SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Provider

SQL-based Access to SharePoint Excel Services through ADO.NET for your custom .NET applications and SSAS.

The SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Data Provider enables user to easily connect to SharePoint Excel Services data from .NET applications. Rapidly create and deploy powerful .NET applications that integrate with live Excel Spreadsheet content hosted on SharePoint server!

SharePoint Excel Services

SharePoint Excel Services .NET Connectivity Features

Access SharePoint Excel Services data either as an entire worksheet or from discrete ranges of data within a worksheet
Represent discrete blocks of data as tables through automatic detection or by manually specifying ranges of data
Optionally specify if the first row of data should be used for field names
Compatible with SharePoint 2013 and 2016, Excel 2007+
Powerful metadata querying enables SQL-like access to non-database sources
Push down query optimization pushes SQL operations down to the server whenever possible, increasing performance
Client-side query execution engine, supports SQL-92 operations that are not available server-side
Connect to live SharePoint Excel Services data, for real-time data access with the SharePoint Excel Services ODBC Driver
Full support for data aggregation and complex JOINs in SQL queries
Secure connectivity through modern cryptography, including TLS 1.2, SHA-256, ECC, etc.
Seamless integration with leading BI, reporting, and ETL tools and with custom applications via the SharePoint Excel Services Connector.

Target Service, API

The driver connects to Excel spreadsheet data hosted on SharePoint servers, providing access to Excel data through SharePoint Excel Services. Supports various SharePoint versions including Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and above, and SharePoint Online. Uses OLE DB provider interface to access Excel data within SharePoint environments.

Schema, Data Model

The driver models Excel spreadsheet data as relational tables, allowing access either to entire worksheets or discrete ranges of data within worksheets. Supports automatic detection of data blocks as tables or manual specification of data ranges. The driver dynamically discovers metadata from Excel worksheets and represents them as standard database tables.

Key Objects

Primary objects are Excel worksheets and named ranges within spreadsheets hosted on SharePoint. The driver can access entire worksheets as tables or specific data ranges defined within worksheets. Supports both structured and unstructured Excel data formats.

Operations

Full SQL-92 support for querying Excel data with SELECT operations. Supports read, write, and update operations on Excel spreadsheet data through standard SQL interfaces. Client-side query processing for complex operations not natively supported by Excel Services.

Authentication

Integrates with SharePoint authentication including support for Secure Store Service for single sign-on functionality. Works with Excel Services Unattended accounts and SharePoint user credentials. Requires configuration of MSDASQL.1 as a trusted OLE DB provider in SharePoint Excel Services.

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SSAS Cube

Use SharePoint Excel Services from SQL Server Analysis Service (SSAS) multi-dimensional cubes. Keep your analytical data modeling and access to any source including cloud and on-premises.

Custom .NET Application

The SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Provider allows developers to build applications that connect to SharePoint Excel Services using familiar SQL and Entity Framework. Integrate SharePoint Excel Services to your mission -critical applications or create easy side-by-side applications.

Low-Code Dev Platforms

You can connect from ADO.NET compliant low-code development tools:

Reporting Tools

You can connect SharePoint Excel Services from .NET-based reporting and analytics tools:

Standard ADO.NET Access to SharePointExcelServices

The SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Provider offers the most natural way to access SharePoint Excel Services data from any .NET application. Simply use SharePoint Excel Services Data Provider objects to connect and access data just as you would access any traditional database. You will be able to use the SharePoint Excel Services Data Provider through Visual Studio Server Explorer, in code through familiar classes, and in data controls like DataGridView, GridView, DataSet, etc.

The CData ADO.NET Provider for SharePoint Excel Services hides the complexity of accessing data and provides additional powerful security features, smart caching, batching, socket management, and more.

Working with DataAdapters, DataSets, DataTables, etc.

The SharePoint Excel Services Data Provider has the same ADO.NET architecture as the native .NET data providers for SQL Server and OLEDB, including: SharePointExcelServicesConnection, SharePointExcelServicesCommand, SharePointExcelServicesDataAdapter, SharePointExcelServicesDataReader, SharePointExcelServicesDataSource, SharePointExcelServicesParameter, etc. Because of this you can now access SharePoint Excel Services data in an easy, familiar way.

