How does one read string data from an Excel file?

[Edward O]

Hello,

I am sure this is a rather elemental question but I have just started with LabVIEW. I know how to write string data to an Excel file but I am not finding a VI that will read string data from that created file. I found one that will read numerics but not strings. What it is in particular I want to do is read individual cells of strings and print them out to a front panel indicator. Thanks in advance.

Edward Otte

[Alberto]

Hi Edward,

to insert data in an Excel cell you use the property VALUE(take a look at the example Write table to XL and its sub-vi Set Cell Value.vi)
If you pop -up on the property VALUE you can change it to read, this returns the content of the selected cell as a variant data.
You should convert the variant data into a string with the function Variant to Data in the ActiveX palette and connect to its Type terminal an empty string.

Good luck,

Alberto Locatelli

[Pete 586]

The really simple way is to download the Excel Toolkit. It is free and has simple Vi's that let you do almost anything in Excel through LabView. One note you may also need the GOOP toolkit, which is also free. Good Luck
-Pete