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I started writing unit tests recently and need to test reading fields in a spreadsheet (.xlsx and .xls), my biggest question is:
Should I create a spreadsheet by code using Apache POI or use external spreadsheet models that are used in software? What is the best practice?

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How the spreadsheet/workbook is created shouldn't matter. You may have some issues with cells whose value is derived from a formula though. I like to work with .csv files if at all possible. They are much easier to parse if you write the java code yourself (without using 3rd party libraries).

Here are a few examples for Excel file types, from HelloSelenium.com, that I found:

  1. HOW TO PERFORM DATA DRIVEN USING EXCEL FILE (.XLSX) IN SELENIUM WEBDRIVER ?
  2. HOW TO READ DATA FROM EXCEL FILE (.XLSX) USING APACHE POI?
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  • My question is time to take the test. The code that will test already uses Apache POI. When testing, ride a Java spreadsheet or make test with an existing spreadsheet (External file)?
    – Daniela Morais
    May 26, 2015 at 19:47
  • I would call the file if it is static. In some of my tests that require a file for a FileDialog, I first check to see if the file exists on the file system and if not I generate a new one or copy it to the local file system from some other end-point.
    – kirbycope
    May 26, 2015 at 19:57

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