[FIXED] How to open an existing excel document, enter data into specific cells then save the file as a new excel document with PHP

Issue

I'm currently using PHP with the PEAR extension, as well as the Spreadsheet_Excel_Writer package. I am able create a new excel file with PHP and save it to disk, but I can't find a stable Excel reader package.

Even if I do find a valid reader package I don't think this will be suitable as I want to be able to modify a complex excel document which contains its own formulas and graphs(on seperate spreadsheets) based on the content already saved in the data table.

Ideally, I'd like to enter data from the browser which will then, with PHP, modify only certain cells and then save the file again, the excel document itself will then update its own graphs etc. based on the modified data in the table.

Any ideas? Or have more experience with PEAR and know of packages for working with excel documents in this manner?

Thanx a lot!

Solution

You probably don't want separate reader and writer libraries, otherwise you're going to have to transfer all data between them manually, which limits you to libraries that can both read and write.

There's a comprehensive list of Excel libraries for PHP here

However, unless you use COM or PUNO, you'll have problems with graphs... even PHPExcel doesn't support charts yet, and (while planned for the the next release) will still only work with charts in OfficeOpenXML (.xlsx) files.

Answered By - Mark Baker

Answer Checked By - David Goodson (PHPFixing Volunteer)