ExcelPackage: The convenient way to create SpreadsheetML OOXML on the server

ExcelPackage provides server-side generation of Excel 2007 spreadsheets.
It is a set of classes and wrappers around the .NET 3.0 System.IO.Packaging API and the new Office Open XML file format. It extracts away the complexity of dealing with the individual XML components making it real easy to create sophisticated spreadsheets on the server.

Overview

The adoption of XML as the native file format for Excel 2007 has opened up a whole host of new possibilities. Now for the first time we can create native Excel files on the server using standard tools.

However, the new Office Open XML standard is so new there are precious few good code samples. This Codeplex project aims to correct the situation by providing a flexible set of open source class libraries that you can use to create Excel spreadsheets on the server.

Where do you start?

If you are considering creating Excel spreadsheets on the server, then start by downloading and running the code samples. These provide a tutorial on how to use the ExcelPackage assembly to dynamically create Excel spreadsheets on the server. The three samples demonstrate:

• Creating an Excel spreadsheet from scratch
• Reading data from an Excel spreadsheet
• Using a template to create an Excel spreadsheet

Below is a screenshot of the output from the final code sample. Pretty impressive for 50 lines of code!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• How do I join the development team?
• Why create Excel spreadsheets on the server?
• What is the Office Open XML Format
• Where do I find the System.IO.Packaging API?
• What are shared formulas? How do I create them?
• How do I get Excel to recalculate my formula on File-Open?
• How do I debug my application?
• Excel complains my spreadsheet is badly formed. How do I correct this?

Documentation

• ExcelPackage assembly class documentation
• Useful resources and links

Hints and Tips

• Avoid comments!