Read Excel Files
Infoveave Data Automation — File Reading
Excel spreadsheet in. Structured table out. Without opening a single file.
Excel is the lingua franca of business data — performance reports, budget templates, forecast models, and operational logs all arrive as .xlsx files. Read Excel Files eliminates the manual download-open-copy step by parsing the specified sheet directly into the workflow pipeline. The same file structure that used to require an analyst is now handled automatically on every scheduled run.
What Read Excel Files does
Read .xlsx Excel files from a workflow directory or previous activity into Infoveave pipelines. Specify the sheet name, header row, and file pattern to automate Excel data ingestion without manual exports or copy-paste.
Part of Infoveave Data Automation on the Unified Data Platform.
When to use Read Excel Files
- Your data source — a manager upload, form submission, or scheduled export — arrives as an .xlsx Excel file
- You need to read data from a specific named sheet within a multi-sheet workbook
- You receive Excel files on a recurring schedule (weekly, monthly) and want to automate the ingestion
- Your downstream pipeline needs clean tabular data that was built in Excel rather than exported from a system
When to avoid it
- Your data arrives as CSV or text-delimited format — use Read CSV Files instead
- You need to read from multiple sheets in the same workbook simultaneously — process them in separate steps
- You are reading .xls (legacy format) files — only .xlsx is supported
Where it fits in your Infoveave automation
Read Excel Files is one step inside a multi-step Infoveave workflow. Chain it with other activities — no code, no manual hand-offs.
Build this workflow visually in Infoveave Data Automation — drag, connect, and schedule with no infrastructure setup.
How teams use Read Excel Files
Real scenarios where this transformation saves hours of manual work.
Weekly Budget vs Actual Reporting
Finance managers upload a budget template in Excel every Monday. Read Excel Files reads the 'Weekly Summary' sheet automatically, feeds the data into aggregation and pivot steps, and generates a refreshed board-level dashboard — without anyone on the finance team logging into Infoveave.
Staff Performance Review Ingestion
HR teams receive performance review scores as Excel files from department heads. The activity reads the structured review sheet, validates scores using downstream filter steps, and updates the central HR analytics dashboard.
Vendor Product Catalog Updates
Vendors submit product catalog updates as Excel files via an Infoveave upload form. Read Excel Files ingests the catalog sheet, deduplicates against the existing master, and feeds new items into the product database pipeline.
See Read Excel Files in action
Input data (left) is transformed using the configuration below. The output table (right) is ready for dashboards or downstream steps.
EnabledWeekly ReportEnabledInput Data
| EmployeeID | Name | Department | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E001 | Alice | HR | 85 | Passed |
| E002 | Bob | Sales | 78 | Passed |
| E003 | Charlie | IT | 62 | Pending |
Output Data
| EmployeeID | Name | Department | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E001 | Alice | HR | 85 | Passed |
| E002 | Bob | Sales | 78 | Passed |
| E003 | Charlie | IT | 62 | Pending |
Configuration
Key fields to configure in the Infoveave workflow builder. Full reference available in the documentation.
Read From Previous Activity
When enabled, reads Excel files passed from the preceding step — such as a form upload or file download activity. When disabled, use Input File Pattern to specify the file name or wildcard to read from the workflow directory.
Input File Pattern
Only applies when Read From Previous Activity is disabled. Specify the file name or wildcard pattern (e.g., performance_*.xlsx) to locate Excel files in the workflow directory.
Sheet Name
The exact name of the worksheet tab to extract data from. Only one sheet is read per step. Use multiple Read Excel Files steps if you need data from several sheets.
Has Header Record
When enabled, the first row of the sheet is used as column names. When disabled, columns are auto-named Field1, Field2, etc. — useful for files without header rows.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about Read Excel Files in Infoveave.
Also in File Reading — and what runs before & after
Transformations in the same family as Read Excel Files, often chained together in the same Infoveave workflow.
Part of Infoveave Data Automation
80+ transformations. Zero manual steps.
Read Excel Files is one of over 80 transformation activities available inside Infoveave workflows. Chain transformations together — no code, no exports, no waiting for IT.
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