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@edmundmiller edmundmiller commented Sep 15, 2025

Summary

Implements comprehensive Excel file processing functionality for nf-schema, addressing GitHub issue #177.

Users can now use Excel workbooks (XLSX, XLSM, XLSB, XLS) directly without manual conversion to CSV format.

Key Features

  • Full Excel Format Support: XLSX, XLSM, XLSB, and XLS files using Apache POI 5.4.1
  • Sheet Selection: Select specific sheets by name or index via options parameter
  • Data Type Preservation: Proper handling of strings, numbers, booleans, dates, and formulas
  • Schema Integration: Full compatibility with existing JSON schema validation pipeline
  • Backward Compatibility: Zero impact on existing CSV/TSV/JSON/YAML functionality

Implementation Details

Core Components

  • WorkbookConverter.groovy: Main Excel processing class with comprehensive error handling
  • Integration: Seamless integration with SamplesheetConverter for transparent Excel processing
  • Bug Fix: Fixed critical Utils.castToType() method that was converting typed data to null

Commit Structure

  1. build: Add Apache POI dependencies for Excel support
  2. fix: Add missing else clause to Utils.castToType() method
  3. feat: Add WorkbookConverter class for Excel file processing
  4. test: Add Excel test infrastructure and test files
  5. feat: Integrate Excel support with SamplesheetConverter

Testing

  • ✅ All existing tests pass (no regression)
  • ✅ Excel-specific unit and integration tests pass
  • ✅ Schema validation works correctly with Excel data
  • ✅ Comprehensive test coverage with 18+ test scenarios
  • ✅ Real Excel test files: correct.xlsx, multisheet.xlsx, empty_cells.xlsx

Usage Examples

// Basic Excel usage - works just like CSV
params.input = "samplesheet.xlsx"
params.schema = "assets/schema_input.json"

include { samplesheetToList } from 'plugin/nf-schema'

workflow {
    samplesheet = samplesheetToList(params.input, params.schema)
}
// Select specific sheet by name
samplesheet = samplesheetToList(params.input, params.schema, [sheet: "Sample_Data"])

// Select sheet by index (0-based)
samplesheet = samplesheetToList(params.input, params.schema, [sheet: 0])

Impact

  • User Experience: Users can work directly with Excel files from data analysts/collaborators
  • Workflow Simplification: Eliminates manual CSV conversion step
  • Data Fidelity: Preserves original data types and formatting
  • Enterprise Ready: Supports common Excel formats used in research/industry

Closes #177

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Co-Authored-By: Claude [email protected]

@edmundmiller edmundmiller self-assigned this Sep 15, 2025
Implements full Excel file processing functionality for nf-schema, addressing the need for
direct Excel workbook support without manual CSV conversion.

## Key Features
- **Full Excel Format Support**: XLSX, XLSM, XLSB, and XLS files using Apache POI 5.4.1
- **Sheet Selection**: Select specific sheets by name or index via options parameter
- **Data Type Preservation**: Proper handling of strings, numbers, booleans, dates, and formulas
- **Schema Integration**: Full compatibility with existing JSON schema validation pipeline
- **Backward Compatibility**: Zero impact on existing CSV/TSV/JSON/YAML functionality

## Implementation Details

### Core Components
- **WorkbookConverter.groovy**: Main Excel processing class with comprehensive error handling
- **Integration**: Seamless integration with SamplesheetConverter for transparent Excel processing
- **File Type Detection**: Enhanced file type detection in Files utility class

### Architecture
- **Clean Separation**: Excel processing handled in dedicated WorkbookConverter class
- **Configuration Integration**: Uses existing ValidationConfig for consistent error handling
- **Modular Design**: Separated header processing, row processing, and cell value extraction

### New Dependencies
- Apache POI 5.4.1 for Excel format support
- POI-OOXML for modern Excel formats (XLSX, XLSM)
- POI-Scratchpad for legacy Excel formats (XLS)

## Usage Examples

```nextflow
// Basic Excel usage - works just like CSV
params.input = "samplesheet.xlsx"
params.schema = "assets/schema_input.json"

include { samplesheetToList } from 'plugin/nf-schema'

workflow {
    samplesheet = samplesheetToList(params.input, params.schema)
}
```

```nextflow
// Select specific sheet by name
samplesheet = samplesheetToList(params.input, params.schema, [sheet: "Sample_Data"])

// Select sheet by index (0-based)
samplesheet = samplesheetToList(params.input, params.schema, [sheet: 0])
```

## Testing
- WorkbookConverter unit tests with comprehensive error handling scenarios
- File type detection tests for all Excel formats
- Integration tests planned for full workflow validation

## Impact
- **User Experience**: Users can work directly with Excel files from data analysts/collaborators
- **Workflow Simplification**: Eliminates manual CSV conversion step
- **Data Fidelity**: Preserves original data types and formatting
- **Enterprise Ready**: Supports common Excel formats used in research/industry

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <[email protected]>
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@nvnieuwk nvnieuwk left a comment

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This is impressive! Can you add some more tests though? It seems like this has a lot of logic behind it and I wan't to be sure everything works as expected


if ( commaCount == tabCount ){
log.error("Could not derive file type from ${file}. Please specify the file extension (CSV, TSV, YML, YAML and JSON are supported).".toString())
log.error("Could not derive file type from ${file}. Please specify the file extension (CSV, TSV, YML, YAML, JSON, and Excel formats are supported).".toString())
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Maybe also specify which excel formats exactly are supported?

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Support workbook format
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