How to: Delete Text from a Cell in a Spreadsheet Document

Applies to: Excel 2010 | Office 2010 | PowerPoint 2010 | Word 2010

In this article
Getting a SpreadsheetDocument Object
Basic Structure of a SpreadsheetML Document
How the Sample Code Works
Sample Code

This topic shows how to use the classes in the Open XML SDK 2.0 for Microsoft Office to delete text from a cell in a spreadsheet document programmatically.

The following assembly directives are required to compile the code in this topic.

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Packaging;
using DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Spreadsheet;

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq
Imports DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Packaging
Imports DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Spreadsheet

Getting a SpreadsheetDocument Object

In the Open XML SDK, the SpreadsheetDocument class represents an Excel document package. To open and work with an Excel document, you create an instance of the SpreadsheetDocument class from the document. After you create the instance from the document, you can then obtain access to the main workbook part that contains the worksheets. The text in the document is represented in the package as XML using SpreadsheetML markup.

To create the class instance from the document, call one of the Open() methods. Several are provided, each with a different signature. The sample code in this topic uses the Open(String, Boolean) method with a signature that requires two parameters. The first parameter takes a full path string that represents the document that you want to open. The second parameter is either true or false and represents whether you want the file to be opened for editing. Any changes that you make to the document will not be saved if this parameter is false.

The following using stagement code example calls the Open method.

// Open the document for editing.
using (SpreadsheetDocument document = SpreadsheetDocument.Open(docName, true)) 
{
    // Other code goes here.
}

' Open the document for editing.
Using document As SpreadsheetDocument = SpreadsheetDocument.Open(docName, True)
    ' Other code goes here.
End Using

The using statement provides a recommended alternative to the typical .Open, .Save, .Close sequence. It verifies that the Dispose method (internal method used by the Open XML SDK to clean up resources) is automatically called when the closing brace is reached. The block that follows the using statement establishes a scope for the object that is created or named in the using statement, in this case document.

Basic Structure of a SpreadsheetML Document

The basic document structure of a SpreadsheetML document consists of the Sheets and Sheet elements, which reference the worksheets in the workbook. A separate XML file is created for each worksheet. For example, the SpreadsheetML for a Workbook that has two worksheets name MySheet1 and MySheet2 is located in the Workbook.xml file and is shown in the following code example.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?> 
<workbook xmlns=https://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main xmlns:r="https://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships">
    <sheets>
        <sheet name="MySheet1" sheetId="1" r:id="rId1" /> 
        <sheet name="MySheet2" sheetId="2" r:id="rId2" /> 
    </sheets>
</workbook>

The worksheet XML files contain one or more block level elements such as SheetData. sheetData represents the cell table and contains one or more Row elements. A row contains one or more Cell elements. Each cell contains a CellValue element that represents the value of the cell. For example, the SpreadsheetML for the first worksheet in a workbook, that only has the value 100 in cell A1, is located in the Sheet1.xml file and is shown in the following code example.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 
<worksheet xmlns="https://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main">
    <sheetData>
        <row r="1">
            <c r="A1">
                <v>100</v> 
            </c>
        </row>
    </sheetData>
</worksheet>

Using the Open XML SDK 2.0, you can create document structure and content that uses strongly-typed classes that correspond to SpreadsheetML elements. You can find these classes in the DocumentFormat.OpenXML.Spreadsheet namespace. The following table lists the class names of the classes that correspond to the workbook, sheets, sheet, worksheet, and sheetData elements.

How the Sample Code Works

In the following code example, you delete text from a cell in a SpreadsheetDocument document package. Then, you verify if other cells within the spreadsheet document still reference the text removed from the row, and if they do not, you remove the text from the SharedStringTablePart object by using the Remove method. Then you clean up the SharedStringTablePart object by calling the RemoveSharedStringItem method.

