How to export DataTable to Excel

Question

How can I export a DataTable to Excel in C#? I am using Windows Forms. The DataTable is associated with a DataGridView control. I have

Answer 1

One way of doing it would be also with ACE OLEDB Provider (see also connection strings for Excel). Of course you'd have to have the provider installed and registered. You should have it, if you have Excel installed, but this is something you have to consider when deploying the app.

This is the example of calling the helper method from ExportHelper: ExportHelper.CreateXlsFromDataTable(myDataTable, @"C:\tmp\export.xls");

The helper for exporting to Excel file using ACE OLEDB:

public class ExportHelper
{
    private const string ExcelOleDbConnectionStringTemplate = "Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source={0};Extended Properties=\"Excel 8.0;HDR=YES\";";

    /// 

    /// Creates the Excel file from items in DataTable and writes them to specified output file.
    /// 
    public static void CreateXlsFromDataTable(DataTable dataTable, string fullFilePath)
    {
        string createTableWithHeaderScript = GenerateCreateTableCommand(dataTable);

        using (var conn = new OleDbConnection(String.Format(ExcelOleDbConnectionStringTemplate, fullFilePath)))
        {
            if (conn.State != ConnectionState.Open)
            {
                conn.Open();
            }

            OleDbCommand cmd = new OleDbCommand(createTableWithHeaderScript, conn);
            cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();

            foreach (DataRow dataExportRow in dataTable.Rows)
            {
                AddNewRow(conn, dataExportRow);
            }
        }
    }

    private static void AddNewRow(OleDbConnection conn, DataRow dataRow)
    {
        string insertCmd = GenerateInsertRowCommand(dataRow);

        using (OleDbCommand cmd = new OleDbCommand(insertCmd, conn))
        {
            AddParametersWithValue(cmd, dataRow);
            cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
        }
    }

    /// 

    /// Generates the insert row command.
    /// 
    private static string GenerateInsertRowCommand(DataRow dataRow)
    {
        var stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
        var columns = dataRow.Table.Columns.Cast().ToList();
        var columnNamesCommaSeparated = string.Join(",", columns.Select(x => x.Caption));
        var questionmarkCommaSeparated = string.Join(",", columns.Select(x => "?"));

        stringBuilder.AppendFormat("INSERT INTO [{0}] (", dataRow.Table.TableName);
        stringBuilder.Append(columnNamesCommaSeparated);
        stringBuilder.Append(") VALUES(");
        stringBuilder.Append(questionmarkCommaSeparated);
        stringBuilder.Append(")");
        return stringBuilder.ToString();
    }

    /// 

    /// Adds the parameters with value.
    /// 
    private static void AddParametersWithValue(OleDbCommand cmd, DataRow dataRow)
    {
        var paramNumber = 1;

        for (int i = 0; i <= dataRow.Table.Columns.Count - 1; i++)
        {
            if (!ReferenceEquals(dataRow.Table.Columns[i].DataType, typeof(int)) && !ReferenceEquals(dataRow.Table.Columns[i].DataType, typeof(decimal)))
            {
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@p" + paramNumber, dataRow[i].ToString().Replace("'", "''"));
            }
            else
            {
                object value = GetParameterValue(dataRow[i]);
                OleDbParameter parameter = cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@p" + paramNumber, value);
                if (value is decimal)
                {
                    parameter.OleDbType = OleDbType.Currency;
                }
            }

            paramNumber = paramNumber + 1;
        }
    }

    /// 

    /// Gets the formatted value for the OleDbParameter.
    /// 
    private static object GetParameterValue(object value)
    {
        if (value is string)
        {
            return value.ToString().Replace("'", "''");
        }
        return value;
    }

    private static string GenerateCreateTableCommand(DataTable tableDefination)
    {
        StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
        bool firstcol = true;

        stringBuilder.AppendFormat("CREATE TABLE [{0}] (", tableDefination.TableName);

        foreach (DataColumn tableColumn in tableDefination.Columns)
        {
            if (!firstcol)
            {
                stringBuilder.Append(", ");
            }
            firstcol = false;

            string columnDataType = "CHAR(255)";

            switch (tableColumn.DataType.Name)
            {
                case "String":
                    columnDataType = "CHAR(255)";
                    break;
                case "Int32":
                    columnDataType = "INTEGER";
                    break;
                case "Decimal":
                    // Use currency instead of decimal because of bug described at 
                    // http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/5d6248a5-ef00-4f46-be9d-853207656bcc/localization-trouble-with-oledbparameter-and-decimal?forum=csharpgeneral
                    columnDataType = "CURRENCY";
                    break;
            }

            stringBuilder.AppendFormat("{0} {1}", tableColumn.ColumnName, columnDataType);
        }
        stringBuilder.Append(")");

        return stringBuilder.ToString();
    }
}