xlswrite — Write numeric, logical, string, character, or cell data to Excel-compatible spreadsheet files.

xlswrite provides MATLAB's legacy spreadsheet export forms for older scripts. It writes an OOXML workbook payload for .xlsx and legacy .xls filenames, accepts worksheet and range selectors, preserves supported cells in workbooks previously created by RunMat xlswrite, and returns status/message outputs when requested.

Syntax

status = xlswrite(filename, A)
status = xlswrite(filename, A, sheetOrRange)
status = xlswrite(filename, A, sheet, range)
status = xlswrite(filename, A, sheet, range, '-basic')
[status,message] = xlswrite(filename, A)
[status,message] = xlswrite(filename, A, sheetOrRange)
[status,message] = xlswrite(filename, A, sheet, range)
[status,message] = xlswrite(filename, A, sheet, range, '-basic')

Inputs

Returns

Returned values from xlswrite depend on how many outputs the caller requests.

Errors

How xlswrite works

• xlswrite(filename, A) writes A to the first worksheet starting at A1. If the filename has no extension, .xlsx is appended.
• xlswrite(filename, A, sheet) selects a worksheet by name or one-based numeric index.
• xlswrite(filename, A, range) writes to an A1-style range start such as "B2" on the default worksheet.
• xlswrite(filename, A, sheet, range) combines worksheet and range selection.
• When the destination workbook already exists and was created by RunMat xlswrite, xlswrite preserves supported existing worksheets and cells outside the overwritten range.
• Existing unmarked Excel workbooks are rejected instead of being flattened into RunMat's minimal workbook representation; this avoids silently discarding formulas, macros, styles, charts, images, or workbook metadata.
• Numeric sheet selectors are one-based worksheet ordinals. Missing ordinal sheets are created as SheetN placeholders so later xlsread(filename, N, ...) calls address the same worksheet.
• Numeric, sparse, logical, string, character, and heterogeneous cell inputs are supported. Cell contents must be scalar spreadsheet values.
• A1 ranges may use absolute markers such as $B$2:$C$3; malformed range endpoints are rejected.
• The legacy '-basic' mode flag is accepted as a no-op because RunMat writes spreadsheets directly rather than using Excel COM automation.
• status = xlswrite(...) returns true on success. [status,message] = xlswrite(...) captures write failures as false plus a diagnostic struct with message and identifier fields.

Does RunMat run xlswrite on the GPU?

xlswrite performs file I/O and spreadsheet serialization on the CPU. It is not fusible and does not call acceleration provider hooks.

GPU memory and residency

xlswrite consumes host-side file data. gpuArray inputs are gathered before writing; outputs are CPU-resident status/message values.

Examples

Write a numeric matrix

status = xlswrite('measurements.xlsx', [1 2 3; 4 5 6]);

Write to a named worksheet and range

status = xlswrite('measurements.xlsx', {'Voltage', 1.5, true}, 'Data', 'B2');

Capture a failure message

[status, message] = xlswrite('out.xlsx', 1+2i);
if ~status
    disp(message.message)
end

Using xlswrite with coding agents

Open a RunMat example with live inputs, then ask the agent to explain how xlswrite changes the result.

FAQ

Related Io functions

Open-source implementation

Unlike proprietary runtimes, every RunMat function is open-source. Read exactly how xlswrite is executed, line by line, in Rust.

• View the source for xlswrite in Rust on GitHub
• Learn how the RunMat runtime works
• Found a bug? Open an issue with a minimal reproduction.

About RunMat

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