gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) writes:
>In article <VMw2M.2399981$iS99.1074913@fx16.iad>,
>Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>...
>>>(*) Write C# programs to invoke MS Excel from command line on a linux system.
>>>
>>>(**) Or want to.
>>>
>>
>>It is actually _very_ likely that someone would wish to process
>>excel files (xls, xlsx) from linux. It's rather common, which is
>>why openoffice (et alia) have a mechanism from the command line
>>to convert xls/xlsx to csv.
>
>No disagreement there. I do it all the time (with libreoffice).
>
>But aren't you the one who wrote:
>
> Not worth doing on linux systems.
>
>upthread?

Which was obviously referring to the idea of using C#.

In article <Ejx2M.2$i7t3.0@fx08.iad>, Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) writes:
>>In article <VMw2M.2399981$iS99.1074913@fx16.iad>,
>>Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>...
>>>>(*) Write C# programs to invoke MS Excel from command line on a linux system.
>>>>
>>>>(**) Or want to.
>>>>
>>>
>>>It is actually _very_ likely that someone would wish to process
>>>excel files (xls, xlsx) from linux. It's rather common, which is
>>>why openoffice (et alia) have a mechanism from the command line
>>>to convert xls/xlsx to csv.
>>
>>No disagreement there. I do it all the time (with libreoffice).
>>
>>But aren't you the one who wrote:
>>
>> Not worth doing on linux systems.
>>
>>upthread?
>
>Which was obviously referring to the idea of using C#.

OK. So despite all the kerfluffle, we are in agreement that while it is
useful to be able to process Excel files under Linux, you wouldn't want to
use C# to do it.

(Unles, of course, you really like C#...)

--
The randomly chosen signature file that would have appeared here is more than 4
lines long. As such, it violates one or more Usenet RFCs. In order to remain
in compliance with said RFCs, the actual sig can be found at the following URL:
http://user.xmission.com/~gazelle/Sigs/Security

On 4/27/2023 5:50 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> Jack <invalid@invalid.net> writes:
>> On 26/04/2023 21:34, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>>> Jack <invalid@invalid.net> writes:
>>>> On 24/04/2023 10:51, AdaMagica wrote:
>>>>> Is there a C interface to export the csv format from Excel files xlsx?
>
>>>> In excel, you simply go to:
>>>>
>>>> File >> Save As
>>> How do you do that from the command line or programmatically?
>>>
>> I would use C# if I'm really desperate. See this link:
>
> Not worth doing on linux systems.

Fwiw, I think Mono might be a decent start wrt C# on Linux?

https://www.mono-project.com/docs/about-mono/languages/csharp

On 4/27/2023 12:53 AM, David Brown wrote:
> On 27/04/2023 02:59, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> On 2023-04-27, Kenny McCormack <gazelle@shell.xmission.com> wrote:
>>> In article <YUf2M.1521896$t5W7.952325@fx13.iad>,
>>> Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>> ...
>>>>> In excel, you simply go to:
>>>>>
>>>>> File >> Save As
>>>>
>>>> How do you do that from the command line or programmatically?
[...]
> So if this software is to be run on a system where there is no
> particular impediment to installing Libreoffice, then that would be a
> quick and simple way to handle the OP's task.  It is overkill,
> obviously, and Libreoffice is a huge package when you only want to use
> one part of it, but it can save a lot of time and effort.
>

should work. I do remember OpenOffice failing to properly format an old
Word 6 file...

In article <u2emai$22mkk$2@dont-email.me>,
Chris M. Thomasson <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> wrote:
....
>> Not worth doing on linux systems.
>
>Fwiw, I think Mono might be a decent start wrt C# on Linux?

Yes, everybody knows about Mono (*) and that you *could* do .NET stuff on
Linux (if you really were so bent). We're just arguing that it is not
worth it. In fact, it falls into the general category of "Things that are
not worth it".

(*) Though, why they named the package after a commonly known disease, I'm
not sure...

--
The difference between communism and capitalism?
In capitalism, man exploits man. In communism, it's the other way around.

