Read Excel data from Drop down into C# object array

Question

From within C# I\'m trying to read data from an Excel sheet into an C# object.

Everything works fine except one small detail, Excel data from drop down lists.

S

Answer 1

The issue you're seeing occurs because the data for a dropdown isnt actually stored in the Range object itself. If you take a look at your WorkSheet object you'll notice a DropDowns method. This returns a DropDowns object which you can then call Item on to get an individual DropDown. From there you can work against the list within the DropDown itself like:

(assuming: using Excel = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel)
Excel.DropDowns allDropDowns = YourWorkSheet.DropDowns(Type.Missing);
Excel.DropDown oneDropdown = allDropDowns.Item(YourIndex);

I've not had a change to dig into getting the items out of the DropDown (only adding more with AddItem) however the Get List and Get Selected methods seem a good place to start.