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Natively Connect to Excel Online Data in PHP


The CData ODBC driver for Excel Online enables you to create PHP applications with connectivity to Excel Online data. Leverage the native support for ODBC in PHP.

Drop the CData ODBC Driver for Excel Online into your LAMP or WAMP stack to build Excel Online-connected Web applications. This article shows how to use PHP's ODBC built-in functions to connect to Excel Online data, execute queries, and output the results.

Configure a DSN

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

You can connect to a workbook by providing authentication to Excel Online and then setting the following properties:

  • Workbook: Set this to the name or Id of the workbook.

    If you want to view a list of information about the available workbooks, execute a query to the Workbooks view after you authenticate.

  • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are connecting to a workbook in a sandbox account. Otherwise, leave this blank to connect to a production account.

You use the OAuth authentication standard to authenticate to Excel Online. See the Getting Started section in the help documentation for a guide. Getting Started also guides you through executing SQL to worksheets and ranges.

Establish a Connection

Open the connection to Excel Online by calling the odbc_connect or odbc_pconnect methods. To close connections, use odbc_close or odbc_close_all.

$conn = odbc_connect("CData ODBC ExcelOnline Source","user","password");

Connections opened with odbc_connect are closed when the script ends. Connections opened with the odbc_pconnect method are still open after the script ends. This enables other scripts to share that connection when they connect with the same credentials. By sharing connections among your scripts, you can save system resources, and queries execute faster.

$conn = odbc_pconnect("CData ODBC ExcelOnline Source","user","password"); ... odbc_close($conn); //persistent connection must be closed explicitly

Create Prepared Statements

Create prepared statements and parameterized queries with the odbc_prepare function.

$query = odbc_prepare($conn, "SELECT * FROM Test_xlsx_Sheet1 WHERE Column2 = ?");

Execute Queries

Execute prepared statements with odbc_execute.

$conn = odbc_connect("CData ODBC ExcelOnline Source","user","password"); $query = odbc_prepare($conn, "SELECT * FROM Test_xlsx_Sheet1 WHERE Column2 = ?"); $success = odbc_execute($query, array('Bob'));

Execute nonparameterized queries with odbc_exec.

$conn = odbc_connect("CData ODBC ExcelOnline Source","user","password"); $query = odbc_exec($conn, "SELECT Id, Column1 FROM Test_xlsx_Sheet1");

Process Results

Access a row in the result set as an array with the odbc_fetch_array function.

$conn = odbc_connect("CData ODBC Excel Online data Source","user","password"); $query = odbc_exec($conn, "SELECT Id, Column1 FROM Test_xlsx_Sheet1"); while($row = odbc_fetch_array($query)){ echo $row["Id"] . "\n"; }

Display the result set in an HTML table with the odbc_result_all function.

$conn = odbc_connect("CData ODBC Excel Online data Source","user","password"); $query = odbc_prepare($conn, "SELECT * FROM Test_xlsx_Sheet1 WHERE Column2 = ?"); $success = odbc_execute($query, array('Bob')); if($success) odbc_result_all($query);

More Example Queries

You will find complete information on the driver's supported SQL in the help documentation. The code examples above are Excel Online-specific adaptations of the PHP community documentation for all ODBC functions.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Excel Online ODBC Driver to get started:

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Learn more:

Excel Online Icon Excel Online ODBC Driver

The Excel Online ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live Excel Online data, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access Excel Online Spreadsheet data like you would a database - read, write, and update data through a standard ODBC Driver interface.

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