Reading examples

Reading Excel examples, explained clearly.

Open a focused example to see the implementation path, copy-ready PHP, expected workbook behavior, and the production boundary that matters.

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11examples in this category

21focused categories

5implementation paths

Read XLSX rows

Read one worksheet into associative PHP rows while skipping empty records and enforcing a safe row limit.

EasyDirect API

MnbExcel::read()sheet()withHeaderRow()toArray()

<?php

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$rows = MnbExcel::read(__DIR__ . '/fixtures/students.xlsx')
    ->sheet('Students')
    ->withHeaderRow()
    ->toArray([
        'skip_empty_rows' => true,
        'max_rows' => 5000,
    ]);

foreach ($rows as $row) {
    echo $row['student_id'] . ': ' . $row['name'] . PHP_EOL;
}

List and select worksheets

Discover worksheet names first, then select a sheet by name instead of relying on workbook order.

EasyDirect API

MnbExcel::read()sheetNames()sheet()toArray()

<?php

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$workbook = MnbExcel::read(__DIR__ . '/fixtures/sales-workbook.xlsx');
$sheetNames = $workbook->sheetNames();

print_r($sheetNames);

$orders = $workbook
    ->sheet('Orders')
    ->withHeaderRow()
    ->toArray();

Detect the header row automatically

Inspect a messy worksheet, report the likely header row and confidence, then read using semantic header detection.

MediumDirect API

detectHeader()autoDetectHeader()headerAtPhysicalRow()toArray()

<?php

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$session = MnbExcel::read(__DIR__ . '/fixtures/vendor-export.xlsx')
    ->sheet(1);

$detection = $session->detectHeader([
    'header_detection_rows' => 30,
]);

printf(
    "Header row: %d (confidence %.2f)\n",
    $detection->row,
    $detection->confidence
);

$rows = $session
    ->autoDetectHeader(sampleRows: 30, minimumConfidence: 0.45)
    ->toArray([
        'strict_header_detection' => true,
        'header_case' => 'snake',
    ]);

Read selected rows and columns

Limit the source range and project only required worksheet columns before converting rows to PHP arrays.

MediumDirect API

range()projectColumns()withHeaderRow()selectColumns()

<?php

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$rows = MnbExcel::read(__DIR__ . '/fixtures/products.xlsx')
    ->sheet('Products')
    ->range(startRow: 1, endRow: 5000, startColumn: 'A', endColumn: 'F')
    ->projectColumns(['A', 'B', 'F'])
    ->withHeaderRow()
    ->toArray();

Read cells, formulas, dates, and metadata

Read direct cell values, ranges, calculated formulas, typed cell details, comments, hyperlinks, and worksheet metadata.

AdvancedDirect API

cell()rangeValues()calculatedCell()cellDetails()sheetMetadata()

<?php

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$sheet = MnbExcel::read(__DIR__ . '/fixtures/finance-report.xlsx')
    ->sheet('Summary');

$title = $sheet->cell('B2');
$monthlyTotals = $sheet->rangeValues('D5:D16');
$calculatedTotal = $sheet->calculatedCell('D17');
$details = $sheet->cellDetails('D17');
$metadata = $sheet->sheetMetadata();

print_r([
    'title' => $title,
    'monthly_totals' => $monthlyTotals,
    'formula' => $details->formula,
    'cached_value' => $details->cachedValue,
    'calculated_value' => $calculatedTotal,
    'comments' => $details->comments,
    'hyperlinks' => $details->hyperlinks,
    'sheet_summary' => $metadata['summary'] ?? [],
]);

Inspect an XLSX workbook without materializing rows

Inspect file size, encryption state, worksheet metadata, package warnings, and validation errors without converting worksheet cells into a complete PHP array.

EasyDirect API

MnbExcel::inspect()ReadSession::inspect()

<?php

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$inspection = MnbExcel::inspect(__DIR__ . '/fixtures/orders.xlsx');

print_r([
    'status' => $inspection['status'],
    'file' => $inspection['file'],
    'size_bytes' => $inspection['size_bytes'],
    'encrypted' => $inspection['encrypted'],
    'sheet_count' => count($inspection['sheets']),
    'warnings' => $inspection['warnings'],
    'errors' => $inspection['errors'],
]);

List worksheets and inspect their dimensions

List worksheet names directly, then inspect visibility, dimensions, declared last rows and columns, and physical row-tag counts.

