When I tried to read huge excel file, I notice there is big difference in time while reading data from the excel file. In one case I use the Read Range and on the case I use the Excel activity Read Range. In both case I observed big difference can anyone explain why there is big difference here?
Data: No of records here is no of cell reading
No of Records ReadRange without Excel Activity ReadRange with Excel Activity
10k 2 seconds 2 minute 3 seconds
100 k 24 seconds 21 minute 18 seconds
Hi @Parth_Dobriyal
By using “Read Range” activity it is not opening excel application but you’re using “Read Range With Excel” activity it is opening excel that’s why it is taking much time.
When you use “Read Range workbook” activity it doesn’t open the excel application in the screen it works in the background it will take less time to read the excel file.
For “Excel read range” it opens the excel application in the screen. For opening and closing it will take much time than Red range workbook activity.
In Read range Workbook Activity the excel will open in background and run the process . In case of Modern Excel Activities the Excel will open while running the automation Process and we can see the further actions getting performed in excel. Excel Activity Read range needs excel Application to be installed on the machine where workbook activities doesn’t need the application.
I dont think so that opening any excel file and closing without saving it will take more than 30 seconds
if you see here difference is huge 2 second to 2 minutes.
The “Read Range” activity in UiPath is generally faster than the “Excel Read Range” activity because it uses the Open XML file format to read the data from Excel files, whereas the “Excel Read Range” activity uses the COM Interop library to read the data. The Open XML format is a more efficient and faster way to read and write Excel files.
In addition, the “Read Range” activity in UiPath is optimized for large data sets and can handle up to 2 million rows of data, while the “Excel Read Range” activity has limitations on the number of rows it can handle, which can result in slower processing times for larger data sets.
Another factor that can contribute to the speed difference is that the “Read Range” activity in UiPath can read data directly from memory, which eliminates the need for disk I/O operations, resulting in faster processing times.
Overall, if you need to read data from Excel files in UiPath, it is recommended to use the “Read Range” activity whenever possible to take advantage of its faster processing times and better performance.
Workbook activities comes under the package “UiPath.core.Activities” and Excel is not integrated for that activities whereas for excel activities it comes under the package “UiPath.Excel.Activities” and Excel is integrated with the activities in terms of Workbook Sheets, Rows, Columns. May be because of that excel activities take more time than Workbook activities.
The Read Range activity provided by UiPath directly reads the data from the Excel file using the Excel Interop library. It provides direct access to the data without involving any external tools or applications. This method is generally faster because it does not require any additional processing overhead.
2.The Read Range activity from the Excel package in UiPath utilizes the Excel application (Microsoft Excel) to read the data from the Excel file. It essentially opens the Excel application in the background, loads the file, and then extracts the data. This method involves launching the entire Excel application, which can result in increased overhead and slower execution times, especially when dealing with large files.