Example: Simple HTTP Server

Example of using Python and XlsxWriter to create an Excel XLSX file in an in memory string suitable for serving via SimpleHTTPRequestHandler or Django or with the Google App Engine.

Even though the final file will be in memory, via the BytesIO object, the XlsxWriter module uses temp files during assembly for efficiency. To avoid this on servers that don’t allow temp files set the in_memory constructor option to True.

The Python 3 Runtime Environment in Google App Engine supports a filesystem with read/write access to /tmp which means that the in_memory option isn’t required there.

##############################################################################
#
# Example of using Python and XlsxWriter to create an Excel XLSX file in an in
# memory string suitable for serving via SimpleHTTPRequestHandler or Django or
# with the Google App Engine.
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
# Copyright 2013-2024, John McNamara, jmcnamara@cpan.org
#

import http.server
import socketserver
import io

import xlsxwriter


class Handler(http.server.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler):
    def do_GET(self):
        # 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 set the 'in_memory' constructor option to True.
        #
        # Note: The Python 3 Runtime Environment in Google App Engine supports
        # a filesystem with read/write access to /tmp which means that the
        # 'in_memory' option isn't required there and can be omitted. See:
        #
        # https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/standard/python3/runtime#filesystem
        #
        workbook = xlsxwriter.Workbook(output, {"in_memory": True})
        worksheet = workbook.add_worksheet()

        # Write some test data.
        worksheet.write(0, 0, "Hello, world!")

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

        # Rewind the buffer.
        output.seek(0)

        # Construct a server response.
        self.send_response(200)
        self.send_header("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=test.xlsx")
        self.send_header(
            "Content-type",
            "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet",
        )
        self.end_headers()
        self.wfile.write(output.read())
        return


print("Server listening on port 8000...")
httpd = socketserver.TCPServer(("", 8000), Handler)
httpd.serve_forever()