merrymonk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I want to fill the background of excel cells with colours made up from the known red, green and blue components of the colours. To do this I found I needed to use:
$sheet->Range($rng)->Interior -> {PatternColor} = rgb colour value
$sheet->Range($rng)->Interior -> {Pattern} = pattern value
This site https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/Excel.XlPattern gives ‘values’ for 20 patterns including xlPatternSolid which I thought would give me the whole cell filled with that colour. This was not the case as the Perl below shows.
This code gives an Excel spreadsheet where:
Column C is the key to a hash which holds the pattern ‘names’ such as xlPatternSolid
Column D gives the cell filled with the colour and effect of the pattern
Column E gives the value of the pattern ‘names’ as shown on the web-site.
Cell D20 is where the xlPatternSolid has been used. This has no colour instead of the solid colour I was hoping for. Also cell D3 has no colour – the name of this colour pattern xlPatternAutomatic – I was not sure what to expect for this.
I did notice that the sides of cells D20 and D3 are no longer there.
How can I get cells filled with the solid colour?
use strict "vars";
use OLE;
use Win32::OLE::Const "Microsoft Excel";

sub RGB ($$$$) {
my ($jr, $jg, $jb, $ret_c) =@_;
$$ret_c = $jr + $jg * 256 + $jb *256** 2;
}

my ($excel, $workbook, $sheet, $rng, $jh);
my ($jr, $jg, $jb, $patterncolour, $jq, $jqa);
my %cell_interior_pattern;

# list from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/Excel.XlPa
+ttern

$cell_interior_pattern{1} = xlPatternAutomatic;        
$cell_interior_pattern{2} = xlPatternChecker;        
$cell_interior_pattern{3} = xlPatternCrissCross;        
$cell_interior_pattern{4} = xlPatternDown;        
$cell_interior_pattern{5} = xlPatternGray16;        
$cell_interior_pattern{6} = xlPatternGray25;        
$cell_interior_pattern{7} = xlPatternGray50;        
$cell_interior_pattern{8} = xlPatternGray75;        
$cell_interior_pattern{9} = xlPatternGray8;        
$cell_interior_pattern{10}= xlPatternGrid;        
$cell_interior_pattern{11}= xlPatternHorizontal;        
$cell_interior_pattern{12}= xlPatternLightDown;        
$cell_interior_pattern{13}= xlPatternLightHorizontal;        
$cell_interior_pattern{14}= xlPatternLightUp;        
$cell_interior_pattern{15}= xlPatternLightVertical;        
$cell_interior_pattern{16}= xlPatternNone;        
$cell_interior_pattern{17}= xlPatternSemiGray75;        
$cell_interior_pattern{18}= xlPatternSolid;        
$cell_interior_pattern{19}= xlPatternUp;        
$cell_interior_pattern{20}= xlPatternVertical;        

$excel = CreateObject OLE "Excel.Application";
$excel -> {Visible} = 1;
$workbook = $excel    -> Workbooks -> Add;
$sheet    = $workbook -> Worksheets("Sheet1");
$sheet                -> Activate;

$sheet -> Range('C2') -> {Value} = 'Index'; 
$sheet -> Range('D2') -> {Value} = 'Colour'; 
$sheet -> Range('E2') -> {Value} = 'Value of array index'; 

$jr = 120;
$jg = 140;
$jb = 55;
RGB($jr, $jg, $jb, \$patterncolour);

for $jq (sort {$a <=> $b} keys %cell_interior_pattern) {

    $jqa = $jq + 2;
    $rng = 'D' . $jqa;

    $sheet->Range($rng)->Interior       -> {PatternColor} = $patternco
+lour;
    $sheet->Range($rng)->Interior       -> {Pattern} = $cell_interior_
+pattern{$jq};

    $rng = 'E' . $jqa;
    $sheet -> Range($rng) -> {Value} = $cell_interior_pattern{$jq};
    $rng = 'c' . $jqa;
    $sheet -> Range($rng) -> {Value} = $jq;
}

[download]

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Problem filling Excel cells with Solid Colour: Arrays
by hippo (Archbishop) on Mar 03, 2021 at 10:50 UTC 
    $cell_interior_pattern{1} = xlPatternAutomatic;        
$cell_interior_pattern{2} = xlPatternChecker;        
$cell_interior_pattern{3} = xlPatternCrissCross;        
$cell_interior_pattern{4} = xlPatternDown;        
#...
for $jq (sort {$a <=> $b} keys %cell_interior_pattern) {

    [download]

    Did you know that Perl has arrays? You don't need to sort the index list for them and you can construct them with a list like:

    my @cell_interior_pattern = (xlPatternAutomatic, xlPatternChecker, xlP
+atternCrissCross, xlPatternDown);

    [download]

    Just remember that the index starts from 0 and you'll be fine. Less verbose code and lower memory requirements and the right tool for the job. HTH.

    🦛

[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
      Thanks I did. I just did it this way to change from a hash with keys which were names to simple numbers.
[reply]

        Without any further context that sounds like a really bad idea. Names convey meaning and help reduce errors.

        Optimising for fewest key strokes only makes sense transmitting to Pluto or beyond
[reply]
        Update - I found the solution - it is in the line below where Interior can have simply Color 
        $sheet->Range($rng)->Interior      ->{Color} = $patterncolour;

        [download]
        to fill the cell.
        However it would be good to know why the solid colour definition does not work
[reply]
[d/l]

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