Just before Christmas 2012 I got a comment from Gilbert where he informed me that he had written an Export-Xlsx function and had borrowed some of the parameters that were on the original Export-Xls function. We exchanged a couple of emails with suggestions and ideas, and yesterday the finalised Export-Xlsx function was posted on Gilbert’s ITPilgrims blog (which you should follow btw) in his Export-Xlsx post.

In this post I will publish this new Export-Xlsx function with some annotations, and I will also show how you can now export your data in the order you want, provided you’re using PowerShell v3.

The script

Function Export-Xlsx {

<#
.SYNOPSIS
  Exports data to an Excel workbook
.DESCRIPTION
  Exports data to an Excel workbook and applies cosmetics. 
  Optionally add a title, autofilter, autofit and a chart.
  Allows for export to .xls and .xlsx format. If .xlsx is
  specified but not available (Excel 2003) the data will
  be exported to .xls.
.NOTES
  Author:  Gilbert van Griensven
  Based on
  https://www.lucd.info/2010/05/29/beyond-export-csv-export-xls/
.PARAMETER InputData
  The data to be exported to Excel
.PARAMETER Path
  The path of the Excel file. 
  Defaults to %HomeDrive%\Export.xlsx.
.PARAMETER WorksheetName
  The name of the worksheet. Defaults to filename
  in $Path without extension.
.PARAMETER ChartType
  Name of an Excel chart to be added.
.PARAMETER Title
  Adds a title to the worksheet.
.PARAMETER SheetPosition
  Adds the worksheet either to the 'begin' or 'end' of
  the Excel file. This parameter is ignored when creating
  a new Excel file.
.PARAMETER ChartOnNewSheet
  Adds a chart to a new worksheet instead of to the
  worksheet containing data. The Chart will be placed after
  the sheet containing data. Only works when parameter
  ChartType is used.
.PARAMETER AppendWorksheet
  Appends a worksheet to an existing Excel file.
  This parameter is ignored when creating a new Excel file.
.PARAMETER Borders
  Adds borders to all cells. Defaults to True.
.PARAMETER HeaderColor
  Applies background color to the header row. 
  Defaults to True.
.PARAMETER AutoFit
  Apply autofit to columns. Defaults to True.
.PARAMETER AutoFilter
  Apply autofilter. Defaults to True.
.PARAMETER PassThrough
  When enabled returns file object of the generated file.
.PARAMETER Force
  Overwrites existing Excel sheet. When this switch is
  not used but the Excel file already exists, a new file
  with datestamp will be generated. This switch is ignored
  when using the AppendWorksheet switch.
.EXAMPLE
  Get-Process | Export-Xlsx D:\Data\ProcessList.xlsx
.EXAMPLE
  Get-ADuser -Filter {enabled -ne $True} | 
  Select-Object Name,Surname,GivenName,DistinguishedName | 
  Export-Xlsx -Path 'D:\Data\Disabled Users.xlsx' -Title 'Disabled users of Contoso.com'
.EXAMPLE
  Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | 
  Export-Xlsx -Path D:\Data\Processes_by_CPU.xlsx
.EXAMPLE
  Export-Xlsx (Get-Process) -AutoFilter:$False -PassThrough |
  Invoke-Item
#>

  [CmdletBinding()]
  Param (
    [Parameter(Position=0,Mandatory=$True,ValueFromPipeline=$True)]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    $InputData,
    [Parameter(Position=1)]
    [ValidateScript({
        $ReqExt = [System.IO.Path]::GetExtension($_)
        (          $ReqExt -eq ".xls") -or
        (          $ReqExt -eq ".xlsx")
      })]
    $Path = (Join-Path $env:HomeDrive "Export.xlsx"),
    [Parameter(Position=2)] $WorksheetName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($Path),
    [Parameter(Position=3)]
    [ValidateSet("xl3DArea","xl3DAreaStacked","xl3DAreaStacked100","xl3DBarClustered",
      "xl3DBarStacked","xl3DBarStacked100","xl3DColumn","xl3DColumnClustered",
      "xl3DColumnStacked","xl3DColumnStacked100","xl3DLine","xl3DPie",
      "xl3DPieExploded","xlArea","xlAreaStacked","xlAreaStacked100",
      "xlBarClustered","xlBarOfPie","xlBarStacked","xlBarStacked100",
      "xlBubble","xlBubble3DEffect","xlColumnClustered","xlColumnStacked",
      "xlColumnStacked100","xlConeBarClustered","xlConeBarStacked","xlConeBarStacked100",
      "xlConeCol","xlConeColClustered","xlConeColStacked","xlConeColStacked100",
      "xlCylinderBarClustered","xlCylinderBarStacked","xlCylinderBarStacked100","xlCylinderCol",
      "xlCylinderColClustered","xlCylinderColStacked","xlCylinderColStacked100","xlDoughnut",
      "xlDoughnutExploded","xlLine","xlLineMarkers","xlLineMarkersStacked",
      "xlLineMarkersStacked100","xlLineStacked","xlLineStacked100","xlPie",
      "xlPieExploded","xlPieOfPie","xlPyramidBarClustered","xlPyramidBarStacked",
      "xlPyramidBarStacked100","xlPyramidCol","xlPyramidColClustered","xlPyramidColStacked",
      "xlPyramidColStacked100","xlRadar","xlRadarFilled","xlRadarMarkers",
      "xlStockHLC","xlStockOHLC","xlStockVHLC","xlStockVOHLC",
      "xlSurface","xlSurfaceTopView","xlSurfaceTopViewWireframe","xlSurfaceWireframe",
      "xlXYScatter","xlXYScatterLines","xlXYScatterLinesNoMarkers","xlXYScatterSmooth",
      "xlXYScatterSmoothNoMarkers")]
    [PSObject] $ChartType,
    [Parameter(Position=4)] $Title,
    [Parameter(Position=5)] [ValidateSet("begin","end")] $SheetPosition = "begin",
    [Switch] $ChartOnNewSheet,
    [Switch] $AppendWorksheet,
    [Switch] $Borders = $True,
    [Switch] $HeaderColor = $True,
    [Switch] $AutoFit = $True,
    [Switch] $AutoFilter = $True,
    [Switch] $PassThrough,
    [Switch] $Force
  )
  
