Name an API used for reading and writing data to Excel files in Selenium.

Apache POI and JXL (Java Excel API) are the most popular Java APIs for reading, writing, and updating Excel files in Selenium automation.

Answer

APIs for Reading and Writing Excel Files

Two main APIs are used in Java Selenium projects to handle Excel data:

1. Apache POI (Most Popular) Apache POI is an open-source Java library for Microsoft Office documents, including .xls and .xlsx files.

Java

import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFWorkbook;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFSheet;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFRow;
import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFCell;
import java.io.FileInputStream;

public class ExcelReader {

    public static String readCell(String filePath, String sheetName, int row, int col) throws Exception {
        FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(filePath);
        XSSFWorkbook wb = new XSSFWorkbook(fis);
        XSSFSheet sheet = wb.getSheet(sheetName);
        XSSFRow rowObj = sheet.getRow(row);
        String cellValue = rowObj.getCell(col).getStringCellValue();
        wb.close();
        return cellValue;
    }

    public static void writeCell(String filePath, String sheetName, int row, int col, String value) throws Exception {
        FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(filePath);
        XSSFWorkbook wb = new XSSFWorkbook(fis);
        XSSFSheet sheet = wb.getSheet(sheetName);
        sheet.getRow(row).getCell(col).setCellValue(value);
        FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(filePath);
        wb.write(fos);
        wb.close();
    }
}

POI class hierarchy:

File type	Workbook	Sheet	Row	Cell
`.xls` (old)	HSSFWorkbook	HSSFSheet	HSSFRow	HSSFCell
`.xlsx` (new)	XSSFWorkbook	XSSFSheet	XSSFRow	XSSFCell

Maven dependency:

XML

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.poi</groupId>
    <artifactId>poi-ooxml</artifactId>
    <version>5.2.3</version>
</dependency>

2. JXL (Java Excel API) JXL is an older, lighter API that supports only .xls (not .xlsx) format.

Java

import jxl.Workbook;
import jxl.Sheet;

Workbook wb = Workbook.getWorkbook(new File("data.xls"));
Sheet sheet = wb.getSheet("Sheet1");
String value = sheet.getCell(col, row).getContents();
wb.close();

Apache POI vs JXL:

Feature	Apache POI	JXL
.xlsx support	Yes	No
.xls support	Yes	Yes
Actively maintained	Yes	No
Usage in projects	Standard	Legacy

Recommendation: Use Apache POI for all new projects — it supports modern .xlsx files and is actively maintained.

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