// Given a document, a worksheet name, a column name, and a one-based row index,
// deletes the text from the cell at the specified column and row on the specified worksheet.
public static void DeleteTextFromCell(string docName, string sheetName, string colName, uint rowIndex)
{
    // Open the document for editing.
    using (SpreadsheetDocument document = SpreadsheetDocument.Open(docName, true))
    {
        IEnumerable<Sheet> sheets = document.WorkbookPart.Workbook.GetFirstChild<Sheets>().Elements<Sheet>().Where(s => s.Name == sheetName);
        if (sheets.Count() == 0)
        {
            // The specified worksheet does not exist.
            return;
        }
        string relationshipId = sheets.First().Id.Value;
        WorksheetPart worksheetPart = (WorksheetPart)document.WorkbookPart.GetPartById(relationshipId);

        // Get the cell at the specified column and row.
        Cell cell = GetSpreadsheetCell(worksheetPart.Worksheet, colName, rowIndex);
        if (cell == null)
        {
            // The specified cell does not exist.
            return;
        }
        cell.Remove();
        worksheetPart.Worksheet.Save();
    }
}

' Given a document, a worksheet name, a column name, and a one-based row index,
' deletes the text from the cell at the specified column and row on the specified worksheet.
Public Shared Sub DeleteTextFromCell(ByVal docName As String, ByVal sheetName As String, ByVal colName As String, ByVal rowIndex As UInteger)
    ' Open the document for editing.
    Using document As SpreadsheetDocument = SpreadsheetDocument.Open(docName, True)
        Dim sheets As IEnumerable(Of Sheet) = document.WorkbookPart.Workbook.GetFirstChild(Of Sheets)().Elements(Of Sheet)().Where(Function(s) s.Name = sheetName)
        If sheets.Count() = 0 Then
            ' The specified worksheet does not exist.
            Return
        End If
        Dim relationshipId As String = sheets.First().Id.Value
        Dim worksheetPart As WorksheetPart = CType(document.WorkbookPart.GetPartById(relationshipId), WorksheetPart)

        ' Get the cell at the specified column and row.
        Dim cell As Cell = GetSpreadsheetCell(worksheetPart.Worksheet, colName, rowIndex)
        If cell Is Nothing Then
            ' The specified cell does not exist.
            Return
        End If

        cell.Remove()
        worksheetPart.Worksheet.Save()

    End Using
End Sub

In the following code example, you verify that the cell specified by the column name and row index exists. If so, the code returns the cell; otherwise, it returns null.

// Given a worksheet, a column name, and a row index, gets the cell at the specified column and row.
private static Cell GetSpreadsheetCell(Worksheet worksheet, string columnName, uint rowIndex)
{
    IEnumerable<Row> rows = worksheet.GetFirstChild<SheetData>().Elements<Row>().Where(r => r.RowIndex == rowIndex);
    if (rows.Count() == 0)
    {
        // A cell does not exist at the specified row.
        return null;
    }

    IEnumerable<Cell> cells = rows.First().Elements<Cell>().Where(c => string.Compare(c.CellReference.Value, columnName + rowIndex, true) == 0);
    if (cells.Count() == 0)
    {
        // A cell does not exist at the specified column, in the specified row.
        return null;
    }

    return cells.First();
}

' Given a worksheet, a column name, and a row index, gets the cell at the specified column and row.
Private Shared Function GetSpreadsheetCell(ByVal worksheet As Worksheet, ByVal columnName As String, ByVal rowIndex As UInteger) As Cell
    Dim rows As IEnumerable(Of Row) = worksheet.GetFirstChild(Of SheetData)().Elements(Of Row)().Where(Function(r) r.RowIndex = rowIndex)
    If rows.Count() = 0 Then
        ' A cell does not exist at the specified row.
        Return Nothing
    End If

    Dim cells As IEnumerable(Of Cell) = rows.First().Elements(Of Cell)().Where(Function(c) String.Compare(c.CellReference.Value, columnName & rowIndex, True) = 0)
    If cells.Count() = 0 Then
        ' A cell does not exist at the specified column, in the specified row.
        Return Nothing
    End If

    Return cells.First()
End Function

In the following code example, you verify if other cells within the spreadsheet document reference the text specified by the shareStringId parameter. If they do not reference the text, you remove it from the SharedStringTablePart object. You do that by passing a parameter that represents the ID of the text to remove and a parameter that represents the SpreadsheetDocument document package. Then you iterate through each Worksheet object and compare the contents of each Cell object to the shared string ID. If other cells within the spreadsheet document still reference the SharedStringItem object, you do not remove the item from the SharedStringTablePart object. If other cells within the spreadsheet document no longer reference the SharedStringItem object, you remove the item from the SharedStringTablePart object. Then you iterate through each Worksheet object and Cell object and refresh the shared string references. Finally, you save the worksheet and the SharedStringTable object.

