Can Labview 5.1 access Excel files

[gemmell]

I have been using for Labview for years but most of my work was in instrumentation. Now I am starting with a new company where data isn't stored in data files, but we generate reports. Now I trying to convince them to use Labview but I need to know if it is possible to merge text and excel graphs into a clean looking report (preferably MS Word based). Is it even possible to access Excel graphs and port them anywhere. I don't believe Labview lets you grpah easily from what I remember. Any help would be appreciated.

[Alberto]

Hi,
with LV 5.1 you can use the activeX library of Excel and Word to create reports.What you need is to know the related methods and properties. As an example take a look at Write Table to Excel.vi in the ActiveX examples.
Anyway I would suggest you the LV Report Generation Toolkit for Office, see here: http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?cid=5769〈=US.
Unfortunately ,as far as I know, it is only available for LV6 and LV6.1, then an update is necessary.
But believe me, I've been using this toolkit since its release and I can say it's definitely worth the price!
Good luck,
Alberto