Import data from Excel using SSIS without knowing sheet name - sql

Question

I have a spreadsheet that is updated by another server (out of my control) and I need to automate bringing that data into SQL 2005. The data is always the first page of the spreadsheet. However, the name of that sheet changes depending on the number of rows.
Is there a way to run an SSIS job that pulls in data from Excel without knowing the sheetname beforehand? It seems to rely on the sheet name as the data source, but I'm looking to tell it "sheet number 1" or something similar.

Answer 1

I would script out the Worksheet name to a SSIS User Variable. If you are not opposed to inserting a script task into your SSIS package try this: (Based on link text )
Excel.Application xlApp = new Excel.ApplicationClass();
Excel.Workbook xlWorkBook = xlApp.Workbooks.Open("<Name of your excel app>.xls", 0, xlWorkBook true, 5, "", "", true, Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XlPlatform.xlWindows, "\t", false, false, 0, true, 1, 0);
// Look up worksheet by index
Excel.Worksheet xlWorkSheet =(Excel.Worksheet)xlWorkBook.Worksheets.get_Item(1);
user::worksheetname = xlWorkSheet.Name;
/* Do clean up. Working with COM object */

Answer 2

Just for the record, I'm using this code in Script Task to solve the problem. Variables used are: Filename, SheetName.
Note that my Excel filename is dynamic.
// GET NAME OF FIRST SHEET
string filename = (string)Dts.Variables["Filename"].Value;
string sheetName = null;
string connStr =
String.Format("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source={0};Extended Properties=\"EXCEL 8.0;IMEX=1;\"", filename);
var conn = new OleDbConnection(connStr);
try
{
conn.Open();
using(var dtSheet = conn.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Tables, null))
{
var row0 = dtSheet.Rows[0];
sheetName = row0["TABLE_NAME"].ToString();
}
}
catch (Exception)
{
throw;
}
finally
{
conn.Close();
conn.Dispose();
}
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(sheetName))
{
Dts.Variables["SheetName"].Value = sheetName;
Dts.Events.FireInformation(1, "User::SheetName", sheetName, "", 0, ref dummy);
Dts.TaskResult = (int)ScriptResults.Success;
}
else
{
Dts.Events.FireError(0, "User::SheetName", "No SheetName found!", String.Empty, 0);
Dts.TaskResult = (int)ScriptResults.Failure;
}

Answer 3

I had a similar problem. The solution that I implemented was first read the excel file using OleDB connection. Open the connection and then retrieve all the sheet names. Here is an example
Dim strConnectionString As String = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\ABC.xls;Extended Properties=""EXCEL 8.0;"""
Dim lstSheetName As List(Of String) = Nothing
Try
objConn = New OleDbConnection(Me.ConnectionString)
objConn.Open()
lstSheetName = New List(Of String)
Using dtSheetTable As DataTable = objConn.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Tables,Nothing)
For Each drRow As DataRow In dtSheetTable.Rows
lstSheetName.Add("[" & drRow("TABLE_NAME").ToString().Replace("'", "''") & "]")
Next
End Using
Catch ex as Exception
Throw
Finally
If objConn.State = ConnectionState.Open Then objConn.Close()
objConn.Dispose()
End Try
This all code is written ASPX.VB and then I am executing the SSIS package through code behind and passing the first value in the lstSheetName variable (lstSheetName(0).ToString())
This was

Answer 4

If anyone has trouble with the JET Driver you can use the AccessDatabase drivers now. This was adapted from above and is verified working on my machine, no extra references are needed for this.
using System;
using System.Data;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Data.OleDb;
public void Main()
{
// GET NAME OF FIRST SHEET
string filename = Dts.Variables["User::ActiveFileName"].Value.ToString();
string sheetName = null;
bool dummy = true;
string connStr =
String.Format("Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source={0};Extended Properties=\"EXCEL 12.0 XML;HDR=YES\";", filename);
var conn = new OleDbConnection(connStr);
try
{
conn.Open();
using(var dtSheet = conn.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Tables, null))
{
var row0 = dtSheet.Rows[0];
sheetName = row0["TABLE_NAME"].ToString();
}
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(sheetName))
{
Dts.Variables["SheetName"].Value = sheetName;
Dts.Events.FireInformation(1, "User::SheetName", sheetName, "", 0, ref dummy);
Dts.TaskResult = (int)ScriptResults.Success;
}
else
{
throw new Exception("No SheetName found!");
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Dts.Events.FireError(0, "User::SheetName", ex.Message, String.Empty, 0);
Dts.TaskResult = (int)ScriptResults.Failure;
}
finally
{
conn.Close();
conn.Dispose();
}
}

Answer 5

I don't think so...I don't know of any ordinal reference syntax, e.g., Sheets[0] that you could use.
So if you can't get the data without knowing the sheet name - you just need to dynamically find out the sheet name. This link on getting Excel schema info in SSIS should help you do that. Once you have that, you can pass the sheet name in as a variable, and away you go.

Answer 6

I have had this same issue myself in the past and was unable to find a solution to having an Excel file be read in which has its sheet name change from file to file.
My guess, which I was unable to get to work, would be to use expressions in the properties of the data connection. You would need to somehow read the sheet name into a variable, then use that variable's result in the sheet name for the data connection.
Best of luck to you, and sorry I couldn't be of more help.