export to excel in jquery or jqGrid

Question

I have a jqGrid where I get data at once from server (java) in JSON format. I want the data in the jqGrid to be exported into Excel format.

Till now I saw this page which gives me an error in IE 'o.url is null or not an object' grid.import.js

Also I saw this demo where on the tool tip of export button it says Export To Excel but the file saved is in xml format.

So I would like any suggestions that can either transform my JSON string into excel using javascript or jquery plugin or using jqgrid's inbuilt feature.

My jqGrid

My jqGrid Code

grid = jQuery("#list2");
                grid.jqGrid({
                    datastr : comparePatchData,
                    datatype: 'jsonstring',
                    colNames:['Name',starheader, header1, header2],
                    colModel:[
                        {name:'elementName',index:'elementName', width:90},
                        {name:'isPrasentinXml1',index:'isPrasentinXml1', width:100, align:'center', formatter: patchPresent},
                        {name:'isPrasentinXml2',index:'isPrasentinXml2', width:100, align:'center', formatter: patchPresent},
                        {name:'isPrasentinXml3',index:'isPrasentinXml3', width:100, align:'center', formatter: patchPresent}
                    ],
                    pager : '#gridpager2',
                    rowNum:12,
                    scrollOffset:0,
                    height: 320,
                    autowidth:true,
                    viewrecords: true,
                    gridview: true,
                    loadonce:true,
                    jsonReader: {
                        repeatitems: false,
                        page: function() { return 1; },
                        root: "response"
                    },
                    subGrid: true,
                    // define the icons in subgrid
                    subGridOptions: {
                        "plusicon"  : "ui-icon-triangle-1-e",
                        "minusicon" : "ui-icon-triangle-1-s",
                        "openicon"  : "ui-icon-arrowreturn-1-e",
                        //expand all rows on load
                        "expandOnLoad" : false
                    },

                    subGridRowExpanded: function(subgrid_id, row_id) {
                        //console.info(subgrid_id+", "+row_id);
                        var subgrid_table_id, pager_id, iData = -1;
                        subgrid_table_id = subgrid_id+"_t";
                        //pager_id = "p_"+subgrid_table_id;
                        $("#"+subgrid_id).html("<table id='"+subgrid_table_id+"' style='overflow-y:auto' class='scroll'></table><div id='"+pager_id+"' class='scroll'></div>");

                        $.each(comparePatchData.response,function(i,item){
                            if(item.id === row_id) {
                                iData = i;
                                return false;
                            }

                        });
                        if (iData == -1) {
                            return; // no data for the subgrid
                        }

                        jQuery("#"+subgrid_table_id).jqGrid({
                            datastr : comparePatchData.response[iData],
                            datatype: 'jsonstring',
                            colNames: ['Name','Value1','Value2','Value3'],
                            colModel: [
                                {name:"name",index:"name",width:90},
                                {name:"firstValue",index:"firstValue",width:100},
                                {name:"secondValue",index:"secondValue",width:100},
                                {name:"thirdValue",index:"thirdValue",width:100}
                            ],
                            rowNum:10,
                            //pager: pager_id,
                            sortname: 'name',
                            sortorder: "asc",
                            height: 'auto',
                            autowidth:true,
                            jsonReader: {
                                repeatitems: false,
                                //page: function() { return 1; },
                                root: "attribute"
                            }
                        });

                        jQuery("#"+subgrid_table_id).jqGrid('navGrid',{edit:false,add:false,del:false});
                    }
                });
                grid.jqGrid('navGrid','#gridpager2',{add:false,edit:false,del:false});
                grid.jqGrid('navButtonAdd','#gridpager2',{
                    caption:"Export to Excel", 
                    onClickButton : function () { 
                        jQuery("#list2").excelExport();
                    } 
                });

