excel access denied with win32 python pywin32

Question

My code is

#Opens template for creating final report
excel = win32.dynamic.Dispatch('Excel.Application')
template = os.path.abspath((folderpath+'\Poop.xlsx'))
wb = excel.Workbooks.Open(template)
freshws= wb.Sheets("Fresh") #Sheet names must match perfectly
secws= wb.Sheets("sec")

cur.execute("Select * from FIRALL")
freshdata=list(cur.fetchall())
#writes to the first sheet
datarowlen=0
for i,a in enumerate(freshdata):
    datarowlen = len(a)
    for j,b in enumerate(a):
        freshws.Cells(i+1,j+1).Value = a[j]

cur.execute("Select * from SECVE")
secdata=list(cur.fetchall())
#writes to the second sheet
datarowlen=0
for i,a in enumerate(secdata):
    datarowlen = len(a)
    for j,b in enumerate(a):
        secws.Cells(i+1,j+1).Value = a[j]
#saves the report
wb.SaveAs()
wb.Close()

The error i get when I run my code is

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "main.py", line 369, in <module>
    wb = excel.Workbooks.Open(template)
  File "<COMObject <unknown>>", line 8, in Open
pywintypes.com_error: (-2147352567, 'Exception occurred.', (0, 'Microsoft Excel'
, "Microsoft Excel cannot access the file 'path to stuff------------------------
Poop Report\\Poop.xlsx'. There are several possible reasons:\n\n\u2022 The file
name or path does not exist.\n\u2022 The file is being used by another program.\
n\u2022 The workbook you are trying to save has the same name as a currently ope
n workbook.", 'xlmain11.chm', 0, -2146827284), None)

I get a popup dialog saying access is denied. The file isn't readonly and I'm the owner of the workbook its trying to open. I've tried

win32.gencache.EnsureDispatch('Excel.Application')

I still get the same error. Is there something I'm missing? I switched to dynamic thinking late-binding would solve this error.

another error I had was Pywins -2147418111 error when I was trying to fix this code.

Answer 1

A colleague and I were diagnosing this exact issue. I couldn't believe how obscure this was and we found the solution by searching similar issues with .NET equivalent code:

To fix, create a folder called 'Desktop' in 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\' on 64bit architecture or 'C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\' on 32bit servers.

This genuinely fixed an absolutely identical issue.

Answer 2

I ended up fixing it for some reason this works, if someone could comment why I would appreciate that.

Main thing I changed to open the workbook was the slashes from / to \ in the pathways.

Then I couldn't select the sheet name until I made excel visible.

excel.Visible = True
wb = excel.Workbooks.Open((excelreport+"\Poop.xlsx"))

Oddly enough that got rid of the pywins error

Also changed how sheets are filled its now

cur.execute("Select * from FIRALL")
freshdata=list(cur.fetchall())
#writes to the first sheet
freshws.Range(freshws.Cells(2,1),freshws.Cells((len(freshdata)+1),len(freshdata[0]))).Value = freshdata

Hopefully this helps anyone else who runs into the same issues I did.