How do i extract specific lines of data from a huge Excel sheet using Python?

Question

I need to get specific lines of data that have certain key words in them (names) and write them to another file. The starting file is a 1.5 GB Excel file. I can\'t just open

Answer 1

I'm the author and maintainer of xlrd. Please edit your question to provide answers to the following questions. [Such stuff in SO comments is VERY hard to read]

1. How big is the file in MB? ["Huge" is not a useful answer]

2. What software created the file?

3. How much memory do you have on your computer?

4. Exactly what happens when you try to open the file using Excel? Please explain "I can open it partially".

5. Exactly what is the error message that you get when you try to open "C:\bigfile.xls" with your script using xlrd.open_workbook? Include the script that you ran, the full traceback, and the error message

6. What operating system, what version of Python, what version of xlrd?

7. Do you know how many worksheets there are in the file?