XL Wings

xlwings - Make Excel Fly!
Release 0.10.4
Zoomer Analytics LLC
Apr 24, 2017

Contents
1 Migrate to v0.9 1
1.1 Full qualification: Using collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Connecting to Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Active Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Round vs. Square Brackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.5 Access the underlying Library/Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.6 Cheat sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2 Installation 5
2.1 Dependencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Optional Dependencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 Python version support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3 Quickstart 7
3.1 1. Scripting: Automate/interact with Excel from Python . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 2. Macros: Call Python from Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 3. UDFs: User Defined Functions (Windows only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4 Connect to a Book 11
4.1 Python to Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2 Excel to Python (RunPython) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.3 User Defined Functions (UDFs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5 Syntax Overview 13
5.1 Active Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.2 Full qualification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5.3 Range indexing/slicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5.4 Range Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5.5 Object Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6 Data Structures Tutorial 17

6.1 Single Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
6.2 Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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6.3 Range expanding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.4 NumPy arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.5 Pandas DataFrames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.6 Pandas Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
7 VBA: Calling Python from Excel 21

7.1 xlwings VBA module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
7.2 Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
7.3 LOG_FILE default locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
7.4 Call Python with RunPython . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
7.5 Function Arguments and Return Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
8 Debugging 25
8.1 RunPython . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
8.2 UDF debug server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
9 Matplotlib 29
9.1 Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
9.2 Full integration with Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
9.3 Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
9.4 Getting a Matplotlib figure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
10 UDF Tutorial 33
10.1 One-time Excel preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
10.2 Workbook preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
10.3 A simple UDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
10.4 Array formulas: Get efficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
10.5 Array formulas with NumPy and Pandas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
10.6 @xw.arg and @xw.ret decorators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
10.7 Dynamic Array Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
10.8 Docstrings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
10.9 The vba keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
10.10 Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
11 Converters and Options 41

11.1 Default Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
11.2 Built-in Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
11.3 Custom Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
12 Command Line Client 51

12.1 Quickstart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
12.2 Add-in (Currently Windows-only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
12.3 Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
12.4 RunPython . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
13 Missing Features 53
13.1 Example: Workaround to use VBAs Range.WrapText . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
14 xlwings with R and Julia 55
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14.1 R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
14.2 Julia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
15 API Documentation 59
15.1 Top-level functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
15.2 Object model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
15.3 UDF decorators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
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CHAPTER 1
Migrate to v0.9
The purpose of this document is to enable you a smooth experience when upgrading to xlwings v0.9.0 and
above by laying out the concept and syntax changes in detail. If you want to get an overview of the new
features and bug fixes, have a look at the release notes. Note that the syntax for User Defined Functions
(UDFs) didnt change.
Full qualification: Using collections
The new object model allows to specify the Excel application instance if needed:
old: xw.Range('Sheet1', 'A1', wkb=xw.Workbook('Book1'))
new: xw.apps[0].books['Book1'].sheets['Sheet1'].range('A1')
See Syntax Overview for the details of the new object model.
Connecting to Books
old: xw.Workbook()
new: xw.Book() or via xw.books if you need to control the app instance.
See Connect to a Book for the details.
1
xlwings - Make Excel Fly!, Release 0.10.4
Active Objects
# Active app (i.e. Excel instance)

>>> app = xw.apps.active
# Active book
>>> wb = xw.books.active # in active app
>>> wb = app.books.active # in specific app
# Active sheet
>>> sht = xw.sheets.active # in active book
>>> sht = wb.sheets.active # in specific book
# Range on active sheet

>>> xw.Range('A1') # on active sheet of active book of active app
Round vs. Square Brackets
Round brackets follow Excels behavior (i.e. 1-based indexing), while square brackets use Pythons 0-based
indexing/slicing.
As an example, the following all reference the same range:
xw.apps[0].books[0].sheets[0].range('A1')
xw.apps(1).books(1).sheets(1).range('A1')
xw.apps[0].books['Book1'].sheets['Sheet1'].range('A1')
xw.apps(1).books('Book1').sheets('Sheet1').range('A1')
Access the underlying Library/Engine
old: xw.Range('A1').xl_range and xl_sheet etc.

new: xw.Range('A1').api, same for all other objects
This returns a pywin32 COM object on Windows and an appscript object on Mac.
Cheat sheet
Note that sht stands for a sheet object, like e.g. (in 0.9.0 syntax): sht = xw.books['Book1'].
sheets[0]
v0.9.0 v0.7.2
Active Excel instance xw.apps.active unsupported
New Excel instance app = xw.App() unsupported
Get app from book app = wb.app app = xw.Applicat
2 Chapter 1. Migrate to v0.9

Table 1.1 continued from previous page

v0.9.0 v0.7.2
Target installation (Mac) app = xw.App(spec=...) wb = xw.Workbook(
Hide Excel Instance app = xw.App(visible=False) wb = xw.Workbook(
Selected Range app.selection wb.get_selection(
Calculation mode app.calculation = 'manual' app.calculation =
All books in app app.books unsupported
Fully qualified book app.books['Book1'] unsupported

Active book in active app xw.books.active xw.Workbook.activ
New book in active app wb = xw.Book() wb = xw.Workbook(
New book in specific app wb = app.books.add() unsupported
All sheets in book wb.sheets xw.Sheet.all(wb)
Call a macro in an addin app.macro('MacroName') unsupported
First sheet of book wb wb.sheets[0] xw.Sheet(1, wkb=w

Active sheet wb.sheets.active xw.Sheet.active(w
Add sheet wb.sheets.add() xw.Sheet.add(wkb=
Sheet count wb.sheets.count or len(wb.sheets) xw.Sheet.count(wb
Add chart to sheet chart = wb.sheets[0].charts.add() chart = xw.Chart.

Existing chart wb.sheets['Sheet 1'].charts[0] xw.Chart('Sheet 1
Chart Type chart.chart_type = '3d_area' chart.chart_type
Add picture to sheet wb.sheets[0].pictures.add('path/to/pic') xw.Picture.add('p

Existing picture wb.sheets['Sheet 1'].pictures[0] xw.Picture('Sheet
Matplotlib sht.pictures.add(fig, name='x', update=True) xw.Plot(fig).show
Table expansion sht.range('A1').expand('table') xw.Range(sht, 'A1

Vertical expansion sht.range('A1').expand('down') xw.Range(sht, 'A1
Horizontal expansion sht.range('A1').expand('right') xw.Range(sht, 'A1
Set name of range sht.range('A1').name = 'name' xw.Range(sht, 'A1

Get name of range sht.range('A1').name.name xw.Range(sht, 'A1
mock caller xw.Book('file.xlsm').set_mock_caller() xw.Workbook.set_m
1.6. Cheat sheet 3

4 Chapter 1. Migrate to v0.9

CHAPTER 2
Installation
The easiest way to install xlwings is via pip:
pip install xlwings
or conda:
conda install xlwings
Alternatively, it can be installed from source. From within the xlwings directory, execute:
python setup.py install
Note: When you are using Mac Excel 2016 and are installing xlwings with conda (or use the version
that comes with Anaconda), youll need to run $ xlwings runpython install once to enable the
RunPython calls from VBA. Alternatively, you can simply install xlwings with pip.
Dependencies
Windows: pywin32, comtypes

On Windows, it is recommended to use one of the scientific Python distributions like Anaconda,
WinPython or Canopy as they already include pywin32. Otherwise it needs to be installed from here
which can be a hassle.
Mac: psutil, appscript
5
On Mac, the dependencies are automatically being handled if xlwings is installed with conda or
pip. However, with pip, the Xcode command line tools need to be available. Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
or later is required. The recommended Python distribution for Mac is Anaconda.
Optional Dependencies
NumPy
Pandas
Matplotlib
Pillow/PIL
These packages are not required but highly recommended as they play very nicely with xlwings.
Python version support
xlwings is tested on Python 2.7 and 3.3+
6 Chapter 2. Installation
CHAPTER 3
Quickstart
This guide assumes you have xlwings already installed. If thats not the case, head over to Installation.
1. Scripting: Automate/interact with Excel from Python
Establish a connection to a workbook:
>>> import xlwings as xw

>>> wb = xw.Book() # this will create a new workbook
>>> wb = xw.Book('FileName.xlsx') # connect to an existing file in the
current working directory
>>> wb = xw.Book(r'C:\path\to\file.xlsx') # on Windows: use raw strings to
escape backslashes
If you have the same file open in two instances of Excel, you need to fully qualify it and include the app
instance:
>>> xw.apps[0].books['FileName.xlsx']
Instantiate a sheet object:
>>> sht = wb.sheets['Sheet1']
Reading/writing values to/from ranges is as easy as:
>>> sht.range('A1').value = 'Foo 1'

>>> sht.range('A1').value
'Foo 1'
There are many convenience features available, e.g. Range expanding:
7
>>> sht.range('A1').value = [['Foo 1', 'Foo 2', 'Foo 3'], [10.0, 20.0, 30.0]]
>>> sht.range('A1').expand().value
[['Foo 1', 'Foo 2', 'Foo 3'], [10.0, 20.0, 30.0]]
Powerful converters handle most data types of interest, including Numpy arrays and Pandas DataFrames
in both directions:
>>> import pandas as pd

>>>df = pd.DataFrame([[1,2], [3,4]], columns=['a', 'b'])
>>>sht.range('A1').value = df
>>>sht.range('A1').options(pd.DataFrame, expand='table').value
a b
0.0 1.0 2.0
1.0 3.0 4.0
Matplotlib figures can be shown as pictures in Excel:
>>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

>>> fig = plt.figure()
>>> plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
[<matplotlib.lines.Line2D at 0x1071706a0>]
>>> sht.pictures.add(fig, name='MyPlot', update=True)
<Picture 'MyPlot' in <Sheet [Workbook4]Sheet1>>
Shortcut for the active sheet: xw.Range

If you want to quickly talk to the active sheet in the active workbook, you dont need instantiate a workbook
and sheet object, but can simply do:
>>> import xlwings xw

>>> xw.Range('A1').value = 'Foo'
>>> xw.Range('A1').value
'Foo'
Note: You should only use xw.Range when interacting with Excel. In scripts, you should always go via
book and sheet objects as shown above.
2. Macros: Call Python from Excel
You can call Python functions from VBA using the RunPython function:
Sub HelloWorld()
RunPython ("import hello; hello.world()")
End Sub
Per default, RunPython expects hello.py in the same directory as the Excel file. Refer to the calling
Excel book by using xw.Book.caller:
# hello.py
import numpy as np
8 Chapter 3. Quickstart
import xlwings as xw
def world():
wb = xw.Book.caller()
wb.sheets[0].range('A1').value = 'Hello World!'
To make this run, youll need to have the xlwings VBA module in your Excel book. The easiest way to get
everything set up is to use the xlwings command line client from either a command prompt on Windows or
a terminal on Mac: xlwings quickstart myproject.
To import the xlwings VBA module differently, and for more details, see VBA: Calling Python from Excel.
3. UDFs: User Defined Functions (Windows only)
Writing a UDF in Python is as easy as:
@xw.func
def hello(name):
return 'Hello {0}'.format(name)
Converters can be used with UDFs, too. Again a Pandas DataFrame example:
import pandas as pd
@xw.func
@xw.arg('x', pd.DataFrame)
def correl2(x):
# x arrives as DataFrame
return x.corr()
Import this function into Excel by clicking the import button of the xlwings add-in: For further details, see
UDF Tutorial.
3.3. 3. UDFs: User Defined Functions (Windows only) 9

