Reading matrices from Excel, CSV or formatted flat files

>If you really want to link excel to maxima more generally,
>e.g. from excel, send a range of data to maxima and get it
>back to excel, I would be very interested in learning of
>the application.

I think that your goals are more "high-flying" than mine.

I am developing a Java application for evaluation of process models
and want to use Maxima

a) for testing some algorithms
b) later, when the algorithms are implemented in my application, for
verfifying the results my application produces.

I want to exchange data between my application and Maxima using Excel
because it is a very common file format and everybody can read such
files.

If excel2maxima application will be sufficient for my goals, I will
use it because it is very simple and can be easily explained to
non-technically minded people.

Whether it will be sufficient will crystallize out during the next
weeks. I will inform you about anything new I learn about Excel -
Maxima data exchange.

Best regards

dap