How to use PHPExcel correctly with Symfony 2

Question

I need to use PHPExcel with a Symfony2 project. Anyone know how to set up the project correctly to use the library? Should i put it in the vendor directory? What should be changed in the configuration files etc?

Answer 1

Actually, to do it right you need to follow next steps:

• Edit your deps file and add dependency from the PHPExcel

[PHPExcel]
git=http://github.com/PHPOffice/PHPExcel.git
target=/phpexcel
version=origin/master

• Run php bin/vendors install in order to install all missing dependencies (PHPExcel in our case)

• Update prefixes section in app/autoload.php:

$loader->registerPrefixes(array(
    // ...
    'PHPExcel'         => __DIR__.'/../vendor/phpexcel/Classes',
));

• Done. Now, you can use it in your bundle's controller (code based on PHPExcel example from Tests/01simple-download-xls.php):

<?php
namespace Demo\MyBundle\Controller;

use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\Controller;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;
use PHPExcel;
use PHPExcel_IOFactory;

class DemoController extends Controller
{
   public function demoAction()
   { 
       $response = new Response();

       // Create new PHPExcel object
       $objPHPExcel = new PHPExcel();

       // Set document properties
       $objPHPExcel->getProperties()->setCreator("Me")
                   ->setLastModifiedBy("Someone")
                   ->setTitle("My first demo")
                   ->setSubject("Demo Document");
       // Add some data
       $objPHPExcel->setActiveSheetIndex(0)
                   ->setCellValue('A1', 'Hello')
                   ->setCellValue('B2', 'world!')
                   ->setCellValue('C1', 'Hello')
                   ->setCellValue('D2', 'world!');
       // Set active sheet index to the first sheet
       $objPHPExcel->setActiveSheetIndex(0);

       // Redirect output to a client’s web browser (Excel5)
       $response->headers->set('Content-Type', 'application/vnd.ms-excel');
       $response->headers->set('Content-Disposition', 'attachment;filename="demo.xls"');
       $response->headers->set('Cache-Control', 'max-age=0');
       $response->prepare();
       $response->sendHeaders();
       $objWriter = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createWriter($objPHPExcel, 'Excel5');
       $objWriter->save('php://output');
       exit();
   }
}