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

GemBox.Spreadsheet provides support for .NET Standard 2.0, a cross-platform specification of .NET APIs, which is why it can be used on non-Windows platforms like Linux and macOS. The .NET Standard version of GemBox.Spreadsheet has full functionality of .NET Framework version, but with few rendering limitations (unsupported features):

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

The following example shows how you can create an Excel workbook and a PDF file using GemBox.Spreadsheet on Linux (Ubuntu).

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

  Copy

  <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.