_printing_ to an excel file?
you could post a tab, comma or json formatted string to an ultra simple
server side script that just sends it straight back, with an excel
mimetype
<?php
header('Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-excel');
header('Content-Length: '.strlen($_POST['javascript_csv_string']));
echo $_POST['javascript_csv_string'];
exit;
?>
obviously this would allow people to post stuff to your webserver which
would then appear to be downloaded from you, so you would have to
implement some checking.
As for doing it straight from javascript, unless it is possible to use
an XHR call, inject client side data instead of a server response
payload, and setting the right headers. Perhaps, Ive never tried it.
however it is possible with an iframe, using this code
<html>
<head></head>
<body>
<iframe src="" id="file" name="file"></iframe>
<script type="text/javascript">
document.getElementById('file').src =
"data:application/vnd.ms-excel;base64,MSwyLDMsNA==";
</script>
</body>
</html>
you could use application/csv or text/csv instead of
application/vnd.ms-excel but then it isnt automatically opened as
required. Basically its a quick and dirty "yes you can" but how clean
you could get it, my opinion would be to try to use the header settings
power of XHR, together with some trickery to load the return call of
the XHR with data thats already hanging around, and have XHR do a call
that gets intercepted anyway.
Erm.... the fly in the ointment to all this, the Multi-$B company
Microsoft, who squeezed a few more millions into their bank account by
not bothering to implement the data url. sorry - this trick only works
in compliant browsers like Safari/Firefox/Opera and so on... IE7? hmm
let me guess.
