Reading an Excel file in python

Question

I would like to read an excel-file with python. My first attempt is about reading the worksheets, the second attempt would then be about reading cells. Unfortunately, I am stuck with the first step.

The code:

import openpyxl 
wb = openpyxl.load_workbook ("C:\\Users\\Alex\\Documents\\Python\\Übung\\example1.xlxs")

wb.get_sheet_by_name()

the following messages appear:

FileNotFoundError                         Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-26-7b234f637152> in <module>()
      1 import openpyxl
----> 2 wb = openpyxl.load_workbook("\\Users\\Alex\\Documents\\Python\\Übung\\example1.xlxs")
      3 wb.get_sheet_by_name()

~\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\openpyxl\reader\excel.py in load_workbook(filename, read_only, keep_vba, data_only, guess_types, keep_links)
    169 
    170     """
--> 171     archive = _validate_archive(filename)
    172     read_only = read_only
    173 

~\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\openpyxl\reader\excel.py in _validate_archive(filename)
    116 
    117     try:
--> 118         archive = ZipFile(filename, 'r', ZIP_DEFLATED)
    119     except BadZipfile:
    120         f = repair_central_directory(filename, is_file_like)

~\Anaconda3\lib\zipfile.py in __init__(self, file, mode, compression, allowZip64)
   1088             while True:
   1089                 try:
-> 1090                     self.fp = io.open(file, filemode)
   1091                 except OSError:
   1092                     if filemode in modeDict:

FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '\\Users\\Alex\\Documents\\Python\\Übung\\example1.xlxs'

I referenced the file using an absolute path and it exits, but why do I get an error that the file is not found nevertheless? And what about the rest of the error messages, I have no clue what they mean or whether this can be dismissed. Thanks for help.

Answer 1

You have a typo in your code:

example1.xlxs -> This extension does not exist.

The correct Excel file extension is xlsx .

Answer 2

It's a little bit difficult to read through the error without code blocks, but after sifting a bit, the trace reads,

FileNotFoundError: [Errno2] No such file or directory:
'\Users\Alex\Documents\Python\Übung\example1.xlxs'

And in your code, you have

wb = openpyxl.load_workbook("\Users\Alex\Documents\Python\Übung\example1.xlxs")

So, it seems you haven't supplied the full path, you're missing the C:\\ portion. Could it be as easy as that?

Feel free to post back after confirming you've correctly entered the file path.

Answer 3

For most of the data operations (including Data Analysis), pandas have been a goto library for many. Even I strongly recommend using pandas for you:

import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_excel("excelFilePath.xlsx", sheet_name="Sheet1", usecols="C,D,E")

Note: in the code above usecols="C,D,E" are the column numbers and not the exact column names. JFYI: https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas/issues/18273

Read more here: https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/