top of page

Tonight's tip shows how to perform another basic task using a basic Python script. Using Python IDLE 3.4.2, we'll get a list of all of the Excel files in this directory:

Open Python IDLE and import the glob module.

>>> import glob

Then use this command to generate a list of the files with particular extension in the specified directory. >>> glob.glob("C:\FooFolder\python\*.xlsx")

These results are returned:



Here's a quick rundown of how to access an Excel file using Python and get a list of its worksheet names.

OpenPyXL is a module that will allow you to work with Excel spreadsheets in Python. In order to import it (I'm using Python 3.4.2 in this example) . . . go to the folder for the Python software containing scripts and open the Windows command prompt. Enter the command:

pip install openpyxl==2.1.4

After the module is imported, go to Python IDLE, and enter the command:

>>> import openpyxl

We'll review this spreadsheet:

Name the the Excel workbook with the openpyxl.load function, specifying the full path to the Excel file:

>>> wb = openpyxl.load_workbook('C:\FooFolder\python\BattingPost.xlsx')

After the workbook is accessed use this function to generate a list of the names of the worksheets used in the workbook: >>> wb.get_sheet_names()

As shown here we get the following results:



Here's a follow-up to the Tip of the Night for February 2, 2019, which explained how to read comma separated values in a text file. Python includes a .csv module which can be used to read a file with the .csv extension saved from Excel.

To activate the module enter this line:

>>> import csv

open the file and designate it with a name >>> with open ("C:\FooFolder\Python\cities.csv", newline="") as f:

. . . then specify the delimiter for the .csv file r = csv.reader(f, delimiter=",")

. . . finally display the contents in a delimited list: for row in r: print(row)

['Chicago', 'New York', 'Los Angeles', 'Houston'] ['Springfield', 'Buffalo', 'San Francisco', 'Austin'] ['Joliet', 'Albany', 'San Diego', 'El Paso'] >>>

The csv module has multiple functions and can also be used to write data to .csv files.


Sean O'Shea has more than 20 years of experience in the litigation support field with major law firms in New York and San Francisco.   He is an ACEDS Certified eDiscovery Specialist and a Relativity Certified Administrator.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the owner and do not reflect the views or opinions of the owner’s employer.

If you have a question or comment about this blog, please make a submission using the form to the right. 

Your details were sent successfully!

© 2015 by Sean O'Shea . Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page