Importing Excel file into Flex

[Raj]

Hi Group

Any Idea anyone how to import a binary file ( know format) say a excel
file into Flex. Hope adobe working on it.

thanx
Raj

[sasi]

hi raj
frist u can change the excel file in to xml format
and use it in flex app
u have opstion in excel to change excel file into xml use it

[Abdul Qabiz]

Hi

I have not done it personally but it should be possible to do it on server, which you would it anyway while uploading the file (not assuming you are using Flash Player 10 which has new FileReference capabilities).

Check out for any libraries (which suite your server-side environment) and use it for excel to data-format (which Flex understands) conversion.

I am sure, you can write a library in ActionScript to do excel parsing, but that's gonna take sometime (even when you port any of open-source libs to AS 3.0). The quicker way is to check, if someone has already solved problem and you can learn from it without reinventing the wheel.

-abdul

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-abdul
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http://abdulqabiz.com/blog/
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[greg h]

In addition to Sasi & Abdul's great suggestions ...

The AIR runtime can directly open local files (which you can not do when targeting the Flash Player runtime, due to FP's security sandbox).  You could use your Flex skills + the AIR APIs to open and parse any file.  Unfortunately, I know of no published solutions (yet) detailing using Flex in AIR to open Excel files.

Following are various links related to Flex to Excel communication (plus a link related to Abdul's suggestion about using serverside logic to process the Excel file).

Link #1:  In browser, targeting Flash Player, using two ActiveX objects embedded in an HTML page.  Provides instant as well as on demand data synchronization between the objects. ActiveX object #1 is the Flash Player itself (with the Flex application executing in it). ActiveX object #2 is a Spreadsheet from Microsoft Office Web Components (OWC):

• We've Taught Adobe Flex and Microsoft Excel Talk To Each Other
  http://flex.sys-con.com/node/273886
  
• Related to above:  Live Example (requires IE in  Windows XP + Microsoft Office Web Components (OWC) installed)
  http://samples.faratasystems.com/export2excel/FxSpreadSheet.html
  

Links #2 & #3:  In browser, targeting Flash Player, using cut-and-paste from Flex to Excel:

• Copy 'n paste between Excel and Flex
  http://mannu.livejournal.com/348299.html
  
• Copying a datagrid data to the clipboard for Excel
  http://flex.org/content/copying-datagrid-data-clipboard-excel
  

Link #4:  Server side using ColdFusion:

• How can I process Excel files in CFML? Let me count the ways
  http://carehart.org/blog/client/index.cfm/2008/1/12/coldfusion_excel_xls_processing
• Related to above:  Excel File Processing Tools"
  http://www.carehart.org/resourcelists/tools_to_consider/index.cfm#excel
  

Please post back if you develop a solution that you find satisfactory for importing Excel files into Flex (even if targeting AIR).

hth,

g

[devg]

Another solution is at http://www.d-w-systems.com/products.html. They
have a server that reads/writes to excel files and make this data
available to Flex by using HTTPService.

Dev

[brij]

Hi Raj,

There is a good book named: Rich Internet Applications with Adobe Flex
and Java by Yakov Fain, Dr. Victor Rasputnis.

They have one example to integrate flex and excel. But here in this
example they are not inserting an excel file in flex application per
se.

But they are using ExternalInterface API's and ActiveX to
communication between fled datagrid and excel.

Regards,
Brijesh

[swapnil]

Hi Raj,

I have 1 suggestion, use JavaScript for this purpose if you are
talking about client side excel import or use JSP or .Net if your
excel is on server side.

Regards
Swapnil