Excel to Ruby Converter

Excel to Ruby Converter Guide

Use this free Excel to Ruby converter to turn any Excel spreadsheet into clean Ruby arrays and Ruby hashes. It is ideal when you want to convert Excel data to Ruby for seeding databases, building test fixtures, or quickly prototyping Ruby applications.

Key Features

• Excel support: Upload .xlsx or .xls files exported from Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice.
• Ruby array & hash output: Automatically generates a data = [ { ... }, { ... } ] structure.
• Header detection: Treats the first row as column names and converts them into Ruby hash keys.
• Key sanitization: Column names are lower‑cased and converted to snake_case for idiomatic Ruby code.
• String escaping: Quotes inside cells are safely escaped so the Ruby code runs without syntax errors.
• One‑click copy & download: Copy the generated Ruby code or download it as a .rb file.

How to Convert Excel to Ruby Arrays and Hashes

1. Upload your Excel file: Click the upload area or drag and drop a .xlsx or .xls file containing your table.
2. Mark the header row: Keep “First row is header” checked if the first row contains column names you want to use as Ruby hash keys.
3. Wait for processing: The tool automatically reads the first sheet and converts each row into a Ruby hash inside an array.
4. Review the Ruby output: Scroll through the generated data array and make sure the keys and values look correct.
5. Copy or download: Use the Copy button to paste into your Ruby project, or Download to save the code as output.rb.

Example: Excel to Ruby Hashes

Suppose your Excel sheet looks like this:

• Row 1 (headers): Name, Age, Country
• Row 2: Alice, 30, USA
• Row 3: Bob, 25, Canada

The generated Ruby output will be similar to:

• data = [ { 'name' => 'Alice', 'age' => 30, 'country' => 'USA' }, { 'name' => 'Bob', 'age' => 25, 'country' => 'Canada' } ]

You can then use this Ruby array of hashes in Rails seeds, ActiveRecord imports, or any script that needs structured data.

When to Use an Excel to Ruby Converter

• Database seeding: Convert Excel to Ruby hashes for db/seeds.rb or sample data in Rails applications.
• Test fixtures: Generate Ruby arrays for RSpec, Minitest, or FactoryBot from existing Excel sheets.
• Rapid prototyping: Quickly move business data from spreadsheets into Ruby scripts and CLI tools.
• Configuration & lookup tables: Maintain configuration in Excel, then export it to Ruby for use as constants or lookup hashes.

Benefits of Using This Tool

• Time‑saving: No need to hand‑write Ruby arrays and hashes from Excel tables.
• Fewer errors: Automatic escaping and key normalization reduce syntax mistakes in your Ruby code.
• Compatible with any Ruby project: Works with Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, Hanami, and plain scripts.
• Free and browser‑based: Nothing to install, and you can run conversions as often as you need.

FAQ

Does this Excel to Ruby tool support both .xlsx and .xls files?

Yes. You can upload modern .xlsx files or older .xls spreadsheets. The converter validates file type and extension before processing.

How are Ruby hash keys generated from Excel headers?

Header cells are lower‑cased and converted to snake_case. For example, Customer Name becomes 'customer_name' in the Ruby hash.

What happens if my Excel file has no header row?

If you uncheck “First row is header”, the tool will generate generic keys like field_1, field_2, etc., and still convert the Excel rows to Ruby hashes.

Is my Excel data uploaded to a server?

No. All Excel to Ruby conversion happens locally in your browser. Your spreadsheet never leaves your device, which keeps your data private and secure.

Can I edit the Ruby output before using it?

Yes. The Ruby code appears in a plain text area. You can tweak values, rename keys, or wrap the data array in additional Ruby logic before copying or downloading it.