/** @page getting_started Getting Started with libxlsxwriter Here are some instructions to get you up and running with the libxlsxwriter library on a Unix system. For Windows see the @ref faq "FAQ". ## Installation ### Install the dependencies There is only one (non-testing) dependency: `zlib`. [Zlib](http://www.zlib.net) is required for its shared objects and header files. On a Debian Linux system you can install them using `apt-get` as follows: sudo apt-get install -y zlib1g-dev On systems without a package manager the following should work: curl -O -L http://zlib.net/zlib-1.2.8.tar.gz tar zxf zlib-1.2.8.tar.gz cd zlib-1.2.8 ./configure make sudo make install ### Clone the libxlsxwriter repository Clone the libxlsxwriter source code repository from GitHub as follows (or using your preferred protocol): git clone https://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter.git If you prefer you can get a tarball of the latest code: curl -O -L http://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter/archive/master.tar.gz ### Build the source code Build the source code as follows: cd libxlsxwriter make This will create a static and dynamic library in the local `./lib` directory: ls lib libxlsxwriter.a libxlsxwriter.so ### Try an example If there weren't any warnings or errors in the previous step (and there shouldn't have been) then you can build the programs in the `examples` directory and try one of them out: make examples ./examples/hello This will create a `hello_world.xlsx` file in your current directory. Open the file as follows, or directly from a spreadsheet application: xdg-open hello_world.xlsx # Linux. Usually. open hello_world.xlsx # Mac OS X if Excel is installed. The output should look like this: @image html hello01.png There is a large range of tests that you can run but they have some additional dependencies. If you are interested see @ref running_the_tests. ### Install the library Libxlsxwriter supports a simplified installation scheme for a static and dynamic/shared library and header files. The installation has been tested on Linux and OS X: sudo make install This isn't fool proof but if it fails on your system you will probably know exactly how to fix it or have no idea how to fix it. I'm hoping for the former. ## TL;DR If you prefer to assemble Ikea furniture first and read the instructions later then the following minimal set of commands should get you up and going on a Debian like system: sudo apt-get install -y zlib1g-dev git clone https://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter.git cd libxlsxwriter make sudo make install # Using the library Using you favourite editor Emacs create a file like the following called `myexcel.c`: @code #include "xlsxwriter.h" int main() { lxw_workbook *workbook = new_workbook("myexcel.xlsx"); lxw_worksheet *worksheet = workbook_add_worksheet(workbook, NULL); int row = 0; int col = 0; worksheet_write_string(worksheet, row, col, "Hello me!", NULL); return workbook_close(workbook); } @endcode If you executed the `"make install"` command in the previous section then you should be able to compile the program as follows: cc myexcel.c -o myexcel -lxlsxwriter This will create an executable that you can run to generate an Excel spreadsheet: ./myexcel xdg-open myexcel.xlsx If the installation didn't work for you then you can link against the static library you created in the "Build the source code" step: cc myexcel.c -o myexcel -I /path/to/libxlsxwriter/include /path/to/libxlsxwriter/lib/libxlsxwriter.a -lz And that's it! In the next sections we will look at some more detailed examples. Next: @ref tutorial01 */