Use a C-program in a ULP file

[jeyeffkay]

Hey guys!

While working on a plugin which will be used in Eagle 9.6 I ran into a problem:

It creates a cvs file, which works perfectly fine, and now I want to convert this into a xlsx file.

I found a C-tool (xlsxwriter) which should be able to do this but, as far as I´m concerned, it won´t work in my ulp program.

My idea is, that I can write a C program, which get opened by the .ulp, does it´s it magic, safes the .xlsx file, closes itself and it goes back to the original program.

Does anyone has an idea what I could try or what would be a better idea (e.g. it would be great, if the .ulp could create an .xlsx)?

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hi @jeyeffkay,

I hope you're doing well. You can use the system() function in the ULP language. This will allow you to call the xlsxwriter program and pass it the file you want it to process, once it finishes it will come back to the ULP.

You already have a csv file, it's pretty trivial to open it in Excel and then save it as an xlsx file. That might be an easier way to do it.

Best Regards,

[jeyeffkay]

Hi @jorge_garcia ,

trank you very much for your answer!

That sounds very good, thank you! Is there a way to pass the file directly or should I just save it and reopen it?

That is true, yes, but Id like to automate it as far as possible, so it wolle bei nice to have an excel sheet as an Output.

Greetings,

Jeyeffay 

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @jeyeffkay ,

If you look at the documentation, you can pass the string to the program or you can have it open the csv file that you generated. It really all depends on what arguments xlsxwriter expects.

See the documentation for the system() command for more info.

Best Regards,