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Writing Excel on MAC OS X

Daniel Liebig

4/5/2008 9:39:00 AM

Hi all,

i'm currently working on an application that exports data and formulars
as excel sheets. I'm using the WIN32OLE object (library? module?) for
that.

i am also currently thinking of changing to a Mac for development, but
even then the application will still run on a windows server for
production.

Does anyone know, if / how it's possible to write excel sheets on Mac OS
X (Tiger / Leopard)?
Can it still be done with WIN32OLE or do i need another technic (read
something about parseexcel)
Would i need MS Office for Mac or does it run with i.e. open / neo
office?

While googeling, i found this line
"It may be that microsoft office on the Mac does use COM objects. If
so, you should be able to use win32ole."
So, does anybode know if ms office on mac does use COM objects?

Thanks a lot for any help!

regards
D.
--
Posted via http://www.ruby-....
3 Answers

hengist podd

4/5/2008 11:16:00 AM

0

Daniel Liebig wrote:

> So, does anybode know if ms office on mac does use COM objects?

Nope, COM is more or less non-existent on OS X. You can control Mac
Office applications via AppleScript or any other language that speaks
Apple events, but that's all as published APIs go. (Previous versions of
Mac Office also supported VBA, but that went away in Office 2008.) There
is a low-level Automation API, which I believe is what REALbasic uses to
interact with Office apps, but it isn't publically documented AFAIK. The
Mac and Win Office codebases are largely independent anyway, so even
with a cross-platform API you couldn't be certain that code written for
one will run on the other without trying it for yourself.

Given that you need to deploy your solution on a Windows server, you'll
really have to stick with Windows for developing it too. Though if it's
any help, don't forget that modern Intel Macs can also run Windows using
either Leopard's dual-boot support or third-party virtualisation
programs.

HTH

has
--
Control AppleScriptable applications from Python, Ruby and ObjC:
http://appscript.sourc...

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-....

Bob Gustafson

4/6/2008 1:45:00 AM

0

Why not try NeoOffice/OpenOffice on both the Mac and your Windows
production server.

Since they are free it would be cheap to try.

You might also find a common API that would give you what you need.

If you have problems, there is an active community that could help with
hints and tweeks. You then leverage the open source aspect.

Bob G

On Sat, 2008-04-05 at 20:15 +0900, hengist podd wrote:
> Daniel Liebig wrote:
>
> > So, does anybode know if ms office on mac does use COM objects?
>
> Nope, COM is more or less non-existent on OS X. You can control Mac
> Office applications via AppleScript or any other language that speaks
> Apple events, but that's all as published APIs go. (Previous versions of
> Mac Office also supported VBA, but that went away in Office 2008.) There
> is a low-level Automation API, which I believe is what REALbasic uses to
> interact with Office apps, but it isn't publically documented AFAIK. The
> Mac and Win Office codebases are largely independent anyway, so even
> with a cross-platform API you couldn't be certain that code written for
> one will run on the other without trying it for yourself.
>
> Given that you need to deploy your solution on a Windows server, you'll
> really have to stick with Windows for developing it too. Though if it's
> any help, don't forget that modern Intel Macs can also run Windows using
> either Leopard's dual-boot support or third-party virtualisation
> programs.
>
> HTH
>
> has
> --
> Control AppleScriptable applications from Python, Ruby and ObjC:
> http://appscript.sourc...
>


matt

4/7/2008 6:28:00 PM

0

Daniel Liebig <d.liebig@wevin.de> wrote:

> Does anyone know, if / how it's possible to write excel sheets on Mac OS
> X (Tiger / Leopard)?

Example here:

http://www.tidbits...ase...

(Scroll all the way to the bottom.)

The example both populates a sheet and creates a chart from that data.

m.
--
matt neuburg, phd = matt@tidbits.com, http://www.tidbits...
Leopard - http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/leopard-custom...
AppleScript - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/...
Read TidBITS! It's free and smart. http://www.t...