How to Set Cell Border & Alignment in C# with IronXL

In total, there are six border line positions, each offering a variety of patterns or types. These positions include top, right, bottom, left, as well as diagonal lines moving forward, backward, and both. This comprehensive set of options allows you to create complex visual layouts similar to those you might achieve when working with merged cells, but with more flexibility.

When working with diagonal borders, understand how they interact with the cell's content and alignment settings. Diagonal borders can be particularly useful for creating header sections or visual separators in your Excel reports.

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/border-alignment-set-border-line.cs

using IronXL;
using IronXL.Styles;

WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Create();
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.DefaultWorkSheet;

workSheet["B2"].StringValue = "Top";
workSheet["B4"].StringValue = "Forward";

// Set top border line
workSheet["B2"].Style.TopBorder.Type = BorderType.Thick;

// Set diagonal border line
workSheet["B4"].Style.DiagonalBorder.Type = BorderType.Thick;
// Set diagonal border direction
workSheet["B4"].Style.DiagonalBorderDirection = DiagonalBorderDirection.Forward;

workBook.SaveAs("borderLines.xlsx");

For more complex border scenarios, consider creating a reusable function that applies a consistent border style across multiple cells or ranges:

void ApplyUniformBorder(WorkSheet sheet, string range, BorderType borderType, Color borderColor)
{
    var cells = sheet[range];

    // Apply borders to all sides
    cells.Style.TopBorder.Type = borderType;
    cells.Style.RightBorder.Type = borderType;
    cells.Style.BottomBorder.Type = borderType;
    cells.Style.LeftBorder.Type = borderType;

    // Apply color to all borders
    cells.Style.TopBorder.SetColor(borderColor);
    cells.Style.RightBorder.SetColor(borderColor);
    cells.Style.BottomBorder.SetColor(borderColor);
    cells.Style.LeftBorder.SetColor(borderColor);
}

// Usage example
ApplyUniformBorder(workSheet, "A1:D4", BorderType.Thin, Color.Black);

void ApplyUniformBorder(WorkSheet sheet, string range, BorderType borderType, Color borderColor)
{
    var cells = sheet[range];

    // Apply borders to all sides
    cells.Style.TopBorder.Type = borderType;
    cells.Style.RightBorder.Type = borderType;
    cells.Style.BottomBorder.Type = borderType;
    cells.Style.LeftBorder.Type = borderType;

    // Apply color to all borders
    cells.Style.TopBorder.SetColor(borderColor);
    cells.Style.RightBorder.SetColor(borderColor);
    cells.Style.BottomBorder.SetColor(borderColor);
    cells.Style.LeftBorder.SetColor(borderColor);
}

// Usage example
ApplyUniformBorder(workSheet, "A1:D4", BorderType.Thin, Color.Black);

Border Lines

Border Patterns

Text alignment in IronXL provides comprehensive control over how content is positioned within cells. This feature is particularly important when exporting data to different formats where maintaining visual consistency is crucial. The alignment system works in conjunction with other formatting features like font styling to create professional-looking spreadsheets.

Discover the full range of alignment options offered by IronXL in the illustration below:

HorizontalAlignment Enumeration

• General: General-aligned horizontal alignment. Text data is left-aligned. Numbers, dates, and times are right-aligned. Boolean types are centered. Changing the alignment does not affect the data type. This is the default alignment when no specific alignment is set.
• Left: Left-aligned horizontal alignment, even in Right-to-Left mode. Aligns contents at the left edge of the cell. If an indent amount is specified, the cell's contents are indented from the left by the specified number of character spaces.
• Center: Centered horizontal alignment. The text is centered across the cell. This is commonly used for headers and titles.
• Right: Right-aligned horizontal alignment. Cell contents are aligned at the right edge of the cell, even in Right-to-Left mode. This is typically used for numeric data presentation.
• Fill: The cell value fills across the entire width. If adjacent cells to the right also have the same fill alignment, they will be filled as well. Additional rules:
  • Only whole values can be appended, not partial values.
  • The column will not be widened to 'best fit' the filled value.
  • If appending an additional occurrence of the value exceeds the boundary of the cell's left/right edge, it will not be added.
  • The display value of the cell is filled, not the underlying raw number.
• Justify: Justified (flush left and right) horizontal alignment. Applies wrap text to the cell and ensures that each line aligns the first word with the left edge and the last word with the right edge of the cell (except for the last line). This is particularly useful for text-heavy cells containing paragraphs.
• CenterSelection: Horizontally centers the content of the leftmost cell to the center across multiple cells. It visually appears similar to merging cells, but without actually merging them. Using this option helps prevent potential issues that may arise from merged cells.
• Distributed: Each 'word' in each line of text inside the cell is evenly distributed across the cell's width, with flush right and left margins. If there is an indent value to apply, both the left and right sides of the cell are padded by the indent value.

VerticalAlignment Enumeration

• None: The default alignment, which typically results in bottom alignment behavior.
• Top: Aligns content at the top of the cell. Useful for cells with varying content heights.
• Center: Vertically centers the content within the cell. This creates a balanced appearance, especially when combined with horizontal centering.
• Bottom: Aligns content at the bottom of the cell. This is the standard behavior for most spreadsheet applications.
• Justify: Distributes the lines of text evenly across the cell's height, with flush top and bottom margins. Works similarly to horizontal justification by wrapping text and adjusting the spaces between lines to occupy the entire row's height.
• Distributed: Distributes each 'word' in each line of text evenly across the cell's height, with flush top and bottom margins in horizontal text direction. In vertical text direction, it behaves exactly as distributed horizontal alignment, evenly distributing the lines of text from top to bottom.

When working with alignment settings, consider how they interact with other cell properties. For example, when you autosize rows and columns, the alignment settings will affect how the content fits within the automatically sized cells. Similarly, when working with formulas, proper alignment can make your spreadsheet calculations more readable and professional.