I need an easy way to set border around multiple cells, like so:
All I found was border of 1 cell, and merge cells, which is not what I need.
I was expecting for something like:
worksheet.range_border(first_row, first_col, last_row, last_col)
Is there a way that this can be done (that is not involving setting top_border, bottom_border,
left_border, right_border for each cell individually)?
XlsxWriter is an awesome module that made my old job 1,000x easier (thanks John!), but formatting cells with it can be time-consuming. I've got a couple helper functions I use to do stuff like this.
First, you need to be able to create a new format by adding properties to an existing format:
def add_to_format(existing_format, dict_of_properties, workbook):
"""Give a format you want to extend and a dict of the properties you want to
extend it with, and you get them returned in a single format"""
new_dict={}
for key, value in existing_format.__dict__.iteritems():
if (value != 0) and (value != {}) and (value != None):
new_dict[key]=value
del new_dict['escapes']
return(workbook.add_format(dict(new_dict.items() + dict_of_properties.items())))
Now build off of that function with:
def box(workbook, sheet_name, row_start, col_start, row_stop, col_stop):
"""Makes an RxC box. Use integers, not the 'A1' format"""
rows = row_stop - row_start + 1
cols = col_stop - col_start + 1
for x in xrange((rows) * (cols)): # Total number of cells in the rectangle
box_form = workbook.add_format() # The format resets each loop
row = row_start + (x // cols)
column = col_start + (x % cols)
if x < (cols): # If it's on the top row
box_form = add_to_format(box_form, {'top':1}, workbook)
if x >= ((rows * cols) - cols): # If it's on the bottom row
box_form = add_to_format(box_form, {'bottom':1}, workbook)
if x % cols == 0: # If it's on the left column
box_form = add_to_format(box_form, {'left':1}, workbook)
if x % cols == (cols - 1): # If it's on the right column
box_form = add_to_format(box_form, {'right':1}, workbook)
sheet_name.write(row, column, "", box_form)
Currently there is no easy way to do that.
The current solution by @aubaub draws an empty box. I needed to draw a frame around existing values without overriding them. This is my function in case it helps anyone:
def draw_frame_border(workbook, worksheet, first_row, first_col, rows_count, cols_count):
# top left corner
worksheet.conditional_format(first_row, first_col,
first_row, first_col,
{'type': 'formula', 'criteria': 'True',
'format': workbook.add_format({'top': 1, 'left': 1})})
# top right corner
worksheet.conditional_format(first_row, first_col + cols_count - 1,
first_row, first_col + cols_count - 1,
{'type': 'formula', 'criteria': 'True',
'format': workbook.add_format({'top': 1, 'right': 1})})
# bottom left corner
worksheet.conditional_format(first_row + rows_count - 1, first_col,
first_row + rows_count - 1, first_col,
{'type': 'formula', 'criteria': 'True',
'format': workbook.add_format({'bottom': 1, 'left': 1})})
# bottom right corner
worksheet.conditional_format(first_row + rows_count - 1, first_col + cols_count - 1,
first_row + rows_count - 1, first_col + cols_count - 1,
{'type': 'formula', 'criteria': 'True',
'format': workbook.add_format({'bottom': 1, 'right': 1})})
# top
worksheet.conditional_format(first_row, first_col + 1,
first_row, first_col + cols_count - 2,
{'type': 'formula', 'criteria': 'True', 'format': workbook.add_format({'top': 1})})
# left
worksheet.conditional_format(first_row + 1, first_col,
first_row + rows_count - 2, first_col,
{'type': 'formula', 'criteria': 'True', 'format': workbook.add_format({'left': 1})})
# bottom
worksheet.conditional_format(first_row + rows_count - 1, first_col + 1,
first_row + rows_count - 1, first_col + cols_count - 2,
{'type': 'formula', 'criteria': 'True', 'format': workbook.add_format({'bottom': 1})})
# right
worksheet.conditional_format(first_row + 1, first_col + cols_count - 1,
first_row + rows_count - 2, first_col + cols_count - 1,
{'type': 'formula', 'criteria': 'True', 'format': workbook.add_format({'right': 1})})