10 Chapter 3. Quickstart
CHAPTER 4
Connect to a Book
When reading/writing data to the active sheet, you dont need a book object:

>>> xw.Range('A1').value = 'something'
Python to Excel
The easiest way to connect to a book is offered by xw.Book: it looks for the book in all app instances and
returns an error, should the same book be open in multiple instances. To connect to a book in the active app
instance, use xw.books and to refer to a specific app, use:
>>> app = xw.App() # or something like xw.apps[0] for existing apps

>>> app.books['Book1']
xw.Book xw.books
New book xw.Book() xw.books.add()
Unsaved book xw.Book('Book1') xw.books['Book1']
Book by xw.Book(r'C:/path/to/ xw.books.open(r'C:/path/to/
(full)name file.xlsx') file.xlsx')
Note: When specifying file paths on Windows, you should either use raw strings by putting an r in front
of the string or use double back-slashes like so: C:\\path\\to\\file.xlsx.
11
Excel to Python (RunPython)
To reference the calling book when using RunPython in VBA, use xw.Book.caller(), see Call
Python with RunPython. Check out the section about Debugging to see how you can call a script from
both sides, Python and Excel, without the need to constantly change between xw.Book.caller() and
one of the methods explained above.
User Defined Functions (UDFs)
Unlike RunPython, UDFs dont need a call to xw.Book.caller(), see UDF Tutorial. However, its
available (restricted to read-only though), which sometimes proofs to be useful.
12 Chapter 4. Connect to a Book

CHAPTER 5
Syntax Overview
The xlwings object model is very similar to the one used by VBA.
All code samples below depend on the following import:
Active Objects
# Active app (i.e. Excel instance)

>>> app = xw.apps.active
# Active book
>>> wb = xw.books.active # in active app
>>> wb = app.books.active # in specific app
# Active sheet
>>> sht = xw.sheets.active # in active book
>>> sht = wb.sheets.active # in specific book
# Range on active sheet

>>> xw.Range('A1') # on active sheet of active book of active app
A Range can be instantiated with A1 notation, a tuple of Excels 1-based indices, a named range or two
Range objects:
xw.Range('A1')
xw.Range('A1:C3')
xw.Range((1,1))
xw.Range((1,1), (3,3))
13
xw.Range('NamedRange')
xw.Range(xw.Range('A1'), xw.Range('B2'))
Full qualification
Round brackets follow Excels behavior (i.e. 1-based indexing), while square brackets use Pythons 0-based
indexing/slicing. As an example, the following expressions all reference the same range:
xw.apps[0].books[0].sheets[0].range('A1')
xw.apps(1).books(1).sheets(1).range('A1')
xw.apps[0].books['Book1'].sheets['Sheet1'].range('A1')
xw.apps(1).books('Book1').sheets('Sheet1').range('A1')
Range indexing/slicing
Range objects support indexing and slicing, a few examples:
>>> rng = xw.Book().sheets[0].range('A1:D5')

>>> rng[0, 0]
<Range [Workbook1]Sheet1!$A$1>
>>> rng[1]
<Range [Workbook1]Sheet1!$B$1>
>>> rng[:, 3:]
<Range [Workbook1]Sheet1!$D$1:$D$5>
>>> rng[1:3, 1:3]
<Range [Workbook1]Sheet1!$B$2:$C$3>
Range Shortcuts
Sheet objects offer a shortcut for range objects by using index/slice notation on the sheet object. This evalu-
ates to either sheet.range or sheet.cells depending on whether you pass a string or indices/slices:
>>> sht = xw.Book().sheets['Sheet1']

>>> sht['A1']
<Range [Book1]Sheet1!$A$1>
>>> sht['A1:B5']
<Range [Book1]Sheet1!$A$1:$B$5>
>>> sht[0, 1]
<Range [Book1]Sheet1!$B$1>
>>> sht[:10, :10]
<Range [Book1]Sheet1!$A$1:$J$10>
14 Chapter 5. Syntax Overview

Object Hierarchy
The following shows an example of the object hierarchy, i.e. how to get from an app to a range object and
all the way back:
>>> rng = xw.apps[0].books[0].sheets[0].range('A1')

>>> rng.sheet.book.app
<Excel App 1644>
5.5. Object Hierarchy 15

16 Chapter 5. Syntax Overview

CHAPTER 6
Data Structures Tutorial
This tutorial gives you a quick introduction to the most common use cases and default behaviour of xlwings
when reading and writing values. For an in-depth documentation of how to control the behavior using the
options method, have a look at Converters and Options.
Single Cells
Single cells are by default returned either as float, unicode, None or datetime objects, depending
on whether the cell contains a number, a string, is empty or represents a date:
>>> import datetime as dt

>>> sht = xw.Book().sheets[0]
>>> sht.range('A1').value = 1
1.0
>>> sht.range('A2').value = 'Hello'
'Hello'
>>> sht.range('A3').value is None
True
>>> sht.range('A4').value = dt.datetime(2000, 1, 1)
datetime.datetime(2000, 1, 1, 0, 0)
17
Lists
1d lists: Ranges that represent rows or columns in Excel are returned as simple lists, which means
that once they are in Python, youve lost the information about the orientation. If that is an issue, the
next point shows you how to preserve this info:

>>> sht.range('A1').value = [[1],[2],[3],[4],[5]] # Column orientation
(nested list)
>>> sht.range('A1:A5').value
[1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0]
>>> sht.range('A1').value = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
>>> sht.range('A1:E1').value
[1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0]
To force a single cell to arrive as list, use:
>>> sht.range('A1').options(ndim=1).value
[1.0]
Note: To write a list in column orientation to Excel, use transpose: sht.range('A1').

options(transpose=True).value = [1,2,3,4]
2d lists: If the row or column orientation has to be preserved, set ndim in the Range options. This
will return the Ranges as nested lists (2d lists):
>>> sht.range('A1:A5').options(ndim=2).value
[[1.0], [2.0], [3.0], [4.0], [5.0]]
>>> sht.range('A1:E1').options(ndim=2).value
[[1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0]]
2 dimensional Ranges are automatically returned as nested lists. When assigning (nested) lists to a
Range in Excel, its enough to just specify the top left cell as target address. This sample also makes
use of index notation to read the values back into Python:
>>> sht.range('A10').value = [['Foo 1', 'Foo 2', 'Foo 3'], [10, 20, 30]]
>>> sht.range((10,1),(11,3)).value
[['Foo 1', 'Foo 2', 'Foo 3'], [10.0, 20.0, 30.0]]
Note: Try to minimize the number of interactions with Excel. It is always more efficient to do
sht.range('A1').value = [[1,2],[3,4]] than sht.range('A1').value = [1, 2]
and sht.range('A2').value = [3, 4].
18 Chapter 6. Data Structures Tutorial

Range expanding
You can get the dimensions of Excel Ranges dynamically through either the method expand or through the
expand keyword in the options method. While expand gives back an expanded Range object, options
are only evaluated when accessing the values of a Range. The difference is best explained with an example:

>>> sht.range('A1').value = [[1,2], [3,4]]
>>> rng1 = sht.range('A1').expand('table') # or just .expand()
>>> rng2 = sht.range('A1').options(expand='table')
>>> rng1.value
[[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0]]
>>> rng2.value
[[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0]]
>>> sht.range('A3').value = [5, 6]
>>> rng1.value
[[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0]]
>>> rng2.value
[[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0], [5.0, 6.0]]
'table' expands to 'down' and 'right', the other available options which can be used for column or
row only expansion, respectively.
Note: Using expand() together with a named Range as top left cell gives you a flexible setup in Excel:
You can move around the table and change its size without having to adjust your code, e.g. by using
something like sht.range('NamedRange').expand().value.
NumPy arrays
NumPy arrays work similar to nested lists. However, empty cells are represented by nan instead of None.
If you want to read in a Range as array, set convert=np.array in the options method:
>>> import numpy as np

>>> sht.range('A1').value = np.eye(3)
>>> sht.range('A1').options(np.array, expand='table').value
array([[ 1., 0., 0.],
[ 0., 1., 0.],
[ 0., 0., 1.]])
Pandas DataFrames

>>> df = pd.DataFrame([[1.1, 2.2], [3.3, None]], columns=['one', 'two'])
>>> df
6.3. Range expanding 19

one two
0 1.1 2.2
1 3.3 NaN
>>> sht.range('A1').value = df
>>> sht.range('A1:C3').options(pd.DataFrame).value
one two
0 1.1 2.2
1 3.3 NaN
# options: work for reading and writing
>>> sht.range('A5').options(index=False).value = df
>>> sht.range('A9').options(index=False, header=False).value = df
Pandas Series

>>> s = pd.Series([1.1, 3.3, 5., np.nan, 6., 8.], name='myseries')
>>> s
0 1.1
1 3.3
2 5.0
3 NaN
4 6.0
5 8.0
Name: myseries, dtype: float64
>>> sht.range('A1').value = s
>>> sht.range('A1:B7').options(pd.Series).value
0 1.1
1 3.3
2 5.0
3 NaN
4 6.0
5 8.0
Name: myseries, dtype: float64
Note: You only need to specify the top left cell when writing a list, a NumPy array or a Pandas DataFrame
to Excel, e.g.: sht.range('A1').value = np.eye(10)
20 Chapter 6. Data Structures Tutorial

CHAPTER 7
VBA: Calling Python from Excel
xlwings VBA module
To get access to the RunPython function and/or to be able to run User Defined Functions (UDFs), you
need to have the xlwings VBA module available in your Excel book.
For new projects, by far the easiest way to get started is by using the command line client with the quickstart
option, see Command Line Client for details:
$ xlwings quickstart myproject
This will create a new folder in your current directory with a fully prepared Excel file and an empty Python
file.
Alternatively, you can also open a new spreadsheet from a template ($ xlwings template open) or
manually insert the module in an existing workbook like so:
Open the VBA editor with Alt-F11
Then go to File > Import File... and import the xlwings.bas file. It can be found in the
directory of your xlwings installation.
If you dont know the location of your xlwings installation, you can find it as follows:
$ python
>>> import xlwings
>>> xlwings.__path__
21
Settings
While the defaults will often work out-of-the box, you can change the settings at the top of the xlwings VBA
module under Function Settings:
PYTHON_WIN = ""
PYTHON_MAC = ""
PYTHON_FROZEN = ThisWorkbook.Path & "\build\exe.win32-2.7"
PYTHONPATH = ThisWorkbook.Path
UDF_MODULES = ""
UDF_DEBUG_SERVER = False
LOG_FILE = ""
SHOW_LOG = True
OPTIMIZED_CONNECTION = False
PYTHON_WIN: This is the full path of the Python interpreter on Windows, , e.g.
"C:\Python35\pythonw.exe". "" resolves to your default Python installation on the PATH,
i.e. the one you can start by just typing python at a command prompt.
PYTHON_MAC: This is the full path of the Python interpreter on Mac OSX, e.g. "/usr/local/
bin/python3.5". "" resolves to your default installation as per PATH on .bash_profile. To get
special folders on Mac, type GetMacDir("Name") where Name is one of the following: Home,
Desktop, Applications, Documents.
PYTHON_FROZEN [Optional]: Currently only on Windows, indicates the directory of the exe file that
has been frozen by either using cx_Freeze or py2exe. Can be set to "" if unused.
PYTHONPATH [Optional]: If the source file of your code is not found, add the path here. Otherwise
set it to "".
UDF_MODULES [Optional, Windows only]: Names of Python modules (without .py extension) from
which the UDFs are being imported. Separate multiple modules by ;. Example: UDF_PATH =
"common_udfs;myproject" Default: UDF_PATH = "" defaults to a file in the same directory
of the Excel spreadsheet with the same name but ending in .py.
UDF_DEBUG_SERVER: Set this to True if you want to run the xlwings COM server manually for
debugging, see Debugging.
LOG_FILE [Optional]: Leave empty for default location (see below) or provide directory including
file name.
SHOW_LOG: If False, no pop-up with the Log messages (usually errors) will be shown. Use with care.
OPTIMIZED_CONNECTION: Currently only on Windows: uses a COM Server. This will be faster,
as the interpreter doesnt shut down after each call
LOG_FILE default locations
Windows: %APPDATA%\xlwings_log.txt
Mac with Excel 2011: /tmp/xlwings_log.txt
22 Chapter 7. VBA: Calling Python from Excel

