Excel Debug-First Extraction Workflow

When working with poorly-structured, complex, or unfamiliar Excel files, use this iterative debugging approach to map the data layout before writing your final extraction logic.

When to Use This Skill

• Excel files with inconsistent formatting or merged cells
• Files received from external sources with unknown structure
• Complex workbooks with multiple sheets and interdependencies
• When initial parsing attempts fail or produce unexpected results

Workflow Steps

Step 1: Initial Structure Reconnaissance

Before writing extraction logic, create a debug script to explore the file structure:

# debug_structure.py
from openpyxl import load_workbook

wb = load_workbook('file.xlsx')
print(f"Sheets: {wb.sheetnames}")

for sheet_name in wb.sheetnames:
    ws = wb[sheet_name]
    print(f"\n=== Sheet: {sheet_name} ===")
    print(f"Dimensions: {ws.dimensions}")
    
    # Print first 10 rows to understand header structure
    for row in ws.iter_rows(min_row=1, max_row=10, values_only=True):
        print([str(cell)[:50] for cell in row])

Step 2: Map Column Positions

Identify where key data fields are located:

# debug_columns.py
from openpyxl import load_workbook

wb = load_workbook('file.xlsx')
ws = wb['Sheet1']

# Examine header row to find column indices
header_row = 1
column_map = {}

for col in ws.iter_cols(min_row=header_row, max_row=header_row):
    for cell in col:
        if cell.value:
            column_map[str(cell.value)] = cell.column_letter

print("Column mapping:", column_map)

# Sample data rows to verify structure
for row_num in range(2, min(6, ws.max_row + 1)):
    row_data = [ws.cell(row=row_num, column=col).value 
                for col in range(1, ws.max_column + 1)]
    print(f"Row {row_num}: {row_data}")

Step 3: Identify Row Patterns

Understand how data rows are structured (e.g., summary rows, detail rows, blank separators):