Getting the first sheet from an Excel document regardless of sheet name with OleDb

Question

I have users that name their sheets all sorts of crazy things, but I want to be able to get the first sheet of the Excel document regardless of what it is named.

I

Answer 1

It`s my solution ▼ (Easy, Fast, Executable, Understandable)

internal static DataTable GetExcelSheet(string excelFile,string sheetName = "")
{
    string fullPathToExcel = Path.GetFullPath(excelFile);
    string connString = string.Format("Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source={0};Extended Properties='Excel " + (excelFile.ToLower().EndsWith("x") ? "12.0" : "8.0") + ";HDR=yes'", fullPathToExcel);
    return GetDataTable(connString, "SELECT * FROM [" + (string.IsNullOrEmpty(sheetName) ? GetTableName(connString, 0) : sheetName + "$") + "]");
}

private static DataTable GetDataTable(string connectionString, string sql)
{
    DataTable dt = new DataTable();

    using (OleDbConnection conn = new OleDbConnection(connectionString))
    {
        conn.Open();
        using (OleDbCommand cmd = new OleDbCommand(sql, conn))
        {
            using (OleDbDataReader rdr = cmd.ExecuteReader())
            {
                dt.Load(rdr);
                return dt;
            }
        }
    }
}
private static string GetTableName(string connectionString, int row = 0)
{
    OleDbConnection conn = new OleDbConnection(connectionString);
    try
    {
        conn.Open();
        return conn.GetSchema("Tables").Rows[row]["TABLE_NAME"] + "";
    }
    catch { }
    finally { conn.Close();}
    return "sheet1";
}

Answer 2

You can use the GetOleDbSchemaTable (VB) or GetOleDbSchemaTable (C#).

Using the Tables Enum it will return a list of all the worksheet names, which you can then use to dynamically build the required SQL.

You can use:

MySchemaTable = MyConnection.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Tables, New Object() {Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, "TABLE"})

All the Worksheets names will be returned as part of a DataTable you can them itterate through.

Using the OleDbSchemaGuid information can be retrieved on

• Columns
• Foreign keys
• Indexes
• Primary keys
• Tables
• Views

Full MSDN documentation available here

Answer 3

ended up using this:

using (OleDbConnection conn = new OleDbConnection(connString))
{
    conn.Open();
    dtSchema = conn.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Tables, new object[] { null, null, null, "TABLE" });
    Sheet1= dtSchema.Rows[0].Field<string>("TABLE_NAME");
}