For example:

using (SharePointExcelServicesConnection conn = new SharePointExcelServicesConnection("...")) {
	string select = "SELECT * FROM ExcelSheet";
	SharePointExcelServicesCommand cmd = new SharePointExcelServicesCommand(select, conn);
	SharePointExcelServicesDataAdapter adapter = new SharePointExcelServicesDataAdapter(cmd);
	using (adapter) {
		DataTable table = new DataTable();
		adapter.Fill(table);		
		...
	}
}

ADO.NET Provider Performance

With traditional approaches to remote access, performance bottlenecks can spell disaster for applications. Regardless if an application is created for internal use, a commercial project, web, or mobile application, slow performance can rapidly lead to project failure. Accessing data from any remote source has the potential to create these problems. Common issues include:

Network Connections - Slow network connections and latency issues are common in mobile applications.
Service Delays - Delays due to service interruptions, resulting in server hardware or software updates.
Large Data - Intentional or unintentional requests for large amounts of data.
Disconnects - Complete loss of network connectivity.

The CData ADO.NET Provider for SharePoint Excel Services solves these issues by supporting powerful smart caching technology that can greatly improve the performance and dramatically reduce application bottlenecks.

Smart Caching

Smart caching is a configurable option that works by storing queried data into a local database. Enabling smart caching creates a persistent local cache database that contains a replica of data retrieved from the remote source. The cache database is small, lightweight, blazing-fast, and it can be shared by multiple connections as persistent storage.

Caching with our ADO.NET Providers is highly configurable, including options for:

Auto Cache - Maintain an automatic local cache of data on all requests. The provider will automatically load data into the cache database each time you execute a SELECT query. Each row returned by the query will be inserted or updated as necessary into the corresponding table in the cache database.
Explicit Cache - Cache only on demand. Developers decide exactly what data gets stored in the cache and when it is updated. Explicit caching provides full control over the cache contents by using explicit execution of CACHE statements.
No Cache - All requests access only live data and no local cache file is created.

This powerful caching functionality increases application performance and allows applications to disconnect and continue limited functioning without writing code for additional local storage and/or data serialization/deserialization.

More information about ADO.NET Provider caching and best caching practices is available in the included help files.

Visual Studio Integration & Server Explorer

Working with the new SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Provider is easy. As a fully-managed .NET Data Provider, the SharePoint Excel Services Data Provider integrates seamlessly with the Visual Studio development environment as well as any .NET application.

As an ADO.NET Data Provider, SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Provider can be used to access and explore SharePoint Excel Services data directly from the Visual Studio Server Explorer.

It's easy. As a standard ADO.NET adapter, developers can connect the Server Explorer to SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Provider just like connecting to any standard database.

Add a new Data Connection from the Server Explorer and select the SharePoint Excel Services Data Source
Configure the basic connection properties to access your SharePoint Excel Services account data.

Explore all of the data available! SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Provider makes it easy to access live SharePoint Excel Services data from Visual Studio.

After configuring the connection, explore the feeds, views, and services provided by the SharePoint Excel Services Data Source.
These constructs return live SharePoint Excel Services data that developers can work with directly from within Visual Studio!

Developer Integration: Databind to SharePoint Excel Services

Connecting Web, Desktop, and Mobile .NET applications with SharePoint Excel Services is just like working with SQL Server. It is even possible to integrate SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Provider into applications without writing code.

Developers are free to access the SharePoint Excel Services ADO.NET Provider in whatever way they like best. Either visually through the Visual Studio Winforms or Webforms designers, or directly through code.

Developers can connect the SharePoint Excel Services Data Source directly to form components by configuring the object's smart tags.
Add a new Data Connection from the Server Explorer and select the SharePoint Excel Services Data Source. Then, select the feed, view, or services you would like to connect the object to.

Done! It's just like connecting to SQL Server.

Once the object is bound to the data source, applications can easily interact with SharePoint Excel Services data with full read/write (CRUD) support.