How to write data to an excel file?

Question

I have some data that I\'d like to save in an excel file. How does one do this in python?

Answer 1

if it's running on windows, try creating an instance of EXCEL.APPLICATION via COM

Use Excel Help for the object reference.

This way you can even format the data, write formulas, etc.

Answer 2

There's a great python module called XLWT. I'd recommend using that... it writes native Excel files instead of CSVs. Supports formulas, etc too.

Documentation (borrowed from Mark)

Answer 3

If you want a BIFF8 XLS file, I would use the excellent xlwt.

Answer 4

I'll answer a slightly different question: "How can I write data so that Excel can read it?"

Use the csv module to write your data as a .csv file, and then open it in Excel.

import csv
csvout = csv.writer(open("mydata.csv", "wb"))
csvout.writerow(("Country", "Year"))
for coutry, year in my_data_iterable():
    csvout.writerow((country, year))