> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://xlswriter-docs.viest.me/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://xlswriter-docs.viest.me/english/reader.md).

# Reader

The reader opens an existing XLSX and exposes its data either in full (load all rows into an array) or via a cursor (one row at a time, constant memory). It also surfaces sheet metadata — styles, merged cells, hyperlinks, validations, conditional formats, page setup, defined names, images, comments and charts.

Reader features require the extension to be built with `--enable-reader` (the default in PECL packages).

Pages in this section:

* Iteration: [worksheet list](/english/reader/sheet_list.md), [worksheet list with metadata](/english/reader/sheet-list-with-meta.md), [full read](/english/reader/read-file-full.md), [cursor read](/english/reader/read-file-cursor.md), [cell callback mode](/english/reader/cell_callback.md)
* Filtering: [skip empty cells](/english/reader/skip-empty-cells.md), [skip empty rows](/english/reader/skip-empty-row.md), [set global type](/english/reader/set-type.md), [read by data type](/english/reader/data-type.md), [data type constants](/english/reader/data-type-const.md)
* Cell-level: [next row with formula](/english/reader/next-row-with-formula.md), [next row with rich text](/english/reader/next-row-rich.md), [read style format](/english/reader/get-style-format.md)
* Sheet-level metadata: [merged cells](/english/reader/get-merged-cells.md), [hyperlinks](/english/reader/get-hyperlinks.md), [sheet protection](/english/reader/get-sheet-protection.md), [row / column options](/english/reader/row-column-options.md), [conditional formats](/english/reader/get-conditional-formats.md), [data validations](/english/reader/get-data-validations.md), [auto filter](/english/reader/get-auto-filter.md), [defined names](/english/reader/get-defined-names.md), [page setup](/english/reader/get-page-setup.md), [formula AST](/english/reader/get-formula-ast.md)
* Embedded objects: [iterate images](/english/reader/iterate-images.md), [iterate comments](/english/reader/iterate-comments.md), [iterate charts](/english/reader/iterate-charts.md)