This has come up a number of times, most recently with issue #3901, and also issue #3659. It will certainly come up more often in days to come. Excel is changing formulas which PhpSpreadsheet has output as `=UNIQUE(A1:A19)`; Excel is processing the formula as it were `=@UNIQUE(A1:A19)`. This behavior is explained, in part, by https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet/pull/3659#issuecomment-1663040464. It is doing so in order to ensure that the function returns only a single value rather than an array of values, in case the spreadsheet is being processed (or possibly was created) by a less current version of Excel which cannot handle the array result. PhpSpreadsheet follows Excel to a certain extent; it defaults to returning a single calculated value when an array would be returned. Further, its support for outputting an array even when that default is overridden is incomplete. I am not prepared to do everything that Excel does for the array functions (details below), but this PR is a start in that direction. If the default is changed via: ```php use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Calculation\Calculation; Calculation::setArrayReturnType(Calculation::RETURN_ARRAY_AS_ARRAY); ``` When that is done, `getCalculatedValue` will return an array (no code change necessary). However, Writer/Xlsx will now be updated to look at that value, and if an array is returned in that circumstance, will indicate in the Xml that the result is an array *and* will include a reference to the bounds of the array. This gets us close, although not completely there, to what Excel does, and may be good enough for now. Excel will still mess with the formula, but now it will treat it as `{=UNIQUE(A1:A19)}`. This means that the spreadsheet will now look correct; there will be superficial differences, but all cells will have the expected value. Technically, the major difference between what PhpSpreadsheet will output now, and what Excel does on its own, is that Excel supplies values in the xml for all the cells in the range. That would be difficult for PhpSpreadsheet to do; that could be a project for another day. Excel will treat the output from PhpSpreadsheet as "Array Formulas" (a.k.a. CSE (control shift enter) formulas because you need to use that combination of keys to manually enter them in older versions of Excel). Current versions of Excel will instead use "Dynamic Array Formulas". Dynamic Array Formulas can be changed by the user; Array Formulas need to be deleted and re-entered if you want to change them. I don't know what else might have to change to get Excel to use the latter for PhpSpreadsheet formulas, and I will probably not even try to look now, saving it for a future date. Unit testing of this change uncovered a bug in Calculation::calculateCellValue. That routine saves off ArrayReturnType, and may change it, and is supposed to restore it. But it does not do the restore if the calculation throws an exception. It is changed to do so.
PhpSpreadsheet
PhpSpreadsheet is a library written in pure PHP and offers a set of classes that allow you to read and write various spreadsheet file formats such as Excel and LibreOffice Calc.
PHP Version Support
LTS: Support for PHP versions will only be maintained for a period of six months beyond the end of life of that PHP version.
Currently the required PHP minimum version is PHP 8.0, and we will support that version until May 2024.
See the composer.json for other requirements.
Installation
Use composer to install PhpSpreadsheet into your project:
composer require phpoffice/phpspreadsheet
If you are building your installation on a development machine that is on a different PHP version to the server where it will be deployed, or if your PHP CLI version is not the same as your run-time such as php-fpm or Apache's mod_php, then you might want to add the following to your composer.json before installing:
{
"config": {
"platform": {
"php": "8.0"
}
}
}
and then run
composer install
to ensure that the correct dependencies are retrieved to match your deployment environment.
See CLI vs Application run-time for more details.
Additional Installation Options
If you want to write to PDF, or to include Charts when you write to HTML or PDF, then you will need to install additional libraries:
For PDF Generation, you can install any of the following, and then configure PhpSpreadsheet to indicate which library you are going to use:
- mpdf/mpdf
- dompdf/dompdf
- tecnickcom/tcpdf
and configure PhpSpreadsheet using:
// Dompdf, Mpdf or Tcpdf (as appropriate)
$className = \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Pdf\Dompdf::class;
IOFactory::registerWriter('Pdf', $className);
or the appropriate PDF Writer wrapper for the library that you have chosen to install.
Chart Export
For Chart export, we support following packages, which you will also need to install yourself using composer require
- jpgraph/jpgraph (this package was abandoned at version 4.0. You can manually download the latest version that supports PHP 8 and above from jpgraph.net)
- mitoteam/jpgraph - up to date fork with modern PHP versions support and some bugs fixed.
and then configure PhpSpreadsheet using:
// to use jpgraph/jpgraph
Settings::setChartRenderer(\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\Renderer\JpGraph::class);
//or
// to use mitoteam/jpgraph
Settings::setChartRenderer(\PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\Renderer\MtJpGraphRenderer::class);
One or the other of these libraries is necessary if you want to generate HTML or PDF files that include charts; or to render a Chart to an Image format from within your code.
They are not necessary to define charts for writing to Xlsx files.
Other file formats don't support writing Charts.
Documentation
Read more about it, including install instructions, in the official documentation. Or check out the API documentation.
Please ask your support questions on StackOverflow, or have a quick chat on Gitter.
Patreon
I am now running a Patreon to support the work that I do on PhpSpreadsheet.
Supporters will receive access to articles about working with PhpSpreadsheet, and how to use some of its more advanced features.
Posts already available to Patreon supporters:
- The Dating Game
- A look at how MS Excel (and PhpSpreadsheet) handle date and time values.
- Looping the Loop
- Advice on Iterating through the rows and cells in a worksheet.
And for Patrons at levels actively using PhpSpreadsheet:
- Behind the Mask
- A look at Number Format Masks.
The Next Article (currently Work in Progress):
- Formula for Success
- How to debug formulae that don't produce the expected result.
My aim is to post at least one article each month, taking a detailed look at some feature of MS Excel and how to use that feature in PhpSpreadsheet, or on how to perform different activities in PhpSpreadsheet.
Planned posts for the future include topics like:
- Tables
- Structured References
- AutoFiltering
- Array Formulae
- Conditional Formatting
- Data Validation
- Value Binders
- Images
- Charts
After a period of six months exclusive to Patreon supporters, articles will be incorporated into the public documentation for the library.
PHPExcel vs PhpSpreadsheet ?
PhpSpreadsheet is the next version of PHPExcel. It breaks compatibility to dramatically improve the code base quality (namespaces, PSR compliance, use of latest PHP language features, etc.).
Because all efforts have shifted to PhpSpreadsheet, PHPExcel will no longer be maintained. All contributions for PHPExcel, patches and new features, should target PhpSpreadsheet master branch.
Do you need to migrate? There is an automated tool for that.
License
PhpSpreadsheet is licensed under MIT.

