Excel

Create Excel report templates for data exports and tabular reports.

Excel (.xlsx) templates are ideal for data-oriented reports requiring calculations, charts, or tabular layouts. They are the recommended format for listing-mode reports that compile data from multiple submissions into a single file.

Overview

Format	.xlsx (MS Excel 2007 minimum; 2013 recommended)
Report engine	Aspose Library for Excel
Best for	Listing reports, aggregation tables, charts, data exports
Listing mode	Primary use case — compiles multiple submissions into one file

Field syntax basics

Excel report templates use a dedicated PPActions sheet to declare which fields to insert and where. The general tag syntax (<%SystemName%>) applies in cells, but fields in a listing table are declared via the PPActions sheet rather than placed directly.

PPActions sheet setup

1. Add a sheet named PPActions to your template.
2. Add a second sheet with any name and create a table with one header row and one data row.
3. Give the table a named range: select it and type a name in the Name Box (top-left corner of Excel).
4. In the PPActions sheet, add one row with as many columns as there are fields in your table:

Each column declares one field using three properties:

Property	Value
Type	table — declares a listing table
TableName	The named range you defined
Value	System name of the field

Relationships

To include child submissions from a relationship field, add a row in the PPActions sheet using subtable:

<%Type:subtable;TableName:table name;Relationship:relationship name%> | <%Value:field name%>

Property	Value
Type	subtable — declares a relation table
TableName	The named range for the relation table
Relationship	Label of the relationship field in the main form

To display the count of related submissions: <%Value:[Relation.Count]%>

Tips

• Font, colour, conditional formatting rules, and Excel formulas are all preserved during report generation.
• Listing mode generation follows the same principles as Word — see Automations for scheduling.
• You can start from a blank .xlsx file or adapt an existing spreadsheet model.

Limitations

• Format: .xlsx only.
• Listing mode maximum: 30,000 submissions per report.
• Image size is set by cell dimensions, not by function parameters: <%Value:SystemName;Type:Image%> — resize the target cell to control the photo size.
• MarkDown() is not functional in Excel reports.