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Oldedb Excel create table command is converting hyphens into underscores

Hi,

I'm creating an excel file with vb.net and ole db. The table (worksheet) name has hyphens in it. The hyphens (-) are being converted to underscores (_) when I execute the create table command.

Here is the code:
mcliOLEDBCn = New System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection(Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" & astrPathAndFile & ";Mode=ReadWrite;Extended Properties=""Excel 8.0;HDR=YES"")

mcliOLEDBCom = New OleDbCommand("CREATE TABLE [AR-08-25-2010] ([ITEMNO] MEMO , [QUANTITY] int)", mcliOLEDBCn)
mcliOLEDBCn.Open()
mcliOLEDBCom.ExecuteNonQuery()

The worksheet inside the excel file ends up named as AR_08_25_2010 instead of AR-08-25-2010.

I am using visual studio 2008, vb, and windows 7. I tried it with the ace provider for excel 2007 and got the same result.

How do I insert hyphens into the table name?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

-William

Bob Learned

Frankly, I don't believe that Excel supports table names with dashes, since they would be easily confused with the subtract operator. I don't know of any way to tell the OLEDB provider to allow that kind of name.

calacuccia

Have you tried using a back quote?

mcliOLEDBCom = New OleDbCommand("CREATE TABLE [`AR-08-25-2010`] ([ITEMNO] MEMO , [QUANTITY] int)", mcliOLEDBCn)
mcliOLEDBCn.Open()
mcliOLEDBCom.ExecuteNonQuery()

WilliamAK

ASKER

Thanks for the replies.

TheLearnedOne, if I rename the sheet in excel to AR-08-25-2010 and then query it with lcon.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Tables, Nothing) it shows as 'AR-08-25-2010$' but if i try to create table using single quotes it still converts the hyphens to underscores (but also changes the last quote to an underscore and sheet is unopenable, very strange.) And if i try using single quotes and the dollar symbol I get a syntax error in CREATE TABLE.

Calacuccia, if I use a back quote i get a syntax error in CREATE TABLE.

I'm not really sure what the $ is for, maybe it means a temporary sheet or an instance sheet or something.

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calacuccia

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WilliamAK

ASKER

Yes, I'll have to come up with some kind of workaround. The app runs on a server that does not have office installed.

Thanks for the replies Calacuccia. :)