Home/ Questions/Q 59343
In Process

The Archive Base Latest Questions

Editorial Team
  • 0
Asked: 2026-05-10T17:59:25+00:00

I am trying to extract a table of values from an excel (2003) spreadsheet

  • 0

I am trying to extract a table of values from an excel (2003) spreadsheet using vb6, the result of which needs to be stored in a (adodb) recordset. The table looks like this:

     Name   Option.1  Option.2  Option.3  Option.4  Option.5  Option.6      -----------------------------------------------------------------     Name1         2         3         4     Name2         2         3         4     Name3         2         3         4     Name4         2         3         4     Name5         2         3         4     Name6         2         3         4     Name7         2         3         4     Name8         2         3         4     Name9         2         3         4         5         6         7

Upon connecting and executing the query ‘SELECT * FROM [Sheet1$]‘ or even a column-specific, ‘SELECT [Option#6] FROM [Sheet1$]‘ (see footnote 1) and looping through the results, I am given Null values for the row Name9, Option.4 –> Option.6 rather than the correct values 5, 6, and 7. It seems the connection to the spreadsheet is using a ‘best guess’ of deciding what the valid table limits are, and only takes a set number of rows into account.

To connect to the spreadsheet, I have tried both connection providers Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0 and MSDASQL and get the same problem.

Here are the connection settings I use:

Set cn = New ADODB.Connection With cn     .Provider = 'Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0'     .ConnectionString = 'Data Source=' & filePath & ';Extended Properties=Excel 8.0;'     - - - - OR - - - -      .Provider = 'MSDASQL'     .ConnectionString = 'Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)};' & _                         'DBQ=' & filePath & ';MaxScanRows=0;'     .CursorLocation = adUseClient     .Open End With   Set rsSelects = New ADODB.Recordset Set rsSelects = cn.Execute('SELECT [Option#5] FROM ' & '[' & strTbl & ']')

This problem only occurs when there are more than 8 rows (excluding the column names), and I have set MaxScanRow=0 for the MSDASQL connection, but this has produced the same results.

Notable project references I have included are:

  • MS ActiveX Data Objects 2.8 Library
  • MS ActiveX Data Objects Recordset 2.8 Library
  • MS Excel 11.0 Object Library
  • MS Data Binding Collection VB 6.0 (SP4)

Any help in this matter would be very appreciated!

(1) For some reason, when including a decimal point in the column name, it is interpreted as a #.

Thanks everyone! Halfway through trying to set up a Schema.ini ‘programmatically’ from KB155512 onedaywhen‘s excellent post pointed me towards the solution:

.Provider = 'Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0' .ConnectionString = 'Data Source=' & filePath & ';Extended Properties=''Excel 8.0;HDR=Yes;IMEX=1'';'

I would encourage anyone with similar problems to read the post and comments, since there are slight variations to a solution from one person to another.

Share

Leave an answer

You must login to add an answer.

Need An Account,

1 Answer

  1. You are correct: it is guessing the data type based on a number of rows. There are local machine registry keys you may be able to alter to influence the data type chosen. For more details, see this answer.

    • 0