{
Exporting a DBGrid to excel without OLE
I develop software and about 95% of my work deals with databases.
I enjoied the advantages of using Microsoft Excel in my projects
in order to make reports but recently I decided to convert myself
to the free OpenOffice suite.
I faced with the problem of exporting data to Excel without having
Office installed on my computer.
The first solution was to create directly an Excel format compatible file:
this solution is about 50 times faster than the OLE solution but there
is a problem: the output file is not compatible with OpenOffice.
I wanted a solution which was compatible with each "DataSet";
at the same time I wanted to export only the dataset data present in
a DBGrid and not all the "DataSet".
Finally I obtained this solution which satisfied my requirements.
I hope that it will be usefull for you too.
First of all you must import the ADOX type library
which will be used to create the Excel file and its
internal structure: in the Delphi IDE:
1)Project->Import Type Library:
2)Select "Microsoft ADO Ext. for DDL and Security"
3)Uncheck "Generate component wrapper" at the bottom
4)Rename the class names (TTable, TColumn, TIndex, TKey, TGroup, TUser, TCatalog) in
(TXTable, TXColumn, TXIndex, TXKey, TXGroup, TXUser, TXCatalog)
in order to avoid conflicts with the already present TTable component.
5)Select the Unit dir name and press "Create Unit".
It will be created a file named AOX_TLB.
Include ADOX_TLB in the "uses" directive inside the file in which you want
to use ADOX functionality.
That is all. Let's go now with the implementation:
}
unit DBGridExportToExcel;
interface
uses
Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Classes, Graphics, Controls, Forms, Dialogs,
ExtCtrls, StdCtrls, ComCtrls, DB, IniFiles, Buttons, dbgrids, ADOX_TLB, ADODB;
type TScrollEvents = class
BeforeScroll_Event: TDataSetNotifyEvent;
AfterScroll_Event: TDataSetNotifyEvent;
AutoCalcFields_Property: Boolean;
end;
procedure DisableDependencies(DataSet: TDataSet; var ScrollEvents: TScrollEvents);
procedure EnableDependencies(DataSet: TDataSet; ScrollEvents: TScrollEvents);
procedure DBGridToExcelADO(DBGrid: TDBGrid; FileName: string; SheetName: string);
implementation
//Support procedures: I made that in order to increase speed in
//the process of scanning large amounts
//of records in a dataset
//we make a call to the "DisableControls" procedure and then disable the "BeforeScroll" and
//"AfterScroll" events and the "AutoCalcFields" property.
procedure DisableDependencies(DataSet: TDataSet; var ScrollEvents: TScrollEvents);
begin
with DataSet do
begin
DisableControls;
ScrollEvents := TScrollEvents.Create();
with ScrollEvents do
begin
BeforeScroll_Event := BeforeScroll;
AfterScroll_Event := AfterScroll;
AutoCalcFields_Property := AutoCalcFields;
BeforeScroll := nil;
AfterScroll := nil;
AutoCalcFields := False;
end;
end;
end;
//we make a call to the "EnableControls" procedure and then restore
// the "BeforeScroll" and "AfterScroll" events and the "AutoCalcFields" property.
procedure EnableDependencies(DataSet: TDataSet; ScrollEvents: TScrollEvents);
begin
with DataSet do
begin
EnableControls;
with ScrollEvents do
begin
BeforeScroll := BeforeScroll_Event;
AfterScroll := AfterScroll_Event;
AutoCalcFields := AutoCalcFields_Property;
end;
end;
end;
//This is the procedure which make the work:
procedure DBGridToExcelADO(DBGrid: TDBGrid; FileName: string; SheetName: string);
var
cat: _Catalog;
tbl: _Table;
col: _Column;
i: integer;
ADOConnection: TADOConnection;
ADOQuery: TADOQuery;
ScrollEvents: TScrollEvents;
SavePlace: TBookmark;
begin
//
//WorkBook creation (database)
cat := CoCatalog.Create;
cat.Set_ActiveConnection('Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source=' + FileName + ';Extended Properties=Excel 8.0');
//WorkSheet creation (table)
tbl := CoTable.Create;
tbl.Set_Name(SheetName);
//Columns creation (fields)
DBGrid.DataSource.DataSet.First;
with DBGrid.Columns do
begin
for i := 0 to Count - 1 do
if Items[i].Visible then
begin
col := nil;
col := CoColumn.Create;
with col do
begin
Set_Name(Items[i].Title.Caption);
Set_Type_(adVarWChar);
end;
//add column to table
tbl.Columns.Append(col, adVarWChar, 20);
end;
end;
//add table to database
cat.Tables.Append(tbl);
col := nil;
tbl := nil;
cat := nil;
//exporting
ADOConnection := TADOConnection.Create(nil);
ADOConnection.LoginPrompt := False;
ADOConnection.ConnectionString := 'Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source=' + FileName + ';Extended Properties=Excel 8.0';
ADOQuery := TADOQuery.Create(nil);
ADOQuery.Connection := ADOConnection;
ADOQuery.SQL.Text := 'Select * from [' + SheetName + '$]';
ADOQuery.Open;
DisableDependencies(DBGrid.DataSource.DataSet, ScrollEvents);
SavePlace := DBGrid.DataSource.DataSet.GetBookmark;
try
with DBGrid.DataSource.DataSet do
begin
First;
while not Eof do
begin
ADOQuery.Append;
with DBGrid.Columns do
begin
ADOQuery.Edit;
for i := 0 to Count - 1 do
if Items[i].Visible then
begin
ADOQuery.FieldByName(Items[i].Title.Caption).AsString := FieldByName(Items[i].FieldName).AsString;
end;
ADOQuery.Post;
end;
Next;
end;
end;
finally
DBGrid.DataSource.DataSet.GotoBookmark(SavePlace);
DBGrid.DataSource.DataSet.FreeBookmark(SavePlace);
EnableDependencies(DBGrid.DataSource.DataSet, ScrollEvents);
ADOQuery.Close;
ADOConnection.Close;
ADOQuery.Free;
ADOConnection.Free;
end;
end;
end.
