xlsgen, native Excel generator

xlsgen 2.5 build #105 : Fix for the OpenFromMemory() scenario

Stéphane Rodriguez — Fri, 4 Jul 2008 10:14:56 GMT

Build 2.5.0.105 of xlsgen fixes a problem related to the OpenFromMemory() scenario, a scenario in which the input parameter is a memory buffer as opposed to a file. The problem was around the duplication and update of secondary streams such as VBA and document summary : it did not always work as intended.

xlsgen 2.5 build #104 : Fine-grained auto-fit

Stéphane Rodriguez — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:57:43 GMT

Build 2.5.0.104 of xlsgen improves the way auto-fit is processed.

Before that build, if you tried to auto-fit column A with a statement like this :

worksheet.Columns("A2:A5").AutoFit = True

xlsgen would compute the auto-fit on column A by computing the size of everything in that column, not just the content of rows 2 to 5.

Now those rows are taken care of, and can be used to limit the rows to process in that column.

It's still possible of course to apply auto-fit to the entire column, with a statement like this :

worksheet.Columns("A:A").AutoFit = True

xlsgen 2.5 build #103 : Fix for Excel 2007 document properties

Stéphane Rodriguez — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:31:56 GMT

Build 2.5.0.103 fixes how document properties are written in Excel 2007 files. Document properties are for instance : author, date, application version.

xlsgen 2.5 build #102 : Chart log scale base in Excel 2007 files

Stéphane Rodriguez — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:45:36 GMT

Build 2.5.0.102 of xlsgen makes it possible to set the logarithmic scale base of an axis of a chart. This applies to Excel 2007 files only, in which this option has been created. The default scale base is 10.

// use log base scale 2
chart->YAxis[xlsgen::chartaxis_primary]->Scale->LogarithmicScale = TRUE;
chart->YAxis[xlsgen::chartaxis_primary]->Scale->LogarithmicScaleBase = 2;

xlsgen 2.5 build #101 : Faster CSV import

Stéphane Rodriguez — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:03:17 GMT

Build 101 of xlsgen 2.5 improves the speed at which CSV files are loaded and processed. 20% faster on average.

xlsgen 2.5 build #100 : Improved round-tripping of Excel 2007 spreadsheets

Stéphane Rodriguez — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:02:24 GMT

In build 2.5.0.100, the way Excel 2007 files are read/updated is improved in that non-data details are better preserved. This reduces the risk of file corruption.

xlsgen 2.5 build #99 : Generating comments in Excel 2007 files

Stéphane Rodriguez — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:08:53 GMT

Build 2.5.0.99 makes it finally possible to generate comments (IXlsComment) in Excel 2007 files. The reason why this is only made available now is that the way comments are stored in Excel 2007 files is extremely awkward, so the incentive was pretty low.

xlsgen 2.5 build #98 : Deletion of VBA macros

Stéphane Rodriguez — Sun, 11 May 2008 13:18:27 GMT

Build 2.5.0.98 of xlsgen makes it possible to delete VBA macros in Excel spreadsheets. The DeleteMacros() method is exposed at the workbook level. The deletion of macros also involves the deletion of their bindings with spreadsheet objects (technically known as event handlers).

It works with Excel 97-2003 and Excel 2007 files.

xlsgen 2.5 build #97 : Alternative text and other picture options

Stéphane Rodriguez — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:00:17 GMT

Build 2.5.0.97 adds a couple more options when inserting pictures, namely :

- support for stretch option enumerator which allows to set how should the picture move and stretch according to column/row resizings. In Excel, this option can be found if you right-click on a picture, select "Format Picture..." and then select the "Properties" tab in the dialog. Default value is : move with cells, but no resize.
- support for the alternative text which allows to attach a string of text to a picture. In Excel, this option can be found if you right-click on a picture, select "Format Picture..." and then select the "Web" tab in the dialog.

Those properties are exposed in the IXlsPicture interface.

Of course, this works with both Excel 97-2003 and Excel 2007 spreadsheets.

xlsgen 2.5 build #96 : Duplicate pictures from external workbooks

Stéphane Rodriguez — Fri, 9 May 2008 08:47:56 GMT

Build 2.5.0.96 of xlsgen ensures that whenever a worksheet from an external workbook is duplicated (using DuplicateFrom()), pictures are duplicated as well.

In other words, cells, styles, formulas and now pictures get duplicated.

xlsgen 2.5 build #95 : Improved memory consumption for generating files

Stéphane Rodriguez — Thu, 8 May 2008 06:47:58 GMT

As per customer request, build 2.5.0.95 of xlsgen reduces memory consumption when generating very large files. The customer case was Excel files bigger than 250MB.

xlsgen 2.5 build #94 : Preserving Excel 2007 table formulas

Stéphane Rodriguez — Sun, 4 May 2008 09:55:37 GMT

Build 2.5.0.94 of xlsgen preserves all Excel 2007 table formulas in all Excel 2007 file related scenarios. Excel 2007 table formulas are a mechanism by which a column can be referenced by the name of its header, projections can be applied, and calculations can take any of this as argument.

