Formatting fails due to error "The input file already contains formatting styles"

Community Extensions Continental
#1

Hello,

I want to format an Excel file I previously created via the “Excel Writer” node. My workflow looks like this:

  1. Read existing Excel-file
  2. Transform the data
  3. Write into new file
  4. Format the new file

But when I try to load the file via “XLS Formatter (apply)” node, I always receive the “Execute failed: The input file already contains formatting styles. This is currently unsupported in our extension beyond a degree that KNIME’s XLS Writer and Sheet Appender nodes would utilize.” error. I don’t apply formatting styles anytime before as I only perform transformations based on the content of the cells.

What can I do to overcome this issue? Is there a way to “delete” every formatting that may have been applied previously?

Many thanks!

#2

Hi Merdarion,

You’re right that if there is formatting that is already applied on the excel file, then conflicts can arise when applying new formatting. It’s a little odd that you’re receiving this for a new excel file though. Are the transformations you are doing in KNIME or in Excel? It would be helpful to see (a screenshot of) your workflow to find out where the existing formatting comes from.

A quick, but inelegant workaround might be to add an additional step where you write the table to a KNIME data table (Table writer) and then read the table (Table reader) and write it as a new excel file (Excel writer).

Best,
Karen