# Worksheets

A worksheet is a collection of cells, formulae, images, graphs, etc. It
holds all data necessary to represent a spreadsheet worksheet.

When you load a workbook from a spreadsheet file, it will be loaded with
all its existing worksheets (unless you specified that only certain
sheets should be loaded). When you load from non-spreadsheet files (such
as a CSV or HTML file) or from spreadsheet formats that don't identify
worksheets by name (such as SYLK), then a single worksheet called
"WorkSheet1" will be created containing the data from that file.

When you instantiate a new workbook, PhpSpreadsheet will create it with
a single worksheet called "WorkSheet1".

The `getSheetCount()` method will tell you the number of worksheets in
the workbook; while the `getSheetNames()` method will return a list of
all worksheets in the workbook, indexed by the order in which their
"tabs" would appear when opened in MS Excel (or other appropriate
Spreadsheet program).

Individual worksheets can be accessed by name, or by their index
position in the workbook. The index position represents the order that
each worksheet "tab" is shown when the workbook is opened in MS Excel
(or other appropriate Spreadsheet program). To access a sheet by its
index, use the `getSheet()` method.

``` php
// Get the second sheet in the workbook
// Note that sheets are indexed from 0
$spreadsheet->getSheet(1);
```

If you don't specify a sheet index, then the first worksheet will be
returned.

Methods also exist allowing you to reorder the worksheets in the
workbook.

To access a sheet by name, use the `getSheetByName()` method, specifying
the name of the worksheet that you want to access.

``` php
// Retrieve the worksheet called 'Worksheet 1'
$spreadsheet->getSheetByName('Worksheet 1');
```

Alternatively, one worksheet is always the currently active worksheet,
and you can access that directly. The currently active worksheet is the
one that will be active when the workbook is opened in MS Excel (or
other appropriate Spreadsheet program).

``` php
// Retrieve the current active worksheet
$spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();
```

You can change the currently active sheet by index or by name using the
`setActiveSheetIndex()` and `setActiveSheetIndexByName()` methods.

## Adding a new Worksheet

You can add a new worksheet to the workbook using the `createSheet()`
method of the `Spreadsheet` object. By default, this will be created as
a new "last" sheet; but you can also specify an index position as an
argument, and the worksheet will be inserted at that position, shuffling
all subsequent worksheets in the collection down a place.

``` php
$spreadsheet->createSheet();
```

A new worksheet created using this method will be called
"Worksheet&lt;n&gt;" where "&lt;n&gt;" is the lowest number possible to
guarantee that the title is unique.

Alternatively, you can instantiate a new worksheet (setting the title to
whatever you choose) and then insert it into your workbook using the
`addSheet()` method.

``` php
// Create a new worksheet called "My Data"
$myWorkSheet = new \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Worksheet($spreadsheet, 'My Data');

// Attach the "My Data" worksheet as the first worksheet in the Spreadsheet object
$spreadsheet->addSheet($myWorkSheet, 0);
```

If you don't specify an index position as the second argument, then the
new worksheet will be added after the last existing worksheet.

## Copying Worksheets

Sheets within the same workbook can be copied by creating a clone of the
worksheet you wish to copy, and then using the `addSheet()` method to
insert the clone into the workbook.

``` php
$clonedWorksheet = clone $spreadsheet->getSheetByName('Worksheet 1');
$clonedWorksheet->setTitle('Copy of Worksheet 1');
$spreadsheet->addSheet($clonedWorksheet);
```

You can also copy worksheets from one workbook to another, though this
is more complex as PhpSpreadsheet also has to replicate the styling
between the two workbooks. The `addExternalSheet()` method is provided for
this purpose.

    $clonedWorksheet = clone $spreadsheet1->getSheetByName('Worksheet 1');
    $spreadsheet->addExternalSheet($clonedWorksheet);

In both cases, it is the developer's responsibility to ensure that
worksheet names are not duplicated. PhpSpreadsheet will throw an
exception if you attempt to copy worksheets that will result in a
duplicate name.

## Removing a Worksheet

You can delete a worksheet from a workbook, identified by its index
position, using the `removeSheetByIndex()` method

``` php
$sheetIndex = $spreadsheet->getIndex(
    $spreadsheet->getSheetByName('Worksheet 1')
);
$spreadsheet->removeSheetByIndex($sheetIndex);
```

If the currently active worksheet is deleted, then the sheet at the
previous index position will become the currently active sheet.
