Getting open xlsx Filename from Process ID

Question

I'm trying to build a form that allows a user to select a previously opened Excel instance.

From there, I want to extract out the name of the .xlsx file associated with that opened instance.

I suspect I'll have to use COM to get it out of there, but I haven't found a way to do it.

The code I'm thinking is as follows:

Process[] openApplications = Process.GetProcessesByName("excel");

foreach(Process p in openApplications)
{
    ///Find the associated .xlsx path and file
    ///...Maybe from the handle id?
}

Any help would be much appreciated

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7916711/get-the-current-workbook-object-in-c-sharp — Siddharth Rout, Jul 17 '14 at 11:15
Let me know if the above solves your issue so that I can mark this question as a duplicate :D — Siddharth Rout, Jul 17 '14 at 11:16

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 17 '14 at 10:59

1

You have to use the ActiveWorkbook property. Please refer this.

        try
        {
            Process[] openApplications = Process.GetProcessesByName("excel");
            int proLen = openApplications.Length;
            if (proLen == 0)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("The process does NOT exist or has exited...");
                return 0;
            }

            foreach(Process p in openApplications)
             {
             //validate p for null/nothing
             //get the name of the workbook using
             //Use p.ActiveWorkbook.Name to get the file name.
             }        
            return 1;
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {

        }

edited Jul 17 '14 at 10:59

Sid M

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answered Jul 17 '14 at 10:54

Rahul Vishwakarma

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Do each of the Process objects within openApplications have a .ActiveWorkbook.Name in them? I'm not seeing that. – Tim C Jul 17 '14 at 11:07
I'm using VS2017 - this answer does not seem to work. p.ActiveWorkbook.Name is not a valid selection – IamSierraCharlie May 29 '19 at 23:12

Yurii · Answer 2 · 2014-07-17T11:05:23.297

0

First, you'll have to add a reference to the Microsoft Excel Object Library to get an instance of the running MS Excel application:

var application = (Application)Marshal.GetActiveObject("Excel.Application");

Then you can get the full path of the file via ActiveWorkbook and FullName properties.

Console.WriteLine(application.ActiveWorkbook.FullName);

And if you have more than one instance of MS Excel opened, you can iterate over them via Workbooks property:

foreach (Workbook workbook in application.Workbooks)
{
    // do something with workbook.FullName
}

edited Jul 17 '14 at 11:05

answered Jul 17 '14 at 11:00

Yurii

4,811
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I get an exception when I do the var application = ... Also, what do I do if there are multiple open workbooks? I'm trying to allow the user to select the active one... – Tim C Jul 17 '14 at 11:08
@TimC, that's not a very informative description of what's happening. Make sure you use object library of the version that corresponds to the target version of MS Excel; try searching the net for the problem described in the exception message; if it doesn't help, you can ask a new question, but please do include all the relevant information, [some tips](http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve). – Yurii Jul 17 '14 at 11:20

Getting open xlsx Filename from Process ID

2 Answers2