PHP Excel export not recognised by office 2007 - php

Question

I have been using stack overflow for a good couple of years but only now made an account because I have never become so stuck that I needed to ask a question (not because I'm smart, because my code is simple!), anyway on to my question;
I am exporting a table in .xls format via PHP with information from a few tables in my MYSQL table. all the information and styling works perfectly. The only problem is that when it opens in office 2007 i get this error message:
"the file you are trying to open, 'export.xls', is a different format than specified by the file extension. Verify that the file is not corrupted and is from a trusted source before opening the file. Are you sure you want to view this file?"
So to sum up, all information is pulled from DB successful and all the styling works - I know this to be true because when I click 'yes' on the dialog box that pops up I see everything laid-out perfectly.
Below is the Excel exporter class:
/**
* Class for generating xml with multiple spreadsheets
* #author Marin Crnković
* #version 0.9
* #update_date 21.01.2009
*/
class excel_xml {
var $xml_data;
var $nl;
var $tab;
var $cols;
var $rows;
var $worksheets;
var $counters;
var $xml;
/**
* Constructor
*/
function excel_xml(){
$this->column_width = 150;
$this->debug = false;
$this->cols = array();
$this->row_array = array();
$this->rows = array();
$this->worksheets = array();
$this->counters = array();
$this->nl = "\n";
$this->tab = "\t";
}
/**
* Set debug
*/
function debug() {
$this->debug = true;
}
/**
* Generate xml
* #returns string
*/
function generate() {
// Create header
$xml = $this->create_header().$this->nl;
// Put all worksheets
$xml .= join('', $this->worksheets).$this->nl;
// Finish with a footer
$xml .= $this->create_footer();
$this->xml = $xml;
return $this->xml;
}
/**
* Create worksheet
* Uppon creating a worksheet, delete counters
* #param string $worksheet_name: name of the worksheet
*/
function create_worksheet($worksheet_name) {
$worksheet = '<Worksheet ss:Name="'.$worksheet_name.'">';
$worksheet .= $this->create_table();
$worksheet .= '<WorksheetOptions xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel">
<ProtectObjects>False</ProtectObjects>
<ProtectScenarios>False</ProtectScenarios>
</WorksheetOptions>
</Worksheet>';
// Unset the counters and rows so you can generate another worksheet table
$this->counters = array();
$this->row_array = array();
$this->rows = '';
// Add generated worksheet to the worksheets array
$this->worksheets[] = $worksheet;
}
/**
* Create table
* #returns string
*/
function create_table() {
// Create rows with the method that automaticaly sets counters for number of columns and rows
$rows = $this->create_rows();
// Table header
$table = '<Table ss:ExpandedColumnCount="'.$this->counters['cols'].'" ss:ExpandedRowCount="'.$this->counters['rows'].'" x:FullColumns="1" x:FullRows="1">'.$this->nl;
// Columns data (width mainly)
for($i = 1; $i <= $this->counters['cols']; $i++) {
$table .= '<Column ss:Index="'.$i.'" ss:Width="'.$this->column_width.'" />'.$this->nl;
}
// Insert all rows
$table .= join('', $rows);
// End table
$table .= '</Table>'.$this->nl;
return $table;
}
/**
* Add another row into the array
* #param mixed $array: array with row cells
* #param mixed $style: default null, if set, adds style to the array
*/
function add_row($array, $style = null) {
if(!is_array($array)) {
// Asume the delimiter is , or ;
$array = str_replace(',', ';', $array);
$array = explode(';', $array);
}
if(!is_null($style)) {
$style_array = array('attach_style' => $style);
$array = array_merge($array, $style_array);
}
$this->row_array[] = $array;
}
/**
* Create rows
* #returns array
*/
function create_rows() {
$row_array = $this->row_array;
if(!is_array($row_array)) return;
$cnt = 0;
$row_cell = array();
foreach($row_array as $row_data) {
$cnt++;
// See if there are styles attached
$style = null;
if($row_data['attach_style']) {
$style = $row_data['attach_style'];
unset($row_data['attach_style']);
}
// Store the counter of rows
$this->counters['rows'] = $cnt;
$cells = '';
$cell_cnt = 0;
foreach($row_data as $key => $cell_data) {
$cell_cnt++;
$cells .= $this->nl.$this->prepare_cell($cell_data, $style);
}
// Store the number of cells in row
$row_cell[$cnt][] = $cell_cnt;
$this->rows[] = '<Row>'.$cells.$this->nl.'</Row>'.$this->nl;
}
// Find out max cells in all rows
$max_cells = max($row_cell);
$this->counters['cols'] = $max_cells[0];
return $this->rows;
}
/**
* Prepare cell
* #param string $cell_data: string for a row cell
* #returns string
*/
function prepare_cell($cell_data, $style = null) {
$str = str_replace("\t", " ", $cell_data); // replace tabs with spaces
$str = str_replace("\r\n", "\n", $str); // replace windows-like new-lines with unix-like
$str = str_replace('"', '""', $str); // escape quotes so we support multiline cells now
preg_match('#\"\"#', $str) ? $str = '"'.$str.'"' : $str; // If there are double doublequotes, encapsulate str in doublequotes
// Formating: bold
if(!is_null($style)) {
$style = ' ss:StyleID="'.$style.'"';
} elseif (preg_match('/^\*([^\*]+)\*$/', $str, $out)) {
