Use Cases for Aspose.Cells FOSS for .NET

Aspose.Cells FOSS for .NET is a pure managed .NET library that reads and writes XLSX files without requiring Microsoft Office or any external dependencies. The following use cases illustrate where the library fits into real-world .NET applications.

Report Generation

Generate XLSX reports programmatically in server-side or batch applications. Use Workbook, Worksheet, and Cell.PutValue() to write structured data, then call Workbook.Save() to produce the file.

using Aspose.Cells_FOSS;

var wb = new Workbook();
var ws = wb.Worksheets[0];
ws.Name = "Monthly Report";

ws.Cells["A1"].PutValue("Product");
ws.Cells["B1"].PutValue("Revenue");

ws.Cells["A2"].PutValue("Widget A");
ws.Cells["B2"].PutValue(12500.00m);

ws.Cells["A3"].PutValue("Widget B");
ws.Cells["B3"].PutValue(8750.00m);

ws.Cells["B4"].Formula = "=SUM(B2:B3)";

wb.Save("monthly-report.xlsx");

This pattern scales to any number of rows and can be driven by data from a database or API response.

Processing Uploaded Spreadsheets

Read and validate XLSX files submitted by users through a web form or API endpoint. The Workbook constructor accepts a Stream, so no temporary file needs to be written to disk.

using Aspose.Cells_FOSS;

// IFormFile from ASP.NET Core controller
public async Task<IActionResult> Upload(IFormFile file)
{
    using var stream = file.OpenReadStream();
    var opts = new LoadOptions { TryRepairPackage = true };
    var wb = new Workbook(stream, opts);

    var ws = wb.Worksheets[0];
    var firstRow = ws.Cells["A1"].StringValue;
    // ... validate and process rows

    return Ok(new { sheets = wb.Worksheets.Count, firstCell = firstRow });
}

Use LoadDiagnostics.HasRepairs to detect files that required structural repair and surface that information to users.

Data Pipeline Extraction

Extract cell data from XLSX exports produced by third-party systems and feed values into a database or downstream service. Read cell values via Cell.StringValue and Cell.Value using row and column coordinates.

using Aspose.Cells_FOSS;

var wb = new Workbook("export.xlsx");
var ws = wb.Worksheets[0];

var records = new List<(string sku, double qty)>();
for (int row = 1; row <= 100; row++) // iterate known data range
{
    var sku = ws.Cells[row, 0].StringValue;
    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(sku)) break;
    var qty = (double)ws.Cells[row, 1].Value;
    records.Add((sku, qty));
}

Console.WriteLine($"Extracted {records.Count} records");

Applying Data Validation Before Save

Add dropdown or range validation rules before delivering an XLSX template to end users, ensuring they fill in only acceptable values.

using Aspose.Cells_FOSS;

var wb = new Workbook();
var ws = wb.Worksheets[0];

// Status column: dropdown
var statusVal = ws.Validations[ws.Validations.Add(CellArea.CreateCellArea("A2", "A100"))];
statusVal.Type = ValidationType.List;
statusVal.Formula1 = "\"Open,In Progress,Closed\"";
statusVal.InCellDropDown = true;

// Score column: 0–10 decimal range
var scoreVal = ws.Validations[ws.Validations.Add(CellArea.CreateCellArea("B2", "B100"))];
scoreVal.Type = ValidationType.Decimal;
scoreVal.Operator = OperatorType.Between;
scoreVal.Formula1 = "0";
scoreVal.Formula2 = "10";
scoreVal.ShowError = true;

wb.Save("template-with-validation.xlsx");

Styling Output for Readability

Apply cell styles — fonts, fill colours, number formats, borders — to produce polished output. Create a Style instance directly, configure its properties, and apply it with Cell.SetStyle().

using Aspose.Cells_FOSS;

var wb = new Workbook();
var ws = wb.Worksheets[0];

// Header style
var headerStyle = new Style();
headerStyle.Font.IsBold = true;
headerStyle.Font.Size = 12;
headerStyle.ForegroundColor = System.Drawing.Color.FromArgb(0x4F, 0x81, 0xBD);
headerStyle.Pattern = FillPattern.Solid;

ws.Cells["A1"].PutValue("Name");
ws.Cells["B1"].PutValue("Score");
ws.Cells["A1"].SetStyle(headerStyle);
ws.Cells["B1"].SetStyle(headerStyle);

// Number format for score column
var numStyle = new Style();
numStyle.Custom = "0.00";
ws.Cells["B2"].SetStyle(numStyle);
ws.Cells["B2"].PutValue(98.5m);

wb.Save("styled-report.xlsx");