Excel 2002 connection strings

CData ADO.NET Provider for Excel

Using an External Cache Provider

RSSBus drivers have the ability to cache data in a separate database such as SQL Server or MySQL instead of in a local file using the following syntax:

Cache Provider=Provider.Namespace;Cache Connection='Connection String to Cache Database';

Above is just an example to show how it works. It can be used both with "Auto Cache" and with "Cached Data Only / Offline Mode". Read more about using RSSBus Cache Provider in this article >>>

Microsoft Jet OLE DB 4.0

Standard alternative

Try this one if the one above is not working. Some reports that Excel 2003 need the exta OLEDB; section in the beginning of the string.

OLEDB;Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\MyExcel.xls;Extended Properties="Excel 8.0;HDR=Yes;IMEX=1";

"HDR=Yes;" indicates that the first row contains columnnames, not data. "HDR=No;" indicates the opposite.

"IMEX=1;" tells the driver to always read "intermixed" (numbers, dates, strings etc) data columns as text. Note that this option might affect excel sheet write access negative.

SQL syntax "SELECT [Column Name One], [Column Name Two] FROM [Sheet One$]". I.e. excel worksheet name followed by a "$" and wrapped in "[" "]" brackets.

"SELECT * FROM [Sheet1$a5:d]", start picking the data as of row 5 and up to column D.

Check out the [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\Excel] located registry REG_DWORD "TypeGuessRows". That's the key to not letting Excel use only the first 8 rows to guess the columns data type. Set this value to 0 to scan all rows. This might hurt performance. Please also note that adding the IMEX=1 option might cause the IMEX feature to set in after just 8 rows. Use IMEX=0 instead to be sure to force the registry TypeGuessRows=0 (scan all rows) to work.

If the Excel workbook is protected by a password, you cannot open it for data access, even by supplying the correct password with your connection string. If you try, you receive the following error message: "Could not decrypt file."

A workaround for the "could not decrypt file" problem

Microsoft Excel ODBC Driver

Standard

Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)};DriverId=790;Dbq=C:\MyExcel.xls;DefaultDir=c:\mypath;

SQL syntax "SELECT [Column Name One], [Column Name Two] FROM [Sheet One$]". I.e. excel worksheet name followed by a "$" and wrapped in "[" "]" brackets.

Specify ReadOnly

[Microsoft][ODBC Excel Driver] Operation must use an updateable query. Use this connection string to avoid the error.

Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)};Dbq=C:\MyExcel.xls;ReadOnly=0;

ReadOnly = 0 specifies the connection to be updateable.