Use JavaBean in Excel with ZK Spreadsheet

Author
Ivan Cheng, Engineer, Potix Corporation

Date
April 18, 2008

Version
Applicable to ZK 3.0.4 and later

Applicable to ZK Spreadsheet 1.0.0 and later

In this article, we will demonstrate how ZK Spreadsheet use external variables directly via Variable-Resolver.

If you'd like to know more about ZK Spreadsheet, please refer to the following URLs:

• New Features of ZK Spreadsheet 0.7.0

• A Preview of ZK Spreadsheet Component

• A Sip of the ZK Spreadsheet Component

If you'd like to know more about Variable-Resolver, please refer to the following URL:

• Using ZK JndiVariableResolver - Retrieve Session Beans and EntityManagerFactory

Introduction

In How to Build a Rich Excel Report with ZK Spreadsheet, we demonstrate how to use name ranges to integrate data from Excel into ZK framework and vice versa. In this article, we will solve it with a more powerful feature - Variable-Resolver. Instead of saving values with defining name ranges and refreshing values of cells with method setCellValue, you only need to assign bean name in cells of Excel to get the data from the server side! In other words, values in cells will be refreshed dynamically by reloading data of bean!

Let's start to build an application for calculating balance sheet with Variable-Resolver.

Live Demo

How to Build a Template Using Excel

Define the Layout Template in Excel

You can design the format of Excel data:

Input External Variable in Spreadsheet

Input bean and its data names in BalanceSheet.xls, such as dataBean.item, dataBean.liquidAssets, dataBean.fundInvestment etc.

Get Values via Variable-Resolver

sheet.zul

<window>
Quarter:
  <listbox id="quarter" mold="select" rows="1" onSelect="refreshQuarter()">
	<listitem value="0" label="Select"/>
	<listitem value="1" label="Quarter 1"/>
	<listitem value="2" label="Quarter 2"/>
	<listitem value="3" label="Quarter 3"/>
	<listitem value="4" label="Quarter 4"/>
  </listbox>
<zscript>
	import model.Database;
	import model.DataBean;
	void refreshQuarter() {
		Listitem listitem = quarter.getSelectedItem();
		int quarter = Integer.parseInt(listitem.value);
		//Resolve variable data bean via ZssVariableResolver
		reloadQuarter(quarter, dataBean);
		//Call the method to refresh values of cells
		balance.book.notifyChange(new String[]{"dataBean"});
	}
	
	void reloadQuarter(int quarter, dataBean){
		//Call the method to reload data
		new Database().reloadQuarter(quarter, dataBean);
	}
	//Declare a bean in zscript, ZK will find it via default Variable-Resolver.
	DataBean dataBean = new DataBean();
	//initial data
	dataBean = new Database().reloadQuarter(0, dataBean);
	
</zscript>
	//Import BalanceSheet.xls
	<spreadsheet id="balance" url="/BalanceSheet.xls" maxrow="40" maxcolumn="20" height="600px" width="1300px"/>
 </window>

Download

• ZssVarRes.war

Conclusion

In recent release of ZK Spreadsheet, developers can even bind Java Bean into a spreadsheet application. This technical breakthrough will bring a new age to web spreadsheet applications. From now on, ZK developers are able to access the JavaBean from ZK Spreadsheet directly.If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave comments here or post to ZK forum.

Copyright © Potix Corporation. This article is licensed under GNU Free Documentation License.