Interface Cell

  • All Known Implementing Classes:
    CellBase, HSSFCell

    public interface Cell
    High level representation of a cell in a row of a spreadsheet.

    Cells can be numeric, formula-based or string-based (text). The cell type specifies this. String cells cannot conatin numbers and numeric cells cannot contain strings (at least according to our model). Client apps should do the conversions themselves. Formula cells have the formula string, as well as the formula result, which can be numeric or string.

    Cells should have their number (0 based) before being added to a row.

    • Method Detail

      • getColumnIndex

        int getColumnIndex()
        Returns column index of this cell
        Returns:
        zero-based column index of a column in a sheet.
      • getRowIndex

        int getRowIndex()
        Returns row index of a row in the sheet that contains this cell
        Returns:
        zero-based row index of a row in the sheet that contains this cell
      • getSheet

        Sheet getSheet()
        Returns the sheet this cell belongs to
        Returns:
        the sheet this cell belongs to
      • getRow

        Row getRow()
        Returns the Row this cell belongs to
        Returns:
        the Row that owns this cell
      • setCellType

        @Deprecated
        @Removal(version="5.0")
        void setCellType​(CellType cellType)
        Deprecated.
        This method is deprecated and will be removed in POI 5.0. Use explicit setCellFormula(String), setCellValue(...) or setBlank() to get the desired result.
        Set the cells type (blank, numeric, boolean, error or string).

        If the cell currently contains a value, the value will be converted to match the new type, if possible. Formatting is generally lost in the process however.

        Conversion rules:

        to NUMERIC: numeric value is left as is. True converts to 1.0, false converts to 0. otherwise, the value is set to 0. Formula is removed.

        If what you want to do is get a String value for your numeric cell, stop! This is not the way to do it. Instead, for fetching the string value of a numeric or boolean or date cell, use DataFormatter instead.

        If cell is a member of an array formula group containing more than 1 cell, an IllegalStateException is thrown. If the array formula group contains only this cell, it is removed.

        Passing CellType.FORMULA is illegal and will result in an IllegalArgumentException.

        Throws:
        IllegalArgumentException - if the specified cell type is invalid (null, _NONE or FORMULA)
        IllegalStateException - if the current value cannot be converted to the new type or if the cell is a part of an array formula group containing other cells
      • setBlank

        void setBlank()
        Removes formula and value from the cell, and sets its type to CellType.BLANK. Preserves comments and hyperlinks. While setCellType(CellType) exists, is an alias for setCellType(CellType.BLANK).
      • getCellType

        CellType getCellType()
        Return the cell type.
        Returns:
        the cell type
      • setCellValue

        void setCellValue​(double value)
        Set a numeric value for the cell.
        Parameters:
        value - the numeric value to set this cell to. For formulas, we'll set the precalculated value, for numerics we'll set its value. For other types, we will change the cell to a numeric cell and set its value.
      • setCellValue

        void setCellValue​(Date value)

        Converts the supplied date to its equivalent Excel numeric value and sets that into the cell.

        Note - There is actually no 'DATE' cell type in Excel. In many cases (when entering date values), Excel automatically adjusts the cell style to some date format, creating the illusion that the cell data type is now something besides CellType.NUMERIC. POI does not attempt to replicate this behaviour. To make a numeric cell display as a date, use setCellStyle(CellStyle) etc.

        Parameters:
        value - the numeric value to set this cell to. For formulas, we'll set the precalculated value, for numerics we'll set its value. For other types, we will change the cell to a numerics cell and set its value.
      • setCellValue

        void setCellValue​(LocalDateTime value)

        Converts the supplied date to its equivalent Excel numeric value and sets that into the cell.

        Note - There is actually no 'DATE' cell type in Excel. In many cases (when entering date values), Excel automatically adjusts the cell style to some date format, creating the illusion that the cell data type is now something besides CellType.NUMERIC. POI does not attempt to replicate this behaviour. To make a numeric cell display as a date, use setCellStyle(CellStyle) etc.

        Parameters:
        value - the numeric value to set this cell to. For formulas, we'll set the precalculated value, for numerics we'll set its value. For other types, we will change the cell to a numerics cell and set its value.
      • setCellValue

        default void setCellValue​(LocalDate value)

        Converts the supplied date to its equivalent Excel numeric value and sets that into the cell.

        Note - There is actually no 'DATE' cell type in Excel. In many cases (when entering date values), Excel automatically adjusts the cell style to some date format, creating the illusion that the cell data type is now something besides CellType.NUMERIC. POI does not attempt to replicate this behaviour. To make a numeric cell display as a date, use setCellStyle(CellStyle) etc.

        Parameters:
        value - the numeric value to set this cell to. For formulas, we'll set the precalculated value, for numerics we'll set its value. For other types, we will change the cell to a numerics cell and set its value.
      • setCellValue

        void setCellValue​(Calendar value)

        Set a date value for the cell. Excel treats dates as numeric so you will need to format the cell as a date.

        This will set the cell value based on the Calendar's timezone. As Excel does not support timezones this means that both 20:00+03:00 and 20:00-03:00 will be reported as the same value (20:00) even that there are 6 hours difference between the two times. This difference can be preserved by using setCellValue(value.getTime()) which will automatically shift the times to the default timezone.

