Qt ActiveX QAxObject format Excel cell comment

Question

I would like to format an Microsoft Excel 2010 cell comment (e.g. change font, boldness, ..) using Qt 5.

I can add an comment to a cell using the following code:

QAxObject* cellRange = m_activeWorksheet->querySubObject("Cells(int, int)", row, col);
cellRange->dynamicCall("AddComment(const QVariant&)", comment);

I am also able to set the AutoSize property for the cell comment:

QAxObject* axComment = cellRange->querySubObject("Comment");
QAxObject* shape = axComment->querySubObject("Shape");
shape->querySubObject("TextFrame")->setProperty("AutoSize", autosize);

But I am not able to change "deeper" comment properties, e.g. TextFrame.Characters.Font.Bold.

After setting the cell comment, the command

shape->querySubObject("TextFrame")

returns a non-zero pointer, but

shape->querySubObject("TextFrame")->querySubObject("Characters")

returns NULL.

How do I format the cell comments using QAxObject ? Is there a description of the properties/subObjects for the different QAxObjects accessible by QAxObject?

The following code does not have any effect:

shape->setProperty("AutoShapeType", 5);

Did you try dumpObjectTree() and dumpObjectInfo() to get more information? — Silicomancer, Oct 19 '14 at 19:55
The solution of Lol4t0 for the Characters problem works: I use querySubObject("Characters(int, int)", 1, commentString.size()) — Michael Hilbert, Oct 28 '14 at 15:45

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 24 '14 at 17:05

2

Probably the problem is that TextFrame does not have property Characters. Instead it has method Characters, but it full signature is
```
Characters(Start, Length)
```
Qt docs says that you should specify full signature, so you should probably query value with
```
shape->querySubObject("TextFrame")->querySubObject("Characters(Start,Length)")
```
You cannot set AutoShapeType to 5. AutoShapeType is of type MsoAutoShapeType and aonly specified values are allowed.

answered Oct 24 '14 at 17:05

Lol4t0

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According to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff862770%28v=office.15%29.aspx the value for msoShapeRoundedRectangle should be 5 (Rounded rectangle), therefore I do not understand why shape->setProperty("AutoShapeType", 5); should not work. Can you give an complete code example how to set the shape to a rounded rectangle. – Michael Hilbert Oct 28 '14 at 14:14
Ok, It looks weird, but have you tried `shape->setProperty("AutoShapeType", "msoShapeSnipRoundRectangle");` like in [docs](http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/qaxbase.html#querySubObject) example. Or else it looks like `shape->setProperty("AutoShapeType", "5");` (with qoutes) should also work. If it does, I'll write an explanation. – Lol4t0 Oct 28 '14 at 17:25
Even with quotes the shape does not change. – Michael Hilbert Oct 28 '14 at 22:28

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 29 '14 at 19:59

After browsing through the Qt docs, the QAxBase dynamicCAll section showed the the way how to set the shape of an Excel cell comment using a dynamic call:

QString comment("My comment");
QAxObject* cellRange = m_activeWorksheet->querySubObject("Cells(int, int)", cellRow, cellColumn);
cellRange->dynamicCall("AddComment(const QVariant&)", comment);
QAxObject* axComment = cellRange->querySubObject("Comment");
QAxObject* shape = axComment->querySubObject("Shape");
shape->dynamicCall("AutoShapeType", 5);

The value can be found from Lol4t0's link: MsoAutoShapeType Enumeration. Here 5 is used to get a rounded rectangle (msoShapeRoundedRectangle). Here comes the remaining code to change the text comment format:

QAxObject* textFrame = shape->querySubObject("TextFrame");
QAxObject* chars = textFrame->querySubObject("Characters(int, int)", 1, comment.size());
QAxObject* font = chars->querySubObject("Font");
font->setProperty("Bold", false);
shape->querySubObject("TextFrame")->querySubObject("Characters(2, 3)")->querySubObject("Font")->setProperty("Size", 24);

Qt ActiveX QAxObject format Excel cell comment

2 Answers2