NEWS!

Introducing .xlsx Support in the ACF Plugin

The ACF plugin now supports producing native Excel spreadsheets in the widely used .xlsx format!

The XLSX format is essentially a ZIP package containing various interrelated XML files that define the content, styles, and metadata of the spreadsheet. While this structure can be complex, the new ACF plugin functions handle all these intricacies for you. You can now focus on styling and populating your spreadsheets with content, leaving the technical details to the plugin.

This functionality, combined with the powerful SQL and array manipulation features already available in the ACF plugin, provides a robust toolset for creating sophisticated Excel exports.

Why Use XLSX Support?

While exporting data from FileMaker to an Excel file is straightforward, there are scenarios where more is required:

• Custom styling for cells, rows, or columns.
• Adding calculations or formulas specific to the spreadsheet.
• Creating complex, highly formatted reports or exports that go beyond basic data representation.

The first version of the ACF plugin with XLSX support is 1.7.3.0, which will be released soon.

Performance That Shines

The performance of the new Excel functions is outstanding. For example:

• Calculating all prime numbers below 50,000.
• Generating an Excel spreadsheet with 10 columns and 517 rows (approximately 5,000 numbers).
• Total time (release mode):
  • 82ms for calculating the primes.
  • 104ms Total time for generating prime numbers AND generating the spreadsheet.
  • This means only 22 ms to produce the spreadsheet alone.

We also had another test, producing a sample Excel workbook with two sheets. One with a order setup, and the other with a list of all defined styles showing how the styles look like. This sample workbook was produced in only 6 milliseconds. See the code for it here

This is faster and simpler than the previous method, which involved generating Excel 2007 XML format files. While that approach worked, it required significant effort to handle the XML structure. Additionally, such files used the .xml extension, which often required manual intervention to open in Excel.

Now, with the new XLSX support, the entire process is streamlined.

Example: Generating a Prime Numbers Spreadsheet

Below is an example of how to create an Excel spreadsheet listing all prime numbers below a given limit. The code demonstrates:

• Custom styling: Headers, title rows, and formatted cells.
• Dynamic content generation: Automatically populating rows and columns with data.

Code Example

Conclusion

The new Excel spreadsheet functionality in the ACF plugin makes it easier than ever to create fully styled, high-performance Excel exports. Whether for reporting, analysis, or sharing data, this feature adds significant value to your FileMaker development toolkit.

Try it out and see the difference it can make in your projects!