[Rd] xlsReadWrite Pro and embedding objects and files in Excel worksheets

Armstrong, Whit whit.armstrong at hcmny.com
Thu Feb 8 15:05:25 CET 2007


you can also use my package which uses Jakarta POI to write the excel
files.

It can be used on any platform that supports java.

The Perl solution may be better if you want to do anything complicated,
but this package supports writing all basic R objects.

http://code.google.com/p/rexcelpoi/




> -----Original Message-----
> From: r-devel-bounces at r-project.org 
> [mailto:r-devel-bounces at r-project.org] On Behalf Of Hin-Tak Leung
> Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 8:50 AM
> To: James W. MacDonald
> Cc: mwkimpel at gmail.com; Mark W. Kimpel MD 
> (mkimpel at iupui.edu); r-devel at r-project.org
> Subject: Re: [Rd] xlsReadWrite Pro and embedding objects and 
> files in Excel worksheets
> 
> James W. MacDonald wrote:
> > Have you looked at RDCOMClient? I would imagine you could 
> do what you 
> > want with this package.
> > 
> > http://www.omegahat.org/RDCOMClient/
> 
> Interesting point. But the dcom client would be windows-specific?
> (those I mentioned - the perl mondules, openoffice, run on 
> windows, as well as unix boxes - not sure about gnumeric :-).
> 
> In fact there is a very perverse way of doing it - 
> ActiveState provides a PerlCom product for hooking up dcom 
> with activestate perl. i.e. you can go via R -> RDComClient 
> -> PerlCom -> ActiveState Perl ->
> SpreadSheet::* . Just so that it does not require Excel 
> installed or an MS Office license...
> 
> In that sense, probably technology based on bridging over 
> odbc is also acceptable?
> 
> HTL
> 
> > Hin-Tak Leung wrote:
> >> I don't know of any native xls read/write facility in R, either in 
> >> core or as add-ons (I could be wrong), but if you want some source 
> >> code to scavenge on to build some R package out of it, 
> there are two 
> >> perl modules, Spreadsheet::ParseExcel and Spreadsheet::WriteExcel 
> >> which are small enough to "read from front cover to back 
> cover", so 
> >> to speak, might be useful for reference and steal code from.
> >>
> >> The other open-source packages which can read/write excel 
> files are 
> >> gnumeric and openoffice and probably too big to find one's 
> way around 
> >> the source code to steal there :-).
> >>
> >> Good luck.
> >>
> >> HTL
> >>
> >> Mark W Kimpel wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hans-Peter and other R developers,
> >>>
> >>> How are you? Have you made any progess with embedding 
> Url's in Excel?
> >>>
> >>> Well, I have been busy thinking of more things for you to do;)
> >>>
> >>> My colleagues in the lab are not R literate, and some are barely 
> >>> computer literate, so I give them everything in Excel 
> workbooks. I 
> >>> have gradually evolved a system such that these workbooks have 
> >>> become compendia of my data, output, and methods. That, 
> in fact, is 
> >>> why I bought the Pro version of xlsReadWritePro. I have 
> been saving 
> >>> graphics as PDF files, then inserting them as object in 
> Excel sheets.
> >>>
> >>> What I would like to be able to do is to embed objects (files) in 
> >>> sheets of a workbook directly from within R. I would also 
> like to be 
> >>> able to save my current R workspace as an object embedded 
> in a sheet 
> >>> so that in the future, if packages change, I could go back and 
> >>> recreate the analysis. I do not need to be able to 
> manuipulate files 
> >>> that R has not created, like a PDF file from another 
> user. I would, 
> >>> however, like to be able to save my graphics as PDF files 
> inside a 
> >>> worksheet, even if it meant creating a  temp file or something.
> >>>
> >>> Before people begin talking about how MySQL or some other 
> database 
> >>> could handle all that archiving, let me say that that is 
> not what my 
> >>> colleagues want. They want a nice Excel file that they 
> can take home 
> >>> on there laptops. One thing I like about worksheets is that they 
> >>> themselves can contain many embedded files, so it keeps 
> our virtual 
> >>> desks neater and less confusing.
> >>>
> >>> Hans, if you could do this, it would be of tremendous 
> benefit to me 
> >>> and hopefully a lot of people. R developers tend to think 
> that all 
> >>> scientists are running Linux on 64-bit computers, but most 
> >>> biomedical researches still store date in Excel files. This won't 
> >>> solve everybody's needs, but it could be a start.
> >>>
> >>> Well, let me know what you think. I am cc'ing R-devel to 
> see if any 
> >>> of those guys have ideas as well.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Mark
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> ______________________________________________
> >> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
> > 
> >
> 
> ______________________________________________
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> 




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