Member Avatar for abbyo

I've recently downloaded the package that allows you to work an excel file using python at: http://www.python-excel.org/

I'm new at installing things from a programmer perspective... can anyone tell me how I'm able to determine if I have installed the programs correctly?

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A concise, practical checklist and a couple of reliable tests to confirm Python/Excel libraries are actually installed and usable.

As suggested, an import smoke test and 's help() module list are quick checks. The checklist below gives stronger verification (package metadata, which interpreter pip is bound to) and a tiny read/write exercise so the installation is actually proven to work. 's OpenOffice point is valid as an alternative workflow, but it is separate from the Python package ecosystem.

Run these commands with the same interpreter that will run the scripts:

python -V
python -m pip --version
python -m pip list
python -m pip show openpyxl

A minimal file-roundtrip using a modern xlsx library (openpyxl) proves read/write capability:

from openpyxl import Workbook, load_workbook

wb = Workbook()
ws = wb.active
ws['A1'] = 'installed'
wb.save('check.xlsx')

wb2 = load_workbook('check.xlsx')
print(wb2.active['A1'].value)

Notes and troubleshooting (common gaps seen over time):

  • File format matters. openpyxl handles .xlsx; older .xls files use libraries like xlrd/xlwt. Since 2020, xlrd no longer supports .xlsx, so prefer openpyxl for xlsx files.
  • Pip vs interpreter mismatch is the usual culprit. python -m pip install packagename ensures installation into that interpreter. On Windows, py -3 -m pip install can target Python 3.
  • Virtual environments isolate installs; confirm which environment is active before installing or running code.
  • If imports fail, capture exact error text plus outputs of python -V and python -m pip show packagename for diagnosis.
  • For quick table work, pandas offers pandas.read_excel() with an engine (usually openpyxl) and is often more convenient for data tasks.

These steps give a clear confirmation that the packages are present, bound to the correct Python, and able to perform basic Excel I/O.

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Member Avatar for Gribouillis

You can try to run this program

import xlrd
import xlwt
import xlutils

If it doesn't run, it means you haven't installed the programs correctly. If it runs, it most likely means that you have installed them correctly.

Edited by Gribouillis because: n/a
Member Avatar for TrustyTony

Also you can do:

help()
### you get help prompt you input:
modules

You get quite list of modules available in your Python installation. Luckily x is at the end and you find the modules last column in the end if you installed them well.

Member Avatar for ultimatebuster

it's probably much better to use OpenOffice calc than excel, as OO has native Python support.

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