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Introduction
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In the downloadable ExcelWriter_Basic_Tutorials.zip, there is a completed template file located in CompleteFinancialReport/templates/Part1_Financial_Template.xlsx. |
Getting Started
In this tutorial [tutorial ExcelTemplate|] is being used to populate data and [ExcelApplication|] is being used to format the dataapply some formatting and merge workbooks together. This part of the tutorial will make demonstrate how to use of data marker modifiers and ordinal syntax in ExcelWriter templates.
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This example assumes an understanding of ExcelTemplate. If you are not familiar with how to set up an Excel template with data markers, please go through the Simple Expense Summary first. |
Using Modifiers
The template should resemble this upon completion:
Setting Up the Template
Using Ordinal Syntax
Here is the starting template:
The next few steps will show the process of using ordinal syntax.
ExcelTemplate normally requires the data marker for a column of data to specify the data set and the column name (e.g. %%=DataSource.ColumnName). In the event that the column name or data source name is unknown, ExcelWriter supports the use of ordinal numbering based on the data source column.
Instead of binding to to a specific column name, "%%=Assets.Q1", the column name can be replaced with ordinal syntax, "%%=Assets.#2". This denotes the second column in the 'Assets' data set. The data set name can also be replaced, "%%=#3.#2", which denotes the second column from the third data source bound to the template.
However, in this example, we will only change the column name, as shown below:
Using Data Marker Modifiers
In addition to ordinal syntax, ExcelWriter supports data marker modifiers, which are tags that change how and what data is imported into the file. This template uses two different data marker modifiers - fieldname and optional. Modifiers are added in parentheses at the end of a data marker.
The fieldname modifier shows the fieldname field name of the column being bound. It will not bind any additional data. It is used like thisThe syntax is as follows:
The optional modifier allows that The optional modifier allows the data marker to be ignored on data binding. If you have a column that may be empty, the optional modifier allows you to bind the data set regardless. It is used like this:
Conditional Formatting
[ExcelTemplate|] will persist conditional formatting in a template. In this tutorial, conditional formatting is applied to the "Other" table. It sets negative numbers to be red and bold.
if there is no data corresponding with that column. This is just an ignore - the column itself will still exist, but the data marker will be skipped. Here is a usage example:
In the above, the "Division" column will be ignored if no division data is available.
After the modifiers are added, the template should resemble this:
Adding an ExcelWriter Reference in Visual Studio
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In the sample code, the reference to SoftArtisans.OfficeWriter.ExcelWriter.dll has already been added to the CompleteFinancialReport project. |
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- Open Visual Studio and create a .NET project.
- The sample code uses a web application.
- Add a reference to SoftArtisans.OfficeWriter.ExcelWriter.dll
- SoftArtisans.OfficeWriter.ExcelWriter.dll is located under Program Files > SoftArtisans > OfficeWriter > dotnet > bin
Writing the Code
Data Binding
Post-Processing
Final Code
1. Include the SoftArtisans.OfficeWriter.ExcelWriter namespace in the code behind
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using SoftArtisans.OfficeWriter.ExcelWriter;
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2. In the method that will run the report, instantiate the ExcelTemplate object.
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ExcelTemplate XLT = new ExcelTemplate();
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3. Open the template file with the ExcelTemplate.Open
method.
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XLT.Open(Page.MapPath("//templates//Part1_Financial_Template.xlsx"));
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4. Create a DataBindingProperties
object. None of the binding properties will be changed for this tutorial, but DataBindingProperties
is a required parameter in ExcelTemplate
data binding methods.
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DataBindingProperties dataProps = XLT.CreateDataBindingProperties();
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Data Binding
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In the sample project, we are parsing CSV files with query results, rather than querying a live database. The CSV files are available under the data directory. There is a copy of the CSV parser, |
If you are following in your own project and would like to parse the CSV files as well, you will need to:
- Add a reference to
GenericParsing.dll
- Include
GeneringParsing
at the top of your code. - Add the
GetCSVData
method that can be found in the sample code.
1.Get the data for the Assets, Losses, and Other datasets
These calls are to a helper method GetCSVData
that parses the CSV files and returns a DataTable
with the values.
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DataTable dtAssets = GetCSVData("//data//Assets.csv");
DataTable dtLosses = GetCSVData("//data//Losses.csv");
DataTable dtOther = GetCSVData("//data//Other.csv");
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2. Create the datasets for the header row. Recall the optional modifier for the "Division" tag. This tutorial will not bind any data for that tag to demonstrate the function.
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//Create the array of header values. This example only binds a single item
string[] headerValues = { "2011" };
//Create the array of header names.
string[] headerNames = { "FiscalYear" };
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3. Use ExcelTemplate.BindData
to bind the data for the Assets, Losses, and Other data sets.
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XLT.BindData(dtAssets, "Assets", bindingProps);
XLT.BindData(dtLosses, "Losses", bindingProps);
XLT.BindData(dtOther, "Other", bindingProps);
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4. Use the ExcelTemplate.BindRowData
method to bind the header data to the data markers in the template file (i.e. %%=Header.FiscalYear
).
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XLT.BindRowData(headerValues, headerNames, "Header", bindingProps);
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5. Call ExcelTemplate.Process() to import all data into the file.
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XLT.Process();
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6. Call ExcelTemplate.Save() to save the final output
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XLT.Save(Page.Response, "temp.xlsx", false); |
The final output should look something like this:
Final Code
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using SoftArtisans.OfficeWriter.ExcelWriter;
using GenericParsing;
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//Instantiate the template object
ExcelTemplate XLT = new ExcelTemplate();
//Open the file
XLT.Open(Page.MapPath("//templates//Part1_Financial_Template.xlsx"));
//Create data binding properties
DataBindingProperties bindingProps = XLT.CreateDataBindingProperties();
//Get the data from the CSVs. More info about the generic parser is available
//in the project and in the tutorial above.
DataTable dtAssets = GetCSVData("//data//Assets.csv");
DataTable dtLosses = GetCSVData("//data//Losses.csv");
DataTable dtOther = GetCSVData("//data//Other.csv");
//Declare the row data. This tutorial uses a single item array to demonstrate the
//optional modifier
string\[\] headerValues = { "2011" };
string\[\] headerNames = { "FiscalYear" };
//Bind each datatable
XLT.BindData(dtAssets, "Assets", bindingProps);
XLT.BindData(dtLosses, "Losses", bindingProps);
XLT.BindData(dtOther, "Other", bindingProps);
//Bind the single row data
XLT.BindRowData(headerValues, headerNames, "Header", bindingProps);
//Call process to import data to file
XLT.Process();
//Save the file
XLT.Save(Page.Response, "temp.xlsx", false);
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Downloads
You can download the code for the Financial Report here.