java - returning decimal instead of string (POI jar)

Question

I need to read xls or xlsx sheet. successfully I read the sheet, but it returning decimal value instead of string (eg: for 3 -- it is returning 3.0). I need to read the cell values as it is. so I need to return as string

Answer 1

POI is giving you the exact value that Excel has stored in the File. Generally, if you write a number in an Excel cell, Excel will store that as a number with formatting. POI provides support to do that formatting for you if you want it (most people don't - they want the numbers as numbers so they can use them)

The class you're looking for is DataFormatter. Your code would be something like

 DataFormatter fmt = new DataFormatter();
 for (Row r : sheet) {
    for (Cell c : r) {
       CellReference cr = new CellRefence(c);
       System.out.println("Cell " + cr.formatAsString() + " is " + 
                          fmt.formatCellValue(c) );
    }
 }