5, "Lotte World Tower", "Seoul", "South Korea", 554.5, 1819, 123, 2016},
{6, "One World Trade Center", "New York City", "United States", 541.3, 1776, 104, 2014},
{7, "Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre", "Guangzhou", "China", 530, 1739, 111, 2016},
{7, "Tianjin CTF Finance Centre", "Tianjin", "China", 530, 1739, 98, 2018},
{9, "China Zun", "Beijing", "China", 528, 1732, 108, 2018},
{10, "Taipei 101", "Taipei", "Taiwan", 508, 1667, 101, 2004},
{11, "Shanghai World Financial Center", "Shanghai", "China", 492, 1614, 101, 2008},
{12, "International Commerce Centre", "Hong Kong", "China", 484, 1588, 118, 2010},
{13, "Lakhta Center", "St. Petersburg", "Russia", 462, 1516, 86, 2018},
{14, "Landmark 81", "Ho Chi Minh City", "Vietnam", 461.2, 1513, 81, 2018},
{15, "Changsha IFS Tower T1", "Changsha", "China", 452.1, 1483, 88, 2017},
{16, "Petronas Tower 1", "Kuala Lumpur", "Malaysia", 451.9, 1483, 88, 1998},
{16, "Petronas Tower 2", "Kuala Lumpur", "Malaysia", 451.9, 1483, 88, 1998},
{16, "The Exchange 106", "Kuala Lumpur", "Malaysia", 451.9, 1483, 97, 2018},
{19, "Zifeng Tower", "Nanjing", "China", 450, 1476, 89, 2010},
{19, "Suzhou IFS", "Suzhou", "China", 450, 1476, 92, 2017}
}
worksheet.Cells("A1").Value = "Example of writing typical table - tallest buildings in the world (2019):"
' Column width of 8, 30, 16, 20, 9, 11, 9, 9, 4 and 5 characters.
worksheet.Columns("A").SetWidth(8, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' Rank
worksheet.Columns("B").SetWidth(30, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' Building
worksheet.Columns("C").SetWidth(16, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' City
worksheet.Columns("D").SetWidth(20, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' Country
worksheet.Columns("E").SetWidth(9, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' Metric
worksheet.Columns("F").SetWidth(11, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' Imperial
worksheet.Columns("G").SetWidth(9, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' Floors
worksheet.Columns("H").SetWidth(9, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' Built (Year)
worksheet.Columns("I").SetWidth(4, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' Top 10
worksheet.Columns("J").SetWidth(5, LengthUnit.CharacterWidth) ' Top 20
Dim i As Integer, j As Integer
' Write header data to Excel cells.
For j = 0 To 8 - 1 Step j + 1
worksheet.Cells(3, j).Value = skyscrapers(0, j)
Next
worksheet.Cells("E3").Value = "Height"
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A3:A4").Merged = True ' Rank
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("B3:B4").Merged = True ' Building
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("C3:C4").Merged = True ' City
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("D3:D4").Merged = True ' Country
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("E3:F3").Merged = True ' Height
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("G3:G4").Merged = True ' Floors
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("H3:H4").Merged = True ' Built (Year)
Dim style = New CellStyle
style.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentStyle.Center
style.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignmentStyle.Center
style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(237, 125, 49))
style.Font.Weight = ExcelFont.BoldWeight
style.Font.Color = SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.White)
style.WrapText = True
style.Borders.SetBorders(MultipleBorders.Right Or MultipleBorders.Top, SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.Black), LineStyle.Thin)
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A3:H4").Style = style
style = New CellStyle
style.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentStyle.Center
style.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignmentStyle.Center
style.Font.Weight = ExcelFont.BoldWeight
Dim mergedRange = worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("I5:I14")
mergedRange.Merged = True
mergedRange.Value = "T o p 1 0"
style.Rotation = -90
style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(198, 239, 206))
mergedRange.Style = style
mergedRange = worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("J5:J24")
mergedRange.Merged = True
mergedRange.Value = "T o p 2 0"
style.IsTextVertical = True
style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(255, 235, 156))
mergedRange.Style = style
mergedRange = worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("I15:I24")
mergedRange.Merged = True
mergedRange.Style = style
' Write and format sample data to Excel cells.
