Alteryx will not read in xls files

It is very strange. It will only read in the first cell. The input tool will not read in any of the headers or the data. If I open the xls (97-2003 excel) file in Excel, it opens and reads just fine. If I have the file open in Excel and then I run the input tool and the browse tool in Alteryx, it does work! But only if the file is already open in Excel. This is not a valid solution. What am I missing?

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Accepted answers

sean_bolte_dup_544

@LoganJ

As @MarqueeCrew indicated, as long as you're using the correct driver, shouldn't be an issue. It used to be that when opening an xls/xlsx file in Alteryx when it was already open in Excel- it would fail! In creating a test file (running 2019.4.4.20206) that did not occur for me. What version of Excel are you running - is it O365 or a local version? I am utilizing an O365 instance.

All comments

MarqueeCrew

@LoganJ ,

I don't have a .xls file to test with, but feel confident that the problem is solvable for you. Do please make sure that you are using the legacy driver for reading your .xls file.

Cheers,

Mark

LoganJ

I do have xls selected in the file format line in the input tool. There is some further issue.

nicolecostello

This appears to still be an issue. I am using the legacy driver and Alteryx 2020.4. In my case, some headers are being read in but other are coming in as F7,F8, etc., rather than bringing in the actual value.

Workaround: In the input tool, set "First Row Contains Data" to TRUE. Then use a Dynamic Rename tool, and set "Rename Mode" to "Take Field Names from First Row of Data".

Jeannie

I need some help here.. I have uploaded an Excel sheet and tried to run in via the browser but nothing comes out. Even after I added a select tool, nothing appears too. But when i click on the input data as shown in the first pic, there is something there.

Any idea?

jlshanley

Did you ever solve this? I am getting the exact same error. Would love any ideas!!

apathetichell

Hi @jlshanley - start a new thread on this. You'll probably be asked to play around with the table/query options - and to run/save/load/reload. I'd also ask you to use an action tool to make sure it's configured correctly. This original thread was on .xls which is the vintage version of excel files which are a totally separate and unique beast.

DylanHorsch

I ran into this issue during a certification exam - the dataset provided in the exam was not reading into Alteryx. I could see a preview in the configuration window, but it was outputting 0 fields.

The next day, I was successfully able to drop the excel file in and manipulate the data in Alteryx. Not sure what the issue was, but it seemed to self-resolve after my computer slept it off for a few hours.

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