Importing from Excel

I'm trying to import a matrix from Excel to Mathematica. My code is:

Import["desktop/stproj.xls", "xls", data, 1]


The output is some weird stuff about population counts and not at all related to what's in the excel file. Can anyone help me with importing this?

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Marty Cohen's answer below is sage advice--I do the same when I'm trying to import data from a spreadsheet. If that's not an option, then you should probably make your spreadsheet accessible to the SE community. One thing I'll mention is that your import command should start with a capital letter (as do all built-in Mathematica functions). –  David Skulsky Mar 24 '12 at 4:29
@David, I think = in the original question is important in relation to the "weird stuff about population counts... OP is puzzled about. –  kguler Mar 24 '12 at 4:52
@R.M my comment about the previous edit was unintentionally directed to the David Skulsky. It was intended for David, but I could not figure out how to ping David. I think editing out = in the original version destroys the whole question. –  kguler Mar 24 '12 at 7:04

migrated from math.stackexchange.comMar 24 '12 at 4:11

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With syntax errors fixed:

  Import[" appropriate path /Desktop/stproj.xls", "xls", "Data", 1]


should import the file.

Regarding population counts you are getting, the = sign at the beginning of an input cell invokes Wolfram Alpha query which allows free-form input (hence you get no syntax error warnings). Interestingly, Wolfram Alpha interprets the query somehow and returns:

If you click the red +` button on the top right to get the full results, you see why W|A returns with this result:

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