'WorkbookActivate' error with xlsread

When I try to read in a csv file with xlsread, I first got an error that the RPC server was unavailable. After some digging around on this site, I added a pause(10) command after xlsread, and now I get this error message:

Error using xlsread

Error registering events. 'WorkbookActivate' is not a valid event name.

I tried saving the csv as a xlsx file. I have tried using readcell and readtable, but they don't capture all of the data that I need from the csv file. I could write what I need with low-level io, but I used to use xlsread all the time, so I don't want to have to abandon that.

This error happens with both matlab R2020a and 2022b. My computer is running Microsoft Excel 2016. Any help is appreciated! Thank you!

[Sudarshan]

For this particular problem, refer to the following link.

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/268668-getting-error-from-xlsread#answer_243627

There are additional links related to "xlsread" for those who want to learn more.

Answer 1

[Sudarshan]

Hi Gordon,

The “xlsread” function has not been recommended for use since R2019. A possible workaround is to modify your code to use one of the functions “readmatrix” or “readtable”, both of which read XLS files but return a matrix and a table respectively.

Refer to the below documentation for more info on “readmatrix”:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/readmatrix.html?searchHighlight=readmatrix&s_tid=srchtitle_readmatrix_1

Here are some useful links to where the issue has been discussed in the past.

https://in.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/1685374-why-do-i-see-the-rpc-server-is-unavailable-or-the-remote-procedure-call-failed-when-calling-mat#:~:text=The%20reason%20that%20you%20are,MATLAB%20as%20a%20COM%20server

https://in.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/268668-getting-error-from-xlsread

[Gordon Fox]

I finally solved this by disabling the COM add-ins in Excel.

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/268668-getting-error-from-xlsread#answer_243627

readmatrix does not work because I need the text information in the spreadsheet as well, and I have not been able to get readtable to work yet, because the spreadsheets are not formatted neatly with variable names atop columns of variable data. I need to pull all of the text and numbers of the spreadsheet in and then parse them in Matlab.

The link to the RPC server issue does not help either, because that seems to be referring to another program calling Matlab, not Matlab calling Excel.

Thank you for the link Sudarshan!

[Sudarshan]

Glad that the link helped. Do accept the answer if you found it useful!

[Gordon Fox]

Sudarshan, so that other users can clearly see what worked, can you please comment with the following link Then, I will accept that as the correct answer. The other links in your post do not solve this particular problem.

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/268668-getting-error-from-xlsread#answer_243627

[Sudarshan]

Thanks for the suggestion. Added the link to a separate comment.