MATLAB: Has xlsread been made compatible on Mac yet

"doescsvreadmacxlsread

I saw in a previously asked question from a few years ago that the function xlsread() does not work on Mac. See http://www.mathworks.com/support/solutions/en/data/1-2SJUON/index.html. Since then, has the feature been added or does it still revert to csvread()? I need to read in an excel file that has numeric and text values, and csvread won't suffice for that job.

Best Answer

Support for .xls files was added a couple of years ago, but the exact version number does not come to mind.

If you are using R2013b or later, especially R2014b or later, then I suggest you consider using readtable()

Documentation for xlsread('basic')

basic mode is the default for computers without Excel for Windows. In basic mode, xlsread:

Reads XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLTX, and XLTM files only.
Does not support an xlRange input when reading XLS files. In this case, use '' in place of xlRange.
Does not support function handle inputs.
Imports all dates as Excel serial date numbers. Excel serial date numbers use a different reference date than MATLAB® date numbers.

Related Solutions

MATLAB: What are the limitations of XLSREAD when run in ‘basic’ mode

On Windows systems with Microsoft Excel software, "xlsread" reads any file format recognized by your version of Excel.

If your system does not have Excel for Windows, "xlsread" operates in "basic" import mode.

Flag to request reading in 'basic' mode, specified as the literal string, 'basic'

'basic' mode is the default for systems without Excel for Windows. In 'basic' mode, "xlsread"

Reads XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLTX, and XLTM files only.
Does not support an 'xlRange' input when reading XLS files. In this case, use '' in place of 'xlRange'.
Does not support function handle inputs.
Imports all dates as Excel serial date numbers. Excel serial date numbers use a different reference date than MATLAB date numbers

The appropriate syntax for using "xlsread" in 'basic' mode may be found in the following documentation page:

<http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/xlsread.html>

You may access the same page locally by typing the following at the MATLAB prompt:

web(fullfile(docroot, 'matlab/ref/xlsread.html'))

MATLAB: How to open an existing Excel file and communicate with it using ActiveX

This bug has been fixed in Release 14 Service Pack 3 (R14SP3). For previous product releases, read below for any possible workarounds:

The following provides an example of opening an existing Excel file named example.xls and proceeding to write and read with it:

% Specify file name
file = 'D:\Applications\MATLAB701\work\example.xls'; % This must be full path name
% Open Excel Automation server
Excel = actxserver('Excel.Application');
Workbooks = Excel.Workbooks;
% Make Excel visible
Excel.Visible=1;
% Open Excel file
Workbook=Workbooks.Open(file);
% Specify sheet number, data, and range to write to 
sheetnum=1;
data=rand(4);  % use a cell array if you want both numeric and text data
range = 'F10:I13';
% Make the first sheet active
Sheets = Excel.ActiveWorkBook.Sheets;
sheet1 = get(Sheets, 'Item', sheetnum);
invoke(sheet1, 'Activate');
Activesheet = Excel.Activesheet;
% Put MATLAB data into Excel
ActivesheetRange = get(Activesheet,'Range',range);
set(ActivesheetRange, 'Value', data);
% Here you might manipulate the data in Excel
% Now read the data from the sheet; you could specify a new range here
Range = get(Activesheet,'Range',range);
out = Range.value;
% Save file
invoke(Workbook,'Save')
% Close Excel and clean up
invoke(Excel,'Quit');
delete(Excel);
clear Excel;

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MATLAB: What are the limitations of XLSREAD when run in ‘basic’ mode

MATLAB: How to open an existing Excel file and communicate with it using ActiveX

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