Copying excel data into a python list in IPython using clipboard?

Question

Is there a way to perform the following workflow:

1. Select cells in an Excel spreadsheet
2. Copy them using Ctrl+C
3. Get the content the selected cells in a form of a python list or numpy array into the IPython shell?

Answer 1

Update: It seems that the readline thing that @PauloAlmeida mentioned is turned on by default in the 1.0 verison of IPython. So all you have to do is:

1. from numpy import array
2. Copy the cells from the spreadsheet
3. Hit Alt+V instead of Ctrl+V

And you will get in IPython something like:

array([[1, 1], [2, 2]])

Or you can use the pandas library read_clipboard method.

import pandas as pd
pd.read_clipboard()            # If you have selected the headers
pd.read_clipboard(header=None) # If you haven't selected the headers

This will return you a pandas DataFrame object which acts similarly to a spreadsheet. You can find more about it in their official documentation.