FME Form 2026.3.1.1 – Excel Reader only reads columns A–Z from protected XLSX files

Hi everyone,

We have encountered an issue when reading protected Excel (.xlsx) files using FME Form 2026.3.1.1 and would like to check whether anyone else has experienced similar behaviour.

Test scenario:

We have an XLSX file containing data across a large number of columns, from A to LZ. When opening the file in Microsoft Excel, the file is protected and displays the "Enable Editing" button.

We tested the same file using two different FME versions:

• FME Desktop 2022.1.2: Reads the entire file correctly, including all columns from A to LZ, without requiring the user to click "Enable Editing" in Excel.

• FME Form 2026.3.1.1: When the "Enable Editing" button has not been pressed, the Excel Reader only reads columns A to Z. The remaining columns (AA to LZ) are not detected/read.

• FME Form 2026.3.1.1: If we manually open the file in Excel and click "Enable Editing" before running the workspace, all columns are read correctly.

Expected behaviour:

We would expect FME Form 2026.3.1.1 to read the entire XLSX file, regardless of whether the "Enable Editing" button has been pressed in Microsoft Excel, as was the case with FME Desktop 2022.1.2.

Since this process is part of an automated workflow, manually opening the Excel file and enabling editing is not a viable workaround.

Questions:

1. Has there been any change in the Excel Reader implementation between FME 2022.1.2 and FME 2026.3.1.1 that could explain this behaviour?

2. Is there a known issue or a recommended workaround for reading such files without manually enabling editing in Excel?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Nicu