sheetjs/docbits/30_export.md

## Packaging and Releasing Data

### Writing Workbooks

**API**

_Generate spreadsheet bytes (file) from data_

```js
var data = XLSX.write(workbook, opts);
```

The `write` method attempts to package data from the workbook into a file in
memory.  By default, XLSX files are generated, but that can be controlled with
the `bookType` property of the `opts` argument.  Based on the `type` option,
the data can be stored as a "binary string", JS string, `Uint8Array` or Buffer.

The second `opts` argument is required.  ["Writing Options"](#writing-options)
covers the supported properties and behaviors.

_Generate and attempt to save file_

```js
XLSX.writeFile(workbook, filename, opts);
```

The `writeFile` method packages the data and attempts to save the new file.  The
export file format is determined by the extension of `filename` (`SheetJS.xlsx`
signals XLSX export, `SheetJS.xlsb` signals XLSB export, etc).

The `writeFile` method uses platform-specific APIs to initiate the file save. In
NodeJS, `fs.readFileSync` can create a file.  In the web browser, a download is
attempted using the HTML5 `download` attribute, with fallbacks for IE.

The second `opts` argument is optional.  ["Writing Options"](#writing-options)
covers the supported properties and behaviors.

**Examples**

<details>
  <summary><b>Local file in a NodeJS server</b> (click to show)</summary>

`writeFile` uses `fs.writeFileSync` in server environments:

```js
var XLSX = require("xlsx");

/* output format determined by filename */
XLSX.writeFile(workbook, "out.xlsb");
```

For Node ESM, the `writeFile` helper is not enabled. Instead, `fs.writeFileSync`
should be used to write the file data to a `Buffer` for use with `XLSX.write`:

```js
import { writeFileSync } from "fs";
import { write } from "xlsx/xlsx.mjs";

const buf = write(workbook, {type: "buffer", bookType: "xlsb"});
/* buf is a Buffer */
const workbook = writeFileSync("out.xlsb", buf);
```

</details>

<details>
  <summary><b>Local file in a PhotoShop or InDesign plugin</b> (click to show)</summary>

`writeFile` wraps the `File` logic in Photoshop and other ExtendScript targets.
The specified path should be an absolute path:

```js
#include "xlsx.extendscript.js"

/* output format determined by filename */
XLSX.writeFile(workbook, "out.xlsx");
/* at this point, out.xlsx is a file that you can distribute */
```

The [`extendscript` demo](demos/extendscript/) includes a more complex example.

</details>

<details>
  <summary><b>Download a file in the browser to the user machine</b> (click to show)</summary>

`XLSX.writeFile` wraps a few techniques for triggering a file save:

- `URL` browser API creates an object URL for the file, which the library uses
  by creating a link and forcing a click. It is supported in modern browsers.
- `msSaveBlob` is an IE10+ API for triggering a file save.
- `IE_FileSave` uses VBScript and ActiveX to write a file in IE6+ for Windows
  XP and Windows 7.  The shim must be included in the containing HTML page.

There is no standard way to determine if the actual file has been downloaded.

```js
/* output format determined by filename */
XLSX.writeFile(workbook, "out.xlsb");
/* at this point, out.xlsb will have been downloaded */
```

</details>

<details>
  <summary><b>Download a file in legacy browsers</b> (click to show)</summary>

`XLSX.writeFile` techniques work for most modern browsers as well as older IE.
For much older browsers, there are workarounds implemented by wrapper libraries.

[`FileSaver.js`](https://github.com/eligrey/FileSaver.js/) implements `saveAs`.
Note: `XLSX.writeFile` will automatically call `saveAs` if available.

```js
/* bookType can be any supported output type */
var wopts = { bookType:"xlsx", bookSST:false, type:"array" };

var wbout = XLSX.write(workbook,wopts);

/* the saveAs call downloads a file on the local machine */
saveAs(new Blob([wbout],{type:"application/octet-stream"}), "test.xlsx");
```

[`Downloadify`](https://github.com/dcneiner/downloadify) uses a Flash SWF button
to generate local files, suitable for environments where ActiveX is unavailable:

```js
Downloadify.create(id,{
  /* other options are required! read the downloadify docs for more info */
  filename: "test.xlsx",
  data: function() { return XLSX.write(wb, {bookType:"xlsx", type:"base64"}); },
  append: false,
  dataType: "base64"
});
```

The [`oldie` demo](demos/oldie/) shows an IE-compatible fallback scenario.

</details>

<details>
  <summary><b>Browser upload file (ajax)</b> (click to show)</summary>

A complete example using XHR is [included in the XHR demo](demos/xhr/), along
with examples for fetch and wrapper libraries.  This example assumes the server
can handle Base64-encoded files (see the demo for a basic nodejs server):

```js
/* in this example, send a base64 string to the server */
var wopts = { bookType:"xlsx", bookSST:false, type:"base64" };

var wbout = XLSX.write(workbook,wopts);

var req = new XMLHttpRequest();
req.open("POST", "/upload", true);
var formdata = new FormData();
formdata.append("file", "test.xlsx"); // <-- server expects `file` to hold name
formdata.append("data", wbout); // <-- `data` holds the base64-encoded data
req.send(formdata);
```

</details>

<details>
  <summary><b>PhantomJS (Headless Webkit) File Generation</b> (click to show)</summary>

The [`headless` demo](demos/headless/) includes a complete demo to convert HTML
files to XLSB workbooks using [PhantomJS](https://phantomjs.org/). PhantomJS
`fs.write` supports writing files from the main process but has a different
interface from the NodeJS `fs` module:

```js
var XLSX = require('xlsx');
var fs = require('fs');

/* generate a binary string */
var bin = XLSX.write(workbook, { type:"binary", bookType: "xlsx" });
/* write to file */
fs.write("test.xlsx", bin, "wb");
```

Note: The section ["Processing HTML Tables"](#processing-html-tables) shows how
to generate a workbook from HTML tables in a page in "Headless WebKit".

</details>



The [included demos](demos/) cover mobile apps and other special deployments.

### Writing Examples

- <http://sheetjs.com/demos/table.html> exporting an HTML table
- <http://sheetjs.com/demos/writexlsx.html> generates a simple file

### Streaming Write

The streaming write functions are available in the `XLSX.stream` object.  They
take the same arguments as the normal write functions but return a Readable
Stream.  They are only exposed in NodeJS.

- `XLSX.stream.to_csv` is the streaming version of `XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv`.
- `XLSX.stream.to_html` is the streaming version of `XLSX.utils.sheet_to_html`.
- `XLSX.stream.to_json` is the streaming version of `XLSX.utils.sheet_to_json`.

<details>
  <summary><b>nodejs convert to CSV and write file</b> (click to show)</summary>

```js
var output_file_name = "out.csv";
var stream = XLSX.stream.to_csv(worksheet);
stream.pipe(fs.createWriteStream(output_file_name));
```

</details>

<details>
  <summary><b>nodejs write JSON stream to screen</b> (click to show)</summary>

```js
/* to_json returns an object-mode stream */
var stream = XLSX.stream.to_json(worksheet, {raw:true});

/* the following stream converts JS objects to text via JSON.stringify */
var conv = new Transform({writableObjectMode:true});
conv._transform = function(obj, e, cb){ cb(null, JSON.stringify(obj) + "\n"); };

stream.pipe(conv); conv.pipe(process.stdout);
```

</details>

<https://github.com/sheetjs/sheetaki> pipes write streams to nodejs response.