For i = 0 To 19
For j = 0 To 7
Dim cell = worksheet.Cells(i + 4, j)
cell.Value = skyscrapers(i + 1, j)
If i Mod 2 = 0 Then
cell.Style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(221, 235, 247))
Else
cell.Style.FillPattern.SetSolid(SpreadsheetColor.FromArgb(210, 210, 230))
End If
If j = 4 Then
cell.Style.NumberFormat = "#"" m"""
End If
If j = 5 Then
cell.Style.NumberFormat = "#"" ft"""
End If
If j > 3 Then
cell.Style.Font.Name = "Courier New"
End If
cell.Style.Borders(IndividualBorder.Right).LineStyle = LineStyle.Thin
Next j
Next i
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A5", "J24").Style.Borders.SetBorders(MultipleBorders.Outside, SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.Black), LineStyle.Double)
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A3", "H4").Style.Borders.SetBorders(MultipleBorders.Vertical Or MultipleBorders.Top, SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.Black), LineStyle.Double)
worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A5", "I14").Style.Borders.SetBorders(MultipleBorders.Bottom Or MultipleBorders.Right, SpreadsheetColor.FromName(ColorName.Black), LineStyle.Double)
worksheet.Cells("A27").Value = "Notes:"
worksheet.Cells("A28").Value = "a) 'Metric' and 'Imperial' columns use custom number formatting."
worksheet.Cells("A29").Value = "b) All number columns use 'Courier New' font for improved number readability."
worksheet.Cells("A30").Value = "c) Multiple merged ranges were used for table header and categories header."
worksheet.PrintOptions.FitWorksheetWidthToPages = 1
workbook.Save("Writing.%OutputFileType%")
End Sub
End ModuleExport DataTable to Excel spreadsheet
DataTable to an Excel sheet in C# and VB.NET. GemBox.Spreadsheet offers lots of options, such as the possibility to detect the columns data type, that can simplify your code.InsertDataTableOptions to set various options for exporting data from a DataTable to ExcelWorksheet such as:ColumnHeaders - Defines whether to insert column headers.StartRow and StartColumn - Define the position where to insert DataTable.DataTableCellToExcelCellConverting - An event that fires when converting DataTable cell value to ExcelCell value which you can use to apply settings such as cell style.Try exporting DataTable online
DataTable to an empty file with the interactive example below. Just choose an output file format, click Run Example, and download the generated file.DataTable, fills it with data, inserts it into an Excel file and saves The Excel file to a file format of your choice. After clicking on Run example, the C#/VB.NET code will be compiled and executed with only .NET framework and the GemBox.Spreadsheet component.using System.Data;
using GemBox.Spreadsheet;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// If you are using the Professional version, enter your serial key below.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");
var workbook = new ExcelFile();
var worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("DataTable to Sheet");
var dataTable = new DataTable();
dataTable.Columns.Add("ID", typeof(int));
dataTable.Columns.Add("FirstName", typeof(string));
dataTable.Columns.Add("LastName", typeof(string));
dataTable.Rows.Add(new object[] { 100, "John", "Doe" });
dataTable.Rows.Add(new object[] { 101, "Fred", "Nurk" });
dataTable.Rows.Add(new object[] { 103, "Hans", "Meier" });
dataTable.Rows.Add(new object[] { 104, "Ivan", "Horvat" });
dataTable.Rows.Add(new object[] { 105, "Jean", "Dupont" });
dataTable.Rows.Add(new object[] { 106, "Mario", "Rossi" });
worksheet.Cells[0, 0].Value = "DataTable insert example:";
// Insert DataTable to an Excel worksheet.
worksheet.InsertDataTable(dataTable,
new InsertDataTableOptions()
{
ColumnHeaders = true,
StartRow = 2
});
workbook.Save("DataTable to Sheet.%OutputFileType%");
}
}Imports System.Data
Imports GemBox.Spreadsheet
Module Program
Sub Main()
' If you are using the Professional version, enter your serial key below.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")
Dim workbook = New ExcelFile
Dim worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("DataTable to Sheet")
Dim dataTable = New DataTable
dataTable.Columns.Add("ID", Type.GetType("System.Int32"))
dataTable.Columns.Add("FirstName", Type.GetType("System.String"))
dataTable.Columns.Add("LastName", Type.GetType("System.String"))
dataTable.Rows.Add(New Object() {100, "John", "Doe"})
dataTable.Rows.Add(New Object() {101, "Fred", "Nurk"})
dataTable.Rows.Add(New Object() {103, "Hans", "Meier"})
dataTable.Rows.Add(New Object() {104, "Ivan", "Horvat"})
dataTable.Rows.Add(New Object() {105, "Jean", "Dupont"})
dataTable.Rows.Add(New Object() {106, "Mario", "Rossi"})
worksheet.Cells(0, 0).Value = "DataTable insert example:"
' Insert DataTable to an Excel worksheet.
worksheet.InsertDataTable(dataTable,
New InsertDataTableOptions() With
{
.ColumnHeaders = True,
.StartRow = 2
})
workbook.Save("DataTable to Sheet.%OutputFileType%")
End Sub
End ModuleExport DataTable performance
MS Excel file format support
