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Excel and ZIP

iXML provides dedicated namespaces for working with Excel spreadsheets (excel) and ZIP archives (zip).

Excel Workbooks​

excel:workbook​

Creates a new workbook or opens an existing one. All Excel operations must be nested inside this element.

XML
<!-- Create a new workbook -->
<excel:workbook>
    <excel:set coords="A1" type="text">Name</excel:set>
    <excel:set coords="B1" type="numeric">36</excel:set>
    <excel:create var="book" format="xlsx"/>
</excel:workbook>

<!-- Open an existing file -->
<excel:workbook filename="./data/import.xlsx">
    <excel:get var="val" coords="A1"/>
</excel:workbook>

Full reference →

Cell Operations​

excel:set​

Sets the value of a cell. Use type to control storage: text, numeric, date, bool, null, or auto (default).

XML
<excel:set coords="A1" type="text">Product Name</excel:set>
<excel:set coords="B1" type="numeric" format="#,##0.00">49.99</excel:set>
<excel:set coords="C1" type="date">2024-01-15</excel:set>
tip

Omitting type="numeric" for numbers may store them as strings, causing Excel formulas to fail.

Full reference →

excel:get​

Gets the value of a cell. The type attribute controls the return: raw (default), calculated, or formatted.

XML
<excel:get var="val" coords="A1"/>

Full reference →

Cursor Navigation​

excel:setpos​

Sets the cursor position by indices (0-based) or cell coordinates.

XML
<excel:setpos sheet="0" row="5" col="0"/>
<excel:setpos coords="B3"/>

Full reference →

excel:getpos​

Gets the current cursor position as coordinates and/or indices.

XML
<excel:getpos var_coords="pos" var_sheet="s" var_row="r" var_col="c"/>

Full reference →

excel:next​

Shifts the cursor by a given offset. Default advances one column.

XML
<excel:next offset_row="1" offset_col="0"/>

Full reference →

excel:length​

Gets the number of sheets, rows, and columns for the current cursor context.

XML
<excel:length var_sheets="s" var_rows="r" var_cols="c"/>

Full reference →

Sheet Management​

excel:addsheet​

Adds a new sheet to the workbook.

XML
<excel:addsheet>Summary</excel:addsheet>
<excel:setpos sheet="1"/>
<excel:set coords="A1">Summary Data</excel:set>

Full reference →

excel:removesheet​

Removes a sheet by index (0-based).

Full reference →

Row and Column Management​

excel:addrow / excel:removerow​

Insert or remove rows. Accepts optional index and height attributes.

Full reference: addrow → | removerow →

excel:addcol / excel:removecol​

Insert or remove columns. Accepts optional index and width attributes.

Full reference: addcol → | removecol →

Styling​

excel:style​

Applies styling to a cell range. The style is defined as a nested array with keys for font, alignment, borders, fill, and numberFormat.

XML
<array var="headerStyle">
    <array key="font">
        <item key="bold">1</item>
        <item key="size">12</item>
    </array>
    <array key="fill">
        <item key="fillType">solid</item>
        <array key="startColor"><item key="rgb">CCCCFF</item></array>
    </array>
    <array key="borders">
        <array key="bottom">
            <item key="borderStyle">thin</item>
        </array>
    </array>
</array>
<excel:style var="headerStyle">A1:B1</excel:style>

Full reference →

excel:autofilter​

Enables auto-filter dropdown menus on a header range.

XML
<excel:autofilter>A1:D100</excel:autofilter>

Full reference →

Data Export​

excel:array​

Extracts all cell values into a 3D array: data[sheet][row][col].

XML
<excel:array var="data"/>
<output>$data[0][0][0]</output>  <!-- First sheet, first row, first col -->

Full reference →

excel:create​

Generates the workbook as binary data. Supported formats: csv, ods, xls, xlsx.

