Error while reading OpenOffice spreadsheet

Question

In my application I have to read an OpenOffice spreadsheet and display the data in the spreadsheet in grid view below is the code that I used but it is providing an exception that external table is not in the correct format how can I resolve this

 <div>
        Import Excel File:  
        <asp:FileUpload ID="FileUpload1" runat="server" />  
        <br />  
        <br />  
        <asp:Button ID="btnUpload" runat="server" OnClick="btnUpload_Click" Text="Upload" />  
        <br />  
        <br />  
        <asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server"></asp:Label>  
        <br />  
        <asp:GridView ID="gvExcelFile" runat="server" CellPadding="4" ForeColor="#333333" GridLines="None">  
            <AlternatingRowStyle BackColor="White" ForeColor="#284775" />  
            <EditRowStyle BackColor="#999999" />  
            <FooterStyle BackColor="#5D7B9D" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />  
            <HeaderStyle BackColor="#5D7B9D" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />  
            <PagerStyle BackColor="#284775" ForeColor="White" HorizontalAlign="Center" />  
            <RowStyle BackColor="#F7F6F3" ForeColor="#333333" />  
            <SelectedRowStyle BackColor="#E2DED6" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="#333333" />  
            <SortedAscendingCellStyle BackColor="#E9E7E2" />  
            <SortedAscendingHeaderStyle BackColor="#506C8C" />  
            <SortedDescendingCellStyle BackColor="#FFFDF8" />  
            <SortedDescendingHeaderStyle BackColor="#6F8DAE" />  
        </asp:GridView>  

    </div>  

 //Coneection String by default empty  
            string ConStr = "";
            //Extantion of the file upload control saving into ext because   
            //there are two types of extation .xls and .xlsx of Excel   
            string ext = Path.GetExtension(FileUpload1.FileName).ToLower();
            //getting the path of the file   
            string path = Server.MapPath("~/MyFolder/" + FileUpload1.FileName);
            //saving the file inside the MyFolder of the server  
            FileUpload1.SaveAs(path);
            Label1.Text = FileUpload1.FileName + "\'s Data showing into the GridView";
            //checking that extantion is .xls or .xlsx  
            if (ext.Trim() == ".ods")
            {
                //connection string for that file which extantion is .xls  
                ConStr = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" + path + ";Extended Properties=\"Excel 8.0;HDR=Yes;IMEX=2\"";
            }
            else if (ext.Trim() == ".xlsx")
            {
                //connection string for that file which extantion is .xlsx  
                ConStr = "Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=" + path + ";Extended Properties=\"Excel 12.0;HDR=Yes;IMEX=2\"";
            }
            //making query  
            string query = "SELECT * FROM [Sheet1$]";
            //Providing connection  
            OleDbConnection conn = new OleDbConnection(ConStr);
            //checking that connection state is closed or not if closed the   
            //open the connection  
            if (conn.State == ConnectionState.Closed)
            {
                conn.Open();
            }
            //create command object  
            OleDbCommand cmd = new OleDbCommand(query, conn);
            // create a data adapter and get the data into dataadapter  
            OleDbDataAdapter da = new OleDbDataAdapter(cmd);
            DataSet ds = new DataSet();
            //fill the Excel data to data set  
            da.Fill(ds);
            //set data source of the grid view  
            gvExcelFile.DataSource = ds.Tables[0];
            //binding the gridview  
            gvExcelFile.DataBind();
            //close the connection  
            conn.Close(); 

Answer 1

ActiveXObject will only work for Internet Explorer, as explained here.

For other browsers, Silverlight has AutomationFactory that might be able to do it. However, I did not try it because of the security risks involved.

Another way is to put the ReadExcel() function in a file ending in .js and then add the line ReadExcel(); at the end of the file. Set excelFile to the path of a spreadsheet file. I double-clicked to run it, and then it successfully loaded the OpenOffice document.

EDIT:

See if the following line causes the same error:

var objShell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.shell");

If so, then the problem is not related to OpenOffice or to your code. Perhaps you need to give Internet Explorer permission to run unsafely. See https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/ie/en-US/8db7ec28-45ca-4859-b051-f0571a4da14e/error-automation-server-cant-create-object?forum=ieitpropriorver.