// Given a shared string ID and a SpreadsheetDocument, verifies that other cells in the document no longer 
// reference the specified SharedStringItem and removes the item.
private static void RemoveSharedStringItem(int shareStringId, SpreadsheetDocument document)
{
    bool remove = true;

    foreach (var part in document.WorkbookPart.GetPartsOfType<WorksheetPart>())
    {
        Worksheet worksheet = part.Worksheet;
        foreach (var cell in worksheet.GetFirstChild<SheetData>().Descendants<Cell>())
        {
            // Verify if other cells in the document reference the item.
            if (cell.DataType != null &&
                cell.DataType.Value == CellValues.SharedString &&
                cell.CellValue.Text == shareStringId.ToString())
            {
                // Other cells in the document still reference the item. Do not remove the item.
                remove = false;
                break;
            }
        }

        if (!remove)
        {
            break;
        }
    }

    // Other cells in the document do not reference the item. Remove the item.
    if (remove)
    {
        SharedStringTablePart shareStringTablePart = document.WorkbookPart.SharedStringTablePart;
        if (shareStringTablePart == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        SharedStringItem item = shareStringTablePart.SharedStringTable.Elements<SharedStringItem>().ElementAt(shareStringId);
        if (item != null)
        {
            item.Remove();

            // Refresh all the shared string references.
            foreach (var part in document.WorkbookPart.GetPartsOfType<WorksheetPart>())
            {
                Worksheet worksheet = part.Worksheet;
                foreach (var cell in worksheet.GetFirstChild<SheetData>().Descendants<Cell>())
                {
                    if (cell.DataType != null &&
                        cell.DataType.Value == CellValues.SharedString)
                    {
                        int itemIndex = int.Parse(cell.CellValue.Text);
                        if (itemIndex > shareStringId)
                        {
                            cell.CellValue.Text = (itemIndex - 1).ToString();
                        }
                    }
                }
                worksheet.Save();
            }

            document.WorkbookPart.SharedStringTablePart.SharedStringTable.Save();
        }
    }
}

' Given a shared string ID and a SpreadsheetDocument, verifies that other cells in the document no longer 
' reference the specified SharedStringItem and removes the item.
Private Shared Sub RemoveSharedStringItem(ByVal shareStringId As Integer, ByVal document As SpreadsheetDocument)
    Dim remove As Boolean = True

    For Each part In document.WorkbookPart.GetPartsOfType(Of WorksheetPart)()
        Dim worksheet As Worksheet = part.Worksheet
        For Each cell In worksheet.GetFirstChild(Of SheetData)().Descendants(Of Cell)()
            ' Verify if other cells in the document reference the item.
            If cell.DataType IsNot Nothing AndAlso cell.DataType.Value = CellValues.SharedString AndAlso cell.CellValue.Text = shareStringId.ToString() Then
                ' Other cells in the document still reference the item. Do not remove the item.
                remove = False
                Exit For
            End If
        Next cell

        If Not remove Then
            Exit For
        End If
    Next part

    ' Other cells in the document do not reference the item. Remove the item.
    If remove Then
        Dim shareStringTablePart As SharedStringTablePart = document.WorkbookPart.SharedStringTablePart
        If shareStringTablePart Is Nothing Then
            Return
        End If

        Dim item As SharedStringItem = shareStringTablePart.SharedStringTable.Elements(Of SharedStringItem)().ElementAt(shareStringId)
        If item IsNot Nothing Then
            item.Remove()

            ' Refresh all the shared string references.
            For Each part In document.WorkbookPart.GetPartsOfType(Of WorksheetPart)()
                Dim worksheet As Worksheet = part.Worksheet
                For Each cell In worksheet.GetFirstChild(Of SheetData)().Descendants(Of Cell)()
                    If cell.DataType IsNot Nothing AndAlso cell.DataType.Value = CellValues.SharedString Then
                        Dim itemIndex As Integer = Integer.Parse(cell.CellValue.Text)
                        If itemIndex > shareStringId Then
                            cell.CellValue.Text = (itemIndex - 1).ToString()
                        End If
                    End If
                Next cell
                worksheet.Save()
            Next part

            document.WorkbookPart.SharedStringTablePart.SharedStringTable.Save()
        End If
    End If
End Sub

Sample Code

The following code sample is used to delete text from a specific cell in a spreadsheet document. You can run the program by calling the method DeleteTextFromCell from the file "Sheet3.xlsx" as shown in the following example, where you specify row 2, column B, and the name of the worksheet.

string docName = @"C:\Users\Public\Documents\Sheet3.xlsx";
string sheetName  = "Jane";
string colName = "B";
uint rowIndex = 2;
DeleteTextFromCell( docName,  sheetName,  colName, rowIndex);

Dim docName As String = "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Sheet3.xlsx"
Dim sheetName As String = "Jane"
Dim colName As String = "B"
Dim rowIndex As UInteger = 2
DeleteTextFromCell(docName, sheetName, colName, rowIndex)

The following is the complete code sample in both C# and Visual Basic.

