UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi,
I was wondering if anybody could help me with this. I have two .csv file that I need to put it in an excel file in two different tabs using Shell Script.
Thanks in advance.

JP

If you can tell us how to import stuff into Excel in two different tabs, we can take it from there. I was under the impression it can't be done, but I don't use Excel. I don't think they make Excel for Unix.

I am sending the file as e-mail attachment. I can combine them together and send as .xls file or .csv that opens in Excel. But putting it together in different tab, is the point that I am getting stuck.

And that specifically is very much an Excel question at heart. If you can find an import format which allows you to say to Excel that stuff should be in different tabs ("sheets" in a "workbook" I think is the Excel nomenklatura) then it should be easy; but last time I looked (more recently than I like; possibly while you were in high school) there was no import filter for Excel which allowed you to do this.

This perl module might do it:

Spreadsheet::WriteExcel - Write to a cross-platform Excel binary file.

"DESCRIPTION
The Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module can be used to create a cross-platform Excel binary file. Multiple worksheets can be added to a workbook and formatting can be applied to cells. Text, numbers, formulas, hyperlinks and images can be written to the cells.

The Excel file produced by this module is compatible with 97, 2000, 2002 and 2003.

The module will work on the majority of Windows, UNIX and Macintosh platforms. Generated files are also compatible with the Linux/UNIX spreadsheet applications Gnumeric and OpenOffice.org.

This module cannot be used to write to an existing Excel file" but you can also get around it by using his parser to write the file to memory, then rewriting it.

Untested by me, clearly.

If you have Excel 2002 or later, you can use the XML Spreadsheet (XMLSS) schema.

XML Spreadsheet Reference

just as an FYI...the Spreadsheet::WriteExcel module works great...albeit only on my ActiveState version of Perl thus far. I intend to port it to a UNIX build soon, but haven't gotten it there just yet; base install of Perl out of sync with the repository I've got access to, etc. [sigh] But the output file is fully portable, so it shouldn't matter the source system.

I'll say it has even made me a better Excel VBA user too since the tweaking required some additional efforts in understanding the object model...(not that I'd admit that in public, but...oh wait...)