Error message= Collums 1 through 2

Hi, I am using Matlab on a library computer at my Uni where they have version R2016a. Whenever I am trying to read in my excel workbook for a path using xlsread I receive an error message saying

ErrorMessage =

Columns 1 through 2

    'This package uses the Matlab command xlsread to read from Excel files.'    'This command appeared for the first time in Matlab 6. Your version of Matlab is older than version 6.'

Column 3

    'You must modify the file DSGEReadExcel.m or BVARReadExcel.m to read in data etc in some other way. Or upgrade Matlab ...'

This is strange since it is version 9.0 ie R2016a

Could anyone please help?

Answer 1

[Arnav Mendiratta]

I reckon you have installed some third party packages which are shadowing the "xlsread" function. Execute the following command to see if the function is shadowed:

which -all xlsread

The output should look like:

 C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2017a\toolbox\matlab\iofun\xlsread.m

If you have different output, you would need to rename the shadowed function. Alternatively, you can restore the MATLAB path using:

restoredefaultpath
rehash toolboxcache

This will remove all the third party toolboxes and support packages. If you would like to save this default configuration, use:

savepath

[Axel Sellert]

Thanks for your answer. It is indeed a third party package, it had a strange built in function asking if it was version 6 or 7 of Matlab. Since I ran neither of those it gave me that error message. It's been resolved now though through just modifying that part of the code.

[Amelie]

Unfortunately, I have the same problem and get the exact same error message...

When I enter

which -all xlsread

in the command window, I get:

/Applications/MATLAB_R2023b.app/toolbox/matlab/iofun/xlsread.m

When I enter

restoredefaultpath
rehash toolboxcache

in the command window and run the main file, I get error messages regarding the path, since DSGEReadExel.m among other .m files are in another folder. But even when I copy/paste the files in the same folder where the main file is stored, I still get the same error message, that is:

'This package uses the Matlab command xlsread to read from Excel files. This command appeared for the first time in Matlab 6. Your version of Matlab is older than version 6. You must modify the file DSGEReadExcel.m to read in data etc in some other way. Or upgrade Matlab ...'). 

Although it seems that Matlab has access to the .xls file and store the information and values from the .xls file in the Workspace.

Can someone tell me, how I can solve the problem and what I have to do ?

Many thanks for your help!