John
Connolly asked:
Is there an API available
someplace that can transform a file in XML format into a MS Excel file?
You
can use an XSLT stylesheet to convert an XML document into a CSV
file,
which
can be imported into Excel, 123, Quattro, etc.
Some
caveats about CSV:
- CSV
files do not preserve spreadsheet formulas, formatted text,
etc.
- If a
data value contains a comma, a quote character or a line
separator, then the value must be enclosed in quotes;
also,
each
quote in the data value must be preceded (i.e., escaped)
by a
quote character. All this can be done in XSLT, but it's
not
trivial.
I'm
currently writing an XSLT stylesheet that transforms an XML
document
into a
SYLK file. SYLK is Microsoft's Symbolic Link format. SYLK
files
can be
imported into and exported from Excel. I believe that 123 and
Quattro
also
support SYLK. A spreadsheet in SYLK format can contain formulas,
formatted text (e.g., blue bold 18-pt. text), borders,
etc.
I'm
having trouble finding good documentation on SYLK.
I
found links to some terse documents explaining SYLK at
Does
anyone know where I can find a good document
explaining the SYLK format?
Thanks.
Bob
------
Bob
Lyons
E-Commerce Consultant
Unidex, Inc.
1-732-975-9877
boblyons@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.unidex.com/