{"id":2236,"date":"2026-08-09T15:16:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T07:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/?p=2236"},"modified":"2026-03-28T11:43:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T11:43:43","slug":"how-to-use-workbooksopenxml-in-the-xlwings-api-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/how-to-use-workbooksopenxml-in-the-xlwings-api-way\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use Workbooks.OpenXML in the xlwings API way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The OpenXML<\/strong> member of the Workbooks<\/strong> collection in Excel’s object model is a method that allows developers to open an Excel workbook from an XML file format, specifically targeting files in the Office Open XML format (such as .xlsx, .xlsm). This method is particularly useful when you need to programmatically load workbooks that are stored in this modern, XML-based format, ensuring compatibility and efficient handling of Excel 2007 and later file types. In xlwings, which provides a Pythonic interface to Excel’s COM automation, this functionality is accessed through the app.books.open()<\/code> method, as xlwings abstracts the underlying COM methods like OpenXML<\/code> into a more unified open<\/code> function. However, understanding the original OpenXML<\/code> method’s parameters helps in utilizing the xlwings equivalent effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Functionality:<\/strong> The primary purpose is to open an Excel workbook from an Office Open XML file. It enables automation scenarios where workbooks are generated or stored as .xlsx files, and you need to manipulate them via Python scripts. This method ensures that the workbook is loaded correctly with all its components, such as worksheets, charts, and defined names, from the XML structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syntax in xlwings:<\/strong> While xlwings does not expose a direct OpenXML<\/code> method, it uses the open()<\/code> method of the Books collection, which internally handles various file formats, including Open XML. The syntax is:
app.books.open(fullname)<\/code>
Here, app<\/code> is an instance of the xlwings App class representing an Excel application. The parameter fullname<\/code> is a string specifying the full path and filename of the workbook to open (e.g., “C:\\Data\\report.xlsx”). This method corresponds to the VBA Workbooks.OpenXML<\/code> method but simplifies it by not requiring explicit format parameters\u2014xlwings automatically detects the file type based on the extension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the native Excel object model, OpenXML<\/code> has additional parameters like LoadOption<\/code> to control how the XML is loaded, but xlwings’ open()<\/code> method abstracts these details. For advanced usage, you can pass other optional arguments supported by xlwings’ open()<\/code> to mimic OpenXML<\/code> behavior, such as update_links<\/code> or read_only<\/code>, though these are not XML-specific. For example, to open a workbook in read-only mode similar to using OpenXML<\/code> with caution, you can set read_only=True<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Code Example:<\/strong>
Below is an xlwings API code instance that demonstrates opening an Open XML workbook using the open()<\/code> method, which effectively utilizes the underlying OpenXML<\/code> functionality. This example assumes Excel is running or will be launched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

import xlwings as xw\n\n# Start or connect to an Excel application\napp = xw.App(visible=True) # Set visible=False for background operation\n\n# Open an Open XML file (.xlsx) using the books.open method\n# This internally uses the OpenXML mechanism for .xlsx files\nworkbook_path = r\"C:\\Users\\Example\\Documents\\budget.xlsx\"\nwb = app.books.open(workbook_path)\n\n# Perform operations: e.g., read data from a specific cell\ndata = wb.sheets['Sheet1'].range('A1').value\nprint(f\"Data from A1: {data}\")\n\n# Save any changes (if needed) and close the workbook\nwb.save() # Optional: save changes\nwb.close()\n\n# Quit the Excel application\napp.quit()<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The **OpenXML** member of the **Workbooks** collection in Excel's object model is a method that allo…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-xlwings-api-reference"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3418,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236\/revisions\/3418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}