XML
<excel:create var="book" format="xlsx"/>

<!-- Serve as download -->
<header>Content-Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet</header>
<header>Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="report.xlsx"</header>
<output>$book</output>

Full reference →

Practical Excel Patterns​

Data Export with Styling​

XML
<excel:workbook title="Contact Export" subject="Monthly Report">
    <!-- Header row -->
    <excel:set coords="A1" type="text">Name</excel:set>
    <excel:set coords="B1" type="text">Email</excel:set>
    <excel:set coords="C1" type="text">Company</excel:set>
    <excel:set coords="D1" type="text">Revenue</excel:set>

    <!-- Style header -->
    <array var="hdr">
        <array key="font"><item key="bold">1</item><array key="color"><item key="rgb">FFFFFF</item></array></array>
        <array key="fill">
            <item key="fillType">solid</item>
            <array key="startColor"><item key="rgb">4472C4</item></array>
        </array>
    </array>
    <excel:style var="hdr">A1:D1</excel:style>

    <!-- Data rows from database -->
    <set var="row">2</set>
    <db:select var="contacts" entity="contacts" limit="100" type="assoc">
        <db:fields>c.name, c.email, c.company, c.volume</db:fields>
    </db:select>
    <foreach var="contacts" var_value="c">
        <excel:set coords="A$row" type="text">$c.name</excel:set>
        <excel:set coords="B$row" type="text">$c.email</excel:set>
        <excel:set coords="C$row" type="text">$c.company</excel:set>
        <excel:set coords="D$row" type="numeric" format="#,##0.00">$c.volume</excel:set>
        <set var="row">$(($row + 1))</set>
    </foreach>

    <excel:autofilter>A1:D$row</excel:autofilter>
    <excel:create var="book" format="xlsx"/>
</excel:workbook>

Reading an Uploaded Excel File​

XML
<excel:workbook filename="$uploaded_file" format="xlsx">
    <excel:array var="data" type="raw"/>
    <excel:length var_rows="total_rows"/>
</excel:workbook>

<!-- Process rows (skip header at index 0) -->
<set var="imported">0</set>
<for var="i" from="1" to="$total_rows">
    <set var="name">$data[0][$i][0]</set>
    <set var="email">$data[0][$i][1]</set>

    <if value1="$name" func="!=">
        <set var="imported">$(($imported + 1))</set>
    </if>
</for>
<output>Imported $imported records</output>

ZIP Archives​

The zip namespace provides commands for creating and reading ZIP archives. All operations (except zip:archive itself) must be nested inside a zip:archive element. Changes are committed when </zip:archive> is reached.

zip:archive​

Creates a new archive or opens an existing one.

XML
<zip:archive filename="./data/export.zip">
    <zip:write filename="readme.txt">This is the readme.</zip:write>
    <zip:write filename="data/report.csv">Name;Age&n;Ada;36</zip:write>
</zip:archive>

Full reference →

zip:write​

Writes content to an entry in the archive, creating or overwriting it.

Full reference →

zip:read​

Reads the content of an archive entry into a variable.

XML
<zip:archive filename="./data/export.zip">
    <zip:read var="readme" filename="readme.txt"/>
</zip:archive>
<output>$readme</output>

Full reference →

zip:exists​

Checks whether an entry exists within the archive.

Full reference →

zip:status​

Returns status information (name, size, compressed size, CRC, mtime) about an entry.

Full reference →

zip:delete​

Deletes an entry from the archive.

Full reference →

zip:rename​

Renames an entry within the archive.

Full reference →

zip:list​

Lists all entry filenames in the archive.

XML
<zip:archive filename="./data/export.zip">
    <zip:list var="entries"/>
</zip:archive>
<foreach var="entries" var_value="name">
    <output>$name&n;</output>
</foreach>

Full reference →

Practical ZIP Pattern: Bundling Multiple Exports​

XML
<!-- Generate reports -->
<excel:workbook>
    <excel:set coords="A1">Report Data</excel:set>
    <excel:create var="excel_data" format="xlsx"/>
</excel:workbook>

<pdf:document var="pdf_data" title="Report">
    <pdf:section><pdf:body><pdf:block>Report PDF</pdf:block></pdf:body></pdf:section>
</pdf:document>

<!-- Bundle into ZIP -->
<zip:archive filename="./data/bundle.zip">
    <zip:write filename="report.xlsx">$excel_data</zip:write>
    <zip:write filename="report.pdf">$pdf_data</zip:write>
    <zip:write filename="metadata.json">{"generated": "$timestamp"}</zip:write>
</zip:archive>

<!-- Serve the ZIP -->
<file:read var="zipdata" filename="./data/bundle.zip"/>
<header>Content-Type: application/zip</header>
<header>Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="reports.zip"</header>
<output>$zipdata</output>