How to save new created xls file from model Spring MVC

Question

I have a problem to save xls book created from model to hard drive. I'm using Springs AbstractExcelView and

protected void buildExcelDocument(Map<String, Object> model,
            HSSFWorkbook workbook, HttpServletRequest request,
            HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception

The problem is that I can not make I way for a window pop up to user screen, user choose the place where to save file and click save it.

     //This class makes convertation from Spring MVC model to excel document
        public class PagetoExcelConverter extends AbstractExcelView{

            List<FormDate> attributesList = null;   

            //Create massive of constants for making table header
            private final String[] HEADER_NAMES_MASSIVE = {"Name",  "Type",  "Date", "Description"};


            @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
            @Override
            protected void buildExcelDocument(Map<String, Object> model,
                    HSSFWorkbook workbook, HttpServletRequest request,
                    HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception {

                        //Creating new instance of ArrayList for add model attributes to
                    attributesList = new ArrayList<FormDate>();

                        //Adding model attributes to ArrayList
                        attributesList.addAll((List<FormDate>)model.get("findAttributes"));

                //Creating sheet inside of book with given name 
                Sheet sheet = workbook.createSheet("Result");
                    sheet.autoSizeColumn(0);

                //Making first row as a header 
                Row headerRow = sheet.createRow(0);

                       //Creating  head for table by iterating over HEADER_NAMES_MASSIVE
                for(int i=0; i<HEADER_NAMES_MASSIVE.length; i++) {      

                    Cell headCell = headerRow.createCell(i); 
                    headCell.setCellValue(HEADER_NAMES_MASSIVE[i]);
                    headCell.setCellStyle(headCellstyle);   

                    }


                    int rowNumber=1;

                //Add data to table by iterating over and attributes
                for(int i=0; i<attributesList.size(); i++) {

                    Row dataRow = sheet.createRow(rowNumber);
                    Cell dataCell;

                    int cellNumber=0;

                        dataCell = dataRow.createCell(cellNumber);
                        dataCell.setCellValue(attributesList.get(i).getFormDescriptionList().get(i).getInstitutions().getNameOfInstitution());

                        cellNumber++;

                        dataCell = dataRow.createCell(cellNumber);
                        dataCell.setCellValue(attributesList.get(i).getFormDescriptionList().get(i).getInstitutionType().getTypeOfInstitution());
                        dataCell.setCellStyle(dataCellstyle);

                        cellNumber++;

                        dataCell.setCellValue(attributesList.get(i).getParticularDate());

                        cellNumber++;

                        dataCell = dataRow.createCell(cellNumber);
                        dataCell.setCellValue(attributesList.get(i).getFormDescriptionList().get(i).getDaySchedule());
                        dataCell.setCellStyle(dataCellstyle);

                        cellNumber++;

                        dataCell = dataRow.createCell(cellNumber);
                        dataCell.setCellValue(attributesList.get(i).getFormDescriptionList());

                        cellNumber++;

                        }

                attributesList = null;

            }

    }   

So, if I put this piece of code:

FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("/home/vadim/Desktop/mybook.xls");
                workbook.write(fos);

It save a file where I point it to save. But I would like to have a little window pop up for user.

My view.properties in webapp/WEB-INF/classes:

#This view property triggered from org.springframework.web.servlet.view.ResourceBundleViewResolver for xls converting
#Here is xlspage is name of the jsp page, is tied in with (class) with do converting model to xls
xlspage.(class)=edu.demidov.service.PagetoExcelConverter

My viewResolvers declaration in servlet-context:

<!-- Resolves views selected for rendering by @Controllers to .jsp resources in the /WEB-INF/classes directory. Goes first -->
    <beans:bean id="xlsviewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.ResourceBundleViewResolver">
    <beans:property name="order" value="1" />
    <beans:property name="basename" value="views"/>
    </beans:bean>

    <!-- Resolves views selected for rendering by @Controllers to .jsp resources in the /WEB-INF/views directory -->
    <beans:bean id="jspviewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.InternalResourceViewResolver" >
        <beans:property name="prefix" value="/WEB-INF/views/" />
        <beans:property name="suffix" value=".jsp" />
    </beans:bean>

Answer 1

You should create a XmlViewResolver for the Excel view:

<bean id="PagetoExcelConverter" class="edu.demidov.service.PagetoExcelConverter" />

Then your controller should return ModelAndView:

return new ModelAndView("PagetoExcelConverter", "excelModel", excelModel);

The excelModel is map. For more details see the tutorial .