Convert *.xls or *.xlsx file to pipe separated .csv file using command line

Question

I have an .xlsx file like this:

sample.xlsx:

Heading     C1      C2,01,02    C3    C4
R1          1       4           7     10
R2          2       5           8     11,1
R3          3       6           9,0   12

I want to convert sample.xlsx file into Output.csv file [pipe separated].

Please note that I don't want any double quotes "C2,01,02".

Output.csv:

Heading|C1|C2,01,02|C3|C4
R1|1|4|7|10
R2|2|5|8|11,1
R3|3|6|9,0|12

I know how to produce Output.csv using manual steps like this:

Goto control panel -> Region and Language -> Additional Settings -> update list separator field with pipe "|".

Open sample.xlsx -> save as -> from the drop down select save as type CSV(Comma delimited)(*.csv).

But I don't want to do this manually. I want to achieve the same Output using command line. For this, I have taken reference from this post: Convert XLS to CSV on command line

Code is:

This csv works perfectly but the only problem is that it produces comma separated csv instead of pipe separated.

if WScript.Arguments.Count < 2 Then
    WScript.Echo "Please specify the source and the destination files. Usage: ExcelToCsv <xls/xlsx source file> <csv destination file>"
    Wscript.Quit
End If
csv_format = 6
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
src_file = objFSO.GetAbsolutePathName(Wscript.Arguments.Item(0))
dest_file = objFSO.GetAbsolutePathName(WScript.Arguments.Item(1))
Dim oExcel
Set oExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
Dim oBook
Set oBook = oExcel.Workbooks.Open(src_file)
oBook.SaveAs dest_file, csv_format
oBook.Close False
oExcel.Quit

To run the above code:

XlsToCsv.vbs [sourcexlsFile].xls [Output].csv

I tried changing value of csv_format = 6 with many other values like 1,2,3...and so on. but it's not giving pipe separated csv.

Please help.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Python solution. Uses python 3.4 and standard modules except for openpyxl:

Install openpyxl:

cd /D C:\python34
scripts\pip install openpyxl

Of course xlsx file must have only 1 sheet. Formulas are not evalulated, that's the main limitation.

And the empty lines are filtered out too.

import openpyxl,csv,sys
if len(sys.argv)<3:
   print("Usage xlsx2csv.py file.xlsx file.csv")
   sys.exit()

i = sys.argv[1]
o = sys.argv[2]


f = open(o,"w",newline='')
cw = csv.writer(f,delimiter='|',quotechar='"')

wb = openpyxl.load_workbook(i)
sheet = wb.active
for r in sheet.rows:
    row = [c.value for c in r]
    if row:
        cw.writerow(row)
f.close()

Usage: xlsx2csv.py file.xlsx file.csv