Question

I’ve been doing a C# project where I browse and view an Excel File into a gridview. However, there is an error message which I don’t understand. Can someone please help me out on this.

This is the code I used:

private void buttonUpload_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string connectionString = String.Format(@"Data Source={0};Extended Properties=""Excel 8.0;HDR=YES;IMEX=1;""", textBoxFileName.Text);

    string query = String.Format("select * from [{0}$]", "Sheet1");

    SqlDataAdapter dataAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter(query, connectionString);

    DataSet dataSet = new DataSet();

    dataAdapter.Fill(dataSet);

    dataGridView1.DataSource = dataSet.Tables[0];
}

This is the error message:

"A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing 
a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. 
Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured 
to allow remote connections. 
(provider: SQL Network Interfaces, 
error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)."

Answer 1

You are trying to connect to Excel via a SqlConnection.

To connect to Excel use OleDBConnection:

private void buttonUpload_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
   string connectionString = String.Format(@"Data Source={0};Extended Properties=""Excel 8.0;HDR=YES;IMEX=1;""", textBoxFileName.Text)
   var objConn = new OleDbConnection(connectionString);

   objConn.Open(); 

   OleDbCommand objCmdSelect = new OleDbCommand("SELECT * FROM [Sheet1$]", objConn);

   OleDbDataAdapter objAdapter1 = new OleDbDataAdapter(); 

   objAdapter1.SelectCommand = objCmdSelect; 

   DataSet objDataset1 = new DataSet(); 

   objAdapter1.Fill(objDataset1); 

   objConn.Close(); 
}