Another way to replace VBA with Python 🐍
TL, DR: The Python package is available on PyPI.
I program mostly in Python, but I also used VBA over my career. Despite the versatility of Python, VBA remains practical when automating in Microsoft Office. This mostly applies to Excel, but I also wrote VBA scripts professionally in Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. I wanted all advantages of VBA in Python, which motivated me to create a Python wrapper for the VBA object library.
I designed it to match the VBA syntax as close as possible, while still being Pythonic.
The main applications are supported: Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word.
from matita.office import excel as xl
def hello_world():
xl_app = xl.Application()
xl_app.visible = True
wkb = xl_app.workbooks.add()
wks = wkb.worksheets(1)
c = wks.cells(1,1)
c.value = "Hello world!"
from matita.office import powerpoint as pp
def hello_world():
pp_app = pp.Application()
pp_app.visible = True
prs = pp_app.presentations.add()
sld = prs.slides.add(1, pp.ppLayoutText)
shp = sld.shapes.addshape(pp.msoShapeRectangle, 100, 100, 200, 100)
shp.text_frame.text_range.text = "Hello world!"
from matita.office import word as wd
def hello_world():
wd_app = wd.Application()
wd_app.visible = True
doc = wd_app.documents.add()
par = doc.content.paragraphs.add()
par.range.text = "Hello world!"
from matita.office import outlook as ol
def hello_world():
ol_app = ol.Application()
mail = ol.MailItem(ol_app.create_item(ol.olMailItem))
mail.body = "Hello world!"
mail.display()
All VBA objects should also be supported, allowing complex automations like this one in PowerPoint.
The main disadvantage is that everything runs through the corresponding Office application. If you just need to extract data or create simple documents, other libraries are more practical. For example python-docx, python-pptx, xlwings, or pyexcel.
If instead you want more formatting options or automation across multiple Office applications, this library might be useful to you.
The library is available on the Python Package Index, the documentation is hosted on Read the Docs, and the source code is on GitHub.