Perl commands for Windows Excel with Win32::OLE module

These examples introduce the most used commands of Perl to manipulate Excel via Win32::OLE module.

1. Opening and Saving Excel/Workbooks

#Modules to use
use Cwd 'abs_path';
use Win32::OLE;
use Win32::OLE qw(in with);
use Win32::OLE::Const "Microsoft Excel";
$Win32::OLE::Warn = 3;

#Need to use absolute path for Excel files
my $excel_file = abs_path("$Excel_path") or die "Error: the file $Excel_path has not been found\n";

# Open Excel application
my $Excel = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Excel.Application')
    || Win32::OLE->new('Excel.Application', 'Quit');

# Open Excel file
my $Book = $Excel->Workbooks->Open($excel_file);

#Make Excel visible
$Excel->{Visible} = 1;

#___ ADD NEW WORKBOOK
my $Book = $Excel->Workbooks->Add;
my $Sheet = $Book->Worksheets("Sheet1");
$Sheet->Activate;

#Save Excel file
$Excel->{DisplayAlerts}=0; # This turns off the "This file already exists" message.
$Book->Save; #Or $Book->SaveAs("C:\\file_name.xls");
$Book->Close; #or $Excel->Quit;

2. Manipulation of Worksheets

#Get the active Worksheet 
my $Book = $Excel->Activewindow;
my $Sheet = $Book->Activesheet;

#List of Worksheet names
my @list_Sheet = map { $_->{'Name'} } (in $Book->{Worksheets});

#Access a given Worksheet
my $Sheet = $Book->Worksheets($list_Sheet[0]);

#Add new Worksheet
$Book->Worksheets->Add({After => $workbook->Worksheets($workbook->Worksheets->{Count})});

#Change Worksheet Name
$Sheet->{Name} = "Name of Worksheet";

#Freeze Pane
$Excel -> ActiveWindow -> {FreezePanes} = "True";

#Delete Sheet
$Sheet -> Delete;

3. Manipulation of cells

#Edit the value of a cell (2 methods)
$Sheet->Range("A1")->{Value} = 1234;
$Sheet->Cells(1,1)->{Value} = 1234;

#Edit the values in a range of cells
$Sheet->Range("A8:C9")->{Value} = [[ undef, 'Xyzzy', 'Plugh' ],
                               [ 42,    'Perl',  3.1415  ]];

#Edit the formula in a cell (2 types)
$Sheet->Range("A1")->{Formula} = "=A1*9.81";
$Sheet->Range("A3")->{FormulaR1C1} = "=SUM(R[-2]C:R[-1]C)";      # Sum of rows
$Sheet->Range("C1")->{FormulaR1C1} = "=SUM(RC[-2]:RC[-1])";      # Sum of columns

#Edit the format of the text (font)
$Sheet->Range("G7:H7")->Font->{Bold}       = "True";
$Sheet->Range("G7:H7")->Font->{Italic}     = "True";
$Sheet->Range("G7:H7")->Font->{Underline}  = xlUnderlineStyleSingle;
$Sheet->Range("G7:H7")->Font->{Size}       = 8;
$Sheet->Range("G7:H7")->Font->{Name}       = "Arial";
$Sheet->Range("G7:H7")->Font->{ColorIndex} = 4;

#Edit the number format
$Sheet -> Range("G7:H7") -> {NumberFormat} = "\@";                                 # Text
$Sheet -> Range("A1:H7") -> {NumberFormat} = "\$#,##0.00";                        # Currency
$Sheet -> Range("G7:H7") -> {NumberFormat} = "\$#,##0.00_);[Red](\$#,##0.00)";     # Currency - red negatives
$Sheet -> Range("G7:H7") -> {NumberFormat} = "0.00_);[Red](0.00)";                 # Numbers with decimals
$Sheet -> Range("G7:H7") -> {NumberFormat} = "#,##0";                          #     Numbers with commas
$Sheet -> Range("G7:H7") -> {NumberFormat} = "#,##0_);[Red](#,##0)";               # Numbers with commas - red negatives
$Sheet -> Range("G7:H7") -> {NumberFormat} = "0.00%";                              # Percents
$Sheet -> Range("G7:H7") -> {NumberFormat} = "m/d/yyyy"                            # Dates