Mac with Excel 2016: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/

xlwings_log.txt
Note: If the settings (especially PYTHONPATH and LOG_FILE) need to work on Windows on Mac, use
backslashes in relative file path, i.e. ThisWorkbook.Path & "\mydirectory".
Call Python with RunPython
After adding the xlwings VBA module to your Excel file, go to Insert > Module (still in the VBA-
Editor). This will create a new Excel module where you can write your Python call as follows (note that the
quickstart or template commands already add an empty Module1, so you dont need to insert a new
module manually):
Sub HelloWorld()
RunPython ("import hello; hello.world()")
End Sub
This calls the following code in hello.py:
# hello.py
import numpy as np
def world():
wb.sheets[0].range('A1').value = 'Hello World!'
You can then attach HelloWorld to a button or run it directly in the VBA Editor by hitting F5.
Note: Place xw.Book.caller() within the function that is being called from Excel and not outside as
global variable. Otherwise it prevents Excel from shutting down properly upon exiting and leaves you with
a zombie process when you use OPTIMIZED_CONNECTION = True.
Function Arguments and Return Values
While its technically possible to include arguments in the function call within RunPython, its not very
convenient. To do that easily and to also be able to return values from Python, use UDFs, see UDF Tutorial
- however, this is currently limited to Windows only.
7.4. Call Python with RunPython 23

24 Chapter 7. VBA: Calling Python from Excel

CHAPTER 8
Debugging
Since xlwings runs in every Python environment, you can use your preferred way of debugging.
RunPython: When calling Python through RunPython, you can set a mock_caller to make it
easy to switch back and forth between calling the function from Excel and Python.
UDFs: For debugging User Defined Functions, xlwings offers a convenient debugging server
To begin with, Excel will show Python errors in a Message Box:
Note: On Mac, if the import of a module/package fails before xlwings is imported, the popup will not
be shown and the StatusBar will not be reset. However, the error will still be logged in the log file. For the
location of the logfile, see LOG_FILE default locations.
25
RunPython
Consider the following sample code of your Python source code my_module.py:
# my_module.py
import os
def my_macro():
wb.sheets[0].range('A1').value = 1
if __name__ == '__main__':
# Expects the Excel file next to this source file, adjust accordingly.
xw.Book('myfile.xlsm').set_mock_caller()
my_macro()
my_macro() can now easily be run from Python for debugging and from Excel via RunPython without
having to change the source code:
Sub my_macro()
RunPython ("import my_module; my_module.my_macro()")
End Sub
UDF debug server
Windows only: To debug UDFs, just set UDF_DEBUG_SERVER = True in the VBA Settings, at the top
of the xlwings VBA module. Then add the following lines at the end of your Python source file and run it.
Depending on which IDE you use, you might need to run the code in debug mode (e.g. in case youre
using PyCharm or PyDev):
if __name__ == '__main__':
xw.serve()
When you recalculate the Sheet (Ctrl-Alt-F9), the code will stop at breakpoints or output any print calls
that you may have.
The following screenshot shows the code stopped at a breakpoint in the community version of PyCharm:
Note: When running the debug server from a command prompt, there is currently no gracious way to
terminate it, but closing the command prompt will kill it.
26 Chapter 8. Debugging
8.2. UDF debug server 27

28 Chapter 8. Debugging
CHAPTER 9
Matplotlib
Using pictures.add(), it is easy to paste a Matplotlib plot as picture in Excel.
Getting started
The easiest sample boils down to:


>>> plt.plot([1, 2, 3])

Note: If you set update=True, you can resize and position the plot on Excel: subsequent calls to
pictures.add() with the same name ('MyPlot') will update the picture without changing its position
or size.
Full integration with Excel
Calling the above code with RunPython and binding it e.g. to a button is straightforward and works cross-
platform.
29
However, on Windows you can make things feel even more integrated by setting up a UDF along the
following lines:
@xw.func
def myplot(n):
sht = xw.Book.caller().sheets.active
fig = plt.figure()
plt.plot(range(int(n)))
sht.pictures.add(fig, name='MyPlot', update=True)
return 'Plotted with n={}'.format(n)
If you import this function and call it from cell B2, then the plot gets automatically updated when cell B1
changes:
Properties
Size, position and other properties can either be set as arguments within pictures.add(), or by manip-
ulating the picture object that is returned, see xlwings.Picture().
For example:

>>> sht.pictures.add(fig, name='MyPlot', update=True,
left=sht.range('B5').left, top=sht.range('B5').top)
or:
>>> plot = sht.pictures.add(fig, name='MyPlot', update=True)

>>> plot.height /= 2
>>> plot.width /= 2
30 Chapter 9. Matplotlib
9.3. Properties 31
Getting a Matplotlib figure
Here are a few examples of how you get a matplotlib figure object:
via PyPlot interface:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

fig = plt.figure()
plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
or:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
fig = plt.gcf()
via object oriented interface:
from matplotlib.figure import Figure

fig = Figure(figsize=(8, 6))
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
ax.plot([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
via Pandas:
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.rand(10, 4), columns=['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'])

ax = df.plot(kind='bar')
fig = ax.get_figure()
32 Chapter 9. Matplotlib
CHAPTER 10
UDF Tutorial
This tutorial gets you quickly started on how to write User Defined Functions.
Note:
UDFs are currently only available on Windows.
For details of how to control the behaviour of the arguments and return values, have a look at Con-
verters and Options.
For a comprehensive overview of the available decorators and their options, check out the correspond-
ing API docs: UDF decorators.
One-time Excel preparations
Required: Enable Trust access to the VBA project object model under File >
Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Settings
Recommended: Install the add-in via command prompt: xlwings addin install (see Command
Line Client) to be able to easily import the functions.
Workbook preparation
The easiest way to start a new project is to run xlwings quickstart myproject on a command
prompt (see Command Line Client). Alternative ways of getting the xlwings VBA module into your work-
book are described under VBA: Calling Python from Excel
33
A simple UDF
The default settings (see VBA settings) expect a Python source file in the way it is created by quickstart:
in the same directory as the Excel file
with the same name as the Excel file, but with a .py ending instead of .xlsm.
Alternatively, you can point to a specific source file by setting the UDF_PATH in the VBA settings.
Lets assume you have a Workbook myproject.xlsm, then you would write the following code in
myproject.py:
@xw.func
def double_sum(x, y):
"""Returns twice the sum of the two arguments"""
return 2 * (x + y)
Now click on Import Python UDFs in the xlwings tab to pick up the changes made
to myproject.py. If you dont want to install/use the add-in, you could also run the
ImportPythonUDFs macro directly (one possibility to do that is to hit Alt + F8 and select
the macro from the pop-up menu).
Enter the formula =double_sum(1, 2) into a cell and you will see the correct result:
This formula can be used in VBA, too.

The docstring (in triple-quotes) will be shown as function description in Excel.
Note:
You only need to re-import your functions if you change the function arguments or the function name.
Code changes in the actual functions are picked up automatically (i.e. at the next calculation of the
formula, e.g. triggered by Ctrl-Alt-F9), but changes in imported modules are not. This is the
very behaviour of how Python imports work. The easiest way to come around this is by working with
34 Chapter 10. UDF Tutorial

the debug server that can easily be restarted, see: Debugging. If you arent working with the debug
server, the pythonw.exe process currently has to be killed via Windows Task Manager.
The @xw.func decorator is only used by xlwings when the function is being imported into Excel. It
tells xlwings for which functions it should create a VBA wrapper function, otherwise it has no effect
on how the functions behave in Python.
Array formulas: Get efficient
Calling one big array formula in Excel is much more efficient than calling many single-cell formulas, so its
generally a good idea to use them, especially if you hit performance problems.
You can pass an Excel Range as a function argument, as opposed to a single cell and it will show up in
Python as list of lists.
For example, you can write the following function to add 1 to every cell in a Range:
@xw.func
def add_one(data):
return [[cell + 1 for cell in row] for row in data]
To use this formula in Excel,

Click on Import Python UDFs again
Fill in the values in the range A1:B2
Select the range D1:E2
Type in the formula =add_one(A1:B2)
Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to create an array formula. If you did everything correctly, youll see
the formula surrounded by curly braces as in this screenshot:
10.4. Array formulas: Get efficient 35

Number of array dimensions: ndim
The above formula has the issue that it expects a two dimensional input, e.g. a nested list of the form [[1,
2], [3, 4]]. Therefore, if you would apply the formula to a single cell, you would get the following
error: TypeError: 'float' object is not iterable.
To force Excel to always give you a two-dimensional array, no matter whether the argument is a single cell,
a column/row or a two-dimensional Range, you can extend the above formula like this:
@xw.func
@xw.arg('data', ndim=2)
def add_one(data):
return [[cell + 1 for cell in row] for row in data]
Array formulas with NumPy and Pandas
Often, youll want to use NumPy arrays or Pandas DataFrames in your UDF, as this unlocks the full power
of Pythons ecosystem for scientific computing.
To define a formula for matrix multiplication using numpy arrays, you would define the following function:
import numpy as np
@xw.func
@xw.arg('x', np.array, ndim=2)
@xw.arg('y', np.array, ndim=2)
def matrix_mult(x, y):
return x @ y
Note: If you are not on Python >= 3.5 with NumPy >= 1.10, use x.dot(y) instead of x @ y.
A great example of how you can put Pandas at work is the creation of an array-based CORREL formula.
Excels version of CORREL only works on 2 datasets and is cumbersome to use if you want to quickly
get the correlation matrix of a few time-series, for example. Pandas makes the creation of an array-based
CORREL2 formula basically a one-liner:
import pandas as pd
@xw.func
@xw.arg('x', pd.DataFrame, index=False, header=False)
@xw.ret(index=False, header=False)
def CORREL2(x):
"""Like CORREL, but as array formula for more than 2 data sets"""
return x.corr()

