FIX: Excel ODBC Driver Cannot Open Excel 4.0 XLS Files (293862)

SYMPTOMS

If you try to open a Microsoft Excel 4.0 file, the ODBC Microsoft Jet driver may return the following error message:

[Microsoft][ODBC Excel Driver] The Microsoft Jet database engine could not find the object 'ODBCTest.xls'. Make sure the object exists and that you spell its name and the path name correctly.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This bug was corrected in Microsoft Jet 4.0 Service Pack 5. For additional information about the latest Jet 4.0 service pack, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

239114 How To: Obtain the Latest Service Pack for the Microsoft Jet 4.0 Database Engine

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

The following steps only reproduce the error on a computer with Microsoft Jet 4.0 Service Pack 4 or earlier.

Create a data source name (DSN) called ExcelTest for an Excel 4.0 file.
Create a new Standard EXE project in Microsoft Visual Basic.
Set a project reference to Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.6..

Paste the following code into the code section of Form1:

Option Explicit

Const strConn = "DSN=ExcelTest"
Const strSQL = "SELECT * FROM [Sheet1$]"

Private Sub Form_Load()
    Dim cn As ADODB.Connection
    Set cn = New ADODB.Connection
    cn.Open strConn
    
    Dim rs As ADODB.Recordset
    Set rs = New ADODB.Recordset
    With rs
        .CursorLocation = adUseClient
        .Open strSQL, cn
        
        Debug.Print .Fields(0)
        
        .Close
    End With
    
    Set rs = Nothing
    cn.Close
    Set cn = Nothing
End Sub

Run the project. Notice that you receive the above-mentioned error message.