MATLAB R2019b Opening Excel file, error "This workbook contains links to ... unsafe ..." (want to open readonly).

SRC_file = xlApp.Workbooks.Open(SRC_dir_name) % also tried (SRC_dir_name,readOnly) or ...'readOnly') unsuccessfully.

Full error message: "This workbook contains links to one or more external sources that could be unsafe. If you trust the links, update them to get the latest data. Otherwise, you can keep working with the data you have."

[Bruce Ferguson]

Using a MATLAB script I want to open and readonly many Excel files. When each is opened, I get the "external links" error message above, at which I must select the "keep working with the data you have" option manually. I want to suppress this message. The file is not open before. One solution might be able to edit all the Excel files using Excel ahead of time to turn this off (write a macro?) but would rather do something in MATLAB like: "Excel.Application.Workbooks.Open(filename, 'readonly')", but that doesn't work.

Answer 1

[Animesh Gupta]

Hello Bruce,

It is my understanding that you are unable to load an excel file in your workbook due to the error message. I found that this error is related to the file being used.