Excel compatibility

Feature compatibility comparison between Excel/Google Sheets and Rows n Columns Spreadsheet

This document provides a comprehensive comparison of features between Excel/Google Sheets and the Rows n Columns Spreadsheet component.

Feature Compatibility Matrix

Feature	Excel/Google Sheets	Rows n Columns Spreadsheet	Notes
Basic Editing
Cell editing	✅	✅	Full support
Multi-cell selection	✅	✅	Full support
Copy/Paste	✅	✅	Full support with clipboard API
Cut/Paste	✅	✅	Full support
Undo/Redo	✅	✅	Full support with history management
Find & Replace	✅	✅	Full support
Fill handle (drag to fill)	✅	✅	Full support with magic fill
Cell Formatting
Font family	✅	✅	Full support
Font size	✅	✅	Full support
Bold	✅	✅	Full support
Italic	✅	✅	Full support
Underline	✅	✅	Full support
Strikethrough	✅	✅	Full support
Text color	✅	✅	Full support
Background color	✅	✅	Full support
Number formats (currency, percent, date, etc.)	✅	✅	Full support with custom patterns
Decimal places	✅	✅	Full support (increase/decrease)
Text alignment (horizontal)	✅	✅	Full support (left, center, right, justify)
Text alignment (vertical)	✅	✅	Full support (top, middle, bottom)
Text wrap	✅	✅	Full support
Indent	✅	✅	Full support (increase/decrease)
Borders	✅	✅	Full support (all sides, styles, colors)
Merge cells	✅	✅	Full support
Clear formatting	✅	✅	Full support
Format painter	✅	✅	Full support (paint format button)
Rows & Columns
Insert/Delete rows	✅	✅	Full support
Insert/Delete columns	✅	✅	Full support
Resize rows/columns	✅	✅	Full support
Hide/Show rows	✅	✅	Full support
Hide/Show columns	✅	✅	Full support
Freeze panes	✅	✅	Full support (frozen rows/columns)
Formulas & Functions
Formula bar	✅	✅	Full support
Formula autocomplete	✅	✅	Full support
Cell references (A1 notation)	✅	✅	Full support
Range references	✅	✅	Full support
Cross-sheet references	✅	✅	Full support
Array formulas	✅	✅	Full support
Named ranges	✅	✅	Full support
300+ Excel-compatible functions	✅	✅	Full support (Math, Text, Date, Lookup, Financial, Statistical, etc.)
Custom functions	✅	✅	Full support (extensible)
Formula dependencies tracking	✅	✅	Full support (trace precedents/dependents)
Structured references (tables)	✅	✅	Full support
Data Features
Tables (structured data)	✅	✅	Full support with themes and styles
Auto-filter	✅	✅	Full support
Sorting	✅	✅	Full support
Data validation	✅	✅	Full support (list, number, text, date, custom formula)
Dropdown lists	✅	✅	Full support
Conditional Formatting
Conditional formatting rules	✅	✅	Full support
Number-based conditions	✅	✅	Full support (greater, less, equal, between, etc.)
Text-based conditions	✅	✅	Full support (contains, starts with, ends with, etc.)
Date-based conditions	✅	✅	Full support
Custom formula conditions	✅	✅	Full support
Color scales (gradient)	✅	✅	Full support
Data bars	⚠️	❌	Not supported
Icon sets	⚠️	❌	Not supported
Top/Bottom rules	✅	✅	Partial support (via custom formulas)
Charts
Column charts	✅	✅	Full support (clustered, stacked)
Line charts	✅	✅	Full support (line, smooth line, stacked)
Pie charts	✅	✅	Full support (2D pie, doughnut)
Area charts	✅	✅	Full support
Bar charts	✅	✅	Full support
Treemap	✅	✅	Full support
Sunburst	✅	✅	Full support
Chart embedding	✅	✅	Full support
Chart editing	✅	✅	Full support
Pivot Tables
Pivot tables	✅	✅	Full support (powered by DuckDB)
Row grouping	✅	✅	Full support
Column grouping	✅	✅	Full support
Aggregations (sum, count, avg, etc.)	✅	✅	Full support
Filtering	✅	✅	Full support
Sorting	✅	✅	Full support
Advanced Features
Multiple sheets	✅	✅	Full support
Sheet tabs	✅	✅	Full support
Sheet renaming	✅	✅	Full support
Sheet colors	✅	✅	Full support
Hide/Show sheets	✅	✅	Full support
Protected ranges	✅	✅	Full support
Cell comments/notes	✅	✅	Full support
Images	✅	✅	Full support (insert, resize, move)
Links	✅	✅	Full support
Print	✅	✅	Full support
Zoom/Scale	✅	✅	Full support
Grid lines toggle	✅	✅	Full support
Themes	✅	✅	Full support (light/dark mode)
Collaboration
Real-time collaboration	✅ (Google Sheets)	✅	Full support (YJS, Supabase)
Comments	✅	✅	Full support
User presence	✅	✅	Full support (collaborator avatars)
Import/Export
Excel import (.xlsx)	✅	✅	Full support
Excel export (.xlsx)	✅	✅	Full support
CSV import	✅	✅	Full support
CSV export	✅	✅	Full support
Google Sheets import	✅	⚠️	Partial (via Excel export from Google Sheets)
Google Sheets export	✅	⚠️	Partial (via Excel export, then import to Google Sheets)
Limitations
Maximum rows	1,048,576 (Excel) / Unlimited (Google Sheets)	Configurable (default: 1,048,576)	Can be customized
Maximum columns	16,384 (Excel) / Unlimited (Google Sheets)	Configurable (default: 16,384)	Can be customized
Macros/VBA	✅	❌	Not supported
Power Query	✅	❌	Not supported
Power Pivot	✅	❌	Not supported
Data bars (conditional formatting)	✅	❌	Not supported
Icon sets (conditional formatting)	✅	❌	Not supported
Sparklines	✅	⚠️	Partial support (structured cell renderer)
Slicers	✅	❌	Not supported
Timeline filters	✅	❌	Not supported
3D charts	✅	❌	Not supported
Stock charts	✅	❌	Not supported
Surface charts	✅	❌	Not supported
Radar charts	✅	❌	Not supported
Waterfall charts	✅	❌	Not supported
Funnel charts	✅	❌	Not supported