#Align text
$Sheet -> Range("G7:H7") -> {HorizontalAlignment} = xlHAlignCenter;                # Center text;
$Sheet -> Range("A1:A2") -> {Orientation} = 90;                                    # Rotate text

#Activate Cell
$Sheet -> Range("A2") -> Activate;

$Sheet->Hyperlinks->Add({   
   Anchor          =>  $range, #Range of cells with the hyperlink; e.g. $Sheet->Range("A1")
   Address         =>  $adr, #File path, http address, etc.
   TextToDisplay   =>  $txt, #Text in the cell
   ScreenTip       =>  $tip, #Tip while hovering the mouse over the hyperlink
});

N.B: to retrieve the list of hyperlinks, have a look at the following post Getting list of hyperlinks from an Excel worksheet with Perl Win32::OLE (opens new window)

4. Manipulation of Rows / Columns

#Insert a row before/after line 22
$Sheet->Rows("22:22")->Insert(xlUp, xlFormatFromRightOrBelow);
$Sheet->Rows("23:23")->Insert(-4121,0);     #xlDown is -4121 and that xlFormatFromLeftOrAbove is 0

#Delete a row
$Sheet->Rows("22:22")->Delete();

#Set column width and row height
$Sheet -> Range('A:A') -> {ColumnWidth} = 9.14;
$Sheet -> Range("8:8") -> {RowHeight}   = 30;
$Sheet -> Range("G:H") -> {Columns} -> Autofit;

# Get the last row/column
my $last_row = $Sheet -> UsedRange -> Find({What => "*", SearchDirection => xlPrevious, SearchOrder => xlByRows})    -> {Row};
my $last_col = $Sheet -> UsedRange -> Find({What => "*", SearchDirection => xlPrevious, SearchOrder => xlByColumns}) -> {Column};


#Add borders (method 1)
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeBottom)       -> {LineStyle}  = xlDouble;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeBottom)       -> {Weight}     = xlThick;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeBottom)       -> {ColorIndex} = 1;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeLeft)         -> {LineStyle}  = xlContinuous;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeLeft)         -> {Weight}     = xlThin;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeTop)          -> {LineStyle}  = xlContinuous;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeTop)          -> {Weight}     = xlThin;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeBottom)       -> {LineStyle}  = xlContinuous;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeBottom)       -> {Weight}     = xlThin;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeRight)        -> {LineStyle}  = xlContinuous;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlEdgeRight)        -> {Weight}     = xlThin;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlInsideVertical)   -> {LineStyle}  = xlDashDot
$Sheet -> Range("A3:H3") -> Borders(xlInsideVertical)   -> {Weight}     = xlMedium;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:I3") -> Borders(xlInsideHorizontal) -> {LineStyle}  = xlContinuous;
$Sheet -> Range("A3:I3") -> Borders(xlInsideHorizontal) -> {Weight}     = xlThin;

#Add borders (method 2)
my @edges = qw (xlInsideHorizontal xlInsideVertical xlEdgeBottom xlEdgeTop xlEdgeRight);
foreach my $edge (@edges)

Syntax

• $Sheet->Range(Cell1,[Cell2]) #Select a cell or a range of cells
• $Sheet->Cells(rowIndex, columnIndex) #Select a cell by index of row and column

Parameters

Parameters	Details
Cell1 (required)	The name of the range. This must be an A1-style reference in the language of the macro. It can include the range operator (a colon), the intersection operator (a space), or the union operator (a comma).
Cell2 (optional)	If specified, Cell1 corresponds to the upper-left corner of the range and Cell2 corresponds to the lower-right corner of the range

Remarks

Link for information about Colors on Excel: http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/excel/colors.htm (opens new window)

Link for information about Excel constants: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa221100%28office.11%29.aspx (opens new window)

Links from Win32::OLE module: http://search.cpan.org/~jdb/Win32-OLE-0.1712/lib/Win32/OLE.pm#EXAMPLES (opens new window)

Useful information about usage of Excel can be found at this address (opens new window)