excel-automation
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Create, parse, and control Excel files on macOS. Professional formatting with openpyxl, complex xlsm parsing with stdlib zipfile+xml for investment bank financial models, and Excel window control via AppleScript. Use when creating formatted Excel reports, parsing financial models that openpyxl cannot handle, or automating Excel on macOS.
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View Translation Comparison →Excel Automation
Create professional Excel files, parse complex financial models, and control Excel on macOS.
Quick Start
bash
# Create a formatted Excel report
uv run --with openpyxl scripts/create_formatted_excel.py output.xlsx
# Parse a complex xlsm that openpyxl can't handle
uv run scripts/parse_complex_excel.py model.xlsm # List sheets
uv run scripts/parse_complex_excel.py model.xlsm "DCF" # Extract a sheet
uv run scripts/parse_complex_excel.py model.xlsm --fix # Fix corrupted names
# Control Excel via AppleScript (with timeout to prevent hangs)
timeout 5 osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel" to activate'Overview
Three capabilities:
| Capability | Tool | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Create formatted Excel | | Reports, mockups, dashboards |
| Parse complex xlsm/xlsx | | Financial models, VBA workbooks, >1MB files |
| Control Excel window | AppleScript ( | Zoom, scroll, select cells programmatically |
Tool Selection Decision Tree
Is the file simple (data export, no VBA, <1MB)?
├─ YES → openpyxl or pandas
└─ NO
├─ Is it .xlsm or from investment bank / >1MB?
│ └─ YES → zipfile + xml.etree.ElementTree (stdlib)
└─ Is it truly .xls (BIFF format)?
└─ YES → xlrdSignals of "complex" Excel: file >1MB, extension, from investment bank/broker, contains VBA macros.
.xlsmIMPORTANT: Always run first — extensions lie. A file may actually be a ZIP-based xlsx.
file <path>.xlsCreating Excel Files (openpyxl)
Professional Color Convention (Investment Banking Standard)
| Color | RGB Code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | | User input / assumption |
| Black | | Calculated value |
| Green | | Cross-sheet reference |
| White on dark blue | | Section headers |
| Dark blue text | | Title |
Core Formatting Patterns
python
from openpyxl.styles import Font, PatternFill, Border, Side, Alignment
# Fonts
BLUE_FONT = Font(color="0000FF", size=10, name="Calibri")
BLACK_FONT_BOLD = Font(color="000000", size=10, name="Calibri", bold=True)
GREEN_FONT = Font(color="008000", size=10, name="Calibri")
HEADER_FONT = Font(color="FFFFFF", size=12, name="Calibri", bold=True)
# Fills
DARK_BLUE_FILL = PatternFill("solid", fgColor="4472C4")
LIGHT_BLUE_FILL = PatternFill("solid", fgColor="D9E1F2")
INPUT_GREEN_FILL = PatternFill("solid", fgColor="E2EFDA")
LIGHT_GRAY_FILL = PatternFill("solid", fgColor="F2F2F2")
# Borders
THIN_BORDER = Border(bottom=Side(style="thin", color="B2B2B2"))
BOTTOM_DOUBLE = Border(bottom=Side(style="double", color="000000"))Number Format Codes
| Format | Code | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Currency | | $1,234 |
| Currency with decimals | | $1,234.56 |
| Percentage | | 12.3% |
| Percentage (2 decimal) | | 12.34% |
| Number with commas | | 1,234 |
| Multiplier | | 1.5x |
Conditional Formatting (Sensitivity Tables)
Red-to-green gradient for sensitivity analysis:
python
from openpyxl.formatting.rule import ColorScaleRule
rule = ColorScaleRule(
start_type="min", start_color="F8696B", # Red (low)
mid_type="percentile", mid_value=50, mid_color="FFEB84", # Yellow (mid)
end_type="max", end_color="63BE7B" # Green (high)
)
ws.conditional_formatting.add(f"B2:F6", rule)Execution
bash
uv run --with openpyxl scripts/create_formatted_excel.pyFull template script: See
scripts/create_formatted_excel.pyParsing Complex Excel (zipfile + xml)
When openpyxl fails on complex xlsm files (corrupted DefinedNames, complex VBA), use stdlib directly.
XLSX Internal ZIP Structure
file.xlsx (ZIP archive)
├── [Content_Types].xml
├── xl/
│ ├── workbook.xml ← Sheet names + order
│ ├── sharedStrings.xml ← All text values (lookup table)
│ ├── worksheets/
│ │ ├── sheet1.xml ← Cell data for sheet 1
│ │ ├── sheet2.xml ← Cell data for sheet 2
│ │ └── ...
