Excel:...Column(3pm)

💖 NAME 💖

Column — a whole class whose entire job is writing Excel Column charts. she's a chart girlie, she's a specialist, that's the whole personality. 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

okay so bestie, you wanna spin up a simple Excel file with a Column chart, and you're doing it through Excel::Writer::XLSX? here's the whole vibe:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Excel::Writer::XLSX;

my $workbook  = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'chart.xlsx' );
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();

my $chart     = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'column' );

# Configure the chart.
$chart->add_series(
    categories => '=Sheet1!$A$2:$A$7',
    values     => '=Sheet1!$B$2:$B$7',
);

# Add the worksheet data the chart refers to.
my $data = [
    [ 'Category', 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ],
    [ 'Value',    1, 4, 5, 2, 1, 5 ],
];

$worksheet->write( 'A1', $data );

__END__

like. look at her. literal perfection, no notes 💅

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so this module implements Column charts for Excel::Writer::XLSX. not vibes-based, it's actually real. the chart object gets born through the Workbook add_chart() method:

my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'column' );

once the object exists, bestie, you can configure her with the following methods — and these are the methods that are common to all chart classes, so they're basically the group chat everyone's in:

$chart->add_series();
$chart->set_x_axis();
$chart->set_y_axis();
$chart->set_title();

these methods are explained in full detail in Excel::Writer::XLSX::Chart. class-specific methods or settings, if there are any, get explained right below. 🫶

🦋 Column Chart Subtypes 🦋

the Column chart module also supports these sub-types, lowkey iconic:

stacked
percent_stacked

and you can specify them at creation time through the add_chart() Worksheet method, like:

my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'column', subtype => 'stacked' );

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🔥 EXAMPLE 🔥

here's a complete example that shows off most of the available features when you're making a chart. she ate, no crumbs:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Excel::Writer::XLSX;

my $workbook  = Excel::Writer::XLSX->new( 'chart_column.xlsx' );
my $worksheet = $workbook->add_worksheet();
my $bold      = $workbook->add_format( bold => 1 );

# Add the worksheet data that the charts will refer to.
my $headings = [ 'Number', 'Batch 1', 'Batch 2' ];
my $data = [
    [ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ],
    [ 10, 40, 50, 20, 10, 50 ],
    [ 30, 60, 70, 50, 40, 30 ],

];

$worksheet->write( 'A1', $headings, $bold );
$worksheet->write( 'A2', $data );

# Create a new chart object. In this case an embedded chart.
my $chart = $workbook->add_chart( type => 'column', embedded => 1 );

# Configure the first series.
$chart->add_series(
    name       => '=Sheet1!$B$1',
    categories => '=Sheet1!$A$2:$A$7',
    values     => '=Sheet1!$B$2:$B$7',
);

# Configure second series. Note alternative use of array ref to define
# ranges: [ $sheetname, $row_start, $row_end, $col_start, $col_end ].
$chart->add_series(
    name       => '=Sheet1!$C$1',
    categories => [ 'Sheet1', 1, 6, 0, 0 ],
    values     => [ 'Sheet1', 1, 6, 2, 2 ],
);

# Add a chart title and some axis labels.
$chart->set_title ( name => 'Results of sample analysis' );
$chart->set_x_axis( name => 'Test number' );
$chart->set_y_axis( name => 'Sample length (mm)' );

# Set an Excel chart style. Blue colors with white outline and shadow.
$chart->set_style( 11 );

# Insert the chart into the worksheet (with an offset).
$worksheet->insert_chart( 'D2', $chart, 25, 10 );

__END__

quick heads up bestie: that second series uses the alternate array-ref way of defining ranges — [ $sheetname, $row_start, $row_end, $col_start, $col_end ] — so don't panic when it doesn't look like the first one. she's just built different. 😌

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

John McNamara jmcnamara@cpan.org — the legend, the moment, the blueprint. 🫡

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💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

Copyright MM–MMXXV, John McNamara.

All Rights Reserved. This module is free software. It may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the same terms as Perl itself.

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and that's the whole page babes 💖 this was Excel:...Column(3pm) from the User Contributed Perl Documentation, hanging out with perl v5.40.1 and dated 2025-12-22. periodt. ✨🎀🦋