Ole Lisp facility, more specific

> Good day Mr Gradwohl and Mr. Wolf
>
> Gradwohl > Thus, I have
> Gradwohl > no code examples regarding ways to manipulate Excel objects
from
> Gradwohl > Lisp.
>
> I do have something to share with you. I rised the question a couple of
> weeks
> ago since I'm making a lisp-based Montecarlo CPM simulation program.
> I need to send the results to any office application for further analysis.
I
> don't mean
> that it cannot be done in ACL, but my colegues  want a more familiar
> approach,
> with fancy graphics and so forth, available in off-the-shelf software.
I've
> being
> tinkering with ACL, modifying the internet explorer ole sample code for
> comunicating with Excel, and came up with following code:
>
> USER(6): (defparameter Excel-classid
>                 (ole:unique-guid
>                   "{00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"))
>
> USER(7): (block test
>                (ole:with-open-registry-key
>                    (Excel-reg ole:rkey-classes-root
>                 `("CLSID" ,(ole:guid-name Excel-classid))
>                    :error-return nil)
>                (when (null Excel-reg)
>                    (format t "Sorry, no excel on this system~2%")
>                    (return-from test nil)))
>                (ole:start-ole)
>                (setf Excel-tool
>                (ole:ask-for-autotool
>                      Excel-classid
>                      ole:CLSCTX_LOCAL_SERVER))
>                (setf (ole::auto-getf Excel-tool :visible) t))
>
> The last code loads an empty instance of Excel application (no workbooks).
> All methods and properties of the application are available, so things
> like the following behave as expected:
>
> ;; Executes the openfile dialog box,
> ;; although it doesn't open
> ;; the workbook when a file is
> ;; is selected:
> USER(8): (ole:auto-method excel-tool
>                  :GetOpenFilename)
> "C:\\Usr\\JulioBP\\Course\\weather.xls"
>
> ;; Gets the value of the app:
> USER(9): (ole:auto-getf excel-tool :value)
> "Microsoft Excel"
>
> ;; Gets the pointer to the workbooks  collection
> ;; I think....
> USER(10): (ole:auto-getf excel-tool :workbooks)
> #<IDISPATCH-CLIENT:6617c>
>
> And things like that. Everything seems to behave as expected from
> the example. But since I'm used to Visual Basic, I presumed
> that calling a subclass of the application, like the "Workbooks"
collection
> for instance, and adding a new book might be as easy as saying:
>
> USER(9): (ole:auto-method
>             (ole:auto-getf excel-tool :workbooks)
>             :add)
> Error: no valid method
>
> Ok. Maybe I'm to much used to VB, since when an instance of an office
> application
> is open, all the underlying hierachy should be available. So it seems that
I
> have
> to load something else (an extra interface maybe). But from here on I'm
> stuck
>
> Gradwohl > Our main means of manipulating Lisp from Excel was by using the
> Gradwohl > command
> Gradwohl > lispServer = CreateObject("objectname")
> Gradwohl > where objectname is the name of the OLE server as it appears in
> Gradwohl > the Registry.
>
> Ok. so making the backward analogy, I should look for
> an object registered as "workbook" (or it's GUID), and setf
> it to a variable, just as I did with application, might create
> a new book, but there is a little problem. there is no
> "workbook" class in the registry, perhaps because it's not
> registered under that name.  The closest thing to it is
> "ExelWorksheet"
>
> USER(10): (defparameter xl-WSheet-classid
>   (ole:unique-guid "{00030000-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"))
> XL-WSHEET-CLASSID
>
>
> USER(11): (setf xl-WSheet
>      (ole:ask-for-autotool
>       xl-WSheet-classid
>       ole:CLSCTX_LOCAL_SERVER))
> #<OLE:REMOTE-AUTOTOOL @ #x210508aa>
>
> CG-USER(12): (ole:auto-method
>             xl-WSheet
>             :add)
> Error: OLE call returned #x80020006 (code: #x6, facilty: #x2)
> [condition type: INCOMING-ERROR]
>
> I think I'm missing something else. Besides, now the error is
> getting worst. Any Ideas
>
> Gradwohl> Please let me know if you need further assistance.
>
> Don't worry I'll do
> ======================
> Dr. Julio R. Baeza Pereyra
> Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán
> Facultad de Ingeniería.
> Av. Industrias no contaminantes s/n
> por Periférico Norte.
> Mérida, Yucatán, México
>