MATLAB: Read XLSX file on a Mac with R2012a doesn’t work

macMATLABxlsread

Hi,

In the release notes of R2012a, it is said that Matlab can now read XLSX files on any platform. I'm working on Mac OS X Lion (10.7.3) with R2012a and MS Office 2011. When I save a file with Excel as an XLSX file, the matlab function xlsfinfo can't read it. But If I save it as an XLS file, it's Ok. The problem is that I want to use xlsread with specifying range to import. So according to the Help article on this function, I can't use the basic mode and thus, I have to use an XLSX file. But it doesn't work. Any help would be appreciated.

Best Answer

I'm not sure that the basic mode is specific to XLS or XLSX files. AFAIK, on Mac/Linux platforms, XLSREAD only works in basic mode. The reason is because in non-basic mode, XLSREAD needs to start Excel as a COM Server, which is a Windows-only technology.

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MATLAB: Problem with importing data from excel file on Mac

If you are using anything other than a Windows system with Excel installed, then xlsread() can only handle "Basic" files.

http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/ref/xlsread.html

'basic' Flag to request reading in basic mode, which is the default for systems without Excel for Windows. In basic mode, the xlsread function:
    Only reads XLS files.
    Imports the entire active range of the worksheet.
    Requires a string to specify the sheet, and the sheet name is case sensitive.
    Does not support function handle inputs.

MATLAB: How to rename a sheet in Excel using the COM interface in MATLAB

You can rename an Excel sheet using the "Name" property of a sheet object. For example the following renames the first sheet of an Excel file:

filename = 'C:\SomeExcelFile.xls';
% Open Excel Automation server
Excel = actxserver('Excel.Application');
% Make Excel visible
Excel.Visible=1;
% Open Excel file
Workbook = Excel.Workbooks.Open(filename);
% Get the list of sheets in the workbook
Sheets = Excel.ActiveWorkbook.Sheets;
% Rename the first sheet
Sheets.Item(1).Name = 'This is sheet 1';

The following code then saves the Workbook, quits Excel and removes the COM server:

% Save the file
Workbook.Save();
% Quit Excel, remove the COM server and delete the related objects
Excel.Quit();
Excel.delete();
clear Excel;
clear Workbook;
clear Sheets;

Best Answer

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