// Given a document, a worksheet name, a column name, and a one-based row index,
// deletes the text from the cell at the specified column and row on the specified worksheet.
public static void DeleteTextFromCell(string docName, string sheetName, string colName, uint rowIndex)
{
    // Open the document for editing.
    using (SpreadsheetDocument document = SpreadsheetDocument.Open(docName, true))
    {
        IEnumerable<Sheet> sheets = document.WorkbookPart.Workbook.GetFirstChild<Sheets>().Elements<Sheet>().Where(s => s.Name == sheetName);
        if (sheets.Count() == 0)
        {
            // The specified worksheet does not exist.
            return;
        }
        string relationshipId = sheets.First().Id.Value;
        WorksheetPart worksheetPart = (WorksheetPart)document.WorkbookPart.GetPartById(relationshipId);

        // Get the cell at the specified column and row.
        Cell cell = GetSpreadsheetCell(worksheetPart.Worksheet, colName, rowIndex);
        if (cell == null)
        {
            // The specified cell does not exist.
            return;
        }

        cell.Remove();
        worksheetPart.Worksheet.Save();
    }
}

// Given a worksheet, a column name, and a row index, gets the cell at the specified column and row.
private static Cell GetSpreadsheetCell(Worksheet worksheet, string columnName, uint rowIndex)
{
    IEnumerable<Row> rows = worksheet.GetFirstChild<SheetData>().Elements<Row>().Where(r => r.RowIndex == rowIndex);
    if (rows.Count() == 0)
    {
        // A cell does not exist at the specified row.
        return null;
    }

    IEnumerable<Cell> cells = rows.First().Elements<Cell>().Where(c => string.Compare(c.CellReference.Value, columnName + rowIndex, true) == 0);
    if (cells.Count() == 0)
    {
        // A cell does not exist at the specified column, in the specified row.
        return null;
    }

    return cells.First();
}

// Given a shared string ID and a SpreadsheetDocument, verifies that other cells in the document no longer 
// reference the specified SharedStringItem and removes the item.
private static void RemoveSharedStringItem(int shareStringId, SpreadsheetDocument document)
{
    bool remove = true;

    foreach (var part in document.WorkbookPart.GetPartsOfType<WorksheetPart>())
    {
        Worksheet worksheet = part.Worksheet;
        foreach (var cell in worksheet.GetFirstChild<SheetData>().Descendants<Cell>())
        {
            // Verify if other cells in the document reference the item.
            if (cell.DataType != null &&
                cell.DataType.Value == CellValues.SharedString &&
                cell.CellValue.Text == shareStringId.ToString())
            {
                // Other cells in the document still reference the item. Do not remove the item.
                remove = false;
                break;
            }
        }

        if (!remove)
        {
            break;
        }
    }

    // Other cells in the document do not reference the item. Remove the item.
    if (remove)
    {
        SharedStringTablePart shareStringTablePart = document.WorkbookPart.SharedStringTablePart;
        if (shareStringTablePart == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        SharedStringItem item = shareStringTablePart.SharedStringTable.Elements<SharedStringItem>().ElementAt(shareStringId);
        if (item != null)
        {
            item.Remove();

            // Refresh all the shared string references.
            foreach (var part in document.WorkbookPart.GetPartsOfType<WorksheetPart>())
            {
                Worksheet worksheet = part.Worksheet;
                foreach (var cell in worksheet.GetFirstChild<SheetData>().Descendants<Cell>())
                {
                    if (cell.DataType != null &&
                        cell.DataType.Value == CellValues.SharedString)
                    {
                        int itemIndex = int.Parse(cell.CellValue.Text);
                        if (itemIndex > shareStringId)
                        {
                            cell.CellValue.Text = (itemIndex - 1).ToString();
                        }
                    }
                }
                worksheet.Save();
            }

            document.WorkbookPart.SharedStringTablePart.SharedStringTable.Save();
        }
    }
}

