`xlsfinfo`

Reports whether a file is a readable spreadsheet and lists its sheets.

Category: Data Import and Analysis > Data Import and Export

Syntax

[type, sheets] = xlsfinfo(filename)

Returns a description of the file type and the sheet names.

Description

xlsfinfo is a quick inspection step before xlsread or readmatrix: it tells you which sheets exist so you can pick one by name. A new workbook written by xlswrite without a sheet name has a single sheet called Sheet1.

Newer code usually calls sheetnames or readtable directly, but xlsfinfo is still common in older scripts.

Input arguments

filename: Spreadsheet file name, such as 'data.xlsx'.

Output arguments

type: Text describing the format, for example 'Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet'; empty if the file is not a spreadsheet.
sheets: Cell array with the sheet names, in workbook order.

Example

Inspect a workbook

xlswrite('info_demo.xlsx', [1 2; 3 4], 'Data');
[type, sheets] = xlsfinfo('info_demo.xlsx')

Output

type = 'Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet'
sheets = 1×1 cell

    {'Data'}

Notes

When the file does not exist, MatLivre raises an error instead of returning an empty type.

xlsfinfo