│ └── _rels/
│ └── workbook.xml.rels ← Maps rId → sheetN.xml
└── _rels/.relsSheet Name Resolution (Two-Step)
Sheet names in link to physical files via :
workbook.xml_rels/workbook.xml.relspython
import zipfile
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
MAIN_NS = 'http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main'
REL_NS = 'http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships'
RELS_NS = 'http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships'
def get_sheet_path(zf, sheet_name):
"""Resolve sheet name to physical XML file path inside ZIP."""
# Step 1: workbook.xml → find rId for the sheet name
wb_xml = ET.fromstring(zf.read('xl/workbook.xml'))
sheets = wb_xml.findall(f'.//{{{MAIN_NS}}}sheet')
rid = None
for s in sheets:
if s.get('name') == sheet_name:
rid = s.get(f'{{{REL_NS}}}id')
break
if not rid:
raise ValueError(f"Sheet '{sheet_name}' not found")
# Step 2: workbook.xml.rels → map rId to file path
rels_xml = ET.fromstring(zf.read('xl/_rels/workbook.xml.rels'))
for rel in rels_xml.findall(f'{{{RELS_NS}}}Relationship'):
if rel.get('Id') == rid:
return 'xl/' + rel.get('Target')
raise ValueError(f"No file mapping for {rid}")Cell Data Extraction
python
def extract_cells(zf, sheet_path):
"""Extract all cell values from a sheet XML."""
# Build shared strings lookup
shared = []
try:
ss_xml = ET.fromstring(zf.read('xl/sharedStrings.xml'))
for si in ss_xml.findall(f'{{{MAIN_NS}}}si'):
texts = si.itertext()
shared.append(''.join(texts))
except KeyError:
pass # No shared strings
# Parse sheet cells
sheet_xml = ET.fromstring(zf.read(sheet_path))
rows = sheet_xml.findall(f'.//{{{MAIN_NS}}}row')
data = {}
for row in rows:
for cell in row.findall(f'{{{MAIN_NS}}}c'):
ref = cell.get('r') # e.g., "A1"
cell_type = cell.get('t') # "s" = shared string, None = number
val_el = cell.find(f'{{{MAIN_NS}}}v')
if val_el is not None and val_el.text:
if cell_type == 's':
data[ref] = shared[int(val_el.text)]
else:
try:
data[ref] = float(val_el.text)
except ValueError:
data[ref] = val_el.text
return dataFixing Corrupted DefinedNames
Investment bank xlsm files often have corrupted entries containing "Formula removed":
<definedName>python
def fix_defined_names(zf_in_path, zf_out_path):
"""Remove corrupted DefinedNames and repackage."""
import shutil, tempfile
with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
tmp = Path(tmp)
with zipfile.ZipFile(zf_in_path, 'r') as zf:
zf.extractall(tmp)
wb_xml_path = tmp / 'xl' / 'workbook.xml'
tree = ET.parse(wb_xml_path)
root = tree.getroot()
ns = {'main': MAIN_NS}
defined_names = root.find('.//main:definedNames', ns)
if defined_names is not None:
for name in list(defined_names):
if name.text and "Formula removed" in name.text:
defined_names.remove(name)
tree.write(wb_xml_path, encoding='utf-8', xml_declaration=True)
with zipfile.ZipFile(zf_out_path, 'w', zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as zf:
for fp in tmp.rglob('*'):
if fp.is_file():
zf.write(fp, fp.relative_to(tmp))Full template script: See
scripts/parse_complex_excel.pyControlling Excel on macOS (AppleScript)
All commands verified on macOS with Microsoft Excel.
Verified Commands
bash
# Activate Excel (bring to front)
osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel" to activate'
# Open a file
osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel" to open POSIX file "/path/to/file.xlsx"'
# Set zoom level (percentage)
osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel"
set zoom of active window to 120
end tell'
# Scroll to specific row
osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel"
set scroll row of active window to 45
end tell'
# Scroll to specific column
osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel"
set scroll column of active window to 3
end tell'
# Select a cell range
osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel"
select range "A1" of active sheet
end tell'
# Select a specific sheet by name
osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel"
activate object sheet "DCF" of active workbook
end tell'Timing and Timeout
Always add between AppleScript commands and subsequent operations (e.g., screenshot) to allow UI rendering.
sleep 1IMPORTANT: will hang indefinitely if Excel is not running or not responding. Always wrap with :
osascripttimeoutbash
# Safe pattern: 5-second timeout
timeout 5 osascript -e 'tell application "Microsoft Excel" to activate'
# Check exit code: 124 = timed out
if [ $? -eq 124 ]; then
echo "Excel not responding — is it running?"
fiCommon Mistakes
| Mistake | Correction |
|---|---|
| openpyxl fails on complex xlsm → try monkey-patching | Switch to |
Count Chinese characters with | Use |
| Trust file extension | Run |
openpyxl | Use |
Important Notes
- Execute Python scripts with (never use system Python)
uv run --with openpyxl - LibreOffice () can convert formats and recalculate formulas
soffice --headless - Detailed formatting reference: See
references/formatting-reference.md