@xw.arg and @xw.ret decorators
These decorators are to UDFs what the options method is to Range objects: they allow you to apply
converters and their options to function arguments (@xw.arg) and to the return value (@xw.ret). For
example, to convert the argument x into a pandas DataFrame and suppress the index when returning it, you
would do the following:
@xw.func
@xw.arg('x', pd.DataFrame)
@xw.ret(index=False)
def myfunction(x):
# x is a DataFrame, do something with it
return x
For further details see the Converters and Options documentation.
Dynamic Array Formulas
As seen above, to use Excels array formulas, you need to specify their dimensions up front by selecting
the result array first, then entering the formula and finally hitting Ctrl-Shift-Enter. While this makes
sense from a data integrity point of view, in practice, it often turns out to be a cumbersome limitation,
especially when working with dynamic arrays such as time series data. Since v0.10, xlwings offers dynamic
UDF expansion:
This is a simple example that demonstrates the syntax and effect of UDF expansion:
import numpy as np
@xw.func
@xw.ret(expand='table')
def dynamic_array(r, c):
return np.random.randn(int(r), int(c))
Note:
Expanding array formulas will overwrite cells without prompting and leave an empty border around
them, i.e. they will clear the row to the bottom and the column to the right of the array.
10.6. @xw.arg and @xw.ret decorators 37

The way that dynamic array formulas are currently implemented doesnt allow them to have volatile
functions as arguments, e.g. you cannot use functions like =TODAY() as arguments.
Docstrings
The following sample shows how to include docstrings both for the function and for the arguments x and y
that then show up in the function wizard in Excel:
@xw.func
@xw.arg('x', doc='This is x.')
@xw.arg('y', doc='This is y.')
def double_sum(x, y):
"""Returns twice the sum of the two arguments"""
return 2 * (x + y)
The vba keyword
Its often helpful to get the address of the calling cell. Right now, one of the easiest ways to accomplish
this is to use the vba keyword. vba, in fact, allows you to access any available VBA expression e.g.
Application. Note, however, that currently youre acting directly on the pywin32 COM object:
@xw.func
@xw.arg('xl_app', vba='Application')
def get_caller_address(xl_app)
return xl_app.Caller.Address
Macros
On Windows, as alternative to calling macros via RunPython, you can also use the @xw.sub decorator:
@xw.sub
def my_macro():

"""Writes the name of the Workbook into Range("A1") of Sheet 1"""

wb.sheets[0].range('A1').value = wb.name
After clicking on Import Python UDFs, you can then use this macro by executing it via Alt + F8 or
by binding it e.g. to a button. To to the latter, make sure you have the Developer tab selected under File
> Options > Customize Ribbon. Then, under the Developer tab, you can insert a button via
Insert > Form Controls. After drawing the button, you will be prompted to assign a macro to it
and you can select my_macro.
10.10. Macros 39

CHAPTER 11
Converters and Options
Introduced with v0.7.0, converters define how Excel ranges and their values are converted both during
reading and writing operations. They also provide a consistent experience across xlwings.Range objects
and User Defined Functions (UDFs).
Converters are explicitely set in the options method when manipulating Range objects or in the @xw.
arg and @xw.ret decorators when using UDFs. If no converter is specified, the default converter is
applied when reading. When writing, xlwings will automatically apply the correct converter (if available)
according to the objects type that is being written to Excel. If no converter is found for that type, it falls
back to the default converter.
Syntax:
xw.Range UDFs
read- xw.Range.options(convert=None, @arg('x',
ing **kwargs).value convert=None,
**kwargs)
writ- xw.Range.options(convert=None, @ret(convert=None,
ing **kwargs).value = myvalue **kwargs)
Note: Keyword arguments (kwargs) may refer to the specific converter or the default converter. For
example, to set the numbers option in the default converter and the index option in the DataFrame
converter, you would write:
xw.Range('A1:C3').options(pd.DataFrame, index=False, numbers=int).value
41
Default Converter
If no options are set, the following conversions are performed:

single cells are read in as floats in case the Excel cell holds a number, as unicode in case it holds
text, as datetime if it contains a date and as None in case it is empty.
columns/rows are read in as lists, e.g. [None, 1.0, 'a string']
2d cell ranges are read in as list of lists, e.g. [[None, 1.0, 'a string'], [None, 2.0,
'another string']]
The following options can be set:
ndim
Force the value to have either 1 or 2 dimensions regardless of the shape of the range:

>>> sht.range('A1').value = [[1, 2], [3, 4]]
1.0
[1.0]
[[1.0]]
>>> sht.range('A1:A2').value
[1.0 3.0]
>>> sht.range('A1:A2').options(ndim=2).value
[[1.0], [3.0]]
numbers
By default cells with numbers are read as float, but you can change it to int:
>>> sht.range('A1').value = 1
1.0
>>> sht.range('A1').options(numbers=int).value
1
Alternatively, you can specify any other function or type which takes a single float argument.
Using this on UDFs looks like this:
@xw.func
@xw.arg('x', numbers=int)
def myfunction(x):
# all numbers in x arrive as int
return x
Note: Excel always stores numbers internally as floats, which is the reason why the int converter
rounds numbers first before turning them into integers. Otherwise it could happen that e.g. 5 might be
42 Chapter 11. Converters and Options

returned as 4 in case it is represented as a floating point number that is slightly smaller than 5. Should
you require Pythons original int in your converter, use raw int instead.
dates
By default cells with dates are read as datetime.datetime, but you can change it to datetime.
date:
Range:
>>> import datetime as dt

>>> sht.range('A1').options(dates=dt.date).value
UDFs: @xw.arg('x', dates=dt.date)

Alternatively, you can specify any other function or type which takes the same keyword arguments as
datetime.datetime, for example:
>>> my_date_handler = lambda year, month, day, **kwargs: "%04i-%02i-%02i

" % (year, month, day)
>>> sht.range('A1').options(dates=my_date_handler).value
'2017-02-20'
empty
Empty cells are converted per default into None, you can change this as follows:
Range: >>> sht.range('A1').options(empty='NA').value
UDFs: @xw.arg('x', empty='NA')
transpose
This works for reading and writing and allows us to e.g. write a list in column orientation to Excel:
Range: sht.range('A1').options(transpose=True).value = [1, 2, 3]
UDFs:
@xw.arg('x', transpose=True)
@xw.ret(transpose=True)
def myfunction(x):
# x will be returned unchanged as transposed both when reading
and writing
return x
expand
This works the same as the Range properties table, vertical and horizontal but is only
evaluated when getting the values of a Range:

>>> sht.range('A1').value = [[1,2], [3,4]]
>>> rng1 = sht.range('A1').expand()
>>> rng2 = sht.range('A1').options(expand='table')
11.1. Default Converter 43

>>> rng1.value
[[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0]]
>>> rng2.value
[[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0]]
>>> sht.range('A3').value = [5, 6]
>>> rng1.value
[[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0]]
>>> rng2.value
[[1.0, 2.0], [3.0, 4.0], [5.0, 6.0]]
Note: The expand method is only available on Range objects as UDFs only allow to manipulate
the calling cells.
Built-in Converters
xlwings offers several built-in converters that perform type conversion to dictionaries, NumPy arrays,
Pandas Series and DataFrames. These build on top of the default converter, so in most cases the options
described above can be used in this context, too (unless they are meaningless, for example the ndim in the
case of a dictionary).
It is also possible to write and register custom converter for additional types, see below.
The samples below can be used with both xlwings.Range objects and UDFs even though only one
version may be shown.
Dictionary converter
The dictionary converter turns two Excel columns into a dictionary. If the data is in row orientation, use
transpose:
>>> sht = xw.sheets.active

>>> sht.range('A1:B2').options(dict).value
{'a': 1.0, 'b': 2.0}
>>> sht.range('A4:B5').options(dict, transpose=True).value
{'a': 1.0, 'b': 2.0}

Numpy array converter
options: dtype=None, copy=True, order=None, ndim=None

The first 3 options behave the same as when using np.array() directly. Also, ndim works the same
as shown above for lists (under default converter) and hence returns either numpy scalars, 1d arrays or 2d
arrays.
Example:

>>> sht.range('A1').options(transpose=True).value = np.array([1, 2, 3])
>>> sht.range('A1:A3').options(np.array, ndim=2).value
array([[ 1.],
[ 2.],
[ 3.]])
Pandas Series converter
options: dtype=None, copy=False, index=1, header=True

The first 2 options behave the same as when using pd.Series() directly. ndim doesnt have an effect
on Pandas series as they are always expected and returned in column orientation.
index: int or Boolean
When reading, it expects the number of index columns shown in Excel.
When writing, include or exclude the index by setting it to True or False.
header: Boolean
When reading, set it to False if Excel doesnt show either index or series names.
When writing, include or exclude the index and series names by setting it to True or False.
For index and header, 1 and True may be used interchangeably.
Example:

>>> s = sht.range('A1').options(pd.Series, expand='table').value
>>> s
11.2. Built-in Converters 45

date
2001-01-01 1
2001-01-02 2
2001-01-03 3
2001-01-04 4
2001-01-05 5
2001-01-06 6
Name: series name, dtype: float64
>>> sht.range('D1', header=False).value = s
Pandas DataFrame converter
options: dtype=None, copy=False, index=1, header=1

The first 2 options behave the same as when using pd.DataFrame() directly. ndim doesnt have an
effect on Pandas DataFrames as they are automatically read in with ndim=2.
index: int or Boolean
When reading, it expects the number of index columns shown in Excel.
When writing, include or exclude the index by setting it to True or False.
header: int or Boolean
When reading, it expects the number of column headers shown in Excel.
When writing, include or exclude the index and series names by setting it to True or False.
For index and header, 1 and True may be used interchangeably.
Example:


>>> df = sht.range('A1:D5').options(pd.DataFrame, header=2).value
>>> df
a b
c d e
ix
10 1 2 3
20 4 5 6
30 7 8 9
# Writing back using the defaults:

>>> sht.range('A1').value = df
# Writing back and changing some of the options, e.g. getting rid of the
index:
>>> sht.range('B7').options(index=False).value = df
The same sample for UDF (starting in Range('A13') on screenshot) looks like this:
@xw.func
@xw.arg('x', pd.DataFrame, header=2)
@xw.ret(index=False)
def myfunction(x):
# x is a DataFrame, do something with it
return x
xw.Range and raw converters
Technically speaking, these are no-converters.