        Parameters:
        value - the date value to set this cell to. For formulas, we'll set the precalculated value, for numerics we'll set its value. For other types, we will change the cell to a numeric cell and set its value.
      • setCellValue

        void setCellValue​(RichTextString value)
        Set a rich string value for the cell.
        Parameters:
        value - value to set the cell to. For formulas, we'll set the formula string, for String cells we'll set its value. For other types, we will change the cell to a string cell and set its value. If value is null then we will change the cell to a Blank cell.
      • setCellValue

        void setCellValue​(String value)
        Set a string value for the cell.
        Parameters:
        value - value to set the cell to. For formulas, we'll set the formula string, for String cells we'll set its value. For other types, we will change the cell to a string cell and set its value. If value is null then we will change the cell to a Blank cell.
      • setCellFormula

        void setCellFormula​(String formula)
                     throws FormulaParseException,
                            IllegalStateException
        Sets formula for this cell.

        If formula is not null, sets or updates the formula. If formula is null, removes the formula. Or use removeFormula() to remove the formula.

        Note, this method only sets the formula string and does not calculate the formula value. To set the precalculated value use setCellValue(double).

        If the cell was blank, sets value to 0. Otherwise, preserves the value as precalculated.

        In XSSF implementation, there is a XSSFWorkbook.setCellFormulaValidation(boolean) setting that can validate (but also in some cases, reformat) the formula.

        Parameters:
        formula - the formula to set, e.g. "SUM(C4:E4)". If the argument is null then the current formula is removed.
        Throws:
        IllegalStateException - if this cell is a part of an array formula group containing other cells
        FormulaParseException - if the formula has incorrect syntax or is otherwise invalid
        See Also:
        removeFormula(), Workbook.setForceFormulaRecalculation(boolean)
      • removeFormula

        void removeFormula()
                    throws IllegalStateException
        Removes formula, if any. If cell was blank, leaves it as is. If it is a part of an array formula group, blanks the cell. If has a regular formula, removes the formula preserving the "cached" value.
        Throws:
        IllegalStateException - if cell is a part of an array formula group containing other cells
      • getRichStringCellValue

        RichTextString getRichStringCellValue()
        Get the value of the cell as a XSSFRichTextString

        For numeric cells we throw an exception. For blank cells we return an empty string. For formula cells we return the pre-calculated value if a string, otherwise an exception.

        Returns:
        the value of the cell as a XSSFRichTextString
      • getStringCellValue

        String getStringCellValue()
        Get the value of the cell as a string

        For numeric cells we throw an exception. For blank cells we return an empty string. For formulaCells that are not string Formulas, we throw an exception.

        Returns:
        the value of the cell as a string
      • setCellValue

        void setCellValue​(boolean value)
        Set a boolean value for the cell
        Parameters:
        value - the boolean value to set this cell to. For formulas, we'll set the precalculated value, for booleans we'll set its value. For other types, we will change the cell to a boolean cell and set its value.
      • setCellErrorValue

        void setCellErrorValue​(byte value)
        Set an error value for the cell
        Parameters:
        value - the error value to set this cell to. For formulas, we'll set the precalculated value , for errors we'll set its value. For other types, we will change the cell to an error cell and set its value.
        See Also:
        FormulaError
      • getErrorCellValue

        byte getErrorCellValue()
        Get the value of the cell as an error code.

        For strings, numbers, and booleans, we throw an exception. For blank cells we return a 0.

        Returns:
        the value of the cell as an error code
        Throws:
        IllegalStateException - if the cell type returned by getCellType() isn't CellType.ERROR
        See Also:
        for error codes
      • setCellStyle

        void setCellStyle​(CellStyle style)

        Set the style for the cell. The style should be an CellStyle created/retrieved from the Workbook.

        To change the style of a cell without affecting other cells that use the same style, use CellUtil.setCellStyleProperties(Cell, Map)

        Parameters:
        style - reference contained in the workbook. If the value is null then the style information is removed causing the cell to used the default workbook style.
        See Also:
        Workbook.createCellStyle()
      • getCellStyle

        CellStyle getCellStyle()
        Return the cell's style.
        Returns:
        the cell's style. Always not-null. Default cell style has zero index and can be obtained as workbook.getCellStyleAt(0)
        See Also:
        Workbook.getCellStyleAt(int)
      • setAsActiveCell

        void setAsActiveCell()
        Sets this cell as the active cell for the worksheet
      • getAddress

        CellAddress getAddress()
        Gets the address of this cell
        Returns:
        A1 style address of this cell
        Since:
        3.14beta1
      • setCellComment

        void setCellComment​(Comment comment)
        Assign a comment to this cell
        Parameters:
        comment - comment associated with this cell
      • getCellComment

        Comment getCellComment()
        Returns comment associated with this cell
        Returns:
        comment associated with this cell or null if not found
      • removeCellComment

        void removeCellComment()
        Removes the comment for this cell, if there is one.
      • getHyperlink

        Hyperlink getHyperlink()
        Returns:
        hyperlink associated with this cell or null if not found
      • setHyperlink

        void setHyperlink​(Hyperlink link)
        Assign a hyperlink to this cell
        Parameters:
        link - hyperlink associated with this cell
      • removeHyperlink

        void removeHyperlink()
        Removes the hyperlink for this cell, if there is one.
      • getArrayFormulaRange

        CellRangeAddress getArrayFormulaRange()
        Only valid for array formula cells
        Returns:
        range of the array formula group that the cell belongs to.
      • isPartOfArrayFormulaGroup

        boolean isPartOfArrayFormulaGroup()
        Returns:
        true if this cell is part of group of cells having a common array formula.