Phials documentation
Developer docs

Spreadsheet

The spreadsheet preview opens CSV, TSV, XLSX, XLS, and ODS files in a table you can scroll, extend, and edit. Changes stay in memory until you save.

Open the preview

  1. Select a supported file in a file list.
  2. The preview appears in the preview sidebar or a preview tab, depending on your layout (see File previews).

For Excel and OpenDocument workbooks with more than one sheet, use the sheet tabs under the toolbar to switch sheets. Each sheet uses its own first row as column headers. Empty header cells become names like Column 1, Column 2, and so on. A workbook with only one sheet does not show sheet tabs.

In fullscreen, the toolbar also shows the active sheet name when multiple sheets are available.

Toolbar

  • Save: writes your edits to disk. Disabled when there is nothing new to save or while a save is running.
  • Revert: reloads from disk and drops unsaved edits.
  • Unsaved: shown when any edited sheet differs from the last saved version (workbook-wide).
  • Fullscreen: opens the same content in fullscreen, with the same native table layout and sheet tabs when applicable.

Workbook sheets

  • Sheet tabs appear for multi-sheet XLSX, XLS, and ODS files. Click a tab to view and edit that sheet; unsaved edits on other sheets are kept until you Save or Revert.
  • Sheets marked hidden in Excel or LibreOffice still appear in the tab list in v1.
  • You cannot add, rename, or delete sheets inside Phials in v1 — only edit cell data on existing sheets.

Edit cells and headers

  • Click a header cell to rename a column. The change applies when focus leaves the cell.
  • Click a body cell to edit its text. The change applies on blur.
  • Use Add Column (plus in the header row) to append a column.
  • Use Add New Row at the bottom to append a row.

Large files

The table initially shows up to 100 rows. If the file has more rows, a footer shows Showing N of M rows and a Load 100 More button increases how many rows are rendered.

Errors

If the file cannot be read or parsed, you see Failed to load file and a short message. Fix the file or format outside Phials, then select it again.

Double-click

For these extensions, double-click opens a preview tab by default. See Default behaviors.