ID: Q179706
The information in this article applies to:
This article shows how to automate Microsoft Excel 97 using the Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) library, version 4.2 (installed with Microsoft Visual C++ versions 5.0 and 6.0).
The article describes a technique for using OLE automation to create/format a Microsoft Excel workbook; it introduces several methods/properties (from the Microsoft Excel type library) for adding data to the worksheet and formatting the worksheet.
You can copy the code in this article to the message handler function of an event defined in an MFC .cpp file. However, the purpose of the code is to illustrate the process of using the IDispatch interfaces and member functions defined in the Excel8.olb type library. The primary benefit of this article, however, comes from reading and understanding the code in the example so that you can modify the example or write your own code to automate Microsoft Excel 97 using MFC.
1. Follow steps 1 through 12 in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base
article to create a sample project that uses the IDispatch interfaces
and member functions defined in the Excel8.olb type library:
ARTICLE-ID: Q178749
TITLE : HOWTO: Create an Automation Project Using MFC and a Type
Library
#include "excel8.h"
AutoProjectDLG.cpp file:
Sample Code
-----------
// Commonly used OLE variants.
COleVariant
covTrue((short)TRUE),
covFalse((short)FALSE),
covOptional((long)DISP_E_PARAMNOTFOUND, VT_ERROR);
_Application app;
Workbooks books;
_Workbook book;
Worksheets sheets;
_Worksheet sheet;
Range range;
Font font;
Range cols;
// Start Excel and get Application object.
if(!app.CreateDispatch("Excel.Application"))
{
AfxMessageBox("Couldn't start Excel and get Application object.");
return;
}
//Get a new workbook.
books = app.GetWorkbooks();
book = books.Add (covOptional);
//Get the first sheet.
sheets =book.GetSheets();
sheet = sheets.GetItem(COleVariant((short)1));
//Fill cells A1, B1, C1, and D1 one cell at a time with "headers".
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("A1"),COleVariant("A1"));
range.SetValue(COleVariant("First Name"));
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("B1"),COleVariant("B1"));
range.SetValue(COleVariant("Last Name"));
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("C1"),COleVariant("C1"));
range.SetValue(COleVariant("Full Name"));
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("D1"),COleVariant("D1"));
range.SetValue(COleVariant("Salary"));
//Format A1:D1 as bold, vertical alignment = center.
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("A1"), COleVariant("D1"));
font = range.GetFont();
font.SetBold(covTrue);
range.SetVerticalAlignment(
COleVariant((short)-4108)); //xlVAlignCenter = -4108
//Fill A2:B6 with an array of values (First & Last Names).
{
COleSafeArray saRet;
DWORD numElements[]={5,2}; //5x2 element array
saRet.Create(VT_BSTR, 2, numElements);
//Fill the 5x2 SafeArray with the following data:
// John Smith
// Tom Brown
// Sue Thomas
// Jane Jones
// Adam Johnson
FillSafeArray(L"John", 0, 0, &saRet);
FillSafeArray(L"Smith", 0, 1, &saRet);
FillSafeArray(L"Tom", 1, 0, &saRet);
FillSafeArray(L"Brown", 1, 1, &saRet);
FillSafeArray(L"Sue", 2, 0, &saRet);
FillSafeArray(L"Thomas", 2, 1, &saRet);
FillSafeArray(L"Jane", 3, 0, &saRet);
FillSafeArray(L"Jones", 3, 1, &saRet);
FillSafeArray(L"Adam", 4, 0, &saRet);
FillSafeArray(L"Johnson", 4, 1, &saRet);
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("A2"), COleVariant("B6"));
range.SetValue(COleVariant(saRet));
saRet.Detach();
}
//Fill C2:C6 with a relative formula (=A2 & " " & B2).
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("C2"), COleVariant("C6"));
range.SetFormula(COleVariant("=A2 & \" \" & B2"));
//Fill D2:D6 with a formula(=RAND()*100000) and apply a number
//format.
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("D2"), COleVariant("D6"));
range.SetFormula(COleVariant("=RAND()*100000"));
range.SetNumberFormat(COleVariant("$0.00"));
//AutoFit columns A:D.
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("A1"), COleVariant("D1"));
cols = range.GetEntireColumn();
cols.AutoFit();
//Manipulate a variable number of columns for Quarterly Sales Data.
{
short NumQtrs;
CString msg;
Range resizedrange;
Interior interior;
Borders borders;
//Determine how many quarters to display data for.
for(NumQtrs=1;NumQtrs<=3;NumQtrs++)
{
msg.Format("Enter sales data for %d quarter(s)?", NumQtrs);
if(AfxMessageBox(msg,MB_YESNO)==IDYES)
{
break;
}
}
msg.Format("Displaying data for %d quarters.", NumQtrs);
AfxMessageBox(msg);
//Starting at E1, fill headers for the number of columns selected.
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("E1"), COleVariant("E1"));
resizedrange = range.GetResize(covOptional, COleVariant(NumQtrs));
resizedrange.SetFormula(
COleVariant("=\"Q\" & COLUMN()-4 & CHAR(10) & \"Sales\""));
//Change the Orientation and WrapText properties for the headers.
resizedrange.SetOrientation(COleVariant((short)38));
resizedrange.SetWrapText(covTrue);
//Fill the interior color of the headers.
interior = resizedrange.GetInterior();
interior.SetColorIndex(COleVariant((short)36));
//Fill the columns with a formula and apply a number format.
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("E2"), COleVariant("E6"));
resizedrange = range.GetResize(covOptional, COleVariant(NumQtrs));
resizedrange.SetFormula(COleVariant("=RAND()*100"));
resizedrange.SetNumberFormat(COleVariant("$0.00"));
//Apply borders to the Sales data and headers.
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("E1"), COleVariant("E6"));
resizedrange= range.GetResize(covOptional, COleVariant(NumQtrs));
borders = resizedrange.GetBorders();
borders.SetWeight(COleVariant((short)2)); //xlThin = 2
//Add a Totals formula for the Quarterly sales data and apply a
//border.
range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("E8"), COleVariant("E8"));
resizedrange = range.GetResize(covOptional, COleVariant(NumQtrs));
resizedrange.SetFormula(COleVariant("=SUM(E2:E6)"));
borders = resizedrange.GetBorders();
{
Border bottomborder;
bottomborder = borders.GetItem((long)9);
bottomborder.SetLineStyle(
COleVariant((short)-4119)); //xlDouble = -4119
bottomborder.SetWeight(
COleVariant((short)4)); //xlThick = 4
}
}
//Make the application visible and give the user control of
//Microsoft Excel.
app.SetVisible(TRUE);
app.SetUserControl(TRUE);
before CAutoProjectDlg::OnRun():
Sample Code
-----------
void FillSafeArray(OLECHAR FAR* sz, int iRow, int iCol,
COleSafeArray* sa)
{
VARIANT v;
long index[2];
index[0] = iRow;
index[1] = iCol;
VariantInit(&v);
v.vt = VT_BSTR;
v.bstrVal = SysAllocString(sz);
sa->PutElement(index, v.bstrVal);
SysFreeString(v.bstrVal);
VariantClear(&v);
}
(the example creates a dialog-based application), click the Run button.
Keywords : kbcode kbinterop kbole kbAutomation kbExcel kbMFC kbVC500 kbVC600
Version : WINDOWS:97; WINNT:5.0,6.0
Platform : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type : kbhowtoLast Reviewed: January 7, 1999