Database export · Brightway Excel

Export Brightway Excel databases

The Brightway Excel packaging defect in VoLCA 0.12.0 is fixed on main for the next deployment and release.

All database export formats Import Brightway Excel instead

What is Brightway Excel?

Brightway Excel is the .xlsx inventory convention used by Brightway bw2io ExcelImporter, not a universal LCA exchange standard. It uses activity metadata blocks followed by labelled exchange tables.

Diagram: Inventory, .xlsx, Check receiver, Check writer version + workbook. — **Export Brightway Excel.**Check the deployed writer version, then validate the workbook in the receiving tool.

What you get

One .xlsx workbook with a data worksheet containing Database and Activity blocks, reference-product metadata, and Exchanges tables. The fix merged after VoLCA 0.12.0 adds the OOXML package manifest required by spreadsheet readers.

Export value: brightway

Start with a loaded database

Import and load your source database on a running VoLCA server first. Uploading a file alone is not enough. Replace my-database with the loaded database name.

Review load warnings and supplier dependencies before exporting. Only export and share data your license allows you to use.

Choose an import path →

Save the database to a file

These CLI and Python examples address your running server. Smoke checks used VoLCA v0.12.0 and pyvolca 0.11.0 with a synthetic single-product database. All five CLI file-generation operations completed. openpyxl exposed an OOXML manifest defect in the v0.12.0 Brightway file; merged PR #396 adds the missing package parts, and the resulting workbook opened successfully with openpyxl. Other formats were not import-tested in receiving applications. File generation does not establish metadata fidelity, supplier-link fidelity, or acceptance by another application.

CLI

volca --config volca.toml --url http://localhost:8080 database export my-database \
  --format brightway --out database-brightway.xlsx

Use your existing volca.toml configuration and credentials. Replace the local URL with your server address.

Python

from volca import Client

client = Client("http://localhost:8080")
client.export_to_file("brightway", "database-brightway.xlsx",
                      db_name="my-database")

Install pyvolca, replace the local server URL, and supply credentials when required. Choose a new output filename to avoid replacing an existing file.

Database CLI reference Python client guide HTTP API guide

What the writer carries forward

The writer carries activity names, reference products, locations, units, categories, and production, technosphere, and biosphere exchange amounts. The merged packaging fix changes the workbook container, not those worksheet rows.

Exports are written from VoLCA's loaded data model. They are not copies of the original source files.

Limits to check before using the file

VoLCA 0.12.0 remains affected until the fixed writer is deployed or released. Separately, Brightway has no distinct waste exchange type: orphan waste exchanges are rewritten as technosphere exchanges, with a warning, and the waste tag is lost. The inventory export is not an LCIA method or a complete Brightway project. Import and supplier linking still need testing in the receiving environment.

Review export warnings and errors. A file being written does not establish target-software compatibility, successful supplier linking, or equivalent LCIA results. Import and verify a compatible LCIA method separately.

Read the writer source →

Frequently asked questions

Is this a complete Brightway project export?

No. The output is inventory data, not a complete project. The packaging defect in VoLCA 0.12.0 was fixed by merged PR #396 for the next deployment and release. Database links and LCIA methods still need separate validation in the receiving environment.