Thread Subject:

How to Use ActiveX on Existing Excel Session

Hello,

I would like to figure out how to make Matlab detect and operate on an open session of Microsoft Excel. As for right now, I'm only able to detect if there is a file that is already open. There are many situations when I forget to close my edited Excel file, so I'd like Matlab to discover and operate on my open file. Any ideas on how to do this?

===============================
xls.fname = 'Compliance Table SN267 3-4-09' ;
h = actxserver('Excel.Application');
set(h, 'Visible', 1);
% J:\Lab Data\mcm003\str10314
file = [pwd '\' xls.fname '.xls']
a = dir(pwd) ;

if ~exist(file,'file')
   ExcelWorkbook = h.workbooks.Add;
   ExcelWorkbook.SaveAs(file)
   ExcelWorkbook.Close(false);
end
 
%Open file
ExcelWorkbook = h.workbooks.Open(file);
if ExcelWorkbook.ReadOnly ~= 0
   %This means the file is probably open in another process.
   error('MATLAB:LockedFile', 'The file %s is not writable. It may be locked by another process.', file);
end
===============================

Yours

Raj

"Raj Sodhi" <raj.removethispart.sodhi@skyworksinc.com> wrote in message <h6k0f1$gfo$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Hello,
>
> I would like to figure out how to make Matlab detect and operate on an open session of Microsoft Excel. As for right now, I'm only able to detect if there is a file that is already open. There are many situations when I forget to close my edited Excel file, so I'd like Matlab to discover and operate on my open file. Any ideas on how to do this?
>
> ===============================
> xls.fname = 'Compliance Table SN267 3-4-09' ;
> h = actxserver('Excel.Application');
> set(h, 'Visible', 1);
> % J:\Lab Data\mcm003\str10314
> file = [pwd '\' xls.fname '.xls']
> a = dir(pwd) ;
>
> if ~exist(file,'file')
> ExcelWorkbook = h.workbooks.Add;
> ExcelWorkbook.SaveAs(file)
> ExcelWorkbook.Close(false);
> end
>
> %Open file
> ExcelWorkbook = h.workbooks.Open(file);
> if ExcelWorkbook.ReadOnly ~= 0
> %This means the file is probably open in another process.
> error('MATLAB:LockedFile', 'The file %s is not writable. It may be locked by another process.', file);
> end
> ===============================
>
> Yours
>
> Raj

help actxGetRunningServer

Thanks for the pointer to actxGetRunningServer. I later learned that a lot of people had the same question. Here's a follow-up. Is there a way to discover and use an already open workbook? My work-around so far is as follows.

% ======================
try
    % use existing Excel session
    Excel = actxGetRunningServer('Excel.Application') ;
catch
    % Start Excel as ActiveX server process.
    Excel = actxserver('Excel.Application');
end

%================================
Excel.DisplayAlerts = 0; % avoids annoying dialog boxes
Excel.Visible = 1 ; % show the open Excel session.

try
    % open workbook
    ExcelWorkbook = Excel.workbooks.Open(file,0,true);
catch
    ExcelWorkbook = Excel.workbooks
    ExcelWorkbook.Close % close it and then re-open it.
    ExcelWorkbook = Excel.workbooks.Open(file,0,true);
end
%================================

It's been a while since I looked inside it, but you might want to
check out xlswrite1 on the File Exchange:
http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/10465
Maybe it does that.

ImageAnalyst <imageanalyst@mailinator.com> wrote in message <4d0b5094-346d-42fa-a84d-bdd9afb501c6@j19g2000vbp.googlegroups.com>...
> It's been a while since I looked inside it, but you might want to
> check out xlswrite1 on the File Exchange:
> http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/10465
> Maybe it does that.

Hi, and thanks for the suggestion. The post you mention above only checks to see if the file exists. I did not see where it checks on whether the file is open. Did anyone else see this?

Otherwise, does anyone know how to make Matlab detect whether the Excel file is already open?

yours,

Raj

Don't know if you're still looking for a solution to this, but I think the following does the job:

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/newsreader/view_thread/278382

The key step is 'try'-ing a .get('Workbooks', sFILE_NAME), workbooks being the application's collection of open books.