Export Data to Excel (Not HTML Tables)

Recently I working with export data to an excel file, but had faced a lot of problems. The main problem of it: The exported file is saved as HTML tables with XLS extension, not the actual XLS format. In this way, I can’t re-import the data using the OleDbConnection.

I have been searching around the net, but no exact solution that suit my situation. Finally, I had found another way to export data into the actual XLS format, by using Excel.Application.

First thing that you need to do is to add Excel dll (Microsoft Excel 11.0 Object Library) as a reference.

Here are the codes.

Private Function ExportToExcel(ByVal dt As System.Data.DataTable)
    Dim xlsApp As New Excel.Application
    Dim xlsWorkbook As Excel.Workbook
    Dim xlsWorksheets As Excel.Worksheets
    Dim xlsWorksheet As Excel.Worksheet
    Dim strhdr As String
    Dim row As Integer
    Dim drow As DataRow
    Dim strFile As String = "test.xls"
    Dim filename As String = Server.MapPath("Doc") & "\" & strFile

    If dt.Rows.Count > 0 Then
        'Create new workbook
        xlsWorkbook =
        xlsApp.Workbooks.Add

        'Get the first worksheet
        xlsWorksheet = CType(xlsWorkbook.Worksheets(1), Excel.Worksheet)

        'Activate current worksheet
        xlsWorksheet.Activate()

        'Set header row to row 1
        row = 1

        'Add table headers to worksheet
        xlsWorksheet.Cells(row,1).Value = "NAME"
        xlsWorksheet.Cells(row, 2).Value = "JOB POSITION"
        xlsWorksheet.Cells(row, 3).Value = "ORIGIN"

        'Format header row (bold, extra row height, autofit
width)
        With xlsWorksheet.Range("A" & row, "C" & row)
            .Font.Bold = True
            .Rows(row).RowHeight = 1.5 * xlsWorksheet.StandardHeight
            .EntireRow.AutoFit()
        End With

        'Freeze the column headers
        With xlsWorksheet.Range("A" & row + 1, "C" & row + 1).Select
            xlsApp.ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True
        End With

        'Write data to Excel worksheet
        For Each drow In dt.Rows
            row += 1
            If Not IsDBNull(dr.Item("NAME")) Then xlsWorksheet.Cells(row, 1).Value = dr.Item("NAME")
            If Not IsDBNull(dr.Item("JOB POSITION")) Then xlsWorksheet.Cells(row, 2).Value = dr.Item("JOB POSITION")
            If Not IsDBNull(dr.Item("ORIGIN")) Then xlsWorksheet.Cells(row, 3).Value =
dr.Item("ORIGIN")
        Next

        'Format data rows (align to top, autofit width and height)
        With xlsWorksheet.Range("A2", "C" & row)
            .VerticalAlignment = CType(XlVAlign.xlVAlignCenter, Excel.XlVAlign)
            .HorizontalAlignment = CType(XlHAlign.xlHAlignLeft, Excel.XlHAlign)
            .EntireColumn.AutoFit()
            .EntireRow.AutoFit()
        End With

        'Make excel workbook visible to user after all data has been added to worksheet
        xlsApp.DisplayAlerts = False
        xlsWorkbook.Close(True, filename)

        'Export data to client machine
        strhdr = "attachment;filename=" & strFile
        With Response
            .Clear()
            .ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel"
            .ContentEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.Default
            .AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", strhdr)
            .WriteFile(filename)
            .Flush()
            .Clear()
            .Close()
        End With
    End If
End Function

If you got any question, feel free to ask me.


Update on 07 Aug 2008:
For C# .NET example, please refer to Export Data to Excel (Not HTML Table) in C# .NET