02-11-2009 08:13 AM
We've got some LabVIEW code that reads from spreadsheet files using the Excel API (via ActiveX) and need to install it on machines that don't have MS Office. Does anyone know a way to do this? Is there another interface available? Maybe via ADO? These machines do have Open Source Office (3.0.1) on them, but I'm not aware of a compatible API or interface.
Any information would be appreciated,
John Morrissey
02-11-2009 09:10 AM
02-11-2009 09:13 AM
02-11-2009 09:25 AM
Thanks for the responses Wiebe.
I've seen the Open Office API, but it didn't seem to be complete or to the point where it was usable. I might look into it further though.
02-11-2009 09:26 AM
We've developed ADO VIs to talk to databases (Access and SQL Server) but haven't tried using them with Excel yet and this might be the best solution. After posting the question I found a few of the links you mentioned. Thanks!
02-11-2009 10:40 AM
02-11-2009 10:40 AM
02-11-2009 10:51 AM
Wiebe@CARYA wrote:
For both ADO and DDE, you'd probably still need Access to be installed (for DDE it needs to be running)!
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe there's a runtime engine for Access. Don't know if it will be sufficient for ADO and/or DDE, though.
02-11-2009 12:18 PM - edited 02-11-2009 12:22 PM
Well first of all how are you writing the excel files on the computers that do not have excel on them, are they already written. if they are already written why not save yourself some trouble and just saving them in a tab delimited file and read that file with LV.
If the files are being written in the machines that do not have Excel on them then how are they being written to. Seems as if you could save yourself a lot of grief by not using Excel at all and just saving the files in a tab delimited txt file.
Again are you sure that the files that you are reading are really "Excel" files and not just a tab delimited txt file.
02-11-2009 12:27 PM
We have applications and VIs that are reading from Excel spreadsheets using the Excel API. This code is currently installed on PCs that have MS Office, but we want to move it to new machines that don't have Office (or Excel). Since Excel costs about $150-$200/seat and that's the only thing we use it for, it seemed like a waste.
We will have Open Source Office for users to view and update files.