ExcelToCsv

A command-line tool that converts Excel files (XLS/XLSX) to CSV format. This tool is specifically designed to work with Git's textconv feature, allowing you to search through Excel files in your Git history.

Features

• Converts Excel files (XLS/XLSX) to CSV format
• Integrates with Git's textconv for searching through Excel file history
• Enables searching through Excel file contents using Git's search capabilities

Build

Prerequisites

• .NET SDK

Building from Source

1. Clone the repository
2. Open a terminal in the project directory
3. Run the following command to create a release build:

dotnet publish -c Release

The executable will be created in the following path:

bin/Release/net8.0/publish/ExcelToCsv.exe

You can either add this directory to your PATH or use the full path when configuring Git.

Setup

1. Configure Git Attributes

Add the following lines to your .gitattributes file:

*.xls diff=excel
*.xlsx diff=excel

If you don't have a .gitattributes file, create one in your repository's root directory.

2. Configure Git's textconv

Run the following command to set up the Excel converter:

git config --global diff.excel.textconv "ExcelToCsv.exe"

Usage

Once configured, you can search through your Excel files' content in Git history using:

git log -S"your search string" -- path/to/your/excel/files

For example:

git log -S"Revenue" -- reports/*.xlsx

This will search for the term "Revenue" in all Excel files in the reports directory throughout your Git history.

How It Works

When Git needs to search through Excel files, it uses ExcelToCsv to convert the Excel files to a text format (CSV) behind the scenes. This allows Git to perform text-based searches on the contents of Excel files, which would otherwise be impossible due to their binary format.

Notes

• The converter needs to be in your system PATH or you should provide the full path in the git config command
• This tool is particularly useful for tracking changes in Excel-based data files, configurations, or reports
• The conversion is done on-the-fly and doesn't modify your original Excel files