Java API for Workbook Binding (JAWB)

Provides a JAXB-like API for binding the contents of an Excel workbook to a graph of Java beans.

@Bound

@Cell

@Sheet

Cell Data

Non-empty cells in an Excel workbook can contain one value whose type is either numeric, date, string, or boolean. A blank cell contains no value and thus has no data type.

Iterating over Rows, Columns, and Sheets

An Excel workbook is essentially a three-dimensional data structure, consisting of cells laid out in rows and columns on sheets. JAWB provides the ability to iterate over any of these dimensions, and in any combination to produce object graphs of arbitrary complexity.

Skip and Stop Expressions

JAWB provides a powerful expression language to control iteration, allowing you to evaluate workbook cells to determine which rows, columns, or sheets to skip and the conditions that should terminate iterations.

Cell Reference

Cell references in the expression language are the same as they are in Excel, with the same semantics:

• Q3 -- column Q row 3
• $Q3 -- absolute reference to column Q (not affected by iteration)
• Q$3 -- absolute reference to row 3 (not affected by iteration)
• $Q$3 -- absolute reference to cell Q3 (not affected by iteration)
• Sheet4!Q3 -- cell Q3 on Sheet4

Literals

• string -- any text delimited by single quotes
• number -- digits with optional decimal point and exponent; e.g. 1, 3.14, 2.7818e-35
• date -- in year-month-day format; e.g. 1920-03-18
• time -- in twenty-four hour:minute:second format; e.g. 21:15:30
• boolean -- true or false
• blank -- blank (also allows empty or null)

Operators

• arithmetic -- +, -, *, /
• continuation -- ,
• equality -- ==, !=
• logical -- && (and), || (or), ^ (exclusive or)
• relational -- <, <=, >, >=
• type -- is, is not; e.g. is blank, is not number
• unary -- - (numeric negation), ! (logical negation)

Functions

• IF(cond1, expr1, cond1, expr2, ... , condN, exprN [, exprN+1]) -- for K in [1..N], condK is evaluated, and if the result is true, then exprK is evaluated and returned as the function result. If none of condK evaluates to a true value, and an exprN+1 is provided, it is evaluated and returned as the result, otherwise a blank value is returned.