Since I wrote the xls2csv.pl and read.xls() code for gdata, a perl module for writing MS-Excel files has come on the scene. I don't have the time at the moment to create an csv2xls.pl file, but it should be straightforward, and I would gladly add it to the gdata package.
-G On Jul 9, 2007, at 12:15PM , Uwe Ligges wrote: > > > Gabor Grothendieck wrote: >> Note that there already is a function, read.xls, in gdata that >> uses Perl. > > Note that Marc talked about *writing* in his original message. > > Uwe Ligges > > >> On 7/9/07, Marc Schwartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> On Mon, 2007-07-09 at 16:42 +0300, Hans-Peter wrote: >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> 2007/7/8, Marc Schwartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: >>>>> [snip] >>>>> There exists the xlsReadWrite package on CRAN by Hans-Peter >>>>> Suter, which >>>>> is restricted to Windows, since it utilizes the non-FOSS MS >>>>> Office API >>>>> to write the Excel formats. >>>> The non-FOSS API is not the problem(#) but its implementation is: >>>> >>>> The 3rd party library I use is written in Pascal and supports >>>> Delphi >>>> and Kylix. Kylix would allow to port the package to Linux but as >>>> Kylix >>>> has unfortunately been abandoned by CodeGear (Borland) I am not >>>> ready/interested to spend my time on this dead road. Though it >>>> probably could be done quickly. >>>> >>>> A much more interesting way is to port the package using >>>> FreePascal. >>>> --> I plan to do this since long but... >>>> --> Maybe someone fluent on Linux and FreePascal could have a >>>> look at >>>> the pascal header files (treetron.googlepages.com) and make the >>>> demos >>>> run on Linux..., that would be great and speed up an eventual >>>> xlsReadWrite port! >>> Thanks for the clarification. >>> >>> However, I think that if you are going to pursue a cross-platform >>> solution, providing source code requiring compilation (as opposed >>> to a >>> pre-compiled Windows binary), you should consider what the >>> installation >>> requirements for your package would then be. >>> >>> If you are going to take the step of requiring a prospective end- >>> user to >>> have a particular Pascal compiler in place, you may as well have the >>> requirement for a Perl interpreter and associated packages. Since >>> Perl >>> is widely available and you are more likely to find Perl-fluent >>> coders >>> as opposed to Pascal-fluent coders (eg. I have not used Pascal >>> since the >>> late 80's), I would urge you to consider Perl as a future >>> substrate for >>> your functions. >>> >>> While compiled code will run faster than interpreted code, for these >>> types of file I/O functions, I am not sure that you lose much >>> with Perl >>> from a performance standpoint and you certainly gain the eyes of >>> a wider >>> audience with respect to use, debugging and enhancements. >>> >>> To that end, you (or any other interested parties) are free to >>> utilize >>> my code in any way you deem appropriate. I did not state this in my >>> original post, but I make the code available under GPL(v2), >>> freeing you >>> from any restrictions in its use, including your "Pro" version, >>> as long >>> as you make the source available in a fashion consistent with the >>> GPL >>> requirements. >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> Marc Schwartz >>> >>> ______________________________________________ >>> R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list >>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >>> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting- >>> guide.html >>> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. >>> >> >> ______________________________________________ >> R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting- >> guide.html >> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > > ______________________________________________ > R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting- > guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. ______________________________________________ R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.