Import Data from Excel 2003 file into ASP DataTable using Interop - asp.net

Question

I'm trying to import tariff information from an Excel file into a DataTable to bind to a GridView. I'm limited to 2003 right now, and for the foreseeable future. From what I gather there are two methods.
One querying the excel sheet using ADO SELECT Code, Description FROM [Sheet1$]
With this connection string Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\file.xls;Extended Properties=\"Excel 8.0;HDR=Yes;IMEX=1\
Problem with this: Jet for some reason truncates the cell length at 255 characters. The tariff descriptions can be around 900 sometimes. I've read into this, and can't seem to find a solution. Some people say it's because the description is stored as Text and not Memo, but I can't seem to fix it.
OR
The other solution I've found is using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel. It works and grabs all of the Description field, but the code is very ugly. It runs through each cell of each row of the worksheet and copies the text value into a DataRow, then appends it onto a DataTable.
// Set Columns
for (int i = 1; i <= columnCount; i++) {
Range columnRange = (Range)oSheet.Cells[1, i];
dt.Columns.Add(columnRange.Text.ToString());
}
// Add Rows
for (int i = 2; i <= rowCount; i++) {
dr = dt.NewRow();
for (int j = 1; j <= columnCount; j++) {
oRng = (Range)oSheet.Cells[i, j];
dr[j - 1] = oRng.Text.ToString().Trim();
}
Problem with this: very slow, cause of the nested loop.
Is there a faster way to get the data into a DataTable using Interop? Or a way to prevent the truncation of 255 characters using the query?

Answer 1

You could have a look at the Excel Data Reader library. I've had pretty good luck with it and I think it will do what you're looking for pretty easily.

Answer 2

This doesn't use the Excel interop, but you can give this a shot. It contains methods to convert and Excel document into a DataTable.
If possible, you should consider using the OpenXML SDK for this, but if you can't this is probably a good option for you.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.OleDb;
using System.ComponentModel;
namespace Excel
{
public class ExcelBase : Component, IDisposable
{
#region Constructors
public ExcelBase()
{
UseFinalizer = false;
}
public ExcelBase(string WorkBook) : this()
{
this.WorkBook = WorkBook;
}
#endregion
#region Workbook/range settings
string workbook;
/// <summary>
/// The workbook (file) name to query
/// </summary>
[DefaultValue(null)]
public string WorkBook
{
get { return workbook; }
set
{
CloseConnection();
workbook = value;
determinedrange = null;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The Range which to query. This can be any Excel range (eg "A1:B5") or
/// just a worksheet name.
/// If this value is null, the first sheet of the <see cref="WorkBook"/> is used
/// </summary>
private string range;
[DefaultValue(null)]
public string Range
{
get { return range; }
set
{
range = value;
determinedrange = null;
}
}
private int worksheetindex = 0;
/// <summary>
/// The 0 based INDEX of the worksheet to query.
/// If you want to set the name of the worksheet, use <see cref="Range"/> instead.
/// NB: if <see cref="Range"/> is set, this property is ignored
/// </summary>
[DefaultValue(0)]
public int WorkSheetIndex
{
get { return worksheetindex; }
set
{
worksheetindex = value;
determinedrange = null;
}
}
#region Range formatting
/// <summary>
/// If a range was determined in a previous step, keep it buffered here
/// </summary>
string determinedrange;
/// <summary>
/// Gets the properly formatted sheet name
/// if no worksheet was provided, read out sheet information and select everything
/// from the first sheet
