read_excel error: Error in read_fun(path = path, sheet = sheet, limits = limits, shim = shim, : std::bad_alloc

Question

I'm trying to read in some very messy xls workbooks. The workbooks contain merged cells, hidden rows/columns, grouped rows/columns, and macro buttons. I have been able to read in other sheets from the same set of workbooks but there is a series of sheets that don't work. I run the following code:

table <- read_xls(path = 'path', sheet = 'sheet name', range = 'A1:AZ150')

and get

Error in read_fun(path = path, sheet = sheet, limits = limits, shim = shim,  :
    std::bad_alloc
In addition: Warning message:
In doTryCatch(return(expr), name, parentenv, handler) :
    restarting interrupted promise evaluation

Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to fix this?

Thanks, Johnny

Answer 1

I was getting the same error, but with an excel file that had a problem with its extension.

When opening the xls file, MSExcel gave me a warning that the file content and extension did not match. When I saved the file as an .xlsx, then reading the file into R worked fine.