Connection strings for Excel 2007
Providers for Excel 2007
Community Forums
Find solutions and post questions regarding connection string related issues.
ACE OLEDB 12.0
Type: OLE DB Provider
Usage: Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0
Usage: Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0
Manufacturer: Microsoft
More info about this provider »
More info about this provider »
Customize string example values »
Xlsx files
This one is for connecting to Excel 2007 files with the Xlsx file extension. That is the Office Open XML format with macros disabled.
Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=c:\myFolder\myExcel2007file.xlsx;Extended Properties="Excel 12.0 Xml;HDR=YES";
"HDR=Yes;" indicates that the first row contains columnnames, not data. "HDR=No;" indicates the opposite.
Treating data as text
Use this one when you want to treat all data in the file as text, overriding Excels column type "General" to guess what type of data is in the column.
Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=c:\myFolder\myExcel2007file.xlsx;Extended Properties="Excel 12.0 Xml;HDR=YES;IMEX=1";
If you want to read the column headers into the result set (using HDR=NO even though there is a header) and the column data is numeric, use IMEX=1 to avoid crash.
To always use IMEX=1 is a safer way to retrieve data for mixed data columns. Consider the scenario that one Excel file might work fine cause that file's data causes the driver to guess one data type while another file, containing other data, causes the driver to guess another data type. This can cause your app to crash.
To always use IMEX=1 is a safer way to retrieve data for mixed data columns. Consider the scenario that one Excel file might work fine cause that file's data causes the driver to guess one data type while another file, containing other data, causes the driver to guess another data type. This can cause your app to crash.
Xlsb files
This one is for connecting to Excel 2007 files with the Xlsb file extension. That is the Office Open XML format saved in a binary format. I e the structure is similar but it's not saved in a text readable format as the Xlsx files and can improve performance if the file contains a lot of data.
Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=c:\myFolder\myBinaryExcel2007file.xlsb;Extended Properties="Excel 12.0;HDR=YES";
You can also use this connection string to connect to older 97-2003 Excel workbooks.
"HDR=Yes;" indicates that the first row contains columnnames, not data. "HDR=No;" indicates the opposite.
"HDR=Yes;" indicates that the first row contains columnnames, not data. "HDR=No;" indicates the opposite.
Xlsm files
This one is for connecting to Excel 2007 files with the Xlsm file extension. That is the Office Open XML format with macros enabled.
Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=c:\myFolder\myExcel2007file.xlsm;Extended Properties="Excel 12.0 Macro;HDR=YES";
Important note!
The quota " in the string needs to be escaped using your language specific escape syntax.
c#, c++ \"
VB6, VBScript ""
xml (web.config etc) "
or maybe use a single quota '.
"HDR=Yes;" indicates that the first row contains columnnames, not data. "HDR=No;" indicates the opposite.
The quota " in the string needs to be escaped using your language specific escape syntax.
c#, c++ \"
VB6, VBScript ""
xml (web.config etc) "
or maybe use a single quota '.
"HDR=Yes;" indicates that the first row contains columnnames, not data. "HDR=No;" indicates the opposite.
.NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB
Type: .NET Framework Wrapper Class Library
Usage: System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection
Usage: System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection
Manufacturer: Microsoft
More info about this wrapper class library »
More info about this wrapper class library »
Customize string example values »
Bridging to ACE OLEDB 12.0
This is just one connection string sample for the wrapping OleDbConnection class that calls the underlying OLEDB provider. See respective OLE DB provider for more connection strings to use with this class.
Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=c:\myFolder\myExcel2007file.xlsx;Extended Properties="Excel 12.0 Xml;HDR=YES";
.NET xlReader for Microsoft Excel
Type: .NET Framework Class Library
Usage: VM.xPort.ExcelClient.ExcelConnection
Usage: VM.xPort.ExcelClient.ExcelConnection
Manufacturer: xPortTools
More info about this class library »
More info about this class library »
Customize string example values »
Excel file with header row
Data Source =c:\myExcelFile.xlsx;HDR=yes;Format=xlsx;
Excel file without header row
Data Source =c:\myExcelFile.xlsx;HDR=no;Format=xlsx;
Selected Articles