posted 18 years ago
Well, if you've already got an API to extract data from Excel files, I'm assuming you've managed to get objects representing the spreadsheet, and the various cells and data it contains?
I suppose the next job is to build a rendering engine which lays all that data out onto a virtual "canvas", using java.awt and java.awt.geom to do some of the hard work, and then a converter which takes all the pixel data on that canvas and puts it in a java.awt.BufferedImage. You can then use the Image I/O API to export this into an image file.
So if you have both the importers for Excel files and exporters for images (exporters for common formats are supplied with the Image I/O API), then all you need is an engine which does the geometry and layout, then writes the data to the Graphics2D obtained from the BufferedImage's createGraphics() method. You need to be familiar with the elementary AWT graphics classes and have some familiarity with geometry, but it's certainly doable.
If you want a rough sketch of an approach, feel free to ask.
[ March 17, 2006: Message edited by: Charles Lyons ]
Charles Lyons (SCJP 1.4, April 2003; SCJP 5, Dec 2006; SCWCD 1.4b, April 2004)
Author of OCEJWCD Study Companion for Oracle Exam 1Z0-899 (ISBN 0955160340 / Amazon Amazon UK )