How to generate an .xlsx using php

Question

I need to generate an Excel file with extension .xlsx.

Here is my simple code:

 $file = "test.xlsx";
 header('Content-Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet');
 header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename='.$file);
 $content = "Col1\tCol2\tCol3\t\n";
 $content .= "test1\ttest1\ttest3\t\n";
 $content .= "testtest1\ttesttest2\ttesttest3\t\n";
 echo $content;

But I get this error when I open the generated file:

Excel cannot open the file 'test.xlsx' because the file format or file extension is not valid.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

SimpleXLSXGen

$books = [
    ['ISBN', 'title', 'author', 'publisher', 'ctry' ],
    [618260307, 'The Hobbit', 'J. R. R. Tolkien', 'Houghton Mifflin', 'USA'],
    [908606664, 'Slinky Malinki', 'Lynley Dodd', 'Mallinson Rendel', 'NZ']
];
$xlsx = SimpleXLSXGen::fromArray( $books );
$xlsx->saveAs('books.xlsx');
//  $xlsx->downloadAs('books.xlsx');

Answer 2

As others have mentioned, PhpSpreadsheet provides a nice library for this. Assuming you have it installed via composer and the vendor/autoload.php has been included in your project, you can use the function below to generate an xlsx from an array of arrays. I've included extensive comments here to help teach beginners about how PhpSpreadsheet works and what the code is doing:

function writeXLSX($filename, $rows, $keys = [], $formats = []) {
    // instantiate the class
    $doc = new \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet();
    $sheet = $doc->getActiveSheet();

    // $keys are for the header row.  If they are supplied we start writing at row 2
    if ($keys) {
        $offset = 2;
    } else {
        $offset = 1;
    }

    // write the rows
    $i = 0;
    foreach($rows as $row) {
        $doc->getActiveSheet()->fromArray($row, null, 'A' . ($i++ + $offset));
    }

    // write the header row from the $keys
    if ($keys) {
        $doc->setActiveSheetIndex(0);
        $doc->getActiveSheet()->fromArray($keys, null, 'A1');
    }

    // get last row and column for formatting
    $last_column = $doc->getActiveSheet()->getHighestColumn();
    $last_row = $doc->getActiveSheet()->getHighestRow();

    // autosize all columns to content width
    for ($i = 'A'; $i <= $last_column; $i++) {
        $doc->getActiveSheet()->getColumnDimension($i)->setAutoSize(TRUE);
    }

    // if $keys, freeze the header row and make it bold
    if ($keys) {
        $doc->getActiveSheet()->freezePane('A2');
        $doc->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('A1:' . $last_column . '1')->getFont()->setBold(true);
    }
    
    // format all columns as text
    $doc->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('A2:' . $last_column . $last_row)->getNumberFormat()->setFormatCode(\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\NumberFormat::FORMAT_TEXT);
    if ($formats) {
        // if there are user supplied formats, set each column format accordingly
        // $formats should be an array with column letter as key and one of the PhpOffice constants as value
        // https://phpoffice.github.io/PhpSpreadsheet/1.2.1/PhpOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/Style/NumberFormat.html
        // EXAMPLE:
        // ['C' => \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\NumberFormat::FORMAT_NUMBER_00, 'D' => \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\NumberFormat::FORMAT_NUMBER_00]
        foreach ($formats as $col => $format) {
            $doc->getActiveSheet()->getStyle($col . $offset . ':' . $col . $last_row)->getNumberFormat()->setFormatCode($format);
        }
    }

    // write and save the file
    $writer = new PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Xlsx($doc);
    $writer->save($filename);
}

EXAMPLE USAGE:

$rows = [
    ['sku' => 'A123', 'price' => '99'],
    ['sku' => 'B456', 'price' => '5.35'],
    ['sku' => 'C789', 'price' => '17.7']
];
$keys = array_keys(current($rows));
$formats = ['B' => \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Style\NumberFormat::FORMAT_NUMBER_00];

writeXLSX('pricelist.xlsx', $rows, $keys, $formats);