  Begin {
    Function Convert-NumberToA1 {
      Param([parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [int]$number)
      $a1Value = $null
      While ($number -gt 0) {
        $multiplier = [int][system.math]::Floor(($number / 26))
        $charNumber = $number - ($multiplier * 26)
        If ($charNumber -eq 0) { $multiplier-- ; $charNumber = 26 }
        $a1Value = [char]($charNumber + 96) + $a1Value
        $number = $multiplier
      }
      Return $a1Value
    }

    $Script:WorkingData = @()
  }
  
  Process {
    $Script:WorkingData += $InputData
  }
  
  End {
    $Props = $Script:WorkingData[0].PSObject.properties | % { $_.Name }
    $Rows = $Script:WorkingData.Count+1
    $Cols = $Props.Count
    $A1Cols = Convert-NumberToA1 $Cols
    $Array = New-Object 'object[,]' $Rows,$Cols

    $Col = 0
    $Props | % {
      $Array[0,$Col] = $_.ToString()
      $Col++
    }

    $Row = 1
    $Script:WorkingData | % {
      $Item = $_
      $Col = 0
      $Props | % {
        If ($Item.($_) -eq $Null) {
          $Array[$Row,$Col] = ""
        } Else {
          $Array[$Row,$Col] = $Item.($_).ToString()
        }
        $Col++
      }
      $Row++
    }

    $xl = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
    $xl.DisplayAlerts = $False
    $xlFixedFormat = [Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XLFileFormat]::xlWorkbookNormal

    If ([System.IO.Path]::GetExtension($Path) -eq '.xlsx') {
      If ($xl.Version -lt 12) {
        $Path = $Path.Replace(".xlsx",".xls")
      } Else {
        $xlFixedFormat = [Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XLFileFormat]::xlWorkbookDefault
      }
    }

    If (Test-Path -Path $Path -PathType "Leaf") {
      If ($AppendWorkSheet) {
        $wb = $xl.Workbooks.Open($Path)
        If ($SheetPosition -eq "end") {
          $wb.Worksheets.Add([System.Reflection.Missing]::Value,$wb.Sheets.Item($wb.Sheets.Count)) | Out-Null
        } Else {
          $wb.Worksheets.Add($wb.Worksheets.Item(1)) | Out-Null
        }
      } Else {
        If (!($Force)) {
          $Path = $Path.Insert($Path.LastIndexOf(".")," - $(Get-Date -Format "ddMMyyyy-HHmm")")
        }
        $wb = $xl.Workbooks.Add()
        While ($wb.Worksheets.Count -gt 1) { $wb.Worksheets.Item(1).Delete() }
      }
    } Else {
      $wb = $xl.Workbooks.Add()
      While ($wb.Worksheets.Count -gt 1) { $wb.Worksheets.Item(1).Delete() }
    }

    $ws = $wb.ActiveSheet
    Try { $ws.Name = $WorksheetName }
    Catch { }

    If ($Title) {
      $ws.Cells.Item(1,1) = $Title
      $TitleRange = $ws.Range("a1","$($A1Cols)2")
      $TitleRange.Font.Size = 18
      $TitleRange.Font.Bold=$True
      $TitleRange.Font.Name = "Cambria"
      $TitleRange.Font.ThemeFont = 1
      $TitleRange.Font.ThemeColor = 4
      $TitleRange.Font.ColorIndex = 55
      $TitleRange.Font.Color = 8210719
      $TitleRange.Merge()
      $TitleRange.VerticalAlignment = -4160
      $usedRange = $ws.Range("a3","$($A1Cols)$($Rows + 2)")
      If ($HeaderColor) {
        $ws.Range("a3","$($A1Cols)3").Interior.ColorIndex = 48
        $ws.Range("a3","$($A1Cols)3").Font.Bold = $True
      }
    } Else {
      $usedRange = $ws.Range("a1","$($A1Cols)$($Rows)")
      If ($HeaderColor) {
        $ws.Range("a1","$($A1Cols)1").Interior.ColorIndex = 48
        $ws.Range("a1","$($A1Cols)1").Font.Bold = $True
      }
    }