If you need access to the xlwings.Range object directly, you can do:
@xw.func
@xw.arg('x', xw.Range)
def myfunction(x):
return x.formula
This returns x as xlwings.Range object, i.e. without applying any converters or options.
The raw converter delivers the values unchanged from the underlying libraries (pywin32 on Win-
dows and appscript on Mac), i.e. no sanitizing/cross-platform harmonizing of values are being
made. This might be useful in a few cases for efficiency reasons. E.g:
>>> sht.range('A1:B2').value
[[1.0, 'text'], [datetime.datetime(2016, 2, 1, 0, 0), None]]
>>> sht.range('A1:B2').options('raw').value # or sht.range('A1:B2').raw_

value
((1.0, 'text'), (pywintypes.datetime(2016, 2, 1, 0, 0,
tzinfo=TimeZoneInfo('GMT Standard Time', True)), None))
11.2. Built-in Converters 47

Custom Converter
Here are the steps to implement your own converter:

Inherit from xlwings.conversion.Converter
Implement both a read_value and write_value method as static- or classmethod:
In read_value, value is what the base converter returns: hence, if no base has been spec-
ified it arrives in the format of the default converter.
In write_value, value is the original object being written to Excel. It must be returned
in the format that the base converter expects. Again, if no base has been specified, this is the
default converter.
The options dictionary will contain all keyword arguments specified in the xw.Range.options
method, e.g. when calling xw.Range('A1').options(myoption='some value') or as
specified in the @arg and @ret decorator when using UDFs. Here is the basic structure:
from xlwings.conversion import Converter
class MyConverter(Converter):
@staticmethod
def read_value(value, options):
myoption = options.get('myoption', default_value)
return_value = value # Implement your conversion here
return return_value
@staticmethod
def write_value(value, options):
myoption = options.get('myoption', default_value)
return_value = value # Implement your conversion here
return return_value
Optional: set a base converter (base expects a class name) to build on top of an ex-
isting converter, e.g. for the built-in ones: DictCoverter, NumpyArrayConverter,
PandasDataFrameConverter, PandasSeriesConverter
Optional: register the converter: you can (a) register a type so that your converter becomes the default
for this type during write operations and/or (b) you can register an alias that will allow you to explicitly
call your converter by name instead of just by class name
The following examples should make it much easier to follow - it defines a DataFrame converter that extends
the built-in DataFrame converter to add support for dropping nans:
from xlwings.conversion import Converter, PandasDataFrameConverter
class DataFrameDropna(Converter):
base = PandasDataFrameConverter
@staticmethod
def read_value(builtin_df, options):

dropna = options.get('dropna', False) # set default to False

if dropna:
converted_df = builtin_df.dropna()
else:
converted_df = builtin_df
# This will arrive in Python when using the DataFrameDropna converter
for reading
return converted_df
@staticmethod
def write_value(df, options):
dropna = options.get('dropna', False)
if dropna:
converted_df = df.dropna()
else:
converted_df = df
# This will be passed to the built-in PandasDataFrameConverter when
writing
return converted_df
Now lets see how the different converters can be applied:
# Fire up a Workbook and create a sample DataFrame

sht = xw.Book().sheets[0]
df = pd.DataFrame([[1.,10.],[2.,np.nan], [3., 30.]])
Default converter for DataFrames:
# Write
sht.range('A1').value = df
# Read
sht.range('A1:C4').options(pd.DataFrame).value
DataFrameDropna converter:
# Write
sht.range('A7').options(DataFrameDropna, dropna=True).value = df
# Read
sht.range('A1:C4').options(DataFrameDropna, dropna=True).value
Register an alias (optional):
DataFrameDropna.register('df_dropna')
# Write
sht.range('A12').options('df_dropna', dropna=True).value = df
# Read
sht.range('A1:C4').options('df_dropna', dropna=True).value
Register DataFrameDropna as default converter for DataFrames (optional):
11.3. Custom Converter 49

DataFrameDropna.register(pd.DataFrame)
# Write
sht.range('A13').options(dropna=True).value = df
# Read
sht.range('A1:C4').options(pd.DataFrame, dropna=True).value
These samples all work the same with UDFs, e.g.:
@xw.func
@arg('x', DataFrameDropna, dropna=True)
@ret(DataFrameDropna, dropna=True)
def myfunction(x):
# ...
return x
Note: Python objects run through multiple stages of a transformation pipeline when they are being written
to Excel. The same holds true in the other direction, when Excel/COM objects are being read into Python.
Pipelines are internally defined by Accessor classes. A Converter is just a special Accessor which converts
to/from a particular type by adding an extra stage to the pipeline of the default Accessor. For example, the
PandasDataFrameConverter defines how a list of list (as delivered by the default Accessor) should
be turned into a Pandas DataFrame.
The Converter class provides basic scaffolding to make the task of writing a new Converter easier. If you
need more control you can subclass Accessor directly, but this part requires more work and is currently
undocumented.

CHAPTER 12
Command Line Client
xlwings comes with a command line client that makes it easy to set up workbooks and install the developer
add-in. On Windows, type the commands into a Command Prompt, on Mac, type them into a Terminal.
Quickstart
xlwings quickstart myproject

This command is by far the fastest way to get off the ground: It creates a new folder myproject with the
necessary Excel workbook (including the xlwings VBA module) and a Python file, ready to be used right
away:
myproject
|--myproject.xlsm
|--myproject.py
New in version 0.6.4.
Add-in (Currently Windows-only)
The add-in is currently in an early stage and only provides one button to import User Defined Functions
(UDFs). As such, it is only a developer add-in and not necessary to run Workbooks with xlwings.
Note: Excel needs to be closed before installing/updating the add-in. If youre still getting an error, start
the Task Manager and make sure there are no EXCEL.EXE processes left.
51
xlwings addin install: Copies the xlwings add-in to the XLSTART folder
xlwings addin update: Replaces the current add-in with the latest one
xlwings addin remove: Removes the add-in from the XLSTART folder
xlwings addin status: Shows if the add-in is installed together with the installation path
After installing the add-in, it will be available as xlwings tab on the Excel Ribbon.
Template
xlwings template open: Opens a new Workbook with the xlwings VBA module
xlwings template install: Copies the xlwings template file to the correct Excel folder, see
below
xlwings template update: Replaces the current xlwings template with the latest one
xlwings template remove: Removes the template from Excels template folder
xlwings template status: Shows if the template is installed together with the installation
path
After installing, the templates are accessible via Excels Menu:
Win (Excel 2007, 2010): File > New > My templates
Win (Excel 2013, 2016): Theres an additional step needed as explained here
Mac (Excel 2011, 2016): File > New from template
RunPython
Only required if you are on Mac, are using Excel 2016 and have xlwings installed via conda or as part of
Anaconda. To enable the RunPython calls in VBA, run this one time:
xlwings runpython install
Alternatively, install xlwings with pip.
52 Chapter 12. Command Line Client

CHAPTER 13
Missing Features
If youre missing a feature in xlwings, do the following:

1. Most importantly, open an issue on GitHub. If its something bigger or if you want support from other
users, consider opening a feature request. Adding functionality should be user driven, so only if you
tell us about what youre missing, its eventually going to find its way into the library. By the way, we
also appreciate pull requests!
2. Workaround: in essence, xlwings is just a smart wrapper around pywin32 on Windows and appscript
on Mac. You can access the underlying objects by calling the api property:

>>> sht.api
<COMObject <unknown>> # Windows/pywin32
app(pid=2319).workbooks['Workbook1'].worksheets[1] # Mac/appscript
This works accordingly for the other objects like sht.range('A1').api etc.
The underlying objects will offer you pretty much everything you can do with VBA, using the syntax
of pywin32 (which pretty much feels like VBA) and appscript (which doesnt feel like VBA). But
apart from looking ugly, keep in mind that it makes your code platform specific (!), i.e. even if you
go for option 2), you should still follow option 1) and open an issue so the feature finds its way into
the library (cross-platform and with a Pythonic syntax).
Example: Workaround to use VBAs Range.WrapText
# Windows
sht.range('A1').api.WrapText = True
53
# Mac
sht.range('A1').api.wrap_text.set(True)
54 Chapter 13. Missing Features

CHAPTER 14
xlwings with R and Julia
While xlwings is a pure Python package, there are cross-language packages that allow for a relative straight-
forward use from/with other languages. This means, however, that youll always need to have Python with
xlwings installed in addition to R or Julia. We recommend the Anaconda distribution, see also Installation.
The R instructions are for Windows, but things work accordingly on Mac except that calling the R functions
as User Defined Functions is not supported at the moment (but RunPython works, see Call Python with
RunPython).
Setup:
Install R and Python
Add R_HOME environment variable to base directory of installation, .e.g C:\Program
Files\R\R-x.x.x
Add R_USER environment variable to user folder, e.g. C:\Users\<user>
Add C:\Program Files\R\R-x.x.x\bin to PATH
Restart Windows because of the environment variables (!)
Simple functions with R
Original R function that we want to access from Excel (saved in r_file.R):
55
myfunction <- function(x, y){

return(x * y)
}
Python wrapper code:

import rpy2.robjects as robjects
# you might want to use some relative path or place the file in R's current
working dir
robjects.r.source(r"C:\path\to\r_file.R")
@xw.func
def myfunction(x, y):
myfunc = robjects.r['myfunction']
return tuple(myfunc(x, y))
After importing this function (see: UDF Tutorial), it will be available as UDF from Excel.
Array functions with R
Original R function that we want to access from Excel (saved in r_file.R):

array_function <- function(m1, m2){
# Matrix multiplication
return(m1 %*% m2)
}
Python wrapper code:

import numpy as np
import rpy2.robjects as robjects
from rpy2.robjects import numpy2ri
robjects.r.source(r"C:\path\to\r_file.R")
numpy2ri.activate()
@xw.func
@xw.arg("x", np.array, ndim=2)
@xw.arg("y", np.array, ndim=2)
def array_function(x, y):
array_func = robjects.r['array_function']
return np.array(array_func(x, y))
After importing this function (see: UDF Tutorial), it will be available as UDF from Excel.
Julia
Setup:
56 Chapter 14. xlwings with R and Julia

Install Julia and Python

Run Pkg.add("PyCall") from an interactive Julia interpreter
xlwings can then be called from Julia with the following syntax (the colons take care of automatic type
conversion):
julia> using PyCall

julia> @pyimport xlwings as xw
julia> xw.Book()
PyObject <Book [Workbook1]>
julia> xw.Range("A1")[:value] = "Hello World"

julia> xw.Range("A1")[:value]
"Hello World"
14.2. Julia 57
58 Chapter 14. xlwings with R and Julia

CHAPTER 15
API Documentation
Top-level functions
xlwings.view(obj, sheet=None)
Opens a new workbook and displays an object on its first sheet by default. If you provide a sheet
object, it will clear the sheet before displaying the object on the existing sheet.
Parameters
obj (any type with built-in converter) the object to display,
e.g. numbers, strings, lists, numpy arrays, pandas dataframes
sheet (Sheet, default None) Sheet object. If none provided, the first
sheet of a new workbook is used.
Examples

>>> df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.rand(10, 4), columns=['a', 'b', 'c', 'd
'])
>>> xw.view(df)
59
Object model
Apps
class xlwings.main.Apps(impl)
A collection of all app objects:

>>> xw.apps
Apps([<Excel App 1668>, <Excel App 1644>])
active
Returns the active app.
add()
Creates a new App. The new App becomes the active one. Returns an App object.
count
Returns the number of apps.
App
class xlwings.App(visible=None, spec=None, add_book=True, impl=None)

An app corresponds to an Excel instance. New Excel instances can be fired up like so:

>>> app1 = xw.App()
>>> app2 = xw.App()
An app object is a member of the apps collection:
>>> xw.apps
Apps([<Excel App 1668>, <Excel App 1644>])
>>> xw.apps[0]
<Excel App 1668>
>>> xw.apps.active
<Excel App 1668>
Parameters
visible (bool, default None) Returns or sets a boolean value that
determines whether the app is visible. The default leaves the state unchanged or
sets visible=True if the object doesnt exist yet.
spec (str, default None) Mac-only, use the full path to the Excel appli-
cation, e.g. /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft
Excel or /Applications/Microsoft Excel
60 Chapter 15. API Documentation

On Windows, if you want to change the version of Excel that xlwings talks to, go
to Control Panel > Programs and Features and Repair the Of-
fice version that you want as default.
Note: On Mac, while xlwings allows you to run multiple instances of Excel, its a feature that is
not officially supported by Excel for Mac: Unlike on Windows, Excel will not ask you to open a
read-only version of a file if it is already open in another instance. This means that you need to watch
out yourself so that the same file is not being overwritten from different instances.
activate(steal_focus=False)
Activates the Excel app.
Parameters steal_focus (bool, default False) If True, make front-
most application and hand over focus from Python to Excel.
api
Returns the native object (pywin32 or appscript obj) of the engine being used.
books
A collection of all Book objects that are currently open.
calculate()
Calculates all open books.
calculation
Returns or sets a calculation value that represents the calculation mode. Modes: 'manual',
'automatic', 'semiautomatic'
Examples

