Quick introduction to Apache POI

This chapter shows how to set apply styles, different fonts and display text in different direction and angles.

Working with Fonts in Apache POI

In this chapter we will cover applying font and related styles to cell values.

The following code shows how to apply a font and style to cell contents

package com.sc;

import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Cell;
import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.CellStyle;
import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Row;
import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Sheet;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFFont;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFWorkbook;

import java.io.FileOutputStream;

/**
 * Created by SubjectCoach.com on 3/12/2015.
 * POI version 3.11
 */
public class FontStylesExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        XSSFWorkbook wb = new XSSFWorkbook();
        Sheet sheet = wb.createSheet("FontStyles");

        // Let's create our first row
        Row row = sheet.createRow(1);

        // Create a new font and alter it.
        XSSFFont font = wb.createFont();
        font.setFontHeightInPoints((short)19);
        font.setFontName("Arial Black");
        // make our font italic
        font.setItalic(true);
        // how about a line through
        font.setStrikeout(true);
        // color red
        font.setColor((short) 2);
        // Fonts are set into a style so create a new one to use.
        CellStyle style = wb.createCellStyle();
        // apply font to cell style
        style.setFont(font);

        // Create a cell and put a value in it.
        Cell cell = row.createCell(1);
        cell.setCellValue("Font Style testing");
        cell.setCellStyle(style);

        try {
            // Write the output to a file
            FileOutputStream fileOut = new FileOutputStream("c:/poi/fontexample.xlsx");
            wb.write(fileOut);
            fileOut.close();
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.print(e.getMessage());
        }
    }
}

Compile and execute

Save above program in FontStylesExample.java file, and compile and execute as shown below

$ javac FontStylesExample.java
$ java FontStylesExample

Above will output something like this

Like wise we can modify the above program to add text direction to our text too. The code example is shown below 

package com.sc;

import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Cell;
import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.CellStyle;
import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Row;
import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Sheet;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFFont;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFWorkbook;

import java.io.FileOutputStream;

/**
 * Created by SubjectCoach.com on 3/12/2015.
 * POI version 3.11
 */
public class FontRotationExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        XSSFWorkbook wb = new XSSFWorkbook();
        Sheet sheet = wb.createSheet("FontStyles");

        // Let's create our first row
        Row row = sheet.createRow(1);

        // Create a new font and alter it.
        XSSFFont font = wb.createFont();
        font.setFontHeightInPoints((short)19);
        font.setFontName("Courier");
        // make our font italic
        font.setItalic(true);
        // how about a line through
        font.setStrikeout(true);
        // color red
        font.setColor((short) 2);
        // Fonts are set into a style so create a new one to use.
        CellStyle style = wb.createCellStyle();
        // apply font to cell style
        style.setFont(font);

        // set rotation of our text to 65 degrees
        style.setRotation((short) 65);

        // Create a cell and put a value in it.
        Cell cell = row.createCell(1);
        cell.setCellValue("Font Style testing");
        cell.setCellStyle(style);

        try {
            // Write the output to a file
            FileOutputStream fileOut = new FileOutputStream("c:/poi/fontrotationexample.xlsx");
            wb.write(fileOut);
            fileOut.close();
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.print(e.getMessage());
        }
    }
}

Compile and execute

Save above program in FontRotationExample.java file, Compile and run it as shown below

$ javac FontRotationExample .java
$ java FontRotationExample 

Above will output something like this