Working with Excel in Go (Golang): Libraries, Examples, and Tools

Working with Excel in Go (Golang): Overview of Libraries and Practical Examples

Go (Golang) is a modern compiled programming language increasingly used for server-side applications, data processing, and office task automation. One common need is working with Excel spreadsheets. In this article, we will review the main libraries for working with Excel in Go, their capabilities, and provide practical code examples.

Main Libraries for Working with Excel in Go

Currently, the two most popular and functional libraries are:

• excelize (github.com/qax-os/excelize) — a powerful library for reading and writing Excel files (.xlsx format). Supports styles, formulas, charts, cell merging, sheet protection, and much more.
• tealeg/xlsx (github.com/tealeg/xlsx) — a lighter library for basic read and write operations on .xlsx files. Easy to learn but has fewer features.

In this guide, we will focus on the excelize library, as it is the de facto standard for working with Excel in Go.

Installing the excelize Library

First, install the library using the Go package manager:

go get github.com/qax-os/excelize/v2

After installation, you can import it into your project:

import "github.com/qax-os/excelize/v2"

Creating a New Excel File

Let's create a simple file with sales data:

package main

import (    "fmt"    "github.com/qax-os/excelize/v2")

func main() {    // Create a new file    f := excelize.NewFile()    defer f.Close()

    // Create a new sheet    index := f.NewSheet("Sales")        // Set cell values    f.SetCellValue("Sales", "A1", "Product")    f.SetCellValue("Sales", "B1", "Quantity")    f.SetCellValue("Sales", "C1", "Price")        f.SetCellValue("Sales", "A2", "Laptop")    f.SetCellValue("Sales", "B2", 15)    f.SetCellValue("Sales", "C2", 85000)        f.SetCellValue("Sales", "A3", "Monitor")    f.SetCellValue("Sales", "B3", 30)    f.SetCellValue("Sales", "C3", 32000)

    // Set the active sheet    f.SetActiveSheet(index)

    // Save the file    if err := f.SaveAs("sales.xlsx"); err != nil {        fmt.Println(err)    }        fmt.Println("File created successfully!")}

Reading an Existing Excel File

Now let's read the file we created earlier and output the data to the console:

package main

import (    "fmt"    "github.com/qax-os/excelize/v2")

func main() {    f, err := excelize.OpenFile("sales.xlsx")    if err != nil {        fmt.Println(err)        return    }    defer f.Close()

    // Get all rows from the "Sales" sheet    rows, err := f.GetRows("Sales")    if err != nil {        fmt.Println(err)        return    }

    for _, row := range rows {        for _, colCell := range row {            fmt.Print(colCell, "\\t")        }        fmt.Println()    }}

Cell Formatting and Styles

One of the strong points of excelize is style support. Here is an example of making headers bold and adding borders:

package main

import (    "fmt"    "github.com/qax-os/excelize/v2")

func main() {    f := excelize.NewFile()    defer f.Close()

    // Create a style for headers    style, err := f.NewStyle(&excelize.Style{        Font: &excelize.Font{            Bold: true,            Size: 12,        },        Border: []excelize.Border{            {Type: "left", Color: "000000", Style: 1},            {Type: "right", Color: "000000", Style: 1},            {Type: "top", Color: "000000", Style: 1},            {Type: "bottom", Color: "000000", S