Delphi Code - Delete Worksheets (i.e., Tabs) within an Excel Workbook (i.e., Excel File)
Here is a simple Delphi procedure that opens an existing Microsoft Excel file, adds a new worksheet (i.e., tab) to the workbook as the last tab, and deletes the first tab that existed in the workbook. It is important to note that an Excel workbook must have at least one worksheet. Some simple text is added to the newly-created tab. Finally, the file is saved using the same name (overwrites the original file). The most relevant parts of the code are highlighted. Comments are included to explain the code. If you copy and paste the code into your program, be sure to change the form and procedure names to match your setup. For additional Excel automation solutions, see Microsoft Excel Automation with Delphi.
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procedure TForm1.ExcelFileDeleteWorksheets(Sender: TObject); var ExcelFileName: String; ExcelApplication, ExcelWorkbook, ExcelWorksheet: Variant; begin //be sure ComObj and Variants units are included in the "uses" clause
ExcelFileName := 'C:\PhysiologyWeb\delphi_code_examples\excel_file.xlsx'; //replace file name with the name of your file
try //create Excel OLE ExcelApplication := CreateOleObject('Excel.Application'); except ExcelApplication := Null; //add error/exception handling code as desired end;
If VarIsNull(ExcelApplication) = False then begin try ExcelApplication.Visible := True; //set to False if you do not want to see the activity in the background ExcelApplication.DisplayAlerts := False; //ensures message dialogs do not interrupt the flow of your automation process. May be helpful to set to True during testing and debugging.
If VarIsNull(ExcelWorkbook) = False then begin try //add a new worksheet after the last existing worksheet in this workbook ExcelWorkbook.WorkSheets.Add(Null,ExcelWorkbook.WorkSheets[ExcelWorkbook.Worksheets.Count],1,-4167); //reference //https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/Excel.Worksheets.Add ExcelWorkbook.Worksheets[ExcelWorkbook.Worksheets.Count].Name := 'Last Sheet'; //assumes any existing sheets do not have the same name
//delete the very first worksheet (i.e., tab) ExcelWorkbook.WorkSheets[1].Delete;
//connect to Excel Worksheet using either the ExcelApplication or ExcelWorkbook handle ExcelWorksheet := ExcelWorkbook.WorkSheets[ExcelWorkbook.Worksheets.Count]; //gets the last worksheet in this workbook //reference //https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/Excel.Worksheets.Item except ExcelWorksheet := Null; //add error/exception handling code as desired end;
If VarIsNull(ExcelWorksheet) = False then begin ExcelWorksheet.Select; ExcelWorksheet.Cells[1,1] := 'We created this worksheet as the last tab.'; //[row,column], in this case, text is added to Cell A1 ExcelWorksheet.Cells[2,1] := 'We also deleted the first tab that existed in this file. It is gone for good!'; ExcelWorksheet.Cells[3,1].Select; //selects Cell A2 end;
//now save the file ExcelWorkbook.SaveAs(ExcelFileName); //or //ExcelApplication.WorkBooks[1].SaveAs(NewExcelFileName); //Note: The file is saved using the same name. Therefore, the modified file overwrites the original one. Simply change the file name parameter to save using a different file name. //reference //https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/excel.workbook.saveas end; finally ExcelApplication.Workbooks.Close; ExcelApplication.DisplayAlerts := True; ExcelApplication.Quit;