PHPExcel: 'PHPExcel_Reader_excel.php' not found - php

Question

i'm using phpexcel and i have a problem: when creating a reader object i get this error:
Fatal error: Class 'PHPExcel_Reader_excel.php' not found in C:\xampp\htdocs\phpexcel\Classes\PHPExcel\IOFactory.php on line 170
my code is:
<?php
require_once(dirname(__FILE__)."/Classes/phpexcel.php");
//or
require_once(dirname(__FILE__)."/Classes/PHPExcel/IOFactory.php");
//$phpexcel = new PHPExcel();
$reader = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createReader("excel.php");
?>
i checked IOFactory.php on line 170 and found this:
$searchType = 'IReader';
// Include class
foreach (self::$_searchLocations as $searchLocation) {
if ($searchLocation['type'] == $searchType) {
$className = str_replace('{0}', $readerType, $searchLocation['class']);
$instance = new $className();
if ($instance !== NULL) {
return $instance;
}
}
}
but it is not possible to locate any class because they are using _ instead of / (the path is phpexcel\Classes\PHPExcel\Reader and there are files like excel5.php excel2007.php but not excel.php)
what is wrong? documentation is a litle bit confusing

Answer 1

Unless you've added a custom reader of your own called PHPExcel_Reader_excel.php then this will return an error.
As described in section 1 of PHPExcel User Documentation - Reading Spreadsheet Files online and in the /Documentation folder, there are 7 different readers available for 7 different spreadsheet formats:
PHPExcel can read a number of different spreadsheet file formats, although not all features are supported by all of the readers. Check the Functionality Cross-Reference document (Functionality Cross-Reference.xls) for a list that identifies which features are supported by which readers.
Currently, PHPExcel supports the following File Types for Reading:
Excel5
The Microsoft Excel™ Binary file format (BIFF5 and BIFF8) is a binary file format that was used by Microsoft Excel™ between versions 95 and 2003. The format is supported (to various extents) by most spreadsheet programs. BIFF files normally have an extension of .xls. Documentation describing the format can be found online at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc313154(v=office.12).aspx or from http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/4/8/24862317-78F0-4C4B-B355-C7B2C1D997DB/[MS-XLS].pdf (as a downloadable PDF).
Excel2003XML
Microsoft Excel™ 2003 included options for a file format called SpreadsheetML. This file is a zipped XML document. It is not very common, but its core features are supported. Documentation for the format can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa140066%28office.10%29.aspx though it’s sadly rather sparse in its detail.
Excel2007
Microsoft Excel™ 2007 shipped with a new file format, namely Microsoft Office Open XML SpreadsheetML, and Excel 2010 extended this still further with its new features such as sparklines. These files typically have an extension of .xlsx. This format is based around a zipped collection of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) files. Microsoft Office Open XML SpreadsheetML is mostly standardized in ECMA 376 (http://www.ecma-international.org/news/TC45_current_work/TC45_available_docs.htm) and ISO 29500.
OOCalc
aka Open Document Format (ODF) or OASIS, this is the OpenOffice.org XML File Format for spreadsheets. It comprises a zip archive including several components all of which are text files, most of these with markup in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). It is the standard file format for OpenOffice.org Calc and StarCalc, and files typically have an extension of .ods. The published specification for the file format is available from the OASIS Open Office XML Format Technical Committee web page (http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=office#technical). Other information is available from the OpenOffice.org XML File Format web page (http://xml.openoffice.org/general.html), part of the OpenOffice.org project.
SYLK
This is the Microsoft Multiplan Symbolic Link Interchange (SYLK) file format. Multiplan was a predecessor to Microsoft Excel™. Files normally have an extension of .slk. While not common, there are still a few applications that generate SYLK files as a cross-platform option, because (despite being limited to a single worksheet) it is a simple format to implement, and supports some basic data and cell formatting options (unlike CSV files).
Gnumeric
The Gnumeric file format is used by the Gnome Gnumeric spreadsheet application, and typically files have an extension of .gnumeric. The file contents are stored using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) markup, and the file is then compressed using the GNU project's gzip compression library. http://projects.gnome.org/gnumeric/doc/file-format-gnumeric.shtml
CSV
Comma Separated Value (CSV) file format is a common structuring strategy for text format files. In CSV flies, each line in the file represents a row of data and (within each line of the file) the different data fields (or columns) are separated from one another using a comma (“,”). If a data field contains a comma, then it should be enclosed (typically in quotation marks ("). Sometimes tabs “\t” or the pipe symbol (“|”) are used as separators instead of a comma. Because CSV is a text-only format, it doesn't support any data formatting options.
You need to specify the reader by name when you use the createReader() method, e.g:
$reader = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createReader("Excel5");
There are plenty of examples in the /Examples folder showing this usage for different readers, for letting PHPExcel itself select the correct reader using load(), and for verifying that your file is of the correct format before setting the reader using the identify() method
I have to confess, I'd thought this documentation was fairly straightforward, especially with the examples that are included

Answer 2

To make it easier you could use
$objReader = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createReaderForFile($file);
and it will automatically pick a reader for your file