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:warning: This project is not currently being maintained. :warning:

It is recommended you find/use an alternate solution. There are newer more capable projects that exist today.

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Welcome to the LinqToExcel project

Linq to Excel is a .Net library that allows you to query Excel spreadsheets using the LINQ syntax.

Checkout the introduction video.

Adding LinqToExcel to your project

NuGet

You can use NuGet to quickly add LinqToExcel to your project. Just search for linqtoexcel and install the package.

Access Database Engine

In order to use LinqToExcel, you need to install the Microsoft Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable. If it's not installed, you'll get the following exception:

The 'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' provider is not registered on the local machine.'

Both a 32-bit and 64-bit version are available, select the one that matches your project settings. You can only have one of them installed at a time.

Query a worksheet with a header row

The default query expects the first row to be the header row containing column names that match the property names on the generic class being used. It also expects the data to be in the worksheet named "Sheet1".

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var indianaCompanies = from c in excel.Worksheet<Company>()
                       where c.State == "IN"
                       select c;

Query a specific worksheet by name

Data from the worksheet named "Sheet1" is queried by default. To query a worksheet with a different name, pass the worksheet name in as an argument.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var oldCompanies = from c in excel.Worksheet<Company>("US Companies") //worksheet name = 'US Companies'
                   where c.LaunchDate < new DateTime(1900, 1, 1)
                   select c;

Property to column mapping

Column names from the worksheet can be mapped to specific property names on the class by using the AddMapping() method. The property name can be passed in as a string or a compile time safe expression.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
excel.AddMapping<Company>(x => x.State, "Providence"); //maps the "State" property to the "Providence" column
excel.AddMapping("Employees", "Employee Count");       //maps the "Employees" property to the "Employee Count" column

var indianaCompanies = from c in excel.Worksheet<Company>()
	               where c.State == "IN" && c.Employees > 500
	               select c;

Column names can alternately be mapped using the ExcelColumn attribute on properties of the class.

public class Company
{
	[ExcelColumn("Company Title")] //maps the "Name" property to the "Company Title" column
	public string Name { get; set; }

	[ExcelColumn("Providence")] //maps the "State" property to the "Providence" column
	public string State { get; set; }

	[ExcelColumn("Employee Count")] //maps the "Employees" property to the "Employee Count" column
	public string Employees { get; set; }
}

Using the LinqToExcel.Row class

Query results can be returned as LinqToExcel.Row objects which allows you to access a cell's value by using the column name in the string index. Just use the Worksheet() method without a generic argument.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var indianaCompanies = from c in excel.Worksheet()
                       where c["State"] == "IN" || c["Zip"] == "46550"
                       select c;

The LinqToExcel.Row class allows you to easily cast a cell's value by using its Cast<>() method

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var largeCompanies = from c in excel.Worksheet()
                     where c["EmployeeCount"].Cast<int>() > 500
                     select c;

Query a worksheet without a header row

Worksheets that do not contain a header row can also be queried by using the WorksheetNoHeader() method. The cell values are referenced by index.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var indianaCompanies = from c in excel.WorksheetNoHeader()
                       where c[2] == "IN" //value in 3rd column
                       select c;

Query a named range within a worksheet

A query can be scoped to only include data from within a named range.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var indianaCompanies = from c in excel.NamedRange<Company>("NamedRange") //Selects data within the range named 'NamedRange'
                       where c.State == "IN"
                       select c;

Query a specific range within a worksheet

Data from only a specific range of cells within a worksheet can be queried as well. (This is not the same as a named range, which is noted above)

If the first row of the range contains a header row, then use the WorksheetRange() method

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var indianaCompanies = from c in excel.WorksheetRange<Company>("B3", "G10") //Selects data within the B3 to G10 cell range
                       where c.State == "IN"
                       select c;

If the first row of the range is not a header row, then use the WorksheetRangeNoHeader() method

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var indianaCompanies = from c in excel.WorksheetRangeNoHeader("B3", "G10") //Selects data within the B3 to G10 cell range
                       where c[2] == "IN" //value in 3rd column (D column in this case)
                       select c;

Query a specific worksheet by index

A specific worksheet can be queried by its index in relation to the other worksheets in the spreadsheet.

The worsheets index order is based on their names alphabetically; not the order they appear in Excel. For example, if a spreadsheet contains 2 worksheets: "ten" and "eleven". Although "eleven" is the second worksheet in Excel, it is actually the first index.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var oldCompanies = from c in excel.Worksheet<Company>(1) //Queries the second worksheet in alphabetical order
                   where c.LaunchDate < new DateTime(1900, 1, 1)
                   select c;

Apply transformations

Transformations can be applied to cell values before they are set on the class properties. The example below transforms "Y" values in the "IsBankrupt" column to a boolean value of true.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
excel.AddTransformation<Company>(x => x.IsBankrupt, cellValue => cellValue == "Y");

var bankruptCompanies = from c in excel.Worksheet<Company>()
                        where c.IsBankrupt == true
                        select c;

Query CSV files

Data from CSV files can be queried the same way spreadsheets are queried.

var csv = new ExcelQueryFactory("csvFileName");
var indianaCompanies = from c in csv.Worksheet<Company>()
                       where c.State == "IN"
                       select c;

Query Worksheet Names

The GetWorksheetNames() method can be used to retrieve the list of worksheet names in a spreadsheet.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var worksheetNames = excel.GetWorksheetNames();

Query Column Names

The GetColumnNames() method can be used to retrieve the list of column names in a worksheet.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
var columnNames = excel.GetColumnNames("worksheetName");

Strict Mapping

The StrictMapping property can be set to:

• 'WorksheetStrict' in order to enforce all worksheet columns are mapped to a class property.
• 'ClassStrict' to enforce all class properties are mapped to a worksheet column.
• 'Both' to enforce all worksheet columns map to a class property and vice versa.

The implied default StrictMapping value is 'None'. A StrictMappingException is thrown when the specified mapping condition isn't satisified.

var excel = new ExcelQueryFactory("excelFileName");
excel.StrictMapping = StrictMappingType.Both;

Retaining Values from Unmapped Columns

If you are using None or ClassStrict mapping, you can retain unmapped columns by implementing the IContainsUnmappedCells interface. This will put all values from the unmapped columns into a dictionary on your class named UnmappedCells.

Let's say the only field you're guaranteed to have is a Name column, and the rest of the columns can be different per spreadsheet. You could write your Company class like this, implementing IContainsUnmappedCells:

public class Company : IContainsUnmappedCells
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public IDictionary<string, Cell> UnmappedCells { get; } = new Dictionary<string, Cell>();
}

Given the following data set:

Name | CEO | EmployeeCount | StartDate -------------------------------------- | ------------- | ------------- | ---------- ACME | Bugs Bunny | 25 | 1918-11-11 Word Made Flesh | Chris Heuertz | | 1994-08-08 Anderson University | James Edwards | | 1917-09-01

You can query normally and all other fields will be available in the UnmappedCells dictionary:

var company = from c in excel.Worksheet<Company>()
              where c.Name == "ACME"
              select c;

// company.UnmappedCells["CEO"] == "Bugs Bunny"
// company.UnmappedCells["EmployeeCount"].Cast<int>() == 25
// compan