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Using Python to program MS Office macros?

Asked 2010-01-26T19:23:23.700
32

I've recently taken it as a project to teach myself how to program in Python. Overall, I must say that I'm impressed with it.

In the past I've typically stuck to programming in VBA mostly for MS Excel (but also a bit in MS Access and Word) and have struggled to find ways to make it do things that Python can easily do with a single command.

I was wondering if there were a reasonable way to harness the programming power and ease of Python while at the same time make use of the various tools in Office (mostly Excel)?

python excel vba ms-office
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2 Answers

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There is a set of cross platform Python utilities - called xlrd, xlwt, and xlutils - for reading & writing Excel files. There are some limitations (e.g. I don't think they can process macros), but they do allow you to work with Excel files on non-Windows platforms, if that's of use to you. See: http://www.python-excel.org/

Also, there are SO questions already dealing with this sort of topic, including this: Is there a better way (besides COM) to remote-control Excel?

answered 2010-01-26T21:23:50.660
7

Or have a look at IronPython. IPy is a native .NET implementation of Python 2.6, you can find it at http://www.codeplex.com/ironpython.

We have used it for several projects. You can use it "from the outside" using COM or - as we do - write a Excel AddIn with a ScriptHost, which calls out to IronPython code giving you an environment similar to VBA.

Being a .NET dll, IPy integrates extremely well into the modern Windows .NET stack.

answered 2010-01-26T21:14:10.697

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