Is it required to install MS Excel or Office on server to read an excel file in web application?

Question

I'm working to create and read MS Excel file in asp.net web application. I'm not sure that it requires to install Microsoft Excel on server or not.

I don't want to install any licensed product on the server like MS office etc.

Please let me know how i can implement this functionality without installing MS Excel on the server or it is necessary to install MS excel on server?

Thanks

Answer 1

It depends on what you're doing, but more than likely, all you need is the Microsoft Access Database Engine.

This download will install a set of components that facilitate the transfer of data between existing Microsoft Office files such as Microsoft Office Access 2010 (*.mdb and .accdb) files and Microsoft Office Excel 2010 (.xls, *.xlsx, and *.xlsb) files to other data sources such as Microsoft SQL Server. Connectivity to existing text files is also supported. ODBC and OLEDB drivers are installed for application developers to use in developing their applications with connectivity to Office file formats.

Edit, in response to

I just want to read and write MS excel files but i don't want to install anything on the server.

You can try EPPlus, which seems to solve your problem; though I've never tried it.

EPPlus is a .net library that reads and writes Excel 2007/2010 files using the Open Office Xml format (xlsx).