What potential pitfalls should be considered when trying to open Excel files directly from PHP code?

One potential pitfall when trying to open Excel files directly from PHP code is that it may require a specific library or extension to be installed on the server. To avoid this issue, you can use the PHPExcel library, which provides a set of classes for working with Excel files in PHP.

// Include PHPExcel library
require_once 'PHPExcel/Classes/PHPExcel.php';

// Load Excel file
$objPHPExcel = PHPExcel_IOFactory::load('example.xlsx');

// Get data from specific worksheet
$worksheet = $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet();
$data = $worksheet->toArray();

// Display data
print_r($data);