    $usedRange.Value2 = $Array

    If ($Borders) {
      $usedRange.Borders.LineStyle = 1
      $usedRange.Borders.Weight = 2
    }

    If ($AutoFilter) { $usedRange.AutoFilter() | Out-Null }

    If ($AutoFit) { $ws.UsedRange.EntireColumn.AutoFit() | Out-Null }

    If ($ChartType) {
      [Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XlChartType]$ChartType = $ChartType
      If ($ChartOnNewSheet) {
        $wb.Charts.Add().ChartType = $ChartType
        $wb.ActiveChart.setSourceData($usedRange)
        Try { $wb.ActiveChart.Name = "$($WorksheetName) - Chart" }
        Catch { }
        $wb.ActiveChart.Move([System.Reflection.Missing]::Value,$wb.Sheets.Item($ws.Name))
      } Else {
        $ws.Shapes.AddChart($ChartType).Chart.setSourceData($usedRange) | Out-Null
      }
    }

    $wb.SaveAs($Path,$xlFixedFormat)
    $wb.Close()
    $xl.Quit()

    While ([System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($usedRange)) {}
    While ([System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($ws)) {}
    If ($Title) { While ([System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($TitleRange)) {} }
    While ([System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($wb)) {}
    While ([System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($xl)) {}
    [GC]::Collect()

    If ($PassThrough) { Return Get-Item $Path }
  }
}

Annotations

Line 76-80: Parameter validation code block that checks if the requested file is of the type XLS or XLSX

Line 81: The default save location is in the user’s home drive and the default filename is Export.Xslx

Line 82: The default worksheetname is the name of the file

Line 84-102: The enumerated accepted charttypes.

Line 117-128: An internal helper function that converts a number to an Excel column name. For example the number 28 is converted to the column AB.

Line 133-135: Copy the data that was passed to the function to the internal WorkingData array. Note that the function can be used in a pipeline, so the Process block will collect all data passed through the pipeline into this WorkingData array.

Line 138-163: The input data is collected into a 2-dimensional array.

Line 169-175: If the function discovers that the local Excel installation is not Excel 2010, then the filetype will be changed to XLS.

Line 178-184: This part of the code configures the requested location of the worksheet. The accepted values are begin and end.

Line 186-188: If the Force switch was not used in the call and the requested file already exists, the function will add a timestamp to the name, to guarantee a unique filename.

Line 201-224: Handles the worksheet Title and the Header Colour.

Line 228-231: Handles the Borders switch.

Line 233: Handles the AutoFilter switch

Line 235: Handles the AutoFit switch

Line 237-248: Creates a chart, if requested, and handles the ChartOnNewSheet switch.

Line 254-259: This avoids having to kill the Excel process by clearing all the allocated COM object

Sample Usage

Export-Xlsx

The Export-Xlsx function provides several of the parameters that were there in the Export-Xls function, and adds a couple of new ones. Let’s explore.

Get-Process |
Select Name,Id,Handles |
Export-Xlsx -Path C:\report.xlsx

This produces an XLSX file with 1 worksheet, notice the default worksheet name and how Autofit, Autofilter and Borders are selected by default.

Now lets try to add a chart.

Get-Process |
Select ProcessName,WorkingSet -First 10 |
Export-Xlsx -Path C:\report.xlsx -ChartType xlColumnClustered

The result looks like this

You can also use multiple values in the chart.

Get-Process | 
Select ProcessName,WorkingSet,VirtualMemorySize -First 10 |
Export-Xlsx -Path C:\report.xlsx -ChartType xlColumnClustered -WorksheetName MyGraph -ChartOnNewSheet

And this produces an XLSX file with on one worksheet the data

And on a separate worksheet the chart.

Ordered data

With PowerShell v3 the [ordered] cast was made available as an accelerator. The functionality that this brings was something that was asked by many users in the previous PowerShell versions.

To use this accelerator is quite easy. The following code snippet will show you how it is done and what the effect on the results is.

Get-Process | %{
$object = @{
Name = $_.Name
Handles = $_.Handles
Id = $_.Id
ProcessName = $_.ProcessName
}
New-Object PSObject -Property $object
} |
Export-Xlsx -Path C:\report-not-ordered.xlsx

Get-Process | %{
$object = [ordered]@{
Name = $_.Name
Handles = $_.Handles
Id = $_.Id
ProcessName = $_.ProcessName
}
New-Object PSObject -Property $object
} |
Export-Xlsx -Path C:\report-ordered.xlsx

Both XLSX files next to each other show the difference, without the [ordered] cast the order in which the properties appear is not controllable.

With the [ordered] cast, the properties appear in the same order as we specified them in the script. A great improvement !

Enjoy !