Examples of Excel 2007 table formulas are :

=SUM([PRICE])

=DeptSales[[#Headers],[ComPct]]

For a full reference on the subject, here is a link to an article over at Microsoft.com

By preserving Excel 2007 table formulas, xlsgen ensures better fidelity of Excel 2007 file related scenarios without explicitely supporting tables. Note that xlsgen does not calculate those formulas.

xlsgen 2.5 build #93 : Floating text box auto-size option

Stéphane Rodriguez — Thu, 1 May 2008 15:19:31 GMT

Build 2.5.0.93 of xlsgen adds the auto-size option for floating text boxes (in the worksheets, or in charts). This option makes it possible to ensure that the boundaries of the text box are computed to fit the text inside it.

Note that this option is ignored when it targets Excel 2007 files. The reason why is that there is not such option in the Excel 2007 file format. What Excel 2007 does is compute the size to fit the text inside it.

Here is a sample code in C/C++ :

xlsgen::IXlsChartPtr chart1 = wksht->NewChart(xlsgen::charttype_bar2D,
8, //row1
1, //col1
20, //row2
7 //col2
);
xlsgen::IXlsChartDataSourcePtr datasource1 = chart1->DataSource;
datasource1->SeriesInRows = TRUE;
datasource1->Range = L"Sheet2!R1C2:R4C8";

xlsgen::IXlsChartTextBoxPtr tb1 = chart1->AddTextBox();
tb1->Options->X = 10;
tb1->Options->Y = 20;
tb1->Options->Width = 10; // ignored
tb1->Options->Height = 10; // ignored

tb1->Label = L"label1 Label2";
tb1->AutoSize = TRUE;

Support for Windows XP SP3

Stéphane Rodriguez — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:49:36 GMT

Windows XP SP3 has just been released by Microsoft.

This post is to announce that xlsgen was successfully tested using Windows XP SP3.

xlsgen 2.5 build #92 : Improved print/PDF rendering of text

Stéphane Rodriguez — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:29:28 GMT

Build 2.5.0.92 of xlsgen improves the way right-aligned text gets rendered in print and in PDF generation. The problem was around cases where right-aligned text would overflow the width of the cell.

xlsgen 2.5 build #91 : Improved chart introspection

Stéphane Rodriguez — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:05:15 GMT

Build 2.5.0.91 of xlsgen improves chart introspection. Chart introspection is the exposure of chart details through the xlsgen API.

It is improved in that font formatting and number format is now exposed. Note : there is a limitation, it only exposes such options in Excel 97-2003 charts (not Excel 2007 charts where the numerous alternate representations make the implementation cost prohibitive so far).

xlsgen 2.5 build #90 : Support for Windows Vista

Stéphane Rodriguez — Sat, 5 Apr 2008 10:52:45 GMT

It took me some time to consider a formal test of xlsgen running on Windows Vista.

I finally did and the results are as follows : xlsgen installs perfectly fine ; xlsgen works perfectly fine.

There are two scenarios for xlsgen :

1) as a developer, you want to install the full developer kit (i.e. the big MSI file) complete with documentation and so on. Installing it on Windows Vista works very well, and no warning or side effect appear.

2) as an end-user, you want to be able to run an application (or a server process) that uses xlsgen. And here again it works perfectly well on Windows Vista.

There is nothing special to do, and no side effect.

I am pleased to be able to make this announcement.

xlsgen 2.5 build #89 : Fix for Excel 2003 SP3 update

Stéphane Rodriguez — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:15:14 GMT

Build 2.5.0.89 fixes a problem introduced by Microsoft in a recent Excel 2003 SP3 update where apparently there is a stricter control of how internal records are stored in .xls files.

xlsgen 2.5 build #88 : Enhanced copy/paste

Stéphane Rodriguez — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:46:39 GMT

Build 2.5.0.88 enhances the way copy/paste works. Now, in addition to cells, values and formatting, it also copies conditional formattings and data validation groups.

Reminder : here is how to use copy/paste with xlsgen (the following source code is in C++) :

xlsgen::IXlsWorkbookPtr wbk = engine->Open( L"template.xls", L"output.xls" );

xlsgen::IXlsWorksheetPtr wksht = wbk->WorksheetByIndex[1];

// select an area to copy
xlsgen::IXlsRangePtr range = wksht->NewRange("C3:E3");

// paste it at (13,6)

range->Paste(13, 6, xlsgen::pasteoption_valuesandformattingandformulas);

xlsgen 2.5 build #87 : Fix for shape deletion

Stéphane Rodriguez — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:01:21 GMT

Build 2.5.0.87 has a quick fix for the ability to delete a shape (picture, chart, ...) in an Excel 97-2003 file. There was a case where the shape was not deleted after a IXlsShape::Delete() method call.