Count Columns in a Spreadsheet

get_position.py

"""
 This is an overly complicated method I threw together to do something I could have easily done by
 tallying on paper or something similar. That's not how I roll.

 The method below will calculate the numerical position of a spreadsheet column based on its alphabetic
 representation. I use a lot of VBA and Excel formulas at work that need this information to function
 properly and I got tired to counting these columns manually - a real chore when you start getting into
 columns represented by multiple characters.

 NOTE: Excel is kind of inconsistent with its numbering format. Depending on what you're trying to
 do with the output from this method, you may need to subtract 1 from the result if it relies on
 zero-based numbering.
"""
# We need a string of characters in the alphabet
import string
alpha = string.lowercase

# The getPosition method
# @param: a string representation of a column in Excel (i.e., 'd', 'ba', etc.)
#         We only need to account for params up to 'iv' (Excel's max number of allowed columns),
#         but we're (theoretically) handling all possible combinations (i.e., 'bacd')
# @return: an integer representing the column number of the column string passed in
def getPosition(col):
    # Return the position of the character in the alphabet if the parameter contains only one character
    if col.__len__() == 1:
        return alpha.index(col) + 1
    # Calculate the position of the column by combining the number of times the Excel columns
    # have been through the alphabet with a recursive call to A) do more of the same or B) the 
    # position of the last character in the alphabet.
    return ((col.__len__() - 1) * ((alpha.index(col[0]) + 1) * 26)) + getPosition(col[1:])