EasyDirect API

MnbExcel::sheetNames()MnbExcel::inspect()

<?php

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$path = __DIR__ . '/fixtures/orders.xlsx';
$names = MnbExcel::sheetNames($path);
$inspection = MnbExcel::inspect($path);

print_r($names);

foreach ($inspection['sheets'] as $sheet) {
    printf(
        "%s: %s, dimension %s, declared row %s, row tags %s\n",
        $sheet['name'],
        $sheet['state'],
        $sheet['dimension'] ?? 'unknown',
        $sheet['declared_last_row'] ?? 'unknown',
        $sheet['row_tag_count'] ?? 'unknown'
    );
}

Find inspection metadata for one worksheet

Select one worksheet from the inspection result and read its dimensions, hidden rows and columns, merges, filters, and drawing flags.

MediumDirect API

MnbExcel::inspect()ReadSession::inspect()

<?php

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$inspection = MnbExcel::inspect(__DIR__ . '/fixtures/orders.xlsx');
$orders = null;

foreach ($inspection['sheets'] as $sheet) {
    if ($sheet['name'] === 'Orders') {
        $orders = $sheet;
        break;
    }
}

if ($orders === null) {
    throw new RuntimeException('Orders worksheet was not found.');
}

print_r([
    'dimension' => $orders['dimension'],
    'declared_last_row' => $orders['declared_last_row'],
    'declared_last_column' => $orders['declared_last_column'],
    'row_tag_count' => $orders['row_tag_count'],
    'hidden_row_count' => $orders['hidden_row_count'],
    'hidden_column_count' => $orders['hidden_column_count'],
    'has_merge_cells' => $orders['has_merge_cells'],
    'has_auto_filter' => $orders['has_auto_filter'],
    'has_drawing' => $orders['has_drawing'],
]);

Count rows without building a complete array

Stream normalized rows through the regular reader and count them without collecting the complete workbook result in memory.

MediumDirect API

ReadSession::countRows()MnbExcel::sheetNames()

<?php

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$path = __DIR__ . '/fixtures/orders.xlsx';

$filledRows = MnbExcel::read($path)
    ->sheet('Orders')
    ->withHeaderRow()
    ->countRows(['skip_empty_rows' => true]);

$allSheetCounts = [];
foreach (MnbExcel::sheetNames($path) as $name) {
    $allSheetCounts[$name] = MnbExcel::read($path)
        ->sheet($name)
        ->withHeaderRow()
        ->countRows(['skip_empty_rows' => true]);
}

print_r(compact('filledRows', 'allSheetCounts'));

Select an optional sheet or use the active sheet

Accept a nullable worksheet input without hiding non-empty typos, then continue with the workbook active sheet when no value was supplied.

EasyDirect API

ReadSession::sheetOrActive()ReadSession::sheetIfExists()ReadSession::activeSheet()

<?php


$requestedSheet = trim((string) ($_GET['sheet'] ?? ''));

$session = MnbExcel::read(__DIR__ . '/fixtures/report.xlsx')
    ->sheetOrActive($requestedSheet)
    ->withHeaderRow(1);

foreach ($session->rows() as $row) {
    print_r($row);
}

Check for data rows before collecting an array

Evaluate normalized rows after header and empty-row options, then materialize the result only when data exists.

EasyDirect API

ReadSession::isEmpty()ReadSession::hasRows()ReadSession::toArray()

<?php


$session = MnbExcel::read(__DIR__ . '/fixtures/orders.xlsx')
    ->sheet('Orders')
    ->withHeaderRow(1)
    ->withOptions(['skip_empty_rows' => true]);

if ($session->isEmpty()) {
    echo "No data rows.\n";
    return;
}

$rows = $session->toArray();

foreach ($rows as $row) {
    print_r($row);
}

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