xlsread Mac compatibility help

I'm trying to use xlsread to upload an excel file on mac. I'm using OS X and don't actually have excel downloaded on my mac.... i'm just saving as/in an older version of excel.

when i use the xlsread command i get the following error.

Error using xlsread (line 245) XLS File contains unicode text which is not yet supported.

Also, i've tried using the exist command to make sure i'm not missing something and i'm getting '0' as my output. I've checked 20 times and the file's saved and the folder is open in matlab....

anyone have an idea whats going wrong? or am i just not able to use xlsread with matlab?

[Walter Roberson]

Which version of MATLAB are you using? Which version of Excel is the file being saved as?

[Kyle]

i'm using the 2012 version. i'm using Microsoft Excel 97-2004 workbook