Using Win32::OLE

vishnu.h has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Dear Monks,

I have used Perl to develop a parser which parses test cases that are specified in an Excel sheet. Now i have used Win32::OLE module for parsing the excel sheet and i have learned using the module the hard way. I couldn't find much detailed documentation for the OLE(module). Recently one of my colleagues wanted to develop a tool that involves parsing of excel sheets i suggested Perl to him. But within 2 days he came back to me saying that he decided to stick to python as the language of primary choice and he quoted lack of documentation as the reason for the same. He even referred a site http://www.python-excel.org/ to me saying that it had everything that a beginner needed to get started with excel manipulation. Now this left me in awe and a little sadness considering the learning curve i had to go through to develop the tool that i did. Really is there any similar site for Perl where excel manipulations are documented as in depth as compared to python community's??

regards, A Sad seeker of wisdom

Comment on Using Win32::OLE

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Re: Using Win32::OLE by Corion (Patriarch) on Apr 03, 2011 at 14:59 UTC
You mean, besides the very good documentation that Microsoft offers? Have you seen Using Win32::OLE and Excel - Tips and Tricks?	[reply]
Re^2: Using Win32::OLE by vishnu.h (Novice) on Apr 03, 2011 at 15:11 UTC
Yeah, I have gone through that article when i started learning. But did you see the link that i have given for python?? You really think that is comparable with the tips and tricks mentioned in that site?? Atleast a beginner would not think so. And regarding the microsoft documentation, a beginner might find it difficult to "Perlify" methods that microsoft provides in their sites. Once you get used to the syntax and get used to the module it would prove itself to be easy, (which is the case with me now) but when i started out i couldn't get much help from that documentation regards,	[reply]
Re^3: Using Win32::OLE by Corion (Patriarch) on Apr 03, 2011 at 15:18 UTC
The tools you linked to are not really comparable to the Microsoft Excel API (as exposed through Win32::OLE). They are more similar to Spreadsheet::WriteExcel and Spreadsheet::ParseExcel, which also come with examples.	[reply]
Re: Using Win32::OLE by davies (Monsignor) on Apr 03, 2011 at 22:22 UTC
When I decided to use Perl, I was looking for a language that had several characteristics. It had to be free as in beer, usable on Losedows and Linux and had to talk to Excel. I tried Perl, Python and Java. The only one I with which I could make any progress was Perl. Now, that's not saying much. Have a look at some of the nodes where I have asked for help some six years after starting and you will see just how poor my Perl still is. But I have found the Perl interface to Excel easier to learn than the Excel interface to Excel. However, I didn't touch Perl until I considered myself an Excel pro. I'm a lot better at Excel now. So I started learning how to control Excel from $language from a position of knowing Excel. This, I think, is the difference between me on the one hand and you and your friend on the other. Excel is NOT easy. It's buggy. The macro recorder has a huge number of faults. It's almost the antithesis of Perl's DWIM. You seem to be approaching $language/Excel as though knowing $language will be enough. Maybe it will, but I seriously doubt it. Even for VBA, I found Lomax's "VB & VBA in a nutshell" frankly confusing until I had mastered the differences between Excel and the other spreadsheets I knew well (now I find it indispensible). I can only do very basic things in Word, even from VBA, and haven't even tried automating Outleak or PawPrint, but then I've never needed or wanted to. If Python works for you, that's wonderful. I am always pleased to hear of successful computer projects. But if what other posters have said is anything like true, you won't go very far before you need to learn Excel properly. And once you have, I suggest you revisit Perl. Regards, John Davies	[reply]