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> wb.app.calculation = 'manual'
Changed in version 0.9.0.

display_alerts
The default value is True. Set this property to False to suppress prompts and alert messages
while code is running; when a message requires a response, Excel chooses the default response.
15.2. Object model 61

hwnd
Returns the Window handle (Windows-only).
kill()
Forces the Excel app to quit by killing its process.
macro(name)
Runs a Sub or Function in Excel VBA that are not part of a specific workbook but e.g. are part
of an add-in.
Parameters name (Name of Sub or Function with or without module name, e.g.
'Module1.MyMacro' or 'MyMacro')
Examples
This VBA function:
Function MySum(x, y)
MySum = x + y
End Function
can be accessed like this:

>>> app = xw.App()
>>> my_sum = app.macro('MySum')
>>> my_sum(1, 2)
3
See also: Book.macro()

pid
Returns the PID of the app.
quit()
Quits the application without saving any workbooks.
range(cell1, cell2=None)
Range object from the active sheet of the active book, see Range().
screen_updating
Turn screen updating off to speed up your script. You wont be able to see what the script is

doing, but it will run faster. Remember to set the screen_updating property back to True when
your script ends.
selection
Returns the selected cells as Range.
version
Returns the Excel version number object.
Examples

>>> xw.App().version
VersionNumber('15.24')
>>> xw.apps[0].version.major
15

visible
Gets or sets the visibility of Excel to True or False.
Books
class xlwings.main.Books(impl)
A collection of all book objects:

>>> xw.books # active app
Books([<Book [Book1]>, <Book [Book2]>])
>>> xw.apps[0].books # specific app
Books([<Book [Book1]>, <Book [Book2]>])

active
Returns the active Book.
add()
Creates a new Book. The new Book becomes the active Book. Returns a Book object.
open(fullname)
Opens a Book if it is not open yet and returns it. If it is already open, it doesnt raise an exception
but simply returns the Book object.

Parameters fullname (str) filename or fully qualified filename, e.g.

r'C:\path\to\file.xlsx' or 'file.xlsm'. Without a full path, it
looks for the file in the current working directory.
Returns Book
Return type Book that has been opened.
Book
class xlwings.Book(fullname=None, impl=None)

A book object is a member of the books collection:

>>> xw.books[0]
<Book [Book1]>
The easiest way to connect to a book is offered by xw.Book: it looks for the book in all app instances
and returns an error, should the same book be open in multiple instances. To connect to a book in the
active app instance, use xw.books and to refer to a specific app, use:
>>> app = xw.App() # or something like xw.apps[0] for existing apps

>>> app.books['Book1']
xw.Book xw.books
New book xw.Book() xw.books.add()
Unsaved book xw.Book('Book1') xw.books['Book1']
Book by xw.Book(r'C:/path/to/ xw.books.open(r'C:/path/to/
(full)name file.xlsx') file.xlsx')
Parameters fullname (str, default None) Full path or name (incl. xlsx, xlsm
etc.) of existing workbook or name of an unsaved workbook. Without a full path, it
looks for the file in the current working directory.
activate(steal_focus=False)
Activates the book.
Parameters steal_focus (bool, default False) If True, make front-
most window and hand over focus from Python to Excel.
api
app
Returns an app object that represents the creator of the book.

classmethod caller()
References the calling book when the Python function is called from Excel via RunPython.
Pack it into the function being called from Excel, e.g.:
To be able to easily invoke such code from Python for debugging, use xw.Book.
set_mock_caller().
close()
Closes the book without saving it.
fullname
Returns the name of the object, including its path on disk, as a string. Read-only String.
macro(name)
Runs a Sub or Function in Excel VBA.
Parameters name (Name of Sub or Function with or without module name, e.g.
'Module1.MyMacro' or 'MyMacro')
Examples
This VBA function:
Function MySum(x, y)
MySum = x + y
End Function
can be accessed like this:

>>> wb = xw.books.active
>>> my_sum = wb.macro('MySum')
>>> my_sum(1, 2)
3
See also: App.macro()

name
Returns the name of the book as str.
names
Returns a names collection that represents all the names in the specified book (including all
sheet-specific names).

static open_template()
Creates a new Excel file with the xlwings VBA module already included. This method must be
called from an interactive Python shell:
>>> xw.Book.open_template()
See also: Command Line Client

save(path=None)
Saves the Workbook. If a path is being provided, this works like SaveAs() in Excel. If no path
is specified and if the file hasnt been saved previously, its being saved in the current working
directory with the current filename. Existing files are overwritten without prompting.
Parameters path (str, default None) Full path to the workbook
Example

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> wb.save()
>>> wb.save(r'C:\path\to\new_file_name.xlsx')

selection
Returns the selected cells as Range.
set_mock_caller()
Sets the Excel file which is used to mock xw.Book.caller() when the code is called from
Python and not from Excel via RunPython.
Examples
# This code runs unchanged from Excel via RunPython and from Python
directly
import os
def my_macro():
sht = xw.Book.caller().sheets[0]
sht.range('A1').value = 'Hello xlwings!'
if __name__ == '__main__':
xw.Book('file.xlsm').set_mock_caller()
my_macro()

sheets
Returns a sheets collection that represents all the sheets in the book.
Sheets
class xlwings.main.Sheets(impl)
A collection of all sheet objects:

>>> xw.sheets # active book
Sheets([<Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>, <Sheet [Book1]Sheet2>])
>>> xw.apps[0].books['Book1'].sheets # specific book
Sheets([<Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>, <Sheet [Book1]Sheet2>])

active
Returns the active Sheet.
add(name=None, before=None, after=None)
Creates a new Sheet and makes it the active sheet.
Parameters
name (str, default None) Name of the new sheet. If None, will de-
fault to Excels default name.
before (Sheet, default None) An object that specifies the sheet be-
fore which the new sheet is added.
after (Sheet, default None) An object that specifies the sheet after
which the new sheet is added.
Sheet
class xlwings.Sheet(sheet=None, impl=None)

A sheet object is a member of the sheets collection:

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> wb.sheets[0]
<Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>
>>> wb.sheets['Sheet1']
>>> wb.sheets.add()

activate()
Activates the Sheet and returns it.
api
autofit(axis=None)
Autofits the width of either columns, rows or both on a whole Sheet.
Parameters axis (string, default None)
To autofit rows, use one of the following: rows or r
To autofit columns, use one of the following: columns or c
To autofit rows and columns, provide no arguments
Examples

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> wb.sheets['Sheet1'].autofit('c')
>>> wb.sheets['Sheet1'].autofit('r')
>>> wb.sheets['Sheet1'].autofit()

book
Returns the Book of the specified Sheet. Read-only.
cells
Returns a Range object that represents all the cells on the Sheet (not just the cells that are
currently in use).
charts
See Charts
clear()
Clears the content and formatting of the whole sheet.
clear_contents()
Clears the content of the whole sheet but leaves the formatting.
delete()
Deletes the Sheet.
index
Returns the index of the Sheet (1-based as in Excel).

name
Gets or sets the name of the Sheet.
names
Returns a names collection that represents all the sheet-specific names (names defined with the
SheetName! prefix).
pictures
See Pictures
range(cell1, cell2=None)
Returns a Range object from the active sheet of the active book, see Range().
select()
Selects the Sheet. Select only works on the active book.
shapes
See Shapes
Range
class xlwings.Range(cell1=None, cell2=None, **options)

Returns a Range object that represents a cell or a range of cells.
Parameters
cell1 (str or tuple or Range) Name of the range in the upper-left
corner in A1 notation or as index-tuple or as name or as xw.Range object. It can
also specify a range using the range operator (a colon), .e.g. A1:B2
cell2 (str or tuple or Range, default None) Name of the
range in the lower-right corner in A1 notation or as index-tuple or as name or
as xw.Range object.
Examples
Active Sheet:
xw.Range('A1')
xw.Range('A1:C3')
xw.Range((1,1))
xw.Range((1,1), (3,3))

xw.Range('NamedRange')
xw.Range(xw.Range('A1'), xw.Range('B2'))
Specific Sheet:
xw.books['MyBook.xlsx'].sheets[0].range('A1')
add_hyperlink(address, text_to_display=None, screen_tip=None)

Adds a hyperlink to the specified Range (single Cell)
Parameters
address (str) The address of the hyperlink.
text_to_display (str, default None) The text to be displayed for
the hyperlink. Defaults to the hyperlink address.
screen_tip (str, default None) The screen tip to be displayed
when the mouse pointer is paused over the hyperlink. Default is set to <ad-
dress> - Click once to follow. Click and hold to select this cell.
address
Returns a string value that represents the range reference. Use get_address() to be able to
provide paramaters.
api
autofit()
Autofits the width and height of all cells in the range.
To autofit only the width of the columns use xw.Range('A1:B2').columns.
autofit()
To autofit only the height of the rows use xw.Range('A1:B2').rows.autofit()
clear()
Clears the content and the formatting of a Range.
clear_contents()
Clears the content of a Range but leaves the formatting.
color
Gets and sets the background color of the specified Range.
To set the color, either use an RGB tuple (0, 0, 0) or a color constant. To remove the
background, set the color to None, see Examples.
Returns RGB

Return type tuple
Examples

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> xw.Range('A1').color = (255,255,255)
>>> xw.Range('A2').color
(255, 255, 255)
>>> xw.Range('A2').color = None
>>> xw.Range('A2').color is None
True

column
Returns the number of the first column in the in the specified range. Read-only.
Returns
Return type Integer
column_width
Gets or sets the width, in characters, of a Range. One unit of column width is equal to the width
of one character in the Normal style. For proportional fonts, the width of the character 0 (zero)
is used.
If all columns in the Range have the same width, returns the width. If columns in the Range
have different widths, returns None.
column_width must be in the range: 0 <= column_width <= 255
Note: If the Range is outside the used range of the Worksheet, and columns in the Range have
different widths, returns the width of the first column.
Returns
Return type float
columns
Returns a RangeColumns object that represents the columns in the specified range.
count
Returns the number of cells.
current_region
This property returns a Range object representing a range bounded by (but not including) any
combination of blank rows and blank columns or the edges of the worksheet. It corresponds to
Ctrl-* on Windows and Shift-Ctrl-Space on Mac.

