How to create Excel file using OpenXML without creating a local file?

Question

Is it possible to create and edit an excel document using OpenXML SDK without creating a local file?

As per the documentation the Create method demands for a filepath, which creates a local copy of the file.

SpreadsheetDocument spreadsheetDocument = SpreadsheetDocument.Create(filepath, SpreadsheetDocumentType.Workbook);

I'm referring the MSDN article here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff478153.aspx

My requirement is to create the file, and it should be downloaded by the browser on clicking a button.

Any suggestion?

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:09:54Z

48

You could use the overload of SpreadsheetDocument.Create that takes a Stream and pass it a MemoryStream:

MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
SpreadsheetDocument spreadsheetDocument = SpreadsheetDocument.Create(memoryStream, SpreadsheetDocumentType.Workbook);

//add the excel contents...

//reset the position to the start of the stream
memoryStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);

return new FileStreamResult(memoryStream, "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet");

Note that as per this StackOverflow question you don't need to dispose the Stream as it will be done for you by the FileStreamResult class.

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:09

CommunityBot

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answered Apr 29, 2015 at 16:58

petelids

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4 Comments

Sal Over a year ago

This will still buffer the data into memory. I found this option to create an excel file using a write-only non-seekable stream: codeproject.com/articles/347759/…

Amrendra Over a year ago

I am following the same approach but getting one corrupted file downloaded. could you please help me with this. What can be the reason?

petelids Over a year ago

It can be any number of things to be honest @Amrendra. If you open a new question I'll try to take a look.

Matt Fricker Over a year ago

memoryStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin); helped me...without this line file was corrupt.

StefanFFM · Accepted Answer · 2020-08-26 08:30:56Z

2

Adding another answer as I spent way too much time searching for this: Another way to save a SpreadsheetDocument to a stream is by calling SpreadsheetDocument.Clone(Stream s)

It has the benefit of letting you save to a stream even if you created the document from a file or a stream you don't want to save to.

answered Aug 26, 2020 at 8:30

StefanFFM

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1 Comment

M. Jahedbozorgan Over a year ago

Yes, the Clone method is very useful in scenarios with "template" files.

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