/// </summary>
public string GetRange()
{
if (determinedrange == null)
{
string range = Range;
if (range == null)
range = DetermineRange();
if (range.IndexOf(':') == -1 && !range.EndsWith("$"))
range += "$"; //sheetname has to be appended with a $
determinedrange = "[" + range + "]";
}
return determinedrange;
}
/// <summary>
/// See <see cref="AutoDetermineRange"/> property for more info
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
string DetermineRange()
{
string sheet = GetSheetName(worksheetindex);
if (!autodeterminerange) return sheet;
return new RangeFinder(this, sheet).ToString();
}
#region RangeFinder
class RangeFinder
{
OleDbDataAdapter da;
DataTable dtSchema;
ExcelDataRange rng = new ExcelDataRange();
Import eb;
int cols;
/// <summary>
/// minimum amount of columns that need to be filled
/// <seealso cref="minfilled"/>
/// </summary>
int min;
public RangeFinder(ExcelBase Owner, string sheet)
{
this.eb = new Import(Owner.WorkBook);
eb.Range = sheet;
eb.UseHeaders = false;
eb.InterMixedAsText = true;
//DataTable dt = eb.Query();
try
{
eb.OpenConnection();
//get the number of rows and columns
da = new OleDbDataAdapter(
"select * from [" + sheet + "]", eb.Connection);
dtSchema = new DataTable();
da.FillSchema(dtSchema, SchemaType.Source);
cols = dtSchema.Columns.Count;
int rows = (int)ExecuteScalar("select count(*) from [" + sheet + "]");
//fill the range object
rng.From.Row = rng.From.Column = 1;
rng.To.Row = rows;
rng.To.Column = cols;
min = (int)(cols * minfilled);
//now rng contains the complete square range of data containing cells
//try to narrow it by getting as much hits as possible
DecreaseRange();
}
finally
{
indexReader.Close();
eb.CloseConnection();
}
}
object ExecuteScalar(string sql)
{
return new OleDbCommand(sql, da.SelectCommand.Connection).ExecuteScalar();
}
string indexquery;
string GetIndexQuery()
{
if (indexquery == null)
{
StringBuilder sql = new StringBuilder("select 0");
int i = 0;
foreach (DataRow dr in dtSchema.Rows)
{
string colname = "[" + dr["column_name"].ToString() + "]";
sql.Append("+iif(").Append(colname).Append(" is null,0,1)");
}
sql.Append(" as ind from ");
indexquery = sql.ToString();
}
return indexquery;
}
//ExcelDataRange indexRange;
DataTable indexTable = new DataTable();
OleDbDataReader indexReader;
int GetIndex()
{
if (!Forward)
{
indexReader.Close();
indexReader = null;
da.SelectCommand.CommandText = string.Format(" select * from {0}:{0}"
, rng.To.Row);
}
if (indexReader == null)
indexReader = da.SelectCommand.ExecuteReader();
int cnt = 0;
if (!indexReader.Read()) return -1;
for (int i = 0; i < indexReader.FieldCount; i++)
{
if (!indexReader.IsDBNull(i)) cnt++;
}
return cnt;
da.TableMappings.Clear();
da = new OleDbDataAdapter(da.SelectCommand.CommandText, eb.conn);
indexTable = new DataTable();
//da.FillSchema(indexTable, SchemaType.Source);
da.Fill(indexTable);
return indexTable.Columns.Count;
}
/// <summary>
/// minimum percentage that needs to be filled to count as a datarow
/// </summary>
const double minfilled = .75;
/// <summary>
/// The amount of subsequent (or preceding) rows that need to be filled a <see cref="minfilled"/> percentage
/// for it to count as a datarow
/// </summary>
const int CheckRows = 3;
/// <summary>
/// Decrease the range step by step
/// The problem is that when obtaining all, a lot more nulls are returned
/// than you would visibly see. That makes most algorithms to get the
/// block useless.
/// this is also why just obtaining the datatable complete and removing the
/// rows will not suffice: the proper field data types will not have been set
/// Best way I could figure without using interop was to increase the start
/// range to see if the avarage filled values increase.
