How to use MFC to automate Excel and create and format a new workbook

This article shows how to automate Microsoft Excel using the Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) library, version 4.2 (installed with Microsoft Visual C++ versions 5.0 and 6.0).

The article describes a technique for using OLE automation to create/format a Microsoft Excel workbook; it introduces several methods/properties (from the Microsoft Excel type library) for adding data to the worksheet and formatting the worksheet.

Notes for Automating Microsoft Excel 2000 and 2002

The sample code in this article uses class wrappers generated from the Excel 97 object library (Excel 8.olb). With slight modification, this code can be applied to an Automation client that uses class wrappers for Excel 2000 (Excel9.olb) or Excel 2002 (Excel.olb). For additional information about using the sample code described in this article with the Microsoft Excel 2000 or 2002 type library, please click the article number below to view it in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

You can copy the code in this article to the message handler function of an event defined in an MFC .cpp file. However, the purpose of the code is to illustrate the process of using the IDispatch interfaces and member functions defined in the Excel8.olb type library. The primary benefit of this article, however, comes from reading and understanding the code in the example so that you can modify the example or write your own code to automate Microsoft Excel 97 using MFC.

Steps to Create the Project

1. Follow steps 1 through 12 in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to create a sample project that uses the IDispatch interfaces and member functions defined in the Excel8.olb type library:
   178749  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/178749/EN-US/ ) How To Create Automation Project Using MFC and a Type Library
2. At the top of the AutoProjectDlg.cpp file, add the following line:

         #include "excel8.h"
   					

3. Add the following code to CAutoProjectDlg::OnRun() in the AutoProjectDLG.cpp file:
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   Sample Code

         // Commonly used OLE variants.
         COleVariant
                    covTrue((short)TRUE),
                    covFalse((short)FALSE),
                    covOptional((long)DISP_E_PARAMNOTFOUND, VT_ERROR);
   
   
         _Application app;
         Workbooks books;
         _Workbook book;
   
         Worksheets sheets;
         _Worksheet sheet;
         Range range;
         Font font;
         Range cols;
   
         // Start Excel and get Application object.
   
         if(!app.CreateDispatch("Excel.Application"))
         {
          AfxMessageBox("Couldn't start Excel and get Application object.");
          return;
         }
   
   
         //Get a new workbook.
         books = app.GetWorkbooks();
         book = books.Add (covOptional);
   
         //Get the first sheet.
         sheets =book.GetSheets();
         sheet = sheets.GetItem(COleVariant((short)1));
   
         //Fill cells A1, B1, C1, and D1 one cell at a time with "headers".
         range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("A1"),COleVariant("A1"));
         range.SetValue(COleVariant("First Name"));
         range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("B1"),COleVariant("B1"));
         range.SetValue(COleVariant("Last Name"));
         range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("C1"),COleVariant("C1"));
         range.SetValue(COleVariant("Full Name"));
         range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("D1"),COleVariant("D1"));
         range.SetValue(COleVariant("Salary"));
   
   
         //Format A1:D1 as bold, vertical alignment = center.
         range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("A1"), COleVariant("D1"));
         font = range.GetFont();
         font.SetBold(covTrue);
         range.SetVerticalAlignment(
                  COleVariant((short)-4108));   //xlVAlignCenter = -4108
   
         //Fill A2:B6 with an array of values (First & Last Names).
         {
            COleSafeArray saRet;
            DWORD numElements[]={5,2};   //5x2 element array
            saRet.Create(VT_BSTR, 2, numElements);
   
   
            //Fill the 5x2 SafeArray with the following data:
            //   John      Smith
            //   Tom       Brown
            //   Sue       Thomas
            //   Jane      Jones
            //   Adam      Johnson
   
            FillSafeArray(L"John", 0, 0, &saRet);
            FillSafeArray(L"Smith", 0, 1, &saRet);
            FillSafeArray(L"Tom", 1, 0, &saRet);
            FillSafeArray(L"Brown", 1, 1, &saRet);
            FillSafeArray(L"Sue", 2, 0, &saRet);
            FillSafeArray(L"Thomas", 2, 1, &saRet);
   
