7

I have an Excel file that I use as a database. Of course, there are a lot of entries (more than 4000) and I don't want to use all the data to create my PDF.

So I was thinking of using LuaLaTeX to create a script to use only the data I need.

But I don't know how to access to my Excel file with my script. Is there a proper way or not?

Improve this question
  • 4
    This will be doable but I wonder if it's the best way. You'll need to parse the Excel data format, which looks quite a lot of work. Would it be possible to save in a more accessible format? Parsing CSV or tab-separated text is pretty trivial. – Joseph Wright♦ Jun 1 '15 at 9:30
  • @JosephWright Excel permit to save the doc as CSV so yes (I didn't know this possibilty before your comment about saving in other format) – Romain Picot Jun 1 '15 at 9:35
  • 3
    see odsfile package, it doesn't read excel, but it supports LibreOffice!s ods, which can be excel easily converted to – michal.h21 Jun 1 '15 at 9:36
  • 3
    Following on from Joseph's comment, the csvsimple package can be used to read csv. – user30471 Jun 1 '15 at 10:22
3

When you follow the advice of Joseph Wright and Andrew you could also use the pgfplotstable package to print your CSV file. Because you didn't provide an example, I just copied the code from this answer. To see the result, see there.

\documentclass[margin=5mm,preview]{standalone}
    \usepackage{siunitx} % Formats the units and values
        \sisetup{                           % setup siunitx ...
            round-mode        = places,     % rounds numbers
            round-precision   = 2,          % to 3 places
            per-mode          = symbol,     % kg/dm^3 instead kgm^{-3}
            group-four-digits = true,       % for 1 234,567
        }
    \usepackage{booktabs}           % for table rules

    \usepackage{pgfplotstable}      % Generates table from .csv
    \usepackage{filecontents}       % <--- important: enable table
                                    % refreshing at each compilation
    \usepackage[hang,bf,small]{caption}
%---------------------------------------------------------------%
\begin{filecontents*}{mytable.csv}
Chem.; Avg. Conc.; Avg. Conc. Norm.; Conc. unit; Mass sum; Mass unit
Ammonium ; 159083.33; 114450.21; \micro\gram\per\liter; 2839.463; \kilo\gram
Ammonium* ; 1234.123; 4567.890;  \micro\gram\per\liter; 2839.46; \kilo\gram
\end{filecontents*}
%---------------------------------------------------------------%

\begin{document}
Test of use \verb+siunitx+ units syntax in text \si{\micro\gram\per\liter} and
\si{\kilo\gram},

\captionof{table}{Some caption text}
    \pgfplotstabletypeset[
        multicolumn names,
        col sep=semicolon,  % the separator in our .csv file
        string type,        % added in hopes of enabling alphabetic input.
        header=has colnames,
        every head row/.style={before row=\toprule,after row=\midrule},
        every last row/.style={after row=\bottomrule},
        display columns/0/.style={string type},
        display columns/1/.style={column type={S[table-format=7.3]}},% use
        display columns/2/.style={column type={S[table-format=7.3]}},% siunitx
        display columns/3/.style={column type={s}}, % for units
        display columns/4/.style={column type={S[table-format=5.3]}},% for formatting
        display columns/5/.style={column type={s}}, % for units
            ]{mytable.csv}
\end{document}

Regarding the filtering of the Excel table: Why not just filter the Excel table directly, for example using the AutoFilter feature, copy the result to a new table and just save that as CSV file?

To copy just the "visible cells" have a look at this resource.

Improve this answer
2

According to the comment from Joseph Wright and Andrew I'll explain my solution:

From Excel or LibreOffice: file > Save as > CSV

Using CVSsimple package on the file file.cvs with the column name and firstName:

\csvreader
{file.csv}{name=\name,firstName=\firstName}
{
\begin{tabular}
name & first name \\
\name & \firstName
\end{tabular}
}

You'll have as result a table for each entry.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.