- Daniel Bell, The End of Ideology (1960) -

On 27/04/2023 22:39, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:
> On 4/27/2023 12:53 AM, David Brown wrote:
>> On 27/04/2023 02:59, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>>> On 2023-04-27, Kenny McCormack <gazelle@shell.xmission.com> wrote:
>>>> In article <YUf2M.1521896$t5W7.952325@fx13.iad>,
>>>> Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>>> ...
>>>>>> In excel, you simply go to:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> File >> Save As
>>>>>
>>>>> How do you do that from the command line or programmatically?
> [...]
>> So if this software is to be run on a system where there is no
>> particular impediment to installing Libreoffice, then that would be a
>> quick and simple way to handle the OP's task.  It is overkill,
>> obviously, and Libreoffice is a huge package when you only want to use
>> one part of it, but it can save a lot of time and effort.
>>
>
> should work. I do remember OpenOffice failing to properly format an old
> Word 6 file...

This is getting really off topic, but "genuine" OpenOffice has never
been anywhere near as good at handling MS Office files as LibreOffice
(and its predecessor forks of OpenOffice). I've used LibreOffice to
handle xlsx files made by old Excel versions that new Excel versions
failed to open - simply opening the file in LibreOffice then saving it
again as xlsx made a file newer Excel could handle.

On Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 7:51:58 PM UTC-4, Kenny McCormack wrote:
> In article <u2emai$22mkk$2...@dont-email.me>,
> Chris M. Thomasson <chris.m.t...@gmail.com> wrote:
> ...
> >> Not worth doing on linux systems.
> >
> >Fwiw, I think Mono might be a decent start wrt C# on Linux?
> Yes, everybody knows about Mono (*) and that you *could* do .NET stuff on
> Linux (if you really were so bent). We're just arguing that it is not
> worth it. In fact, it falls into the general category of "Things that are
> not worth it".

It is worth it if you are not programming for a GUI desktop environment.
It provides nice options in an embedded systems platform.
>
> (*) Though, why they named the package after a commonly known disease, I'm
> not sure...
>
> --
> The difference between communism and capitalism?
> In capitalism, man exploits man. In communism, it's the other way around.
>
> - Daniel Bell, The End of Ideology (1960) -

Nice sig BTW!

Enjoy,
Ed

David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> writes:
> On 27/04/2023 02:59, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> On 2023-04-27, Kenny McCormack <gazelle@shell.xmission.com> wrote:
>>> In article <YUf2M.1521896$t5W7.952325@fx13.iad>,
>>> Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>> ...
>>>>> In excel, you simply go to:
>>>>>
>>>>> File >> Save As
>>>>
>>>> How do you do that from the command line or programmatically?
>>>>
>>>
>>> With COM (or whatever COM has evolved into/been renamed to lately).
>>> (I used to do this all the time using COM)
>>>
>>> Or with a macro.
>>>
>>> (All of this off-topic in CLC, of course)
>>
>> It's not as simple as starting Excel with some command line aguments
>> which make it do the job, such that it then quits when it's done the
>> job.
>
> I don't imagine Excel can do this sort of thing by command line - it's
> just not the kind of thing their target users would need. And
> automation via COM (or its descendants) has its complications too,
> such as permissions. (That's a good thing - MS Office programs used
> to be happy to let any old piece of malware abuse them into sending
> out spam or doing other nasty stuff.)
>
> Libreoffice, on the other hand, /is/ designed to be useable headless
> from the command line, amongst other things for conveniently
> converting formats.

I need this kind of thing often enough I've even made it an alias in my shell:

alias d2p='soffice --headless --convert-to pdf'

"""
--headless Starts in "headless mode" which allows using the
application without GUI. This special mode can
be used when the application is controlled by
external clients via the API.
"""

I presume xls to csv is equally simple.

Phil
--
We are no longer hunters and nomads. No longer awed and frightened, as we have
gained some understanding of the world in which we live. As such, we can cast
aside childish remnants from the dawn of our civilization.
-- NotSanguine on SoylentNews, after Eugen Weber in /The Western Tradition/

On Wed, 2023-04-26, Jack wrote:
> On 24/04/2023 10:51, AdaMagica wrote:
>> Is there a C interface to export the csv format from Excel files xlsx?
>>
>>
>
> Just out of interest why do you need to do this when excel can do it for
> you automatically.
>
> I am assuming the users have access to Excel on their machine otherwise
> they won't be talking about .csv and .xlsx file system. Even if they
> don't have excel, they must be using some other free products such as
> LibreOffice or OpenOffice. These too can create .csv files.

