How can I remove the green arrow from a cell on excel file using python-xlsxwriter?

Question

When i wrote a value that does have a percentage sign, excel shows me a green arrow on the top of that cell.

This is what I use to write a value in a specific cell.

worksheet.write(1, 46, '12%')

I tried this :

worksheet.write_string(1, 46, '12%')

and this

worksheet.write_number(1, 46, '12%')

but I get the same results.

How can i get rid of the green arrow?

Thanks!

Answer 1

The green arrow/triangle is an Excel warning. It is probably the warning about numbers stored as text.

The way to avoid this is to write the number without the percentage and then format it with a number format so that the percentage sign is displayed. That is how it is generally done in Excel.

With XlsxWriter you can do it as follows:

import xlsxwriter

# Create a new workbook and add a worksheet.
workbook = xlsxwriter.Workbook('percent.xlsx')
worksheet = workbook.add_worksheet()

# Create a percentage number format.
percent_format = workbook.add_format({'num_format': '0%'})

# Write a number as a percentage.
worksheet.write('A1', .12, percent_format)

workbook.close()

Answer 2

One way to do this is to write the cell as a formula rather than as a String. E.g. in Apache POI, write as

row.createCell(col++).setCellFormula("\"" + myValue + "\"");

rather than row.createCell(col++).setCellValue(myValue);

I've done it this way in VBA scripts as well. If this doesn't match your programming scenarios, well, basically if you go into Excel and put in '123 you'll see you get a green triangle. But if you put in ="123" you don't. That's the behavior you need to replicate.

Of course, you can just turn the error off. File-Options-Formulas-Numbers-Formatted as Text or preceded by an apostrophe. But that's an Excel setting, not a workbook setting. If you send the workbook to others and they have the option on, they will see those pesky triangles. The Formula way is they way to go for consistency imho.