ActiveReports 14 .NET Edition
ActiveReports 14 User Guide / Export Reports / Export Filters / Basic Spreadsheet with SpreadBuilder
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    Basic Spreadsheet with SpreadBuilder
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    Included with the ActiveReports Excel export filter is the SpreadBuilder API. With this utility, you can create Excel spreadsheets cell by cell for maximum control. This walkthrough illustrates how to create a simple custom spreadsheet and save it to an Excel file.

    This walkthrough is split into the following activities:

    When you have completed this walkthrough, a custom Excel file like the following is created in the Bin/Debug subfolder of your project's folder.

    Basic Spreadsheet with SpreadBuilder

    Basic Spreadsheet with SpreadBuilder

    To add an GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Export.Excel assembly reference to your project

    1. Create a new Visual Studio project.
    2. From the Visual Studio Project menu, select Add Reference.
    3. In the Add Reference window that appears, select GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Export.Excel assembly reference and click OK.
      Note: In ActiveReports, by default, the assemblies are located in NuGet packages are located in the ...\GrapeCity\ActiveReports 14\NuGet folder.

    To add code to create a workbook

    Double-click the title bar of the Windows Form to create an event-handling method for the Form_Load event. Add code to the handler to:

    • Create a Workbook, and add a sheet to the Workbook's Sheets collection
    • Set properties on columns and rows in the sheet
    • Set values of cells in the sheet
    • Use the Save method to create an Excel file

    The following example shows what the code for the method looks like.

    To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

    Visual Basic.NET code. Paste inside the form Load event.
    Copy Code
    'Create a Workbook and add a sheet to its Sheets collection 
    Dim sb As New GrapeCity.SpreadBuilder.Workbook() 
    sb.Sheets.AddNew() 
                    
    'Set up properties and values for columns, rows, and cells as desired 
    With sb.Sheets(0)
       .Name = "Customer Call List" 'sets the name of the sheet
       .Columns(0).Width = 2 * 1440 'sets the width of the 1st column
       .Columns(1).Width = 1440 
       .Columns(2).Width = 1440 
       .Rows(0).Height = 1440 / 4 
                     
    'Header row 
        .Cell(0, 0).SetValue("Company Name") 
        .Cell(0, 0).FontBold = True 
        .Cell(0, 1).SetValue("Contact Name") 
        .Cell(0, 1).FontBold = True 
        .Cell(0, 2).SetValue("Phone") 
        .Cell(0, 2).FontBold = True 
                     
    'First row of data 
        .Cell(1, 0).SetValue("GrapeCity") 
        .Cell(1, 1).SetValue("Mortimer") 
        .Cell(1, 2).SetValue("(425) 880-2601") 
    End With 
                    
    'Save the Workbook to an Excel file 
    sb.Save(Application.StartupPath & "\x.xls") 
    MessageBox.Show("Your Spreadsheet has been saved to " & Application.StartupPath & "\x.xls")
    

    To write the code in C#

    C# code. Paste inside the form Load event.
    Copy Code
    //Create a Workbook and add a sheet to its Sheets collection
    GrapeCity.SpreadBuilder.Workbook sb = new GrapeCity.SpreadBuilder.Workbook();
    sb.Sheets.AddNew();
      
    //Set up properties and values for columns, rows and cells as desired
    sb.Sheets[0].Name = "Customer Call List";
    sb.Sheets[0].Columns(0).Width = 2 * 1440;
    sb.Sheets[0].Columns(1).Width = 1440;
    sb.Sheets[0].Columns(2).Width = 1440;
    sb.Sheets[0].Rows(0).Height = 1440/4;
      
    //Header row
    sb.Sheets[0].Cell(0,0).SetValue("Company Name");
    sb.Sheets[0].Cell(0,0).FontBold = true;
    sb.Sheets[0].Cell(0,1).SetValue("Contact Name");
    sb.Sheets[0].Cell(0,1).FontBold = true;
    sb.Sheets[0].Cell(0,2).SetValue("Phone");
    sb.Sheets[0].Cell(0,2).FontBold = true;
      
    //First row of data
    sb.Sheets[0].Cell(1,0).SetValue("GrapeCity");
    sb.Sheets[0].Cell(1,1).SetValue("Mortimer");
    sb.Sheets[0].Cell(1,2).SetValue("(425) 880-2601");
      
    //Save the Workbook to an Excel file
    sb.Save (Application.StartupPath + @"\x.xls");
    MessageBox.Show("Your Spreadsheet has been saved to " + Application.StartupPath + @"\x.xls");
    

    To view the Excel File

    1. Press F5 to run the project. A message box informs you of the exact location of the exported x.xls file.
    2. Navigate to the Bin/Debug subfolder of your project's folder and open the XLS file.