Excel Import Compatibility

The following table details what features are preserved when importing Excel (.xlsx) files:

Feature	Excel Support	Import Status	Notes
Cell Data
Cell values	✅	✅	All data types supported
Formulas	✅	✅	Formulas are preserved and recalculated
Array formulas	✅	✅	Full support
Cell Formatting
Font family	✅	✅	Preserved
Font size	✅	✅	Preserved
Font style (bold, italic, underline, strikethrough)	✅	✅	Preserved
Text color	✅	✅	Preserved
Background color	✅	✅	Preserved
Number formats	✅	✅	Preserved (currency, percent, date, custom patterns)
Text alignment	✅	✅	Preserved (horizontal and vertical)
Text wrap	✅	✅	Preserved
Indent	✅	✅	Preserved
Borders	✅	✅	Preserved (all sides, styles, colors)
Merged cells	✅	✅	Preserved
Sheet Structure
Multiple sheets	✅	✅	All sheets imported
Sheet names	✅	✅	Preserved
Sheet colors	✅	✅	Preserved
Hidden sheets	✅	✅	Preserved
Row heights	✅	✅	Preserved
Column widths	✅	✅	Preserved
Hidden rows/columns	✅	✅	Preserved
Frozen panes	✅	✅	Preserved
Grid lines	✅	✅	Preserved
Data Features
Tables	✅	✅	Preserved with styles
Auto-filter	✅	✅	Preserved
Data validation	✅	✅	Preserved
Named ranges	✅	✅	Preserved
Conditional Formatting
Boolean rules	✅	✅	Preserved
Gradient/color scales	✅	✅	Preserved
Custom formula rules	✅	✅	Preserved
Charts
Embedded charts	✅	✅	Preserved (bar, line, pie, area, etc.)
Chart data ranges	✅	✅	Preserved
Chart titles	✅	✅	Preserved
Advanced
Images	✅	✅	Preserved
Links	✅	✅	Preserved
Cell comments/notes	⚠️	⚠️	Partial support
Protected ranges	✅	✅	Preserved
Limitations
Macros/VBA	✅	❌	Not imported (security)
Power Query connections	✅	❌	Not imported
External data connections	✅	❌	Not imported
Pivot tables	✅	⚠️	Structure preserved, but may need recreation
Data bars (conditional formatting)	✅	❌	Not supported in spreadsheet
Icon sets (conditional formatting)	✅	❌	Not supported in spreadsheet

