Opening Microsoft Excel Workbooks (.xls)

There are several ways to open old Microsoft Excel workbooks (.xls) in Database Tour:

1. Opening through connection string. Select ADO interface, then choose Connection string option and write a connection string. This way is very flexible and allows to specify many additional parameters in the connection string. It is recommended for advanced users. Here are basic connection strings (more examples and details can be found in the Internet):

Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;excel 8.0;DATABASE=C:\MyData\MyExcelData.xls;

Provider=MSDASQL.1;Extended Properties="DBQ=C:\MyData\MyExcelFile.xls;DefaultDir=C:\MyData;Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)};DriverId=790;"

Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=c:\MyData\MyExcelFile.xls;Extended Properties="Excel 8.0;HDR=YES";   (Microsoft ACE must be installed)

2. Opening through ODBC DSN. Create (if it does not exist yet) an ODBC DSN of the corresponding type using Windows administrative tools, and point it to the database. Then:

- Select FD interface, click ODBC, then point the Data source parameter to the ODBC DSN by selecting it from the drop-down list.

or

- Select ADO or BDE interface, then choose ODBC data source option and then select the needed ODBC DSN from the drop-down list.

3. Opening by specifying file name. Select ADO interface, then choose File option and then browse for the needed file.

Notes

1. Sometimes, an Excel driver does not see any tables in the file. If you are sure the file has data, try the following:
   • Open the file in Excel or another application which can work with Excel workbooks like Libre Office Calc etc.
   • Select needed cell range.
   • Assign a name to the selected cell range (this will be a table name).
   • Repeat this to all cell ranges you need to see as tables.
   • Save the file.
   • Try to open it in Database Tour again. If the result is unsuccessful, try to open the file by specifying different connection strings.
2. When choosing the ODBC option, please make sure the corresponding ODBC driver installed and the bit-version of it matches the bit-version of the application (32 or 64).

See also

Examples of ADO Connection Strings