Problem Importing ‘Raw’ Excel Data in JMP 17

[#1]

I have a large complex spreadsheet.  The data consists of character header information and metadata followed by measurement data.

I import the data in ‘raw’ format, then process the data myself in JSL.  This has worked fine in earlier

versions of JMP, but is failing in version 17.

I have created a trivial spreadsheet to illustrate the problem (attached).  Whilst I use a script to import the data, the problem is apparent when interactively importing the data using the Excel wizard:

Here is the Excel wizard in version 16 of JMP:

But in version 17 the columns are being treated as numeric and all character information is lost:

Observations:

This doesn't seem to be a generic problem. If you create a trivial spreadsheet with a combination of text and numeric data, the wizard behaves ok, which suggests there is something peculiar with the file.  However, I have no control over this file.

Have I missed something?  A setting in the Excel wizard or a parameter in the Open function that will allow the data to be imported in its raw format without JMP (incorrectly) guessing the data types?

[#2]

I wonder if this is related to this thread?

https://community.jmp.com/t5/Discussions/Jmp-not-recognizing-the-column-headers-from-excel/m-p/61632...

[#3 · Accepted solution]

I've not been able to device a workaround for this, unfortunately.  However, tech support have acknowledged that there is a problem and have reported it as a bug.

FYI: it occurs on Windows but not MacOS.