Reading legacy XLS files

Since the reader dependency avadim/fast-excel-reader ^4.0, this package reads the legacy binary XLS format (Excel 97-2003, BIFF8) in addition to XLSX.

How it works#

You do not choose the format — \Excel::open() detects it automatically from the file signature, not from the extension:

// Both work exactly the same way; a file named .xlsx that is really an XLS is handled correctly too
$excel = \Excel::open(storage_path('report.xls'));
$excel = \Excel::open(storage_path('report.xlsx'));

// The whole import API is identical regardless of the source format
$excel->withHeadings()->importModel(User::class);
$rows = $excel->readRows();

So there is nothing XLS-specific to call — headings, mapping, importModel(), read areas, readRows(), nextRow() and the other reading methods behave the same for XLS and XLSX. See Class ExcelReader and Class SheetReader.

What is supported#

When reading XLS, the underlying reader extracts:

• cell values and types (dates are detected through the number format);
• cell styles — fonts, fills, borders, alignment, number formats and palette colours;
• formula text (the f field carries the leading =, exactly as for XLSX);
• embedded images;
• multiple worksheets, including hidden and very hidden ones, merged cells and sheet dimensions.

Limitations#

• Writing XLS is not supported. This package writes XLSX only (\Excel::create() always produces an XLSX workbook). XLS is a read-only format here.
• Only Excel 97-2003 (BIFF8). Older BIFF5/BIFF7 workbooks (Excel 5.0/95) and encrypted workbooks are rejected with an explanatory exception.
• Reading XLS never uses a temporary directory — the temp_dir option (and the fast-excel.temp_dir config value) only affects XLSX reading.

For the full XLS feature matrix see the underlying library: https://github.com/aVadim483/fast-excel-reader#readme