require 'abstract_controller' require 'action_controller' require 'action_view' require 'active_record'

require any helpers

require './app/helpers/application_helper'

active record only if data is here

require './app/models/widget' ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection( adapter: 'sqlite3', database: 'db/development.sqlite3' )

ActionController::Base.prepend_view_path "./app/views/"

place data in view_assigns

view_assigns = {widgets: Widget.all} av = ActionView::Base.new(ActionController::Base.view_paths, view_assigns) av.class_eval do

include any needed helpers (for the view)

include ApplicationHelper end

normal render statement

content = av.render template: 'widgets/index.xlsx.axlsx'

do something with content, such as:

File.open("/tmp/with_runner.xlsx","w+b") {|f| f.puts content }