How to Read Excel (.xlsx) Files Without Opening Them in Excel?

Accessing Excel (.xlsx) Data Without Excel's Interface

The Challenge:

Attempting to access data from an Excel (.xlsx) file using OleDbDataAdapter and a connection string configured for Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0 and Extended Properties=Excel 8.0 often results in an "External table is not in the expected format" error. This typically occurs when the Excel file isn't already open within the Excel application.

The Solution:

To seamlessly read data from your .xlsx file without pre-opening it in Excel, adjust your connection string parameters as follows:

<code class="language-csharp">public static string filePath = @"C:\src\RedirectApplication\RedirectApplication1s.xlsx";
public static string connectionString = "Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=" + filePath + ";Extended Properties=Excel 12.0;";</code>

Here's the breakdown of the crucial modifications:

• Provider: Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 is specifically designed for handling Excel 2007 and later file formats (.xlsx).
• Extended Properties: Excel 12.0 corresponds to the file format of Excel 2007 and later versions.

By implementing this updated connection string, you should be able to directly access your Excel data without encountering the "External table is not in the expected format" error.

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