Returns
Return type Range object
end(direction)
Returns a Range object that represents the cell at the end of the region that contains the source
range. Equivalent to pressing Ctrl+Up, Ctrl+down, Ctrl+left, or Ctrl+right.
Parameters direction (One of 'up', 'down', 'right', 'left')
Examples

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> xw.Range('A1:B2').value = 1
>>> xw.Range('A1').end('down')
<Range [Book1]Sheet1!$A$2>
>>> xw.Range('B2').end('right')
<Range [Book1]Sheet1!$B$2>

expand(mode=table)
Expands the range according to the mode provided. Ignores empty top-left cells (unlike Range.
end()).
Parameters mode (str, default 'table') One of 'table' (=down and
right), 'down', 'right'.
Returns
Return type Range
Examples

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> xw.Range('A1').value = [[None, 1], [2, 3]]
>>> xw.Range('A1').expand().address
$A$1:$B$2
>>> xw.Range('A1').expand('right').address
$A$1:$B$1

formula
Gets or sets the formula for the given Range.
formula_array
Gets or sets an array formula for the given Range.

get_address(row_absolute=True, column_absolute=True, include_sheetname=False, ex-

ternal=False)
Returns the address of the range in the specified format. address can be used instead if none
of the defaults need to be changed.
Parameters
row_absolute (bool, default True) Set to True to return the row
part of the reference as an absolute reference.
column_absolute (bool, default True) Set to True to return the
column part of the reference as an absolute reference.
include_sheetname (bool, default False) Set to True to include
the Sheet name in the address. Ignored if external=True.
external (bool, default False) Set to True to return an external
reference with workbook and worksheet name.
Returns
Return type str
Examples

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> xw.Range((1,1)).get_address()
'$A$1'
>>> xw.Range((1,1)).get_address(False, False)
'A1'
>>> xw.Range((1,1), (3,3)).get_address(True, False, True)
'Sheet1!A$1:C$3'
>>> xw.Range((1,1), (3,3)).get_address(True, False, external=True)
'[Book1]Sheet1!A$1:C$3'

height
Returns the height, in points, of a Range. Read-only.
Returns
Return type float
hyperlink
Returns the hyperlink address of the specified Range (single Cell only)

Examples

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> xw.Range('A1').value
'www.xlwings.org'
>>> xw.Range('A1').hyperlink
'http://www.xlwings.org'

last_cell
Returns the bottom right cell of the specified range. Read-only.
Returns
Return type Range
Example

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> rng = xw.Range('A1:E4')
>>> rng.last_cell.row, rng.last_cell.column
(4, 5)

left
Returns the distance, in points, from the left edge of column A to the left edge of the range.
Read-only.
Returns
Return type float
name
Sets or gets the name of a Range.
number_format
Gets and sets the number_format of a Range.
Examples

>>> wb = xw.Book()
>>> xw.Range('A1').number_format

'General'
>>> xw.Range('A1:C3').number_format = '0.00%'
>>> xw.Range('A1:C3').number_format
'0.00%'

offset(row_offset=0, column_offset=0)
Returns a Range object that represents a Range thats offset from the specified range.
Returns Range object
Return type Range
options(convert=None, **options)
Allows you to set a converter and their options. Converters define how Excel Ranges and their
values are being converted both during reading and writing operations. If no explicit converter
is specified, the base converter is being applied, see Converters and Options.
Parameters convert (object, default None) A converter, e.g. dict,
np.array, pd.DataFrame, pd.Series, defaults to default converter
Keyword Arguments
ndim (int, default None) number of dimensions
numbers (type, default None) type of numbers, e.g. int
dates (type, default None) e.g. datetime.date defaults to
datetime.datetime
empty (object, default None) transformation of empty cells
transpose (Boolean, default False) transpose values
expand (str, default None) One of 'table', 'down', 'right'
=> For converter-specific options, see Converters and Options.
Returns
Return type Range object
raw_value
Gets and sets the values directly as delivered from/accepted by the engine that is being used
(pywin32 or appscript) without going through any of xlwings data cleaning/converting.
This can be helpful if speed is an issue but naturally will be engine specific, i.e. might remove
the cross-platform compatibility.
resize(row_size=None, column_size=None)
Resizes the specified Range
Parameters

row_size (int > 0) The number of rows in the new range (if None, the
number of rows in the range is unchanged).
column_size (int > 0) The number of columns in the new range (if
None, the number of columns in the range is unchanged).
Returns Range object
Return type Range
row
Returns the number of the first row in the specified range. Read-only.
Returns
Return type Integer
row_height
Gets or sets the height, in points, of a Range. If all rows in the Range have the same height,
returns the height. If rows in the Range have different heights, returns None.
row_height must be in the range: 0 <= row_height <= 409.5
Note: If the Range is outside the used range of the Worksheet, and rows in the Range have
different heights, returns the height of the first row.
Returns
Return type float
rows
Returns a RangeRows object that represents the rows in the specified range.
select()
Selects the range. Select only works on the active book.
shape
Tuple of Range dimensions.
sheet
Returns the Sheet object to which the Range belongs.
size
Number of elements in the Range.

top
Returns the distance, in points, from the top edge of row 1 to the top edge of the range. Read-
only.
Returns
Return type float
value
Gets and sets the values for the given Range.
Returns object
Return type returned object depends on the converter being used, see xlwings.
Range.options()
width
Returns the width, in points, of a Range. Read-only.
Returns
Return type float
RangeRows
class xlwings.RangeRows(rng)
Represents the rows of a range. Do not construct this class directly, use Range.rows instead.
Example
rng = xw.Range('A1:C4')
assert len(rng.rows) == 4 # or rng.rows.count
rng.rows[0].value = 'a'
assert rng.rows[2] == xw.Range('A3:C3')

assert rng.rows(2) == xw.Range('A2:C2')
for r in rng.rows:
print(r.address)
autofit()
Autofits the height of the rows.
count
Returns the number of rows.

RangeColumns
class xlwings.RangeColumns(rng)
Represents the columns of a range. Do not construct this class directly, use Range.columns in-
stead.
Example
rng = xw.Range('A1:C4')
assert len(rng.columns) == 3 # or rng.columns.count
rng.columns[0].value = 'a'
assert rng.columns[2] == xw.Range('C1:C4')

assert rng.columns(2) == xw.Range('B1:B4')
for c in rng.columns:
print(c.address)
autofit()
Autofits the width of the columns.
count
Returns the number of columns.
Shapes
class xlwings.main.Shapes(impl)
A collection of all shape objects on the specified sheet:

>>> xw.books['Book1'].sheets[0].shapes
Shapes([<Shape 'Oval 1' in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>, <Shape 'Rectangle 1'
in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>])

api
count
Returns the number of objects in the collection.

Shape
class xlwings.Shape(*args, **options)

The shape object is a member of the shapes collection:

>>> sht = xw.books['Book1'].sheets[0]
>>> sht.shapes[0] # or sht.shapes['ShapeName']
<Shape 'Rectangle 1' in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>

activate()
Activates the shape.
delete()
Deletes the shape.
height
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the height of the shape.
left
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the horizontal position of the shape.
name
Returns or sets the name of the shape.
parent
Returns the parent of the shape.
top
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the vertical position of the shape.
type
Returns the type of the shape.
width
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the width of the shape.

Charts
class xlwings.main.Charts(impl)
A collection of all chart objects on the specified sheet:

>>> xw.books['Book1'].sheets[0].charts
Charts([<Chart 'Chart 1' in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>, <Chart 'Chart 1' in
<Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>])

add(left=0, top=0, width=355, height=211)
Creates a new chart on the specified sheet.
Parameters
left (float, default 0) left position in points
top (float, default 0) top position in points
width (float, default 355) width in points
height (float, default 211) height in points
Returns
Return type Chart
Examples

>>> sht.range('A1').value = [['Foo1', 'Foo2'], [1, 2]]
>>> chart = sht.charts.add()
>>> chart.set_source_data(sht.range('A1').expand())
>>> chart.chart_type = 'line'
>>> chart.name
'Chart1'
api
count
Chart
class xlwings.Chart(name_or_index=None, impl=None)

The chart object is a member of the charts collection:


>>> sht.charts[0] # or sht.charts['ChartName']
<Chart 'Chart 1' in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>
api
chart_type
Returns and sets the chart type of the chart.
delete()
Deletes the chart.
height
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the height of the chart.
left
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the horizontal position of the chart.
name
Returns or sets the name of the chart.
parent
Returns the parent of the chart.
set_source_data(source)
Sets the source data range for the chart.
Parameters source (Range) Range object, e.g. xw.books['Book1'].
sheets[0].range('A1')
top
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the vertical position of the chart.
width
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the width of the chart.
Pictures
class xlwings.main.Pictures(impl)
A collection of all picture objects on the specified sheet:

>>> xw.books['Book1'].sheets[0].pictures
Pictures([<Picture 'Picture 1' in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>, <Picture
'Picture 2' in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>])


add(image, link_to_file=False, save_with_document=True, left=0, top=0, width=None,
height=None, name=None, update=False)
Adds a picture to the specified sheet.
Parameters
image (str or matplotlib.figure.Figure) Either a filepath or a
Matplotlib figure object.
left (float, default 0) Left position in points.
top (float, default 0) Top position in points.
width (float, default None) Width in points. If PIL/Pillow is in-
stalled, it defaults to the width of the picture. Otherwise it defaults to 100 points.
height (float, default None) Height in points. If PIL/Pillow is in-
stalled, it defaults to the height of the picture. Otherwise it defaults to 100
points.
name (str, default None) Excel picture name. Defaults to Excel stan-
dard name if not provided, e.g. Picture 1.
update (bool, default False) Replace an existing picture with the
same name. Requires name to be set.
Returns
Return type Picture
Examples
1.Picture

>>> sht.pictures.add(r'C:\path\to\file.jpg')
<Picture 'Picture 1' in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>
2.Matplotlib

>>> plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
<Picture 'MyPlot' in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>
api

count
Picture
class xlwings.Picture(impl=None)
The picture object is a member of the pictures collection:

>>> sht.pictures[0] # or sht.charts['PictureName']
<Picture 'Picture 1' in <Sheet [Book1]Sheet1>>

api
delete()
Deletes the picture.
height
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the height of the picture.
left
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the horizontal position of the picture.
name
Returns or sets the name of the picture.
parent
Returns the parent of the picture.
top
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the vertical position of the picture.
update(image)
Replaces an existing picture with a new one, taking over the attributes of the existing picture.
Parameters image (str or matplotlib.figure.Figure) Either a
filepath or a Matplotlib figure object.


width
Returns or sets the number of points that represent the width of the picture.
Names
class xlwings.main.Names(impl)
A collection of all name objects in the workbook:

>>> sht.names
[<Name 'MyName': =Sheet1!$A$3>]

add(name, refers_to)
Defines a new name for a range of cells.
Parameters
name (str) Specifies the text to use as the name. Names cannot include
spaces and cannot be formatted as cell references.
refers_to (str) Describes what the name refers to, in English, using A1-
style notation.
Returns
Return type Name
api
count
Name
class xlwings.Name(impl)
The name object is a member of the names collection:

>>> sht.names[0] # or sht.names['MyName']
<Name 'MyName': =Sheet1!$A$3>


api
delete()
Deletes the name.
name
Returns or sets the name of the name object.
refers_to
Returns or sets the formula that the name is defined to refer to, in A1-style notation, beginning
with an equal sign.
refers_to_range
Returns the Range object referred to by a Name object.
UDF decorators
xlwings.func(category=xlwings, volatile=False, call_in_wizard=True)

Functions decorated with xlwings.func will be imported as Function to Excel when running
Import Python UDFs.
category [int or str, default xlwings] 1-14 represent built-in categories, for user-defined categories
use strings
volatile [bool, default False] Marks a user-defined function as volatile. A volatile function must be
recalculated whenever calculation occurs in any cells on the worksheet. A nonvolatile function
is recalculated only when the input variables change. This method has no effect if its not inside
a user-defined function used to calculate a worksheet cell.
call_in_wizard [bool, default True] Set to False to suppress the function call in the function wizard.
xlwings.sub()
Functions decorated with xlwings.sub will be imported as Sub (i.e. macro) to Excel when run-
ning Import Python UDFs.
15.3. UDF decorators 85

xlwings.arg(arg, convert=None, **options)

