binary_spreadsheet

An Odoo spreadsheet is stored as structured data, not as a file. The cells, formulas, charts, pivots and the links back to Odoo records are all held in Odoo's own spreadsheet format, which the spreadsheet application reads and writes. Exporting to a real spreadsheet file is a separate, deliberate action.

Some forms nevertheless show that stored data as a field, mainly so a developer can see and replace it. Rendered with the ordinary binary widget, it would offer a download button, and downloading it would produce a file that opens in nothing.

This widget removes that. It keeps the binary field's upload and clear behavior, replaces the download arrow with a neutral file icon, and takes the download block out of the template entirely. The result reads as data you can replace rather than a document you can take away.

The point worth taking from this is about honest interfaces. A download button that produces an unusable file is worse than no button, because the user assumes the export failed rather than that it was never a file to begin with. Removing the affordance is the correct fix, and it costs nothing.

For anyone planning spreadsheet work in Odoo, the underlying fact matters more than the widget: spreadsheets live inside Odoo, connected to live data, and moving them out means an explicit export that breaks those links. That is the trade that makes Odoo spreadsheets useful, and it is also why the data field is developer-only.

The core usage

<field name="spreadsheet_binary_data"
       widget="binary_spreadsheet"
       filename="spreadsheet_file_name"
       string="Data"
       groups="base.group_no_one"/>

The developer group restriction is part of the usage: this is a maintenance field, not something a dashboard editor should meet.

What the filename attribute still does

<field name="spreadsheet_file_name" invisible="1"/>

Inherited from the binary widget. It still names the file on upload, even though there is nothing to download.

The base widget, for comparison

<field name="spreadsheet_binary_data" widget="binary"/>

Same field, with a download link that produces a file no application can open.

There is almost nothing to the JavaScript: a subclass pointing at a different template, a setup that only calls its parent, and a download handler overridden to do nothing. The overridden handler is belt and braces, since the template already removed the element that would trigger it, but it means a custom template inheriting from this one cannot accidentally restore the behavior.

The template is where the change is made. It inherits the binary field's template in primary mode and does two edits: it replaces the named download block with nothing, and it replaces the download arrow icon with a file icon. Everything else, the upload control, the clear button and the file name display, is untouched.

The pointless-looking setup override, which calls its parent and does nothing else, is a small piece of leftover scaffolding rather than a behavior. It survives unchanged on the development branch.

The field this widget renders is restricted to the developer group in the only core view that uses it, which is worth noting when you are trying to find it: on a normal user account the field is not on the form at all.

Odoo 20 is expected at Odoo Experience in Brussels, 24 to 26 September 2026. The development branch is unstable and this may still change; we re-verify the page after release.

Byte-identical. The file on the development branch matches Odoo 19 exactly, including the empty download handler and the redundant setup override. Nothing about the widget changes in Odoo 20.