$style = ' ss:StyleID="bold"';
$str = $out[1];
}
if (preg_match('/\|([\d]+)$/', $str, $out)) {
$merge = ' ss:MergeAcross="'.$out[1].'"';
$str = str_replace($out[0], '', $str);
}
// Get type
$type = preg_match('/^([\d]+)$/', $str) ? 'Number' : 'String';
return '<Cell'.$style.$merge.'><Data ss:Type="'.$type.'">'.$str.'</Data></Cell>';
}
/**
* Create header
* #returns string
*/
function create_header() {
if (is_array($this->styles)) {
$styles = join('', $this->styles);
}
$header = <<<EOF
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?mso-application progid="Excel.Sheet"?>
<Workbook xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet"
xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel"
xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet"
xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<OfficeDocumentSettings xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">
<DownloadComponents/>
<LocationOfComponents HRef="file:///\\"/>
</OfficeDocumentSettings>
<ExcelWorkbook xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel">
<WindowHeight>12525</WindowHeight>
<WindowWidth>15195</WindowWidth>
<WindowTopX>480</WindowTopX>
<WindowTopY>120</WindowTopY>
<ActiveSheet>0</ActiveSheet>
<ProtectStructure>False</ProtectStructure>
<ProtectWindows>False</ProtectWindows>
</ExcelWorkbook>
<Styles>
<Style ss:ID="Default" ss:Name="Normal">
<Alignment ss:Vertical="Bottom"/>
<Borders/>
<Font/>
<Interior/>
<NumberFormat/>
<Protection/>
</Style>
<Style ss:ID="bold">
<Font ss:Bold="1" />
</Style>
$styles
</Styles>
EOF;
return $header;
}
/**
* Add style to the header
* #param string $style_id: id of the style the cells will reference to
* #param array $parameters: array with parameters
*/
function add_style($style_id, $parameters) {
foreach($parameters as $param => $data) {
switch($param) {
case 'size':
$font['ss:Size'] = $data;
break;
case 'font':
$font['ss:FontName'] = $data;
break;
case 'color':
case 'colour':
$font['ss:Color'] = $data;
break;
case 'bgcolor':
$interior['ss:Color'] = $data;
break;
case 'bold':
$font['ss:Bold'] = $data;
break;
case 'italic':
$font['ss:Italic'] = $data;
break;
case 'strike':
$font['ss:StrikeThrough'] = $data;
break;
}
}
if(is_array($interior)) {
foreach($interior as $param => $value) {
$interiors .= ' '.$param.'="'.$value.'"';
}
$interior = '<Interior ss:Pattern="Solid"'.$interiors.' />'.$this->nl;
}
if(is_array($font)) {
foreach($font as $param => $value) {
$fonts .= ' '.$param.'="'.$value.'"';
}
$font = '<Font'.$fonts.' />'.$this->nl;
}
$this->styles[] = '
<Style ss:ID="'.$style_id.'">
'.$interior.$font.'
</Style>';
}
/**
* Create footer
* #returns string
*/
function create_footer() {
return '</Workbook>';
}
/**
* Output as download
*/
function download($filename) {
if(!strlen($this->xml)) $this->generate();
header("Cache-Control: public, must-revalidate");
header("Pragma: no-cache");
header("Content-Length: " .strlen($this->xml) );
header("Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-excel");
if(!$this->debug){
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="'.$filename.'"');
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
} else {
header("Content-Type: text/plain");
}
print $this->xml;
exit;
}
}
And this is my implementation with sensitive information censored;
$excel = new excel_xml();
$header_style = array(
'bold' => 1,
'size' => '14',
'color' => '#FFFFFF',
'bgcolor' => '#4F81BD'
);
$excel->add_style('header', $header_style);
$header_style2 = array(
'bold' => 1,
'color' => '#FFFFFF',
'bgcolor' => '#92d050'
);
$excel->add_style('green', $header_style2);
$header_style3 = array(
'bold' => 1,
'color' => '#FFFFFF',
'bgcolor' => '#c00000'
);
$excel->add_style('error', $header_style3);
$header_style4 = array(
'bold' => 1,
'color' => '#FFFFFF',
'bgcolor' => '#e46d0a'
);
$excel->add_style('orange', $header_style4);
$header_style5 = array(
'bold' => 1,
'color' => '#FFFFFF',
'bgcolor' => '#c00000'
);
$excel->add_style('red', $header_style5);
/**
* Add row and attach the style "header" to it
*/
$excel->add_row(array(
'col1',
'col2',
'col3',
'col4',
'col5'
), 'header');
/**
* Add some rows, if you encapsulate the string inside asterisks,
* they will get bold using the predefined style "bold"
* If you append "|x" where x is a number, that cell will be
* merged with the x following cells
*/
$excel->add_row(array(
$Queried_Info_From_DB1,
$Queried_Info_From_DB2,
$Queried_Info_From_DB3,
$Queried_Info_From_DB4,
$Queried_Info_From_DB5
), 'red');
if(mysql_num_rows($result) == 0){
$excel->add_row(array(
'You have no info to display!|4'
), 'error');
}
/**
* Tell the object to create the worksheet.
* The passed string is the name of the worksheet
*/
$excel->create_worksheet('Your info');
/**
* If you invoke the generate method, you will get the
* XML returned or...
*/
$xml = $excel->generate();
/**
* ... you can pass the whole thing for download with
* the passed string as the filename
*/
$excel->download('Export');

Answer 1

You're writing a file that's spreadsheetML format, not BIFF (.xls) format, so MS Excel will complain at this discrepancy. Try saving it with a file extension of .xml (because that's what you're actually creating)