This is an incorrect assumption. For example, I've had to massage
data from an online database (artportalen.se). Its export is an xlsx
file. This doesn't mean I have, or desire to have, any of that
software anywhere near my machines.

/Jorgen

--
// Jorgen Grahn <grahn@ Oo o. . .
\X/ snipabacken.se> O o .

On Mon, 2023-04-24, AdaMagica wrote:
> Is there a C interface to export the csv format from Excel files xlsx?
>
> Background: I have a code generator that produces code from a csv
> file. The instructions in fact are coded in xlsx format, and I have
> to manually export this to csv before running the code generator. I
> want to automate this manual step by including it in the code
> generator.

I have had success with the strategy I used for this:

https://github.com/kjgrahn/etiketter

It worked well only because the Excel files I'm concerned with are
stable, both wrt version (Excel 2007+) and data content. And it let
me skip the CSV intermediate step (CSV is fine for pure numerical
data, but sucks when you have to figure out quoting, detect separator
characters and so on).

etiketter uses libarchive (an excellent library!) and libxml2 (an
unavoidable library) for the parsing, but it's otherwise written in
C++ rather than C. I think it illustrates the ideas anyway.

/Jorgen

--
// Jorgen Grahn <grahn@ Oo o. . .
\X/ snipabacken.se> O o .

On 01/05/2023 22:07, Jorgen Grahn wrote:
> This is an incorrect assumption. For example, I've had to massage
> data from an online database (artportalen.se). Its export is an xlsx
> file. This doesn't mean I have, or desire to have, any of that
> software anywhere near my machines.
>
>
>

Databases are normally exported as sql files, or in rare instances .csv
format files (but this requires some work from the user to happen e.g
writing a program to retrieve the data using sql). Please give us the
name of which online database is exporting as xlsx file and no other
formats. The DB must be something people have not heard of.

To retrieve data from the database requires the use of sql statements
and the user can decide the format of the data - usually sql files
or csv files.

On 2023-05-01, Jack <invalid@invalid.net> wrote:
> On 01/05/2023 22:07, Jorgen Grahn wrote:
>> This is an incorrect assumption. For example, I've had to massage
>> data from an online database (artportalen.se). Its export is an xlsx
>> file. This doesn't mean I have, or desire to have, any of that
>> software anywhere near my machines.
>
> Databases are normally exported as sql files, or in rare instances .csv
> format files (but this requires some work from the user to happen e.g
> writing a program to retrieve the data using sql). Please give us the

What you can download from an online database is basically what
its web front-end provides/allows. You don't get to run SQL queries
against the underlying server.

> name of which online database is exporting as xlsx file and no other
> formats. The DB must be something people have not heard of.

It's right there: artportalen.se. Can you figure out how to run
a SQL query against that.?

--
TXR Programming Language: http://nongnu.org/txr
Cygnal: Cygwin Native Application Library: http://kylheku.com/cygnal
Mastodon: @Kazinator@mstdn.ca

On 02/05/2023 01:33, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
> What you can download from an online database is basically what
> its web front-end provides/allows. You don't get to run SQL queries
> against the underlying server.

That's correct but we are talking about programmers who have access to
the back-end with full privileges. These guys can do anything on the
databases. You need the username and password. A secured server is
likely to have disabled the root user.

>
>
> It's right there: artportalen.se. Can you figure out how to run
> a SQL query against that.?
>
No the above link is a website that uses a database. I bet it is using
either MySQL or MS-SQL. I looked at the source code and they are using
Telerik framework and so most likely than not they are using dot net
framework and the back-end is likely to be MySQL or MS-SQL.

The website must have been created using PHP scripts (or even modern
Blazor framework created by Microsoft). Blazor is very popular with C#
programmers. But php is most likely because blazor needs to download run
time libraries for web site to function properly and this did not happen
on my machine.

Also when using data from the database, the programmer needs to know
which particular table he wants data from. A database has many tables
and all tables are not useful for certain users. Accounts might be
interested in sales table from which to get the total amounts. Or they
might be interested in Orders table or customer table. Hackers might be
interested in usernames and password tables etc etc.

Now the question is are there tools that can allow you to access these
tables. The answer is yes. For example these are the tools I use often:

phpMyAdmin - Free
MySQL Workbench - Free by Oracle
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio - Free by Microsoft
And others created by third parties but they are not free and so I don't
use them.

