How to Write Content to an Excel File in Laravel

A step-by-step guide on how to write content to an Excel file in Laravel using the Maatwebsite Excel library, allowing you to easily export data from your Laravel application to an Excel file.

We will use the Maatwebsite Excel library to write content to an Excel file in Laravel. This library provides simple and powerful methods for handling the export and writing of data to Excel files.

Step 1: Install the Maatwebsite Excel library

Run the following command in your terminal to install the library:

composer require maatwebsite/excel

Step 2: Configure Service Provider (for Laravel 5.4 and below)

Open config/app.php and add the following line to the providers array:

Maatwebsite\Excel\ExcelServiceProvider::class,

And add the following to the aliases array:

'Excel' => Maatwebsite\Excel\Facades\Excel::class,

Step 3: Create an Export Class

Run the following command to create an export class:

php artisan make:export UsersExport --model=User

Open the file app/Exports/UsersExport.php and modify it as follows:

namespace App\Exports;

use App\Models\User;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\FromCollection;

class UsersExport implements FromCollection
{
    public function collection()
    {
        return User::all();
    }
}

Step 4: Write content to the Excel file

You can export data to an Excel file using the following code in your controller:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Exports\UsersExport;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Facades\Excel;

class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function export()
    {
        return Excel::download(new UsersExport, 'users.xlsx');
    }
}

System Requirements

• Laravel 6.x or later
• PHP 7.3 or later
• maatwebsite/excel library version 3.1 or later

How to install libraries and configure to write content to an Excel file in Laravel

1. Run the command composer require maatwebsite/excel to install the library.
2. Ensure your Laravel and PHP versions meet the minimum requirements of the library.

Tips

• Validate your data before exporting to Excel to avoid errors or empty data.
• Use additional features of Maatwebsite Excel, such as formatting and styling, to create more professional Excel files.

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