Example: Simple Django class

A simple Django View class to write an Excel file using the XlsxWriter module.

##############################################################################
#
# A simple Django view class to write an Excel file using the XlsxWriter
# module.
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
# Copyright 2013-2024, John McNamara, jmcnamara@cpan.org
#
import io
from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.views.generic import View
import xlsxwriter


def get_simple_table_data():
    # Simulate a more complex table read.
    return [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]]


class MyView(View):
    def get(self, request):
        # Create an in-memory output file for the new workbook.
        output = io.BytesIO()

        # Even though the final file will be in memory the module uses temp
        # files during assembly for efficiency. To avoid this on servers that
        # don't allow temp files, for example the Google APP Engine, set the
        # 'in_memory' Workbook() constructor option as shown in the docs.
        workbook = xlsxwriter.Workbook(output)
        worksheet = workbook.add_worksheet()

        # Get some data to write to the spreadsheet.
        data = get_simple_table_data()

        # Write some test data.
        for row_num, columns in enumerate(data):
            for col_num, cell_data in enumerate(columns):
                worksheet.write(row_num, col_num, cell_data)

        # Close the workbook before sending the data.
        workbook.close()

        # Rewind the buffer.
        output.seek(0)

        # Set up the Http response.
        filename = "django_simple.xlsx"
        response = HttpResponse(
            output,
            content_type="application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet",
        )
        response["Content-Disposition"] = "attachment; filename=%s" % filename

        return response