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Asked: 2026-05-10T17:31:38+00:00

Ok, let’s see if I can make this make sense. I have a program

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Ok, let’s see if I can make this make sense.

I have a program written that parses an Excel file and it works just fine. I use the following to get into the file:

string FileToConvert = Server.MapPath('.') + '\\App_Data\\CP-ARFJN-FLAG.XLS'; string connectionString = 'Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=' + FileToConvert + ';Extended Properties=Excel 8.0;'; OleDbConnection connection = new OleDbConnection(connectionString); connection.Open(); //this next line assumes that the file is in default Excel format with Sheet1 as the first sheet name, adjust accordingly OleDbDataAdapter adapter = new OleDbDataAdapter('SELECT * FROM [CP-ARFJN-FLAG$]', connection);

and this works just fine. But when I try it on the actual file (it is supplied to me by another program) I get this error:

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbException: External table is not in the expected format. at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnectionInternal..ctor(OleDbConnectionString constr, OleDbConnection connection) at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnectionFactory.CreateConnection(DbConnectionOptions options, Object poolGroupProviderInfo, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnection owningObject) at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.CreateNonPooledConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, DbConnectionPoolGroup poolGroup) at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.GetConnection(DbConnection owningConnection) at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionClosed.OpenConnection(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory) at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection.Open() at wetglobe.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)

BUT, this is where I think the problem lies. If I take that file, and save it with my local Excel, first I get this popup:

CP-ARFJN-FLAG.XLS may contain features that are not compatible with Text (Tab delimited). Do you want to keep the workbook in this format?

  • To Keep this format, which leaves out any incompatible features, click Yes.
  • To preserve the features, click No. Ten save a copy in the latest Excel format.
  • To see what might be lost, click Help.

If I click No and then save it as the current Excel format, the program will then work fine.

So I am assuming this is saved in some crazy old Excel format?

I suppose my questions would be:

  • How can I tell what Excel version saved this?
  • How can I parse it in its current state?
  • -or- Can I programatically save it as a newer version?

I hope that is clear… Thank you.

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1 Answer

  1. It sounds like the XLS file generated by your third-party app may not really be in Excel format – it might actually be a tab-delimited text file with an .xls extension.

    Try opening it with a text editor and see.

    If it is tab delimited, you can ditch the OleDB adapter and open/parse it as a standard text file.

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