Read Excel Content Using Laravel

A detailed guide on reading Excel file content in Laravel using the Laravel Excel package. This article provides sample code, a step-by-step explanation, and instructions for installing the necessary package.

We will use the Laravel Excel package to read data from an Excel file. The code will open the file, read each row and column, and display the data on a web page.

Step 1: Install the Laravel Excel package

composer require maatwebsite/excel

Step 2: Reading the Excel file

Create a controller with the following command:

php artisan make:controller ExcelController

In ExcelController.php:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Facades\Excel;

class ExcelController extends Controller
{
    public function import()
    {
        $path = storage_path('app/public/sample.xlsx');
        $data = Excel::toArray([], $path);

        // Display the content of the Excel file
        foreach ($data[0] as $row) {
            echo implode("\t", $row) . "<br>";
        }
    }
}

Step 3: Define a route for the import method In the web.php file:

use App\Http\Controllers\ExcelController; Route::get('/import-excel', [ExcelController::class, 'import']);

Detailed explanation

1. composer require maatwebsite/excel: Installs the Laravel Excel package.
2. use Maatwebsite\Excel\Facades\Excel;: Uses the Excel facade provided by the Laravel Excel package.
3. $path = storage_path('app/public/sample.xlsx');: Sets the path to the Excel file.
4. $data = Excel::toArray([], $path);: Reads the Excel file content into the $data variable.
5. foreach ($data[0] as $row): Iterates through each row of the first sheet.
6. echo implode("\t", $row) . "<br>";: Prints each row's content on the screen.

System Requirements

• PHP: 7.3 or later
• Laravel: 8.x or later
• Laravel Excel package: Version 3.1 or newer

How to install the libraries needed to run the Laravel code above

1. Run composer require maatwebsite/excel to install the Laravel Excel package.
2. Ensure the Excel file you want to read is located in the storage/app/public directory.

Tips

• Make sure to check file permissions for the storage directory before attempting to read the file.
• Utilize Laravel Excel's methods like toCollection() or toArray() for more flexible data handling.