Creating custom column widths in OpenXML (excel)

Question

I am new to OpenXML (v. 2.5), and I can create rows and cells, but I need to be able to set the column width and I can not do that correctly for some reason.

Without this code:

        Columns cols = new Columns();

        Column c1 = new Column()
        {
            CustomWidth = true,
            Width = 20
        };

        cols.Append(c1);
        wspart.Worksheet.Append(cols);

The program runs and generates an excel file fine.

The code below complies and runs, but leaves me with a corrupt excel document. What am I doing wrong when I try to add columns?

    public static void createExcel() //TODO change to private
    {
        //create the spreadsheet document with openxml See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff478153.aspx
        SpreadsheetDocument spreadsheetDoc = SpreadsheetDocument.Create(@"C:\Users\Reid\Documents\BLA\test.xlsx", SpreadsheetDocumentType.Workbook); //TODO change path

        //add a workbook part
        WorkbookPart wbpart = spreadsheetDoc.AddWorkbookPart();
        wbpart.Workbook = new Workbook();

        //add a worksheet part
        WorksheetPart wspart = wbpart.AddNewPart<WorksheetPart>();
        Worksheet ws = new Worksheet(new SheetData());
        wspart.Worksheet = ws;

        //create a new sheets array
        Sheets sheets = spreadsheetDoc.WorkbookPart.Workbook.AppendChild<Sheets>(new Sheets());

        //create a new sheet
        Sheet sheet = new Sheet()
        {
            Id = spreadsheetDoc.WorkbookPart.GetIdOfPart(wspart),
            SheetId = 1,
            Name = "mySheet" //TODO change name
        };

        //add the sheet to the workbook sheet aray
        sheets.Append(sheet);

        SheetData shData = wspart.Worksheet.GetFirstChild<SheetData>();

        //////////////////////////////////row and col widths//////////////////////
        Columns cols = new Columns();

        Column c1 = new Column()
        {
            CustomWidth = true,
            Width = 20
        };

        cols.Append(c1);
        wspart.Worksheet.Append(cols);

        //create the first row
        Row r1 = new Row
        {
            RowIndex = 1,
            CustomHeight = true,
            Height = 71.25 //change height based on info
        };
        shData.Append(r1);
  ////////////////////////cell data/////////////////////////////////

        // In the new row, find the column location to insert a cell in A1.
        Cell refCell = null;
        foreach (Cell cell in r1.Elements<Cell>())
        {
            if (string.Compare(cell.CellReference.Value, "A1", true) > 0)
            {
                refCell = cell;
                break;
            }
        }
        // Add the cell to the cell table at A1.
        Cell newCell = new Cell() {
            CellReference = "A1",
        };
        r1.InsertBefore(newCell, refCell);

        // Set the cell value to be a numeric value of 100.
        newCell.CellValue = new CellValue("100");


        //TODO add in standard things (text that is always the same, headers, logos, etc.)

        //TODO add in dynamic text

        //TODO create and add in barcodes

        //Save and close the document
        wbpart.Workbook.Save();
        spreadsheetDoc.Close();

        //TODO send document to database
    }

Answer 1

I think the problem you're running into is creating and appending a NEW columns element to the existing worksheet content. I believe you need to append the new column to an existing columns element.

I created a workbook, saved it, added content in an empty column, then saved the workbook under a new name and closed it.

Using the Open XML SDK 2.5 Productivity Tool's "Compare" feature I selected the worksheet part containing the difference, selected it, then clicked "View Package Code". The code that generates the changed file with the new column from the original file shows me:

Columns columns1=worksheet1.GetFirstChild<Columns>();
//other code here
Column column1 = new Column(){ Min = (UInt32Value)5U, Max = (UInt32Value)5U, Width = 16D, CustomWidth = true };
columns1.Append(column1);

Note that it appears you're also expected to specify the column range of the new column.