How to use Application.Cursor in the xlwings API way

In the Excel object model, the Application.Cursor property is a member of the top-level Application object, which represents the entire Excel application. This property controls the visual appearance of the mouse cursor (pointer) in Excel. It is particularly useful in automation scenarios where you want to provide visual feedback to users, such as indicating that a long-running operation is in progress. By changing the cursor, you can enhance the user experience by signaling that the application is busy or that a specific action is required.

Functionality:
The Application.Cursor property allows you to get or set the mouse cursor shape displayed in Excel. It can be used to change the cursor to standard shapes like an arrow, an I-beam for text selection, or a wait cursor (e.g., an hourglass or spinning wheel) during lengthy operations. This helps in making automated processes more user-friendly by visually communicating the application’s state.

Syntax:
In xlwings, you can access the Application.Cursor property through the app object, which represents the Excel application. The property is used to get or set the cursor type. The syntax is as follows:

• To get the current cursor: current_cursor = app.api.Cursor
• To set the cursor to a new value: app.api.Cursor = cursor_value

Here, app is an instance of the xlwings App class, typically created with xw.App() or accessed via xw.apps. The api attribute provides direct access to the underlying Excel object model. The cursor_value is an integer or enumeration constant that specifies the cursor shape. In Excel VBA, these values are defined by the XlMousePointer enumeration. Common values include:

• xlDefault (or 0): The default cursor (usually an arrow).
• xlWait (or 1): A wait cursor (e.g., hourglass), indicating that Excel is busy.
• xlIBeam (or 3): An I-beam cursor, used for text selection.
• xlNorthwestArrow (or 2): A northwest arrow cursor.

To use these in xlwings, you can define constants or use the integer values directly. For example, xlWait corresponds to the integer 1.

Example:
Below is an xlwings code example that demonstrates how to use the Application.Cursor property to change the mouse cursor during a time-consuming operation, such as processing data in a worksheet. This example shows setting the cursor to a wait state, performing a task, and then resetting it to the default.

import xlwings as xw
import time

# Connect to the active Excel application or start a new one
app = xw.apps.active if xw.apps.active else xw.App()

# Set the cursor to wait (hourglass) to indicate busy state
app.api.Cursor = 1 # Using integer value for xlWait
print("Cursor set to wait state. Processing data...")

# Simulate a long-running task, e.g., iterating through cells
try:
    # Access the active workbook and worksheet
    wb = app.books.active
    ws = wb.sheets.active

    # Example operation: sum values in a range (this could be any intensive task)
total = 0
    for cell in ws.range("A1:A10"): # Process a range of cells
        if cell.value is not None:
            total += cell.value
            time.sleep(0.1) # Simulate delay for demonstration

            print(f"Total sum from A1:A10 is: {total}")

finally:
    # Always reset the cursor to default after the operation
    app.api.Cursor = 0 # Using integer value for xlDefault
    print("Cursor reset to default state.")

# Optional: Close the app if it was started in this script
# app.quit()