open excel file while it is being used.

[Devraj]

Hi Barry,

Obviously what you are trying to do is detect file locks. I am not
exactly sure how to do this in Python but from previous system
administration jobs here are some scenarios that you might want to
watch out for.

- I know for one that if you are accessing the file on a Samba share,
file locking with OpenOffice or Excel have strange things happen to
them

- I am also aware that the same thing works different if the files are
shared from a Windows server and accessed on a Linux machine, and
depends on the version of Samba/Linux kernel you are running


On Jan 11, 7:38 am, barry.z... at gmail.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a python program that constantly updates an excel spreadsheet.
> I would like to be able to view its updates while using excel to edit
> other excel files. Below are the test codes I have:
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> from time import sleep
> import win32com.client as w32c
>
> def test():
>     w32c.pythoncom.CoInitialize()
>     print w32c.pythoncom._GetInterfaceCount()
>     app1 = w32c.Dispatch("Excel.Application")
>     #app1.Visible=False
>     #app1.Interactive = False
>     wb=app1.Workbooks.Open("c:\\temp\\Book1.xls")
>
>     sleep(3)
>     sh=wb.Sheets("Sheet1")
>     sh.Cells(2,1).Value = "Hello, world!"
>     sh = None
>
>     wb.Save()
>     wb = None
>     app1 = None
>     w32c.pythoncom.CoUninitialize()
>     print w32c.pythoncom._GetInterfaceCount()
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> If the user just looks at the file then it's fine, but if the user
> double clicks one cell, which will have a cursor flashing in the cell,
> then it will lead to a crash of the program with error: "Call was
> rejected by callee."  I can make the program keep trying to access the
> file, but if the user doesn't make the flashing cursor disappear, the
> program will wait forever!
>
> I know excel has the fuction such that when a user is accessing a file
> and other users open that file, it will prompt for options of opening
> it as read-only or sending notification. I have been trying to
> implement that in the program, but don't know how.
>
> So, any suggestion will be greatly appreciated!
>
> - Barry