/// </summary>
void DecreaseRange()
{
for (; ; )
{
if (GetIndex() >= min)
{
int i = 0;
for (; i < CheckRows; i++)
{
AlterRange(1);
if (GetIndex() < min)
{
break;
}
}
if (i == CheckRows)
{
AlterRange(-i);
if (Forward)
Forward = false;
else
break;
}
}
if (rng.From.Row > rng.To.Row)
throw new Exception("Could not determine data range");
AlterRange(1);
}
}
bool Forward = true;
void AlterRange(int i)
{
if (Forward)
rng.From.Row += i;
else
rng.To.Row -= i;
}
public override string ToString()
{
return rng.ToString();
}
struct ExcelRange
{
public int Row, Column;
public ExcelRange(int Col, int Row)
{
this.Column = Col;
this.Row = Row;
}
public override string ToString()
{
//return string.Format("R{0}C{1}", Row, Column);
string res = Row.ToString();
int col = Column;
while (col > 0)
{
int cc = col % 26;
char c = (char)('A' + cc - 1);
res = c.ToString() + res;
col /= 26;
}
return res;
}
}
struct ExcelDataRange
{
public ExcelRange
From, To;
public override string ToString()
{
return GetRange(From, To);
}
static string GetRange(ExcelRange from, ExcelRange to)
{
return from.ToString() + ":" + to.ToString();
}
public string TopRow()
{
return GetRange(From, new ExcelRange(To.Column, From.Row));
}
public string BottomRow()
{
return GetRange(new ExcelRange(From.Column, To.Row), To);
}
}
}
#endregion
#endregion
/// <summary>
/// Checks if the <see cref="WorkBook"/> exists
/// </summary>
public bool WorkBookExists
{
get { return System.IO.File.Exists(WorkBook); }
}
/// <summary>
/// Checks if the workbook exists and throws an exception if it doesn't
/// <seealso cref="WorkBookExists"/>
/// </summary>
protected void CheckWorkbook()
{
if (!WorkBookExists) throw new System.IO.FileNotFoundException("Workbook not found", WorkBook);
}
#endregion
#region Connection
/// <summary>
/// Creates a NEW connection. If this method is called directly, this
/// class will not check if it is closed.
/// To get a handled connection, use the <see cref="Connection"/> property.
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
public OleDbConnection CreateConnection()
{
CheckWorkbook();
return new OleDbConnection(
string.Format("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" +
"Data Source={0};Extended Properties='Excel 8.0;HDR={1};Imex=1'",
WorkBook, useheaders ? "Yes" : "No"));
}
private bool useheaders = true;
/// <summary>
/// Determines if the first row in the specified <see cref="Range"/> contains the headers
/// </summary>
[DefaultValue(true)]
public bool UseHeaders
{
get { return useheaders; }
set
{
if (useheaders != value)
{
CloseConnection();
useheaders = value;
}
}
}
private bool imex;
/// <summary>
/// if this value is <c>true</c>, 'intermixed' data columns are handled as text (otherwise Excel tries to make a calcuated guess on what the datatype should be)
/// </summary>
[DefaultValue(false)]
public bool InterMixedAsText
{
get { return imex; }
set
{
if (imex != value)
{
CloseConnection();
imex = value;
}
}
}
private bool autodeterminerange;
/// <summary>
/// Tries to obtain the range automatically by looking for a large chunk of data. Use this value if there's a lot of
/// static around the actual data.
/// Beware though: this takes some additional steps and can cause performance loss
/// when querying larger files.
/// automatically determening the range is not fullproof. Be sure to check the results
/// on first time use.
/// NB: if the <see cref="Range"/> is set, this property is ignored.
/// </summary>
[DefaultValue(false)]
public bool AutoDetermineRange
{
get { return autodeterminerange; }
set
{
if (autodeterminerange != value)
{
autodeterminerange = value;
determinedrange = null;
}
}
}
OleDbConnection conn;
/// <summary>
/// Gets a connection to the current <see cref="WorkBook"/>
/// When called for the first time (or after changing the workbook)
/// a new connection is created.
/// To close the connection, preferred is the use of <see cref="CloseConnection"/>
/// </summary>
public OleDbConnection Connection
{
get
{
if (conn == null)
{
conn = CreateConnection();
UseFinalizer = true;
}
return conn;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Closes the connection (if open)
/// </summary>
public void CloseConnection()
{
if (conn != null && ConnectionIsOpen)
conn.Dispose();
conn = null;
UseFinalizer = false;
}
protected void CloseConnection(bool OnlyIfNoneOpen)
{
if (OnlyIfNoneOpen)
{
if (--opencount > 0 || wasopenbeforerememberstate) return;
}
CloseConnection();
}
/// <summary>
/// Opens the <see cref="Connection"/>
/// </summary>
public void OpenConnection()
{
OpenConnection(false);
}
int opencount;
bool wasopenbeforerememberstate;
protected void OpenConnection(bool RememberState)
{
if (RememberState && opencount++ == 0) wasopenbeforerememberstate = ConnectionIsOpen;
if (!ConnectionIsOpen)
Connection.Open();
}
public bool ConnectionIsOpen
{
get { return conn != null && conn.State != ConnectionState.Closed; }
}
#endregion
#region IDisposable Members
public void Dispose()
{
CloseConnection();
}
~ExcelBase()
{
Dispose();
}
private bool usefinalizer;
bool UseFinalizer
{
get { return usefinalizer; }
set
{
if (usefinalizer == value) return;
usefinalizer = value;
if (value)
GC.ReRegisterForFinalize(this);
else
GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
}
}
#endregion
#region Helper functions
/// <summary>
/// queries the connection for the sheetnames and returns them
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
public string[] GetSheetNames()
{
OpenConnection(true);
try
{
// Read out sheet information
DataTable dt = Connection.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Tables, null);
if (dt == null || dt.Rows.Count == 0)
{
throw new Exception("Could not get sheet names");
}
string[] res = new string[dt.Rows.Count];
for (int i = 0; i < res.Length; i++)
{
string name = dt.Rows[i]["TABLE_NAME"].ToString();
if (name[0] == '\'')
{
//numeric sheetnames get single quotes around them in the schema.