            FillSafeArray(L"Jane", 3, 0, &saRet);
            FillSafeArray(L"Jones", 3, 1, &saRet);
            FillSafeArray(L"Adam", 4, 0, &saRet);
            FillSafeArray(L"Johnson", 4, 1, &saRet);
   
            range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("A2"), COleVariant("B6"));
            range.SetValue(COleVariant(saRet));
   
            saRet.Detach();
         }
   
         //Fill C2:C6 with a relative formula (=A2 & " " & B2).
         range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("C2"), COleVariant("C6"));
         range.SetFormula(COleVariant("=A2 & \" \" & B2"));
   
         //Fill D2:D6 with a formula(=RAND()*100000) and apply a number
         //format.
         range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("D2"), COleVariant("D6"));
         range.SetFormula(COleVariant("=RAND()*100000"));
         range.SetNumberFormat(COleVariant("$0.00"));
   
         //AutoFit columns A:D.
         range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("A1"), COleVariant("D1"));
         cols = range.GetEntireColumn();
         cols.AutoFit();
   
         //Manipulate a variable number of columns for Quarterly Sales Data.
         {
            short NumQtrs;
            CString msg;
            Range resizedrange;
            Interior interior;
            Borders borders;
   
            //Determine how many quarters to display data for.
            for(NumQtrs=1;NumQtrs<=3;NumQtrs++)
            {
               msg.Format("Enter sales data for %d quarter(s)?", NumQtrs);
               if(AfxMessageBox(msg,MB_YESNO)==IDYES)
               {
                  break;
               }
            }
            msg.Format("Displaying data for %d quarters.", NumQtrs);
            AfxMessageBox(msg);
   
            //Starting at E1, fill headers for the number of columns selected.
            range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("E1"), COleVariant("E1"));
            resizedrange = range.GetResize(covOptional, COleVariant(NumQtrs));
            resizedrange.SetFormula(
                   COleVariant("=\"Q\" & COLUMN()-4 & CHAR(10) & \"Sales\""));
            //Change the Orientation and WrapText properties for the headers.
            resizedrange.SetOrientation(COleVariant((short)38));
            resizedrange.SetWrapText(covTrue);
            //Fill the interior color of the headers.
            interior = resizedrange.GetInterior();
            interior.SetColorIndex(COleVariant((short)36));
   
            //Fill the columns with a formula and apply a number format.
            range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("E2"), COleVariant("E6"));
            resizedrange = range.GetResize(covOptional, COleVariant(NumQtrs));
            resizedrange.SetFormula(COleVariant("=RAND()*100"));
            resizedrange.SetNumberFormat(COleVariant("$0.00"));
   
            //Apply borders to the Sales data and headers.
            range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("E1"), COleVariant("E6"));
            resizedrange= range.GetResize(covOptional, COleVariant(NumQtrs));
            borders = resizedrange.GetBorders();
            borders.SetWeight(COleVariant((short)2));   //xlThin = 2
   
            //Add a Totals formula for the Quarterly sales data and apply a
            //border.
            range = sheet.GetRange(COleVariant("E8"), COleVariant("E8"));
            resizedrange = range.GetResize(covOptional, COleVariant(NumQtrs));
            resizedrange.SetFormula(COleVariant("=SUM(E2:E6)"));
            borders = resizedrange.GetBorders();
            {
               Border bottomborder;
               bottomborder = borders.GetItem((long)9);
               bottomborder.SetLineStyle(
                              COleVariant((short)-4119));   //xlDouble = -4119
               bottomborder.SetWeight(
                              COleVariant((short)4));       //xlThick = 4
   
            }
         }
   
         //Make the application visible and give the user control of
         //Microsoft Excel.
         app.SetVisible(TRUE);
         app.SetUserControl(TRUE);
   					

4. Add the following function to AutoProjectDLG.cpp, locating it somewhere before CAutoProjectDlg::OnRun():
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   Sample Code

         void FillSafeArray(OLECHAR FAR* sz, int iRow, int iCol,
                            COleSafeArray* sa)
         {
   
            VARIANT v;
            long index[2];
   
            index[0] = iRow;
            index[1] = iCol;
   
            VariantInit(&v);
            v.vt = VT_BSTR;
            v.bstrVal = SysAllocString(sz);
            sa->PutElement(index, v.bstrVal);
            SysFreeString(v.bstrVal);
            VariantClear(&v);
   
         }
   					

5. In Developer Studio, run the application. When the dialog box appears (the example creates a dialog-based application), click the Run button.