On 02/05/2023 05:15, Jack wrote:
> On 02/05/2023 01:33, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> What you can download from an online database is basically what
>> its web front-end provides/allows. You don't get to run SQL queries
>> against the underlying server.
>
> That's correct but we are talking about programmers who have access to
> the back-end with full privileges. These guys can do anything on the
> databases. You need the username and password. A secured server is
> likely to have disabled the root user.
>

We had been talking about someone who had xlsx files and needed to
handle them. The source could have been the export from a database
frontend (whether it be a website, or another tool). Most likely, I
think, is that there are users with Excel who make xlsx files and send
them on to someone else who has to turn this into a program or data for
a program, on a system that does not necessarily have Excel.

I've seen that happen often. For example, you have local distributors
in different countries making translation tables for your program.
These are not developers - you don't make them use advanced
internationalisation software. You just give them a table of words and
phrases in a spreadsheet and ask them to fill in a local equivalent.
(Another case I have seen is for configuration parameters.) It doesn't
matter how often you say "use whatever software you like, but send back
a csv file", 90% of them will send you in xlsx format.

>>
>>
>> It's right there: artportalen.se. Can you figure out how to run
>> a SQL query against that.?
>>
> No the above link is a website that uses a database. I bet it is using
> either MySQL or MS-SQL. I looked at the source code and they are using
> Telerik framework and so most likely than not they are using dot net
> framework and the back-end is likely to be MySQL or MS-SQL.
>

Given that Telerik /is/ a dot-net framework, and how off-topic this is
(even in this off-topic thread), I'm skipping the rest of your post.

In article <u2pvbv$3er4h$1@paganini.bofh.team>,
Jack <invalid@invalid.net> wrote:
>On 02/05/2023 01:33, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> What you can download from an online database is basically what
>> its web front-end provides/allows. You don't get to run SQL queries
>> against the underlying server.
>
>That's correct but we are talking about programmers who have access to
>the back-end with full privileges. These guys can do anything on the
>databases. You need the username and password. A secured server is
>likely to have disabled the root user.

Maybe you should start talking about and sharing your vast experience on
the price of tea in Outer Mongolia. Just as relevant to this thread as
anything else you've posted.

--
[Donald] Trump didn't have it all handed to him by his parents,
like Hillary Clinton did.

- Some dumb cluck in Ohio; featured in Michael Moore's "Trumpland" -

Jack <invalid@invalid.net> writes:
> On 02/05/2023 01:33, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> What you can download from an online database is basically what
>> its web front-end provides/allows. You don't get to run SQL queries
>> against the underlying server.
>
> That's correct but we are talking about programmers who have access to
> the back-end with full privileges.

No we aren't. The source format of the data to the person asking how to
handle xlsx files has always been xlsx files. That someone else has data
in another format it entirely irrelevant.

Phil
--
We are no longer hunters and nomads. No longer awed and frightened, as we have
gained some understanding of the world in which we live. As such, we can cast
aside childish remnants from the dawn of our civilization.
-- NotSanguine on SoylentNews, after Eugen Weber in /The Western Tradition/

On 5/1/23 23:15, Jack wrote:
> On 02/05/2023 01:33, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> What you can download from an online database is basically what
>> its web front-end provides/allows. You don't get to run SQL queries
>> against the underlying server.
>
> That's correct but we are talking about programmers who have access to
> the back-end with full privileges.

That's odd, when did the topic change in that fashion? The original
question was about a list of instructions obtained from an unspecified
source in .xlsx format, for input into a code generator. We were given
no indication how that list of instructions was created, but the fact
that the OP wanted to convert the list to .csv format implies that he
was not in a position to modify whatever created that list to create it
in .csv format directly.

Jorgen rebutted your claim that access to data in .xlsx format
necessarily implied the ability to get the data in other formats as
well, by identifying artportalen.se as a source of data in that format,
which he is in no position to modify. As a user, he only has access to
the output in the formats supported by their public interface. He has no
direct access to the database from which that output was extracted.

The programmers at artportalen.se do, presumably, have such access, but
he wasn't talking about them, he was talking about himself, and he has
no such access. So, at what point in the process did the discussion
change from what Jorgen had access to, to what the artportalen.se
programmers have access to? And why did it change? The fact that they
have such access is irrelevant to the point he was making. The fact that
he doesn't have such access is relevant.

