How to set DataValidation of a column in PHPExcel? - php

Question

I am trying to create an Excel spreadsheet using PHPExcel.
I would like to validate a specific column. I know how to validate a cell, but I can't seem to find a method for validating a column. Can I do better than manually looping through all cells of a column?
require_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/../Classes/PHPExcel.php';<br/>
$filename='test.xlsx';<br/>
if(file_exists($filename)){<br/>
unlink($filename);<br/>
}
$objExcel = new PHPExcel();<br/>
$objWriter = new PHPExcel_Writer_Excel5($objExcel);<br/>
$objExcel->setActiveSheetIndex(0);<br/>
$objActSheet = $objExcel->getActiveSheet();<br/>
$objValidation = $objActSheet->getCell("A1")->getDataValidation(); //这一句为要设置数据有效性的单元格<br/>
$objValidation->setType(PHPExcel_Cell_DataValidation::TYPE_LIST)<br/>
->setErrorStyle(PHPExcel_Cell_DataValidation::STYLE_INFORMATION)<br/>
->setAllowBlank(false)<br/>
->setShowInputMessage(true)<br/>
->setShowErrorMessage(true)<br/>
->setShowDropDown(true)<br/>
->setErrorTitle('输入的值有误')<br/>
->setError('您输入的值不在下拉框列表内.')<br/>
->setFormula1('"列表项1,列表项2,列表项3"')<br/>
->setPromptTitle('设备类型');<br/>
$objWriter = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createWriter($objExcel, 'Excel2007');<br/>
$objWriter->save('test.xlsx');<br/>

Answer 1

Yes, you can do better!
For example if you want to apply validation on cells A1:A10, this will do the job:
$objActSheet->setDataValidation("A1:A10", $objValidation);
Sources:
PHPExcel Github issue
Relevant SO answer

Answer 2

PhpSpreadsheet Update (after 2019)
Since PHPExcel was archived in 2019 and should not be used anymore (see PHPExcel Repository), I'll provide an update for people finding this question while using the official PHPExcel successor PhpSpreadsheet.
You'd now create a validation and then apply it to a whole cell range like that:
$validation = $productSheet
->getCell("A1")
->getDataValidation()
->setType(DataValidation::TYPE_LIST)
->setFormula1('"列表项1,列表项2,列表项3"')
->setAllowBlank(false)
->setShowDropDown(true)
->setShowInputMessage(true)
->setPromptTitle('设备类型')
->setShowErrorMessage(true)
->setErrorStyle(DataValidation::STYLE_INFORMATION)
->setErrorTitle('输入的值有误')
->setError('您输入的值不在下拉框列表内.');
// Apply the validation to the rest of column A
$validation->setSqref('A2:A1048576');
Link to the official documentation