Part of my Json

{
"response": [
    {
        "id": "1",
        "elementName": "libgtop2-devel-2.14.4-3.el5",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": false,
        "isPrasentinXml2": false,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "thirdValue": "libgtop2-devel-2.14.4-3.el5"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "2",
        "elementName": "ifd-egate-0.05-15",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": false,
        "isPrasentinXml2": false,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "thirdValue": "ifd-egate-0.05-15"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "3",
        "elementName": "libXScrnSaver-devel-1.1.0-3.1",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": false,
        "isPrasentinXml2": false,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "thirdValue": "libXScrnSaver-devel-1.1.0-3.1"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "4",
        "elementName": "kde-i18n-Chinese-Big5-3.5.4-1",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": true,
        "isPrasentinXml2": true,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "firstValue": "kde-i18n-Chinese-Big5-3.5.4-1",
                "secondValue": "kde-i18n-Chinese-Big5-3.5.4-1"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "5",
        "elementName": "cpio-2.6-20",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": true,
        "isPrasentinXml2": true,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "firstValue": "cpio-2.6-20",
                "secondValue": "cpio-2.6-20",
                "thirdValue": "cpio-2.6-20"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "6",
        "elementName": "grep-2.5.1-54.2.el5",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": true,
        "isPrasentinXml2": true,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "firstValue": "grep-2.5.1-54.2.el5",
                "secondValue": "grep-2.5.1-54.2.el5",
                "thirdValue": "grep-2.5.1-54.2.el5"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "7",
        "elementName": "avahi-compat-libdns_sd-0.6.16-1.el5",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": true,
        "isPrasentinXml2": true,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "firstValue": "avahi-compat-libdns_sd-0.6.16-1.el5",
                "secondValue": "avahi-compat-libdns_sd-0.6.16-1.el5",
                "thirdValue": "avahi-compat-libdns_sd-0.6.16-1.el5"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "8",
        "elementName": "gpm-devel-1.20.1-74.1",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": true,
        "isPrasentinXml2": true,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "firstValue": "gpm-devel-1.20.1-74.1",
                "secondValue": "gpm-devel-1.20.1-74.1",
                "thirdValue": "gpm-devel-1.20.1-74.1"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "9",
        "elementName": "esc-1.0.0-39.el5",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": false,
        "isPrasentinXml2": false,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "thirdValue": "esc-1.0.0-39.el5"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "10",
        "elementName": "kde-i18n-Spanish-3.5.4-1",
        "subCategory": "patch",
        "isEqual": false,
        "isPrasentinXml1": true,
        "isPrasentinXml2": true,
        "isPrasentinXml3": true,
        "attribute": [
            {
                "name": "name",
                "firstValue": "kde-i18n-Spanish-3.5.4-1",
                "secondValue": "kde-i18n-Spanish-3.5.4-1"
            }
        ]
    }
]
}

Answer 1

You don't have to export a file using the Excel format in order to get the data into Excel. It is generally much easier to export to CSV. CSV files should be associated with Excel by default, so it should have the Excel icon by it and everything. XML would work the same way, I think, but the CSV format is much lighter, and does the same job in this case. Converting JSON to CSV is simple:

var response = JSON.parse(responseJSON).response;
var csv = arrayToCSV(response);

function arrayToCSV(arr) {
    var columnNames = [];
    var rows = [];
    for (var i=0, len=arr.length; i<len; i++) {
        // Each obj represents a row in the table
        var obj = arr[i];
        // row will collect data from obj
        var row = [];
        for (var key in obj) {
            // Don't iterate through prototype stuff
            if (!obj.hasOwnProperty(key)) continue;
            // Collect the column names only once
            if (i === 0) columnNames.push(prepareValueForCSV(key));
            // Collect the data
            row.push(prepareValueForCSV(obj[key]));
        }
        // Push each row to the main collection as csv string
        rows.push(row.join(','));
    }
    // Put the columnNames at the beginning of all the rows
    rows.unshift(columnNames.join(','));
    // Return the csv string
    return rows.join('\n');
}

// This function allows us to have commas, line breaks, and double 
// quotes in our value without breaking CSV format.
function prepareValueForCSV(val) {
    val = '' + val;
    // Escape quotes to avoid ending the value prematurely.
    val = val.replace(/"/g, '""');
    return '"' + val + '"';
}