How to use Application.ProtectedViewWindows in the xlwings API way

The ProtectedViewWindows member of the Application object in Excel’s object model provides access to a collection of ProtectedViewWindow objects. Each ProtectedViewWindow represents a workbook that has been opened in Protected View, a security feature that opens potentially unsafe files (like those from the internet or email attachments) in a restricted mode to prevent harmful content from affecting your system. Through xlwings, you can interact with this collection to inspect, manage, or close workbooks opened in this mode, which is useful for automating security checks or handling multiple protected files programmatically.

Functionality
The primary function is to access and manage workbooks in Protected View. You can iterate through all open Protected View windows, retrieve specific windows by index, count them, or close them. This allows for automation scripts that monitor or clean up Protected View sessions, especially in environments where files are frequently downloaded and need processing.

Syntax in xlwings
In xlwings, you access the ProtectedViewWindows collection via the Application object. The typical syntax is:

import xlwings as xw
app = xw.apps.active # Or xw.App() for a specific instance
protected_windows = app.api.ProtectedViewWindows

Here, app.api provides the underlying Excel COM object, exposing the ProtectedViewWindows property. This returns a collection object that supports standard VBA-style methods and properties, such as Count and Item.

Key Properties and Methods

• Count: Returns the number of open Protected View windows (read-only integer).
• Item(index): Returns a single ProtectedViewWindow object by its index number (1-based) or by name.
• Open(filename): Opens a file in Protected View (not directly via the collection in xlwings; typically, you’d use app.api.Workbooks.Open with security flags).

For the ProtectedViewWindow objects themselves, common members include:

• SourceName: The full path of the source file (string).
• Close(): Closes the Protected View window without saving.
• Activate(): Activates the window.
• Workbook: Returns the workbook object within the Protected View (read-only).

Example Usage
Below is a code example demonstrating how to use the ProtectedViewWindows member in xlwings to list and close all Protected View windows:

import xlwings as xw

# Connect to the active Excel instance
app = xw.apps.active

# Access the ProtectedViewWindows collection
protected_windows = app.api.ProtectedViewWindows

# Check if any Protected View windows are open
if protected_windows.Count > 0:
    print(f"Number of Protected View windows: {protected_windows.Count}")

    # Iterate through each window and display its source file
    for i in range(1, protected_windows.Count + 1):
        window = protected_windows.Item(i)
        print(f"Window {i}: Source = {window.SourceName}")

    # Optionally close the window (uncomment to use)
    # window.Close()
else:
    print("No Protected View windows are currently open.")

# To open a file in Protected View (using Workbook.Open with security settings)
# This requires setting the correct parameters; note that xlwings doesn't have a direct method for this.
# In practice, you might use: app.api.Workbooks.Open("C:\\path\\to\\file.xlsx", UpdateLinks=0, ReadOnly=True)
# But for true Protected View, ensure Excel's security settings trigger it automatically for unsafe sources.