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DOC: update wording about when xlrd engine can be used #38456

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Merged
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Dec 23, 2020
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Merged

DOC: update wording about when xlrd engine can be used #38456

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e107c1e
adjust docs about xlrd changes to match my intentions
cjw296 Dec 13, 2020
a70795d
undo edits under discussion
jorisvandenbossche Dec 22, 2020
d7d8fd3
fixup
jorisvandenbossche Dec 22, 2020
51706b2
Add warnings that using xlrd to open xlsx files is no longer supported.
cjw296 Dec 22, 2020
f77ca98
add warning to io.rst as well
jorisvandenbossche Dec 23, 2020
41c14cf
edits
jorisvandenbossche Dec 23, 2020
4bc6a08
edit
jorisvandenbossche Dec 23, 2020
47e26b5
fix sphinx warning
jorisvandenbossche Dec 23, 2020
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30 changes: 25 additions & 5 deletions doc/source/user_guide/io.rst
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Expand Up @@ -2820,9 +2820,9 @@ parse HTML tables in the top-level pandas io function ``read_html``.
Excel files
-----------

The :func:`~pandas.read_excel` method can read Excel 2003 (``.xls``)
files using the ``xlrd`` Python module. Excel 2007+ (``.xlsx``) files
can be read using ``openpyxl``. Binary Excel (``.xlsb``)
The :func:`~pandas.read_excel` method can read Excel 2007+ (``.xlsx``) files
using the ``openpyxl`` Python module. Excel 2003 (``.xls``) files
can be read using ``xlrd``. Binary Excel (``.xlsb``)
files can be read using ``pyxlsb``.
The :meth:`~DataFrame.to_excel` instance method is used for
saving a ``DataFrame`` to Excel. Generally the semantics are
Expand All @@ -2831,8 +2831,28 @@ See the :ref:`cookbook<cookbook.excel>` for some advanced strategies.

.. warning::

Please do not report issues when using ``xlrd`` to read ``.xlsx`` files.
This is not supported, switch to using ``openpyxl`` instead.
The `xlwt <https://xlwt.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>`_ package for writing old-style ``.xls``
excel files is no longer maintained.
The `xlrd <https://xlrd.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>`_ package is now only for reading
old-style ``.xls`` files.

Previously, the default argument ``engine=None`` to :func:`~pandas.read_excel`
would result in using the ``xlrd`` engine in many cases, also for new
Excel 2007+ (``.xlsx``) files.
If `openpyxl <https://openpyxl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/>`_ is installed,
many of these cases will now default to using the ``openpyxl`` engine.
See the :func:`read_excel` documentation for more details.

Thus, it is strongly encouraged to install ``openpyxl`` to read Excel 2007+
(``.xlsx``) files.
Please do not report issues when using ``xlrd`` to read ``.xlsx`` files.
This is no longer supported, switch to using ``openpyxl`` instead.
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I would prefer these two lines to be further up, around 2938, and in their own paragraph. I mean, I'd prefer them to be bright red and bold, maybe flashing too, but I doubt you'd agree to that ;-)


Attempting to use the the ``xlwt`` engine will raise a ``FutureWarning``
unless the option :attr:`io.excel.xls.writer` is set to ``"xlwt"``.
While this option is now deprecated and will also raise a ``FutureWarning``,
it can be globally set and the warning suppressed. Users are recommended to
write ``.xlsx`` files using the ``openpyxl`` engine instead.

.. _io.excel_reader:

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15 changes: 8 additions & 7 deletions doc/source/whatsnew/v1.2.0.rst
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Expand Up @@ -15,16 +15,17 @@ including other versions of pandas.
The `xlrd <https://xlrd.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>`_ package is now only for reading
old-style ``.xls`` files.

Previously, the default argument ``engine=None`` to ``pd.read_excel``
would result in using the ``xlrd`` engine in many cases. If
`openpyxl <https://openpyxl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/>`_ is installed,
Previously, the default argument ``engine=None`` to :func:`~pandas.read_excel`
would result in using the ``xlrd`` engine in many cases, also for new
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"including" might be better than "also for" here.

Excel 2007+ (``.xlsx``) files.
If `openpyxl <https://openpyxl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/>`_ is installed,
many of these cases will now default to using the ``openpyxl`` engine.
See the :func:`read_excel` documentation for more details.

.. warning::

Please do not report issues when using ``xlrd`` to read ``.xlsx`` files.
This is not supported, switch to using ``openpyxl`` instead.
Thus, it is strongly encouraged to install ``openpyxl`` to read Excel 2007+
(``.xlsx``) files.
Please do not report issues when using ``xlrd`` to read ``.xlsx`` files.
This is no longer supported, switch to using ``openpyxl`` instead.

Attempting to use the the ``xlwt`` engine will raise a ``FutureWarning``
unless the option :attr:`io.excel.xls.writer` is set to ``"xlwt"``.
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion pandas/io/excel/_base.py
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Expand Up @@ -933,7 +933,7 @@ class ExcelFile:
Supported engines: ``xlrd``, ``openpyxl``, ``odf``, ``pyxlsb``
Engine compatibility :

- ``xlrd`` old-style Excel files (.xls).
- ``xlrd`` supports old-style Excel files (.xls).
- ``openpyxl`` supports newer Excel file formats.
- ``odf`` supports OpenDocument file formats (.odf, .ods, .odt).
- ``pyxlsb`` supports Binary Excel files.
Expand Down