Correct format for strings / numbers beginning with zero?

Question

I\'m trying to use PHP to create a file containing a list of phone numbers. It\'s working OK however if the phone number begins with zero, the digit is dropped from the Exce

Answer 1

Set the type to string explicitly:

$type = PHPExcel_Cell_DataType::TYPE_STRING;
$sheet->getCellByColumnAndRow($column, $rowno)->setValueExplicit($value, $type);

Answer 2

Either:

// Set the value explicitly as a string
$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValueExplicit('A1', '0029', PHPExcel_Cell_DataType::TYPE_STRING);

or

// Set the value as a number formatted with leading zeroes
$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A3', 29);
$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->getStyle('A3')->getNumberFormat()->setFormatCode('0000');

Answer 3

If for some reason the answers above don't work, you can simply try to wrap your data in quotes, something like this:

setCellValue('A1, '"' . $phone . '" ')

But your value will be surrounded by quotes in your file as well.

Answer 4

Use \t with the value like "$phone\t"

Answer 5

This is an old question but I was recently struggling with this issue and I thought it may help someone in the future if I post some additional info here:

Whilst the above answers are correct, the formatting gets lost when you remove a column or row that is located before the formatted cell.

The solution that seems to be resistand to that is:

$cellRichText = new \PHPExcel_RichText($worksheet->getCell($cell));                        
$cellRichText->createText($cellValue);

Answer 6

In My case, I'm using

->setCellValue('A3', ' '0000123456789000' ');

And it's work perfectly.