msexcel_backend.py doesn’t parse complex Excel tables properly.

[rafaelsanchezsouza]

Bug

When attempting to open an Excel document with complex tables, Docling fails to extract the tables correctly.

Steps to reproduce

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter

source = "./excel-tests.xlsx"  # document per local path or URL
converter = DocumentConverter()
result = converter.convert(source)
print(result.document.export_to_markdown())  # output: "## Docling Technical Report[...]"

excel-tests.xlsx

Output

HIGH VOLTAGE SWITCHBOARD
DATA SHEET

MODEL-000
2016
Page 1 of 10

Package no.:
13156456

Doc. no.:
144564

Rev.
A

Power system
1
=(A11+1)
=(A12+1)
=(A13+1)
=(A14+1)
=(A15+1)
Construction
7
=(A18+1)
=(A19+1)
Environmental conditions
=(A20+1)
=(A22+1)
=(A23+1)
=(A24+1)
Arc test
=(A25+1)
Notes
1
2

Rated system voltage
Rated system frequency
No. of phases
System earthing
Earth fault current
Control voltage supply

kV	:	130 (131 Um, 132 AC, 133 BIL)
Hz	:	134
	:	3

:	Solidly Earthed
:	135 kA
:	2 x 136V AC UPS 1 x 137V AC normal

A	:	135 kA
	:	2 x 136V AC UPS 1 x 137V AC normal

Metal-enclosed partition
VT for cable discharging
Voltage and Current measurement

No
Low Power Instrument Transformers

Hazardous area classification
Ambient temp.
Location
Humidity

:	Non hazardous
:	Min. -5, max. +40
:	Indoor
:	100

Converted to 110VDC	Converted to 110VDC	Converted to 110VDC	Converted to 110VDC	Converted to 110VDC
Arc test (type test)	Arc test (type test)	Arc test (type test)	Arc test (type test)	Arc test (type test)
None	None	None	None	None

Docling version

Docling version: 2.17.0
Docling Core version: 2.16.0
Docling IBM Models version: 3.3.0
Docling Parse version: 3.1.2
Python: cpython-310 (3.10.7)
Platform: Windows-10-10.0.19045-SP0

Python version

Python 3.10.7

Final Considerations

I understand that the table is complex, so I would like to know what would be the requirements for an Excel document to work with Docling. Digging into the code, I noticed this:

• split_text_and_number - That regex is not trimming the match.groups()

Hope it helps,

Let me know if you need more information.

Have a nice day!