How do I import a COM object namespace/enumeration in Python?

calendar_today Asked Oct 29, 2009
thumb_up 8 upvotes
history Updated April 16, 2026

Question posted 2009 · +7 upvotes

I’m relatively new to programming/python, so I’d appreciate any help I can get. I want to save an excel file as a specific format using Excel through COM. Here is the code:

import win32com.client as win32 

def excel():
    app = 'Excel'
    x1 = win32.gencache.EnsureDispatch('%s.Application' % app)
    ss = x1.Workbooks.Add()
    sh = ss.ActiveSheet
    x1.Visible = True
    sh.Cells(1,1).Value = 'test write'
    ss.SaveAs(Filename="temp.xls", FileFormat=56)
    x1.Application.Quit()

if __name__=='__main__':
    excel()

My question is how do I specify the FileFormat if I don’t explicitly know the code for it? Browsing through the documentation I find the reference at about a FileFormat object. I’m clueless on how to access the XlFileFormat object and import it in a way that I can find the enumeration value for it.

Thanks!

Accepted answer +8 upvotes

This question is a bit stale, but for those reaching this page from Google (as I did) my solution was accessing the constants via the win32com.client.constants object instead of on the application object itself as suggested by Eric. This lets you use enum constants just like in the VBE:

>>> import win32com.client
>>> xl = win32com.client.gencache.EnsureDispatch('Excel.Application')
>>> C = win32com.client.constants
>>> C.xlWorkbookNormal
-4143
>>> C.xlCSV
6
>>> C.xlErrValue
2015
>>> C.xlThemeColorAccent1
5

Also, unless you’ve manually run the makepy utility, the constants may not be available if initializing the application with the regular win32com.client.Dispatch(..) method, which was another issue I was having. Using win32com.client.gencache.EnsureDispatch(..) (as the questioner does) checks for and generates the Python bindings at runtime if required.

I found this ActiveState page to be helpful.

External references cited (2)

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