[Pythoncard-users] Closing COM object (e.g. Excel) when Python app dies

[Warren S. <ws...@tr...>]

I have a PythonCard app that opens up an Excel spreadsheet using the
win32com module.
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I started doing this in Perl, then recently switched to Python (and
PythonCard), which I am just learning.
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In Perl, I found the following code snippet which I used in my app:
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----------------------
# use existing instance if Excel is already running
 eval {$ex =3D Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Excel.Application')};
 die "Excel not installed" if $@;
 unless (defined $ex) {
     $ex =3D Win32::OLE->new('Excel.Application', sub {$_[0]->Quit;})
             or die "Oops, cannot start Excel";
     $ex->{Visible} =3D 1;
 }  # Note the destructor specified on the Win32::OLE->new method.=20
    # It ensures that Excel will shutdown properly even if the Perl
program dies.
----------------------
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I would like to be able to do the same in Python, but don't know if it
is supported, and can't find or figure out the syntax if it is.
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I know this is not really a PythonCard question, but I'm hoping that
other PythonCard users are working with win32com and might be able to
help me out.
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My code to open the excel object is simply this:
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----------------------
import win32com as wc
...
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self.xl =3D wc.Dispatch("Excel.Application")
self.xl.Visible =3D 1
...
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self.xl.Quit()
----------------------
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Warren Sande
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