Create Excel spreadsheet from Javascript

Jim, N2VX · Jan 30, 2004

I'd like to create/display an Excel spreadsheet from javascript. We
have an HTML page with results of a search and it can be reasonably
large.

The first attempt was to format the data into an HTML table and send
it to an ASP page. The ASP page has:
Response.AddHeader ("Content-Disposition", "inline");
Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel");
Response.Write(formatted_html_data);

Works fine until there's more than 100K bytes of data. It then hits
an ASP limit and blows chunks.

Second attempt: Do it all on the client side in Javascript. A
variable has the HTML:

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" CONTENT="application/vnd.ms-excel">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Disposition" CONTENT="inline">
</head>
<body>
<table>
....html-formatted data...
</table></body></html>

We send the data to a new window:
var newWin = window.open('','','width=300,height=300');
newWin.document.write(variable_with_html);
newWin.document.close()

The window pops up, html-formatted data displays in it, but Excel
doesn't run.

What's the difference between the first method and the second? Both
send 'stuff' to the browser that it will interpret.

Are the <meta> tags wrong? It's the only thing I can think of, since
one is generated by ASP (and it works) and the other by me (doesn't
work).

Thanks,
Jim

ExGuardianReader · Jan 31, 2004

I'd like to create/display an Excel spreadsheet from javascript. We
have an HTML page with results of a search and it can be reasonably
large.

The first attempt was to format the data into an HTML table and send
it to an ASP page. The ASP page has:
Response.AddHeader ("Content-Disposition", "inline");
Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel");
Response.Write(formatted_html_data);

Works fine until there's more than 100K bytes of data. It then hits
an ASP limit and blows chunks.

Try NOT building up a HUGE string before you write to the Response
object. Have a function which outputs the Excel data to the Response
rather than one which creates a huge string.

HINT: You can create proper, functional Excel Spreadsheets by sending a
correctly formatted XML spreadsheet with that ContentType. See

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnexcl2k2/html/odc_xmlss.asp

It's finicky about the XML formatting, but once you get it right, you
can get some really nice spreadsheets out. Persevere with this approach.

This is the way to go, you cannot generate a spreadsheet in javascript.

Second attempt: Do it all on the client side in Javascript. A
variable has the HTML:

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" CONTENT="application/vnd.ms-excel">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Disposition" CONTENT="inline">
</head>
<body>
<table>
...html-formatted data...
</table></body></html>

We send the data to a new window:
var newWin = window.open('','','width=300,height=300');
newWin.document.write(variable_with_html);
newWin.document.close()

The window pops up, html-formatted data displays in it, but Excel
doesn't run.

No, it won't suddenly fire up Excel. You are writing data into an HTML
document in the browser. That's what document.write() does. Once you are
IN a document, it makes no difference what data you write into it - it's
an HTML DOCUMENT!

The previous method used the HTTP standard (Do a google on it) to inform
the browser what kind of data was coming back from the server. You
correctly informed the browser that Excel data was coming back
(ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel"), so the browser offers to run
the application (or save the output).

Hope this helps.

Nige

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Create Excel spreadsheet from Javascript

Jim, N2VX

ExGuardianReader

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