[Java] Insert and Read Formulas in Excel
Tags: java, excel, formula
Published: 2020-09-08 07:25:36

A formula in Excel is a way for people to make calculations on data that is already written in the table, which can greatly improve the work efficiency. This article will introduce how to insert and read formulas in an Excel document by using Free Spire.XLS for Java.

**Installation**
**Method 1:** Download the [Free Spire.XLS for Java](https://www.e-iceblue.com/Download/xls-for-java-free.html) and unzip it. Then add the Spire.Xls.jar file to your project as dependency.

**Method 2:** You can also add the jar dependency to maven project by adding the following configurations to the pom.xml.

```xml
<repositories>
        <repository>
            <id>com.e-iceblue</id>
            <name>e-iceblue</name>
            <url>http://repo.e-iceblue.com/nexus/content/groups/public/</url>
        </repository>
</repositories>
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>e-iceblue</groupId>
        <artifactId>spire.xls.free</artifactId>
        <version>2.2.0</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>
```

**Insert Formulas**

```java
import com.spire.xls.*;

public class InsertFormulas {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        //Create a Workbook object
        Workbook workbook = new Workbook();

        //Get the first worksheet
        Worksheet sheet = workbook.getWorksheets().get(0);

        //Declare two variables: currentRow、currentFormula
        int currentRow = 1;
        String currentFormula = null;

        //Set the column width
        sheet.setColumnWidth(1, 32);
        sheet.setColumnWidth(2, 16);

        //Write test data into cells
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,1).setValue("Test data:");
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setNumberValue(1);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,3).setNumberValue(2);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,4).setNumberValue(3);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,5).setNumberValue(4);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,6).setNumberValue(5);

        //Write text in cells
        currentRow += 2;
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,1).setValue("Formulas:") ; ;
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setValue("result:");

        //Format cells
        CellRange range = sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,1,currentRow,2);
        range.getStyle().getFont().isBold(true);
        range.getStyle().setKnownColor(ExcelColors.LightGreen1);
        range.getStyle().setFillPattern(ExcelPatternType.Solid);
        range.getStyle().getBorders().getByBordersLineType(BordersLineType.EdgeBottom).setLineStyle(LineStyleType.Medium);

        //Arithmetic operation
        currentFormula = "=1/2+3*4";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);

        //Date function
        currentFormula = "=TODAY()";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).getStyle().setNumberFormat("YYYY/MM/DD");

        //Time function
        currentFormula = "=NOW()";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).getStyle().setNumberFormat("H:MM AM/PM");

        //IF function
        currentFormula = "=IF(B1=5,\"Yes\",\"No\")";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);

        //PI function
        currentFormula = "=PI()";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);

        //Trigonometric function
        currentFormula = "=SIN(PI()/6)";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);

        //Count function
        currentFormula = "=Count(B1:F1)";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);

        //Maximum function
        currentFormula = "=MAX(B1:F1)";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);

        //Average function
        currentFormula = "=AVERAGE(B1:F1)";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);

        //Summation function
        currentFormula = "=SUM(B1:F1)";
        sheet.getCellRange(++currentRow,1).setText(currentFormula);
        sheet.getCellRange(currentRow,2).setFormula(currentFormula);

        //Save to file
        workbook.saveToFile("output/InsertFormulas.xlsx",FileFormat.Version2013);
    }
}
```
![](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/sjdz7hgcmb3hdvfjl7xa.jpg)


**Read Formulas**

```java
import com.spire.xls.CellRange;
import com.spire.xls.Workbook;
import com.spire.xls.Worksheet;

public class ReadFormulas {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        //Create a Workbook object
        Workbook workbook = new Workbook();

        //Load an Excel file
        workbook.loadFromFile("output/InsertFormulas.xlsx");

        //Get the first worksheet
        Worksheet sheet = workbook.getWorksheets().get(0);

        //Loop through the cells within B1:B13
        for (Object cell: sheet.getCellRange("B1:B13")
                ) {
            CellRange cellRange = (CellRange)cell;

            //Detect if a cell range has formula
            if (cellRange.hasFormula()){

                //Print out the cell containing a formula and the formula itself
                String certainCell = String.format("Cell[%d, %d] contains a formula: ",cellRange.getRow(),cellRange.getColumn());
                System.out.println(certainCell + cellRange.getFormula());
            }
        }
    }
}
```

![](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/1deeazwkr9uft11ow1j9.jpg)