On 02/05/2023 21:26, James Kuyper wrote:
> That's odd, when did the topic change in that fashion?
Ask the people who started asking questions about SQL. I was simply
replying to their questions. I did not change anything. My first
response was strictly to the point.

As to Jorgen rebutted my claim, I asked him to provide a name of the
database that ONLY gives data in excel file format. I have never heard of
such cobblers. Excel is a proprietary product and people can't
abuse it the way they would like to.

Jorgen posted a link o a website and there isn't anything on that for
users to download data in excel format. I didn't even see a link to
register as a new user to test his hypotheses. I can only surmise that
he was talking about downloading the entire website but I ignored it
because it was clearly OT and there are better ways to it. I only
covered his statement about CSV not always available. That's
unbelievable to put it mildly.

I've finished with this. The OP hasn't come back so he/she must have
found better suggestions elsewhere.

QED & EOD

On 2023-05-02, Jack <invalid@invalid.net> wrote:
> On 02/05/2023 01:33, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> What you can download from an online database is basically what
>> its web front-end provides/allows. You don't get to run SQL queries
>> against the underlying server.
>
> That's correct but we are talking about programmers who have access to
> the back-end with full privileges.

No such thing was mentioned.

>> It's right there: artportalen.se. Can you figure out how to run
>> a SQL query against that.?
>>
> No the above link is a website that uses a database.

Have your purveyor upgrade your bot API to GPT4; your support for
understanding synecdoche seems to be lagging.

--
TXR Programming Language: http://nongnu.org/txr
Cygnal: Cygwin Native Application Library: http://kylheku.com/cygnal
Mastodon: @Kazinator@mstdn.ca

On 5/2/23 17:00, Jack wrote:
> On 02/05/2023 21:26, James Kuyper wrote:
>> That's odd, when did the topic change in that fashion?
> Ask the people who started asking questions about SQL. I was simply
> replying to their questions. I did not change anything. My first
> response was strictly to the point.
>
> As to Jorgen rebutted my claim, I asked him to provide a name of the
> database that ONLY gives data in excel file format. I have never heard of
> such cobblers. Excel is a proprietary product and people can't abuse
> it the way they would like to.
>
> Jorgen posted a link o a website and there isn't anything on that for
> users to download data in excel format. I didn't even see a link to
> register as a new user to test his hypotheses.

It's not a hypothesis - it's an assertion based upon his own experience
with the website.

It's odd, but while I was able to find an English language explanation
of the project at <http://www.artpolen.se/en/>, I couldn't find any
direct way to access an English-language version of the web site.
However, translate.google.com indicates that the translation of the
button label that says "Slapa konto" is "Create account".

Selecting that button took me to the page
<https://ids.artdatabanken.se/account/create?returnUrl=https://artportalen.se&ui_locales=sv>

Changing to "ui_locales=en" brought me to an English language version of
the page. I successfully created an account using that page, after
overcoming two obstacles:
This is first time I've ever seen a country list that did not include
the US. I told it that my country was "Canada" and added "MD USA" to the
city name.
The registration process resulted in them sending me an e-mail to
confirm my address that instructed me to "click the link below", which
was followed by a URL that was not marked for display as a clickable
link. However, cutting and pasting that URL into my web browser worked.

Logging in, it was not obvious how to change the display language to
English, but selecting the tab labelled "Mina Sidora" (="My pages") and
"Redigera" (="Edit") showed me a page where I could change "Språk"
(="language") from "Swedish (Sweden)" to "English (United Kingdom)" and
"artnamnsspråk" (= "species language") from "Svenska" (="Swedish") to
"Engelska" (="English"). Hitting the button labelled "Spara" (="save")
resulted in submitting my changes, and from that point on it displayed
in English.

Selecting "Search" and "View sightings", there was a button titled
"Export to Excel file". No option to download data in any other format
was presented, exactly as Jorgen said.

It's impolite to accuse people of lying without adequate justification,
and you didn't have it.

> ... I can only surmise that he was talking about downloading the
> entire website ...

That's a weird thing to surmise, given that he was talking about using
the website, not downloading it.

.... but I ignored it
> because it was clearly OT

It was presented as a example of a database from which data is not
available to the users in any format other than Excel. That is entirely
on topic, due to your claim that no such thing could possibly exist.