ADO.NET works fine when it comes to reading tabular data from excel files, but one problem I often run into is that if the excel file is locked by some other user there is an exception when ADO.NET attempts to retrieve the data.
Is it possible to tell ADO.NET to read contents from the excel file even if it’s locked? If so, how can it be done? Do I need to add something to the connection string? The extended properties of my connection string are:
Excel 12.0;HDR=YES;IMEX=1
I had similar problem and I could not find a solution. I ended it up with timer re-trying to connect to a file.
The problem lies in the database itself. In the end of the day it is only a flat file and ADO requires exclusive access to it. You probably need to migrate your solution to MS Access mdb file or a proper(ish) database (SQLite?)