How to set automatically the width of a column in xlsxwriter

Question

I'm getting lost of using worksheet.set_column all the time. Is there any possibility of setting the width of all columns automatically?

What would be the Python function that simulates it? (using only xlsxwriter library):

def autofit(filename, worksheet_name):
  # ???

Answer 1

Is there any possibility of setting the width of all columns automatically?

Unfortunately, not.

From the XlsxWriter FAQ:

Q. Is there an "AutoFit" option for columns?

Unfortunately, there is no way to specify "AutoFit" for a column in the Excel file format. This feature is only available at runtime from within Excel. It is possible to simulate "AutoFit" in your application by tracking the maximum width of the data in the column as your write it and then adjusting the column width at the end.

Answer 2

I only know of a way to do this with COM.

import contextlib, os, win32com.client

@contextlib.contextmanager
def load_xl_file(xlfilepath):
    ''' Open an existing Excel file using a context manager 
        `xlfilepath`: path to an existing Excel file '''
    xl = win32com.client.DispatchEx("Excel.Application")
    wb = xl.Workbooks.Open(xlfilepath)
    try:
        yield wb
    finally:
        wb.Close(SaveChanges=True)
        xl.Quit()
        xl = None # this actually ends the process 

def xlautofit(xlfilepath,skip_first_col=False):
    ''' relies on win32com.client to autofit columns on data sheets 

        remember that this is using COM so sheet numbers start at 1 (not 0), 
        so to avoid requiring the caller to remember this, we increment 

        returns full path (including dir) to file '''
    if os.path.splitext(xlfilepath)[1] not in ('.xls','.xlsx'):
        raise 
        return -1

    autofitbegcol = 1
    if skip_first_col:
        autofitbegcol += 1

    # Autofit every sheet 
    with load_xl_file(xlfilepath) as wb:
        for ws in wb.Sheets:
            autofitendcol = ws.UsedRange.Columns.Count
            ws.Range(ws.Cells(1, autofitbegcol), 
                     ws.Cells(1, autofitendcol)).EntireColumn.AutoFit()
    return xlfilepath