Writing csv or txt files to be read by vba script not just opened by excel

When working with Julia, there may be times when you need to write CSV or TXT files that can be read by a VBA script, rather than just being opened by Excel. In this article, we will explore three different ways to achieve this.

Option 1: Using the CSV package

The CSV package in Julia provides a simple and efficient way to read and write CSV files. To write a CSV file that can be read by a VBA script, you can use the following code:

using CSV

data = [
    ["Name", "Age", "City"],
    ["John", 25, "New York"],
    ["Jane", 30, "London"]
]

CSV.write("data.csv", data, writeheader=true)

This code creates a 2D array representing the data to be written to the CSV file. The first row contains the column headers, and the subsequent rows contain the data. The CSV.write function is used to write the data to the file, with the writeheader=true argument specifying that the column headers should be included.

Option 2: Using the DelimitedFiles package

If you prefer to work with plain text files rather than CSV files, you can use the DelimitedFiles package in Julia. Here is an example of how to write a TXT file that can be read by a VBA script:

data = [
    ["Name", "Age", "City"],
    ["John", 25, "New York"],
    ["Jane", 30, "London"]
]

open("data.txt", "w") do file
    for row in data
        println(file, join(row, "t"))
    end
end

This code uses the open function to open a file named “data.txt” in write mode. It then iterates over each row in the data array and writes it to the file, separating the values with a tab character (t).

Option 3: Using the XLSX package

If you specifically need to write an Excel file that can be read by a VBA script, you can use the XLSX package in Julia. Here is an example:

using XLSX

data = [
    ["Name", "Age", "City"],
    ["John", 25, "New York"],
    ["Jane", 30, "London"]
]

XLSX.openxlsx("data.xlsx", mode="w") do xf
    sheet = xf[1]
    XLSX.writetable!(sheet, data, startcol=1, startrow=1)
end

This code uses the XLSX.openxlsx function to create a new Excel file named “data.xlsx” in write mode. It then writes the data to the first sheet of the file using the XLSX.writetable! function.

After considering these three options, the best choice depends on your specific requirements. If you need a simple and widely supported format, CSV is a good choice. If you prefer plain text files, the DelimitedFiles package provides a straightforward solution. If you specifically need an Excel file, the XLSX package is the way to go.