Excel Export Compatibility

The following table details what features are preserved when exporting to Excel (.xlsx) format:

Feature	Spreadsheet Support	Export Status	Notes
Cell Data
Cell values	✅	✅	All data types exported
Formulas	✅	✅	Formulas are exported
Array formulas	✅	✅	Full support
Cell Formatting
Font family	✅	✅	Exported
Font size	✅	✅	Exported
Font style (bold, italic, underline, strikethrough)	✅	✅	Exported
Text color	✅	✅	Exported
Background color	✅	✅	Exported
Number formats	✅	✅	Exported (currency, percent, date, custom patterns)
Text alignment	✅	✅	Exported (horizontal and vertical)
Text wrap	✅	✅	Exported
Indent	✅	✅	Exported
Borders	✅	✅	Exported (all sides, styles, colors)
Merged cells	✅	✅	Exported
Sheet Structure
Multiple sheets	✅	✅	All sheets exported
Sheet names	✅	✅	Exported
Sheet colors	✅	✅	Exported
Hidden sheets	✅	✅	Exported
Row heights	✅	✅	Exported
Column widths	✅	✅	Exported
Hidden rows/columns	✅	✅	Exported
Frozen panes	✅	✅	Exported
Grid lines	✅	✅	Exported
Data Features
Tables	✅	✅	Exported with styles
Auto-filter	✅	✅	Exported
Data validation	✅	✅	Exported
Named ranges	✅	✅	Exported
Conditional Formatting
Boolean rules	✅	✅	Exported
Gradient/color scales	✅	✅	Exported
Custom formula rules	✅	✅	Exported
Charts
Embedded charts	✅	✅	Exported (bar, line, pie, area, etc.)
Chart data ranges	✅	✅	Exported
Chart titles	✅	✅	Exported
Advanced
Images	✅	✅	Exported
Links	✅	✅	Exported
Cell comments/notes	✅	⚠️	May have limited support
Protected ranges	✅	✅	Exported
Limitations
Pivot tables	✅	⚠️	Structure exported, but may need recreation in Excel
Real-time collaboration metadata	✅	❌	Not exported (spreadsheet-specific)
Custom themes	✅	⚠️	Colors exported, but theme structure not preserved

Summary

The Rows n Columns Spreadsheet provides high compatibility with Excel and Google Sheets for most common features:

✅ Fully Compatible Features

• All basic editing operations

• Complete cell formatting (fonts, colors, borders, alignment)

• Formulas and 300+ Excel-compatible functions

• Tables, filters, sorting, data validation

• Conditional formatting (except data bars and icon sets)

• Charts (column, line, pie, area, treemap, sunburst)

• Pivot tables

• Multiple sheets with full sheet management

• Import/Export of Excel files with high fidelity

⚠️ Partially Compatible Features

• Google Sheets import/export (via Excel format)

• Some advanced chart types (3D, stock, surface, radar, waterfall, funnel)

• Sparklines (via structured cell renderer)

• Pivot tables (structure preserved, may need recreation)

❌ Not Supported Features

• Macros/VBA

• Power Query and Power Pivot

• Data bars and icon sets in conditional formatting

• Slicers and timeline filters

• Some advanced chart types

Key Advantages

• Real-time collaboration built-in (YJS, Supabase)

• Customizable - fully declarative React components

• Extensible - add custom functions and renderers

• High performance - Canvas-based rendering

• Modern stack - Built for web applications

For most use cases, the spreadsheet provides excellent compatibility with Excel and Google Sheets, making it suitable for building spreadsheet applications that need to work with standard Excel files.