Create Excel (XLSX) or PDF file on Linux or macOS

Prerequisites

• Install Visual Studio Code.
• Install C# for Visual Studio Code extension.
• Install .NET Core SDK on Ubuntu.

After installing the requirements listed above you can follow these steps that show how you can easily use a Visual Studio Code (VS Code) to create a simple Console project and a C# code that generates a XLSX file.

1. Open a project folder

• Open VS Code.
• Click "Open Folder" on the EXPLORER panel.
• Select the folder you want your console project to be in, for instance a folder named GemBoxExample.

2. Create a new console project

• Open Integrated Terminal in VS Code by clicking "View" > "Terminal" or using CTRL + ` shortcut.
• In the terminal window execute following command: dotnet new console
• This command will create a code file (Program.cs) and a project file (GemBoxExample.csproj) inside the opened folder.

3. Edit project files

• Add a reference to GemBox.Spreadsheet and its dependencies in GemBoxExample.csproj file:
  • XML

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  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="GemBox.Spreadsheet" Version="*" />
  
    <PackageReference Include="System.Drawing.Common" Version="*" />
  
    <!-- Required if PDF file is digitally signed. -->
    <PackageReference Include="System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs" Version="*" />
  </ItemGroup>

  Note that System.Drawing.Common assembly has a reference to a native libgdiplus library which must be installed on a non-Windows system.
  To install it on Linux use the following command: sudo apt-get install libgdiplus
  To install it on macOS use Homebrew with the following command: brew install mono-libgdiplus
• Edit C# code in Program.cs file:
  • C#

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  using GemBox.Spreadsheet;
  
  class Program
  {
      static void Main()
      {
          // If using Professional version, put your serial key below.
          SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");
  
          var workbook = new ExcelFile();
          var worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("Hello World");
  
          worksheet.Cells[0, 0].Value = "English:";
          worksheet.Cells[0, 1].Value = "Hello";
  
          worksheet.Cells[1, 0].Value = "Russian:";
          // Using UNICODE string.
          worksheet.Cells[1, 1].Value = new string(new char[] { '\u0417', '\u0434', '\u0440', '\u0430', '\u0432', '\u0441', '\u0442', '\u0432', '\u0443', '\u0439', '\u0442', '\u0435' });
  
          worksheet.Cells[2, 0].Value = "Chinese:";
          // Using UNICODE string.
          worksheet.Cells[2, 1].Value = new string(new char[] { '\u4f60', '\u597d' });
  
          worksheet.Cells[4, 0].Value = "In order to see Russian and Chinese characters you need to have appropriate fonts on your PC.";
          worksheet.Cells.GetSubrangeAbsolute(4, 0, 4, 7).Merged = true;
  
          workbook.Save("Output.xlsx");
          workbook.Save("Output.pdf");
      }
  }

4. Run the console project

• In the terminal window execute following command: dotnet run
• This command will run your Console application and create an Excel workbook (Output.xlsx) and a PDF file (Output.pdf) that you open in any Excel and PDF applications.

Limitations on Linux or macOS

You can use the full functionality of GemBox.Spreadsheet on Unix systems, but with the following exceptions:

• Printing workbooks.
• Saving workbooks to XPS and image formats.
• Calling ConvertToImageSource and ConvertToXpsDocument methods.

These features currently have WPF dependencies which means they require a .NET Windows Desktop Runtime. However, we do have plans for providing cross-platform support for them in future releases.