' Given a document, a worksheet name, a column name, and a one-based row index,
' deletes the text from the cell at the specified column and row on the specified sheet.
Public Sub DeleteTextFromCell(ByVal docName As String, ByVal sheetName As String, ByVal colName As String, ByVal rowIndex As UInteger)
    ' Open the document for editing.
    Dim document As SpreadsheetDocument = SpreadsheetDocument.Open(docName, True)

    Using (document)
        Dim sheets As IEnumerable(Of Sheet) = document.WorkbookPart.Workbook.GetFirstChild(Of Sheets)().Elements(Of Sheet)().Where(Function(s) s.Name = sheetName.ToString())
        If (sheets.Count = 0) Then
            ' The specified worksheet does not exist.
            Return
        End If

        Dim relationshipId As String = sheets.First.Id.Value
        Dim worksheetPart As WorksheetPart = CType(document.WorkbookPart.GetPartById(relationshipId), WorksheetPart)

        ' Get the cell at the specified column and row.
        Dim cell As Cell = GetSpreadsheetCell(worksheetPart.Worksheet, colName, rowIndex)
        If (cell Is Nothing) Then
            ' The specified cell does not exist.
            Return
        End If

        cell.Remove()
        worksheetPart.Worksheet.Save()

    End Using
End Sub

' Given a worksheet, a column name, and a row index, gets the cell at the specified column and row.
Private Function GetSpreadsheetCell(ByVal worksheet As Worksheet, ByVal columnName As String, ByVal rowIndex As UInteger) As Cell
    Dim rows As IEnumerable(Of Row) = worksheet.GetFirstChild(Of SheetData)().Elements(Of Row)().Where(Function(r) r.RowIndex = rowIndex.ToString())
    If (rows.Count = 0) Then
        ' A cell does not exist at the specified row.
        Return Nothing
    End If

    Dim cells As IEnumerable(Of Cell) = rows.First().Elements(Of Cell)().Where(Function(c) String.Compare(c.CellReference.Value, columnName + rowIndex.ToString(), True) = 0)
    If (cells.Count = 0) Then
        ' A cell does not exist at the specified column, in the specified row.
        Return Nothing
    End If

    Return cells.First
End Function

' Given a shared string ID and a SpreadsheetDocument, verifies that other cells in the document no longer 
' reference the specified SharedStringItem and removes the item.
Private Sub RemoveSharedStringItem(ByVal shareStringId As Integer, ByVal document As SpreadsheetDocument)
    Dim remove As Boolean = True

    For Each part In document.WorkbookPart.GetPartsOfType(Of WorksheetPart)()
        Dim worksheet As Worksheet = part.Worksheet
        For Each cell In worksheet.GetFirstChild(Of SheetData)().Descendants(Of Cell)()
            ' Verify if other cells in the document reference the item.
            If cell.DataType IsNot Nothing AndAlso cell.DataType.Value = CellValues.SharedString AndAlso cell.CellValue.Text = shareStringId.ToString() Then
                ' Other cells in the document still reference the item. Do not remove the item.
                remove = False
                Exit For
            End If
        Next

        If Not remove Then
            Exit For
        End If
    Next

    ' Other cells in the document do not reference the item. Remove the item.
    If remove Then
        Dim shareStringTablePart As SharedStringTablePart = document.WorkbookPart.SharedStringTablePart
        If shareStringTablePart Is Nothing Then
            Exit Sub
        End If

        Dim item As SharedStringItem = shareStringTablePart.SharedStringTable.Elements(Of SharedStringItem)().ElementAt(shareStringId)
        If item IsNot Nothing Then
            item.Remove()

            ' Refresh all the shared string references.
            For Each part In document.WorkbookPart.GetPartsOfType(Of WorksheetPart)()
                Dim worksheet As Worksheet = part.Worksheet
                For Each cell In worksheet.GetFirstChild(Of SheetData)().Descendants(Of Cell)()
                    If cell.DataType IsNot Nothing AndAlso cell.DataType.Value = CellValues.SharedString Then
                        Dim itemIndex As Integer = Integer.Parse(cell.CellValue.Text)
                        If itemIndex > shareStringId Then
                            cell.CellValue.Text = (itemIndex - 1).ToString()
                        End If
                    End If
                Next
                worksheet.Save()
            Next

            document.WorkbookPart.SharedStringTablePart.SharedStringTable.Save()
        End If
    End If
End Sub

See Also

Reference

Class Library Reference

Other Resources

Language-Integrated Query (LINQ)

Lambda Expressions

Lambda Expressions (C# Programming Guide)