//remove them here
if (System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.IsMatch(
name, #"^'\d\w+\$'$"))
name = name.Substring(1, name.Length - 2);
}
res[i] = name;
}
return res;
}
finally
{
CloseConnection(true);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets the name of the first sheet
/// (this is also the default range used, when no <see cref="Range"/> is specified)
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
public string GetFirstSheet()
{
return GetSheetName(0);
}
public string GetSheetName(int index)
{
string[] sheets = GetSheetNames();
if (index < 0 || index >= sheets.Length)
throw new IndexOutOfRangeException("No worksheet exists at the specified index");
return sheets[index];
}
#endregion
}
public class Import : ExcelBase
{
#region Static query procedures
/// <summary>
/// Imports the first worksheet of the specified file
/// </summary>
/// <param name="File"></param>
public static DataTable Query(string File)
{
return Query(File, null);
}
/// <summary>
/// Imports the specified sheet in the specified file
/// </summary>
/// <param name="File"></param>
/// <param name="Range">The worksheet or excel range to query</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static DataTable Query(string File, string Range)
{
return new Import(File, Range).Query();
}
public static DataTable Select(string File, string Sql)
{
Import i = new Import(File);
i.SQL = Sql;
return i.Query();
}
#endregion
#region Constructors
public Import() { }
public Import(string WorkBook) : base(WorkBook) { }
public Import(string WorkBook, string Range)
: this(WorkBook)
{
this.Range = Range;
}
#endregion
#region SQL Query
private string fields = "*";
/// <summary>
/// The fields which should be returned (default all fields with data: "*")
/// </summary>
[DefaultValue("*")]
public string Fields
{
get { return fields; }
set { fields = value; }
}
void ResetFields()
{
fields = "*";
}
private string where;
/// <summary>
/// An optional where clause. Works pretty much the same as 'normal' SQL. (Default=null)
/// </summary>
[DefaultValue(null)]
public string Where
{
get { return where; }
set { where = value; }
}
/// <summary>
/// The sql to perform. If this value is filled, <see cref="WorkSheet"/> and <see cref="Where"/> are ignored
/// </summary>
public string SQL;
protected string GetSelectSQL()
{
if (SQL != null) return SQL;
// if no sql was provided, construct from worksheet and where
string sql = string.Format("select {0} from {1}", fields, GetRange());
if (where != null)
sql += " WHERE " + where;
return sql;
}
/// <summary>
/// Performs the query with the specifed settings
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
public DataTable Query()
{
return Query((DataTable)null);
}
/// <summary>
/// Same as <see cref="Query()"/>, but an existing datatable is used and filled
/// (it will be your own responsibility to format the datatable correctly)
/// </summary>
/// <param name="dt"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public DataTable Query(DataTable dt)
{
CheckWorkbook();
try
{
OpenConnection(true);
if (dt == null) dt = new DataTable();
new OleDbDataAdapter(GetSelectSQL(), Connection).Fill(dt);
foreach (DataColumn col in dt.Columns)
col.ColumnName = col.ColumnName.Trim();
return dt;
}
finally
{
CloseConnection(true);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Fills the datatable with the results of the query
/// (wrapper around <see cref="Query(DataTable)"/>)
/// </summary>
/// <param name="dt"></param>
public void Fill(DataTable dt)
{
Query(dt);
}
#endregion
}
}