XLS Reader

This Node Is Deprecated — This node is kept for backwards-compatibility, but the usage in new workflows is no longer recommended. The documentation below might contain more information.

This node reads a spread sheet and provides it at its output port.
It reads only data from one sheet at the moment. It can read only numeric data (or strings) but, of course, no diagrams, pictures, or other items.
Currently supported KNIME types are String, Double, and Int. (Time or date in the spread sheet is represented as String and can be translated into the appropriate TimeAndDateCells with the corresponding nodes.)
It reads in the data from the sheet and sets a type for all columns that is compatible with the data in that column (in the worst case "String" covers all).
The performance of the reader node is limited (due to the underlying library of the Apache POI project). Reading large files takes a very long time and uses a lot of memory (especially files in xlsx format).

Options

File to read
Enter a valid file name. You can also choose a previously selected file from the drop-down list, or select a file from the "Browse..." dialog. Supported are xls and xlsx file formats. (Note: reading large xlsx files is very slow and memory consuming.)
Sheet to Read
After selecting a file, you can select the sheet from the available sheets in the file.
Column Names
If you want to use column names from the spread sheet, check "Table contains column names" and enter the number of the row that contains the column names (enter the number (starting at one), not the index).
If this option is not checked, default names are generated ("Col0", "Col1", etc.).
Row IDs
If you want to use row IDs from the spread sheet, check "Table contains row IDs" and provide the column that contains the row ids. Enter the label of the column ("A", "B", etc.) or the number (starting at one) of the column.
The rowIDs in the sheet must be unique, otherwise the execution fails. If you check "Make row IDs unique", the node will append a suffix to duplicates, ensuring row ID uniqueness. For very large data sets this could cause memory problems.
Area of Interest
Specify the region of the data sheet that should be read in. If you check "Read entire data sheet" the region provided by the data sheet file will be read in. This includes areas where diagrams, borders, coloring, etc. are placed and could create quite some empty rows or columns (see skip empty rows and columns options below).
If you want to read in a fixed area, remove the check mark and enter the first and last column, and first and last row to read. (Last row and column is optional, causing it to read to the last row or column provided by the sheet). For columns you need to enter the label ("A", "B", etc.), for rows enter the number (one-based).
Skip Empty Rows or Columns
If empty rows or columns should be removed from the result Data Table, check the appropriate option.
Evaluation Error Handling
Specify the data that is inserted in a cell with an error. Not all formulas supported by all spreadsheet applications are supported by the XLS Reader Node. If an error occurs during formula evaluation (or if the spreadsheet contains an error cell), the selected data is inserted. You can either choose to insert a cell representing a missing value, or to insert a certain string pattern. A pattern causes the entire column to become a string column in case an error occurs. A missing value is type innocent, but also unobtrusive.
Preview
The "Preview" tab shows you the output table with the current settings in the dialog. If the settings are invalid an error message will be displayed in this tab. The table updates only when the "refresh" button is clicked. A warning is shown, if the table content is out of sync with the current settings.
File Content
The "File Content" table shows you the content of the currently selected sheet. It shows the entire content (no settings are applied there). The column names and row numbers here are the ones that need to be specified in the corresponding setting fields.

Input Ports

This node has no input ports

Output Ports

Icon
The data table read in.

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