Apply converters and options to arguments, see also Range.options().
Examples:
Convert x into a 2-dimensional numpy array:
import numpy as np
@xw.func
@xw.arg('x', np.array, ndim=2)
def add_one(x):
return x + 1
xlwings.ret(convert=None, **options)
Apply converters and options to return values, see also Range.options().
Examples
1.Suppress the index and header of a returned DataFrame:
import pandas as pd
@xw.func
@xw.ret(index=False, header=False)
def get_dataframe(n, m):
return pd.DataFrame(np.arange(n * m).reshape((n, m)))
2.Dynamic array:
expand='table' turns the UDF into a dynamic array. Currently you must not use volatile func-
tions as arguments of a dynamic array, e.g. you cannot use =TODAY() as part of a dynamic array.
Also note that a dynamic array needs an empty row and column at the bottom and to the right and will
overwrite existing data without warning.
Unlike standard Excel arrays, dynamic arrays are being used from a single cell like a standard function
and auto-expand depending on the dimensions of the returned array:
import numpy as np
@xw.func
@xw.ret(expand='table')
def dynamic_array(n, m):
return np.arange(n * m).reshape((n, m))

Index
A B
activate() (xlwings.App method), 61 Book (class in xlwings), 64
activate() (xlwings.Book method), 64 book (xlwings.Sheet attribute), 68
activate() (xlwings.Shape method), 79 Books (class in xlwings.main), 63
activate() (xlwings.Sheet method), 67 books (xlwings.App attribute), 61
active (xlwings.main.Apps attribute), 60
active (xlwings.main.Books attribute), 63 C
active (xlwings.main.Sheets attribute), 67 calculate() (xlwings.App method), 61
add() (xlwings.main.Apps method), 60 calculation (xlwings.App attribute), 61
add() (xlwings.main.Books method), 63 caller() (xlwings.Book class method), 64
add() (xlwings.main.Charts method), 80 cells (xlwings.Sheet attribute), 68
add() (xlwings.main.Names method), 84 Chart (class in xlwings), 80
add() (xlwings.main.Pictures method), 82 chart_type (xlwings.Chart attribute), 81
add() (xlwings.main.Sheets method), 67 Charts (class in xlwings.main), 80
add_hyperlink() (xlwings.Range method), 70 charts (xlwings.Sheet attribute), 68
address (xlwings.Range attribute), 70 clear() (xlwings.Range method), 70
api (xlwings.App attribute), 61 clear() (xlwings.Sheet method), 68
api (xlwings.Book attribute), 64 clear_contents() (xlwings.Range method), 70
api (xlwings.Chart attribute), 81 clear_contents() (xlwings.Sheet method), 68
api (xlwings.main.Charts attribute), 80 close() (xlwings.Book method), 65
api (xlwings.main.Names attribute), 84 color (xlwings.Range attribute), 70
api (xlwings.main.Pictures attribute), 82 column (xlwings.Range attribute), 71
api (xlwings.main.Shapes attribute), 78 column_width (xlwings.Range attribute), 71
api (xlwings.Name attribute), 85 columns (xlwings.Range attribute), 71
api (xlwings.Picture attribute), 83 count (xlwings.main.Apps attribute), 60
api (xlwings.Range attribute), 70 count (xlwings.main.Charts attribute), 80
api (xlwings.Sheet attribute), 68 count (xlwings.main.Names attribute), 84
App (class in xlwings), 60 count (xlwings.main.Pictures attribute), 82
app (xlwings.Book attribute), 64 count (xlwings.main.Shapes attribute), 78
Apps (class in xlwings.main), 60 count (xlwings.Range attribute), 71
autofit() (xlwings.Range method), 70 count (xlwings.RangeColumns attribute), 78
autofit() (xlwings.RangeColumns method), 78 count (xlwings.RangeRows attribute), 77
autofit() (xlwings.RangeRows method), 77 current_region (xlwings.Range attribute), 71
autofit() (xlwings.Sheet method), 68
87
D name (xlwings.Chart attribute), 81

delete() (xlwings.Chart method), 81 name (xlwings.Name attribute), 85
delete() (xlwings.Name method), 85 name (xlwings.Picture attribute), 83
delete() (xlwings.Picture method), 83 name (xlwings.Range attribute), 74
delete() (xlwings.Shape method), 79 name (xlwings.Shape attribute), 79
delete() (xlwings.Sheet method), 68 name (xlwings.Sheet attribute), 68
display_alerts (xlwings.App attribute), 61 Names (class in xlwings.main), 84
names (xlwings.Book attribute), 65
E names (xlwings.Sheet attribute), 69
end() (xlwings.Range method), 72 number_format (xlwings.Range attribute), 74
expand() (xlwings.Range method), 72
O
F offset() (xlwings.Range method), 75
formula (xlwings.Range attribute), 72 open() (xlwings.main.Books method), 63
formula_array (xlwings.Range attribute), 72 open_template() (xlwings.Book static method), 65
fullname (xlwings.Book attribute), 65 options() (xlwings.Range method), 75
G P
get_address() (xlwings.Range method), 72 parent (xlwings.Chart attribute), 81
parent (xlwings.Picture attribute), 83
H parent (xlwings.Shape attribute), 79
height (xlwings.Chart attribute), 81 Picture (class in xlwings), 83
height (xlwings.Picture attribute), 83 Pictures (class in xlwings.main), 81
height (xlwings.Range attribute), 73 pictures (xlwings.Sheet attribute), 69
height (xlwings.Shape attribute), 79 pid (xlwings.App attribute), 62
hwnd (xlwings.App attribute), 61
hyperlink (xlwings.Range attribute), 73 Q
quit() (xlwings.App method), 62
I
index (xlwings.Sheet attribute), 68 R
Range (class in xlwings), 69
K range() (xlwings.App method), 62
kill() (xlwings.App method), 62 range() (xlwings.Sheet method), 69
RangeColumns (class in xlwings), 78
L RangeRows (class in xlwings), 77
last_cell (xlwings.Range attribute), 74 raw_value (xlwings.Range attribute), 75
left (xlwings.Chart attribute), 81 refers_to (xlwings.Name attribute), 85
left (xlwings.Picture attribute), 83 refers_to_range (xlwings.Name attribute), 85
left (xlwings.Range attribute), 74 resize() (xlwings.Range method), 75
left (xlwings.Shape attribute), 79 row (xlwings.Range attribute), 76
row_height (xlwings.Range attribute), 76
M rows (xlwings.Range attribute), 76
macro() (xlwings.App method), 62
macro() (xlwings.Book method), 65 S
save() (xlwings.Book method), 66
N screen_updating (xlwings.App attribute), 62
Name (class in xlwings), 84 select() (xlwings.Range method), 76
name (xlwings.Book attribute), 65 select() (xlwings.Sheet method), 69
88 Index
selection (xlwings.App attribute), 63

selection (xlwings.Book attribute), 66
set_mock_caller() (xlwings.Book method), 66
set_source_data() (xlwings.Chart method), 81
Shape (class in xlwings), 79
shape (xlwings.Range attribute), 76
Shapes (class in xlwings.main), 78
shapes (xlwings.Sheet attribute), 69
Sheet (class in xlwings), 67
sheet (xlwings.Range attribute), 76
Sheets (class in xlwings.main), 67
sheets (xlwings.Book attribute), 67
size (xlwings.Range attribute), 76
T
top (xlwings.Chart attribute), 81
top (xlwings.Picture attribute), 83
top (xlwings.Range attribute), 76
top (xlwings.Shape attribute), 79
type (xlwings.Shape attribute), 79
U
update() (xlwings.Picture method), 83
V
value (xlwings.Range attribute), 77
version (xlwings.App attribute), 63
view() (in module xlwings), 59
visible (xlwings.App attribute), 63
W
width (xlwings.Chart attribute), 81
width (xlwings.Picture attribute), 84
width (xlwings.Range attribute), 77
width (xlwings.Shape attribute), 79
X
xlwings (module), 59
xlwings.arg() (in module xlwings), 85
xlwings.func() (in module xlwings), 85
xlwings.ret() (in module xlwings), 86
xlwings.sub() (in module xlwings), 85
Index 89

XL Wings

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xlwings - Make Excel Fly!

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Apr 24, 2017

6 Data Structures Tutorial 17

7 VBA: Calling Python from Excel 21

11 Converters and Options 41

12 Command Line Client 51

14 xlwings with R and Julia 55

Full qualification: Using collections

# Active app (i.e. Excel instance)

# Range on active sheet

Round vs. Square Brackets

Access the underlying Library/Engine

old: xw.Range('A1').xl_range and xl_sheet etc.

2 Chapter 1. Migrate to v0.9

Table 1.1 continued from previous page

Fully qualified book app.books['Book1'] unsupported

First sheet of book wb wb.sheets[0] xw.Sheet(1, wkb=w

Add chart to sheet chart = wb.sheets[0].charts.add() chart = xw.Chart.

Add picture to sheet wb.sheets[0].pictures.add('path/to/pic') xw.Picture.add('p

Table expansion sht.range('A1').expand('table') xw.Range(sht, 'A1

Set name of range sht.range('A1').name = 'name' xw.Range(sht, 'A1

mock caller xw.Book('file.xlsm').set_mock_caller() xw.Workbook.set_m

1.6. Cheat sheet 3

4 Chapter 1. Migrate to v0.9

The easiest way to install xlwings is via pip:

pip install xlwings

conda install xlwings

python setup.py install

Windows: pywin32, comtypes

Python version support

xlwings is tested on Python 2.7 and 3.3+

1. Scripting: Automate/interact with Excel from Python

Establish a connection to a workbook:

>>> import xlwings as xw

Instantiate a sheet object:

>>> sht = wb.sheets['Sheet1']

Reading/writing values to/from ranges is as easy as:

>>> sht.range('A1').value = 'Foo 1'

There are many convenience features available, e.g. Range expanding:

>>> import pandas as pd

Matplotlib figures can be shown as pictures in Excel:

>>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Shortcut for the active sheet: xw.Range

>>> import xlwings xw

2. Macros: Call Python from Excel

3. UDFs: User Defined Functions (Windows only)

Writing a UDF in Python is as easy as:

3.3. 3. UDFs: User Defined Functions (Windows only) 9

>>> import xlwings as xw

>>> app = xw.App() # or something like xw.apps[0] for existing apps

Excel to Python (RunPython)

User Defined Functions (UDFs)

12 Chapter 4. Connect to a Book

>>> import xlwings as xw

# Active app (i.e. Excel instance)

# Range on active sheet

Range objects support indexing and slicing, a few examples:

>>> rng = xw.Book().sheets[0].range('A1:D5')

>>> sht = xw.Book().sheets['Sheet1']

14 Chapter 5. Syntax Overview

>>> rng = xw.apps[0].books[0].sheets[0].range('A1')

5.5. Object Hierarchy 15

16 Chapter 5. Syntax Overview

Data Structures Tutorial

>>> import xlwings as xw

>>> import datetime as dt

>>> sht = xw.Book().sheets[0]

To force a single cell to arrive as list, use:

Note: To write a list in column orientation to Excel, use transpose: sht.range('A1').

18 Chapter 6. Data Structures Tutorial

>>> sht = xw.Book().sheets[0]

>>> import numpy as np

>>> sht = xw.Book().sheets[0]

6.3. Range expanding 19

>>> import pandas as pd