Why do I get binary data warnings when using XLSREAD?

I have a third party program that populates an Excel worksheet with data. An example of such a third-party software is FactSet, which is a financial datafeed tool. When I use XLSREAD, I get the following results:

>> [num txt] = xlread('tmp.xlsx')

num = [] 

txt = 1 x 2 cell

The error message in the second element of the "txt" variable is:

 'This sheet contains Factset binary data for use with this workbook''s =FDS codes.  Modifying the worksheet''s contents may damage the workbook''s =FDS functionality.'

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This issue is caused by the third party software that populates the Excel Sheet. The third party software places a new, invisible, worksheet before the visible worksheets. This new worksheet, named something like "__FDSCACHE__", contains binary codes that control the population of the visible worksheets.

You can see this worksheet when you open the Excel file in MATLAB's Import Wizard. You can workaround this issue by specifying the sheet you want to read, like:

[num txt] = xlread('tmp.xlsx','Sheet1');