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Q252615: OLE Examples for Taking Control of Excel from Visual FoxPro

Article: Q252615
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.0,3.0b,5.0,5.0a,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbfile kbinterop kbsample kbAutomation kbvfp300 kbvfp300b kbvfp500 kbvfp500a kbvfp600 k
Last Modified: 10-NOV-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b, 5.0, 5.0a, 6.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

Dbf2xls.exe is a sample that provides Microsoft Visual FoxPro code to control
Microsoft Excel by using OLE Automation.

MORE INFORMATION
================

  Dbf2xls.exe
  (http://download.microsoft.com/download/vfox60/sample/9/w9x2k/en-us/Dbf2xls.exe)

Release Date: Mar-20-2000

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click
the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

Microsoft used the most current virus detection software available on the date of
posting to scan this file for viruses. Once posted, the file is housed on secure
servers that prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

The dbf2xls.exe file contains the following files:

+----------------------+
| File Name    | Size  | 
+----------------------+
| vfpexcel.prg | 29520 | 
+----------------------+
| customer.dbf | 25979 | 
+----------------------+
| readme.txt   | 3773  | 
+----------------------+

VFPExcel.prg demonstrates, by example, the means by which to create a fully
formatted and ready to print Microsoft Excel file using OLE Automation from
within Microsoft Visual FoxPro. This program requires the installation of
Microsoft Excel version 7.0 (Excel for Office 95) or higher. The program is
capable of functioning in Microsoft Visual FoxPro version 3.0 and higher. If
this program is run on a computer with no installed printer, functionality
associated with Microsoft Excel Page Setup features produces errors. These can
be ignored.

The operation performed within this program first uses a COPY TO TYPE XL5
command. While OLE can be used to pass data from Visual FoxPro to Excel, the
COPY TO command is vastly more efficient. Once the Excel file is created, the
program creates an OLE instance of Microsoft Excel and opens the temporary file
created with the COPY TO command. The program stores the temporary file in the
Microsoft Visual FoxPro root directory as determined by the HOME() function.

NOTE: Any partial installation of Microsoft Visual FoxPro that does not include
the appropriate OLE or COM DLLs causes this program to fail when it attempts to
instantiate (through OLE) the Microsoft Excel Application Object.

To Use This Program
-------------------

A table, view, or cursor must be open in the currently selected work area. The
table, view, or cursor must not contain any memo field or fields. This program
creates a Microsoft Excel file and stores it in the directory containing the
source table. The name assigned to the created file is the same as the one
provided by the ALIAS() function. The extension of the derived file is .xls.

The program utilizes a parameter passed as a numeric value to determine the paper
size and print orientation. The parameter values are shown here:

- 1 = letter size paper, portrait orientation (1,1)
- 2 = letter size paper, landscape orientation (1,2)
- 3 = legal size paper, portrait orientation (5,1)
- 4 = legal size paper, landscape orientation (5,2)

If no parameter is passed, the default value will be 1.

Important Items to Remember
---------------------------

- This program does not work with a table, view, or cursor that contains a memo
  field or fields.

- Cursors and Views that represent subsets of a single table or represent data
  combined from two or more tables can be temp (.tmp) files that are stored in
  the computer's assigned TEMP directory.

- This program places the entire contents of the currently open file into a
  resulting Microsoft Excel file. If you want to use only a subset of the data,
  this action needs to be taken prior to running this program. This is
  especially true, and particularly important, when using larger tables.

- The program code is thoroughly commented to describe all processes that are
  occurring.

Step-by-Step Process for Using Vfpexcel.prg  
-------------------------------------------

1. Download the self-extracting executable file and expand the Vfpexcel.prg,
  Customer.dbf, and Readme.txt files.

2. Start Microsoft Visual FoxPro.

3. From within Microsoft Visual FoxPro, set the default directory to the folder
  containing the extracted Vfpexcel.prg, Customer.dbf, and the Readme.txt
  files.

4. Open the Customer.dbf table. Ensure that the selected work area is the one in
  which the Customer.dbf file is open.

5. In the Microsoft Visual FoxPro Command window, type the following line of
  code:

  DO vfpexcel.prg WITH 4

The result is a Microsoft Excel file with a name of Customer.xls that is stored
in the same location as the customer.dbf table. If you print (or print preview)
the file, you see that the paper size is legal and the print orientation is
landscape. This was determined by the parameter of 4.

Additional query words: Dbf2xls

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbfile kbinterop kbsample kbAutomation kbvfp300 kbvfp300b kbvfp500 kbvfp500a kbvfp600 kbGrpDSFox kbDSupport kbCodeSnippet 
Technology        : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbVFP300 kbVFP300b kbVFP500 kbVFP600 kbVFP500a
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.0b,5.0,5.0a,6.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

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