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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!

Kyle Dearle
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    Tried [PHPexcel](http://phpexcel.codeplex.com) ? – Damien Pirsy Jan 18 '12 at 13:50
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    Have you taken a look at PHPExcel? (http://phpexcel.codeplex.com/) sounds to me that all that you are looking for is possible within PHPExcel. I used it in multiple situations and it's really good – GuZzie Jan 18 '12 at 13:52
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    S_E_W should be abandoned. it's deadware and doesn't support the modern XML-based formats at all. It only does BIFF5, which is excel 95 or something. – Marc B Jan 18 '12 at 13:54
  • Thanx, will have a look at PHPExcel so far looks more user friendly than the PEAR packages. @MarcB The useless installation process for PEAR and its packages alone warrant not using it. Took forever to fix bugs. – Kyle Dearle Jan 18 '12 at 14:21

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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.

Community
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Mark Baker
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  • Thank you for the response. Do you think I would still need to use COM or PUNO if I wanted to enter data into an excel template. The already setup graphs in the template would then update according to the new data in the table? – Kyle Dearle Jan 18 '12 at 14:27
  • Aside from COM and PUNO, none of the other libraries listed support Excel charts.... they'll simply be ignored when you load the template – Mark Baker Jan 18 '12 at 15:17