Use cases

Write Excel Reports

Create a production-ready XLSX report from PHP data, add a header, improve navigation, and save it to an application-controlled path.

Updated July 30, 2026

PHP 8.1+Full packageNative XLSX

LevelBeginnerReading time11 minPackagemnb/mnb-phpexcel

MnbExcel::report()WorkbookBuilder::withHeader()WorkbookBuilder::freezeHeader()WorkbookBuilder::autoFilter()WorkbookBuilder::save()

What you will learn

Create a report from associative application rows.
Apply useful report defaults without manual OOXML work.
Save generated output to a controlled application directory.

Install the full package#

composer require mnb/mnb-phpexcel:^2.0

The report builder belongs to the main package and exposes a higher-level workflow than the individual format writers.

Create a complete report#

use Mnb\PHPExcel\MnbExcel;

$rows = [
    ['Order ID' => 'ORD-1001', 'Customer' => 'Arjun Stores', 'Amount' => 1250.50],
    ['Order ID' => 'ORD-1002', 'Customer' => 'Northwind Retail', 'Amount' => 899.00],
];

$path = MnbExcel::storagePath('exports', 'sales-report.xlsx');

MnbExcel::report($rows, template: 'business')
    ->title('Sales Report')
    ->withHeader()
    ->currencyColumns(['Amount'], '$')
    ->freezeHeader()
    ->autoFilter()
    ->autoWidth()
    ->save($path);

echo $path;

Developer contract and expected workbook#

Builder type: WorkbookBuilder
Chainable configuration: Title, headers, number formats, frozen panes, filters, widths, styles, and security.
Terminal operation: save($path)
Result: A generated workbook at the application-controlled path.
Memory behavior: Depends on source size and builder options; use large export workflows for very large datasets.
Errors: MnbExcelException or filesystem exceptions when output cannot be created.

Returnsvoid / saved fileShapeXLSX workbook saved to the selected path

Expected output

sales-report.xlsx
Sheet: Report
Rows: 3 including the header
Frozen header: yes
Auto filter: yes

Open the generated workbook in Excel or LibreOffice as part of release testing.

Production notes#

Generate filenames in the application; never concatenate a browser-supplied path.
Store files outside the public web root and stream them through a controlled download response.
Use known widths or a sample for very large exports because full auto-width scans data.
Escape formula-like text when exporting untrusted values.
Use a large export workflow when rows cannot safely be held in application memory.