VB .NET Read & Create Excel Files (Code Example Tutorial)

Developers need a smooth and simple approach to accessing VB .NET Excel files. In this walkthrough, we'll use IronXL to read VB dotnet Excel files and access all data for our project use. We'll learn about creating spreadsheets in all formats ( .xls, .xlsx, .csv and .tsv ), as well as setting cell styles and inserting data using VB.NET Excel programming.

Step 1

1. Excel for VB.NET Library

Get the IronXL Excel for VB.NET Library using DLL Download or NuGet. IronXL is our Step 1 to quickly accessing Excel data in our VB.NET projects, and what we'll be using for this tutorial (free for development).

Install-Package IronXL.Excel

How To Tutorial

2. Create Excel Files in VB.NET

IronXL provides the simplest approach to create an Excel (.xlsx format) file in a VB.NET project. After this, we can insert data and also set cell properties like font styles or borders.

2.1. Create Excel File

Let's first create a WorkBook:

Dim wb As New WorkBook

Dim wb As New WorkBook

The above code is for creating a new Excel file. By default, its extension is .xlsx.

2.2. Create XLS File

In the case that you want to create an .xls extension file, then you can use this code.

Dim wb As New WorkBook(ExcelFileFormat.XLS)

Dim wb As New WorkBook(ExcelFileFormat.XLS)

2.3. Create Worksheet

After creating the WorkBook, an Excel WorkSheet can be created as follows:

Dim ws1 As WorkSheet = wb.CreateWorkSheet("Sheet1")

Dim ws1 As WorkSheet = wb.CreateWorkSheet("Sheet1")

The above code will create new WorkSheet ws1 with name sheet1 in WorkBook wb.

2.4. Create Multiple Worksheets

Any number of WorkSheets can be created in the same way:

Dim ws2 As WorkSheet = wb.CreateWorkSheet("Sheet2")
Dim ws3 As WorkSheet = wb.CreateWorkSheet("Sheet3")

Dim ws2 As WorkSheet = wb.CreateWorkSheet("Sheet2")
Dim ws3 As WorkSheet = wb.CreateWorkSheet("Sheet3")

3. Insert Data into Worksheet

3.1. Insert Data into Cells

Now we can easily insert data into WorkSheet cells as follows:

 worksheet("CellAddress").Value = "MyValue"

 worksheet("CellAddress").Value = "MyValue"

For example, data in worksheet ws1 can be inserted as:

ws1("A1").Value = "Hello World"

ws1("A1").Value = "Hello World"

The above code will write Hello World in A1 cell of WorkSheet ws1.

3.2. Insert Data into Range

It is also possible to write data into many cells using the range function as follows:

ws1("A3:A8").Value = "NewValue"

ws1("A3:A8").Value = "NewValue"

The above code will write NewValue from cell A3 to A8 in worksheet ws1.

3.3. Create and Edit Worksheets Example

We will create a new Excel file Sample.xlsx and insert some data in it to showcase the code we learned above.

/**
Create and Edit Excel
anchor-create-and-edit-worksheets-example
**/
Imports IronXL
Sub Main()
    Dim wb As New WorkBook(ExcelFileFormat.XLSX)
    Dim ws1 As WorkSheet = wb.CreateWorkSheet("Sheet1")
    ws1("A1").Value = "Hello"
    ws1("A2").Value = "World"
    ws1("B1:B8").Value = "RangeValue"
    wb.SaveAs("Sample.xlsx")
End Sub

/**
Create and Edit Excel
anchor-create-and-edit-worksheets-example
**/
Imports IronXL
Sub Main()
    Dim wb As New WorkBook(ExcelFileFormat.XLSX)
    Dim ws1 As WorkSheet = wb.CreateWorkSheet("Sheet1")
    ws1("A1").Value = "Hello"
    ws1("A2").Value = "World"
    ws1("B1:B8").Value = "RangeValue"
    wb.SaveAs("Sample.xlsx")
End Sub

Note: By default, new Excel file will create in bin>Debug folder of the project.If we want to create new file in custom path then: wb.SaveAs(@"E:\IronXL\Sample.xlsx")

Here is the screenshot of our newly created Excel file sample.xlsx:

It is clear how simple it can be to create Excel files using IronXL in a VB.NET Application.

4. Read Excel File in VB.NET

IronXl also provides a simple approach to read Excel (.xlsx) files in your VB dotnet project. For this purpose, simply get the Excel document, load it in your project, read its data, and use it as per your requirements.

Follow these steps:

4.1. Access Excel File in Project

WorkBook is the class of IronXL whose object provides full access to the Excel file and its functions. For example, if we want to access the Excel file, we simply use:

WorkBook wb = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx") 'Excel file path

WorkBook wb = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx") 'Excel file path

In the code above, WorkBook.Load() function load sample.xlsx in wb. Any type function can be performed on wb by accessing specific WorkSheet of Excel file.

4.2. Access Specific WorkSheet

To access a specific sheet in Excel, take the WorkSheet class, which can be used in the following different ways:

4.2.1. By Sheet Name

Dim ws As WorkSheet = WorkBook.GetWorkSheet("sheet1") 'by sheet name

Dim ws As WorkSheet = WorkBook.GetWorkSheet("sheet1") 'by sheet name

wb is the WorkBook declared in the above section.

4.2.2. By Sheet Index

 Dim ws As WorkSheet = WorkBook.WorkSheets(0) 'by sheet index

 Dim ws As WorkSheet = WorkBook.WorkSheets(0) 'by sheet index

4.2.3. Default Sheet

Dim ws As WorkSheet = workbook.DefaultWorkSheet() 'for the default sheet: 

Dim ws As WorkSheet = workbook.DefaultWorkSheet() 'for the default sheet: 

4.2.4. First Sheet

Dim sheet As WorkSheet = workbook.WorkSheets.FirstOrDefault() 'for the first sheet:

Dim sheet As WorkSheet = workbook.WorkSheets.FirstOrDefault() 'for the first sheet:

4.2.1. First or Default Sheet

Dim sheet As WorkSheet = workbook.WorkSheets.FirstOrDefault() 'for the first or default sheet:

Dim sheet As WorkSheet = workbook.WorkSheets.FirstOrDefault() 'for the first or default sheet:

After getting Excel sheet ws , you can get any type of data from the corresponding WorkSheet of the Excel file and perform all Excel functions.

5. Access Data From WorkSheet

Data can be accessed from the ExcelSheet ws in this way:

Dim int_Value As Integer = sheet("A2").IntValue 'for integer
Dim str_value As String = sheet("A2").ToString() 'for string

Dim int_Value As Integer = sheet("A2").IntValue 'for integer
Dim str_value As String = sheet("A2").ToString() 'for string

5.1. Data from Specific Column

It is also possible to get data from many cells of specific column by the following way:

For Each cell In sheet("A2:A10")
    Console.WriteLine("value is: {0}", cell.Text)       
Next cell

For Each cell In sheet("A2:A10")
    Console.WriteLine("value is: {0}", cell.Text)       
Next cell

It will display values from cell A2 to A10. A code example of above whole discussion is given below.

/**
Load and Edit Values
anchor-data-from-specific-column
**/
Imports IronXL
Sub Main()
    Dim wb As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx")
    Dim ws As WorkSheet = wb.WorkSheets.FirstOrDefault()
    For Each cell In ws("A2:A10")
        Console.WriteLine("value is: {0}", cell.Text)
    Next
    Console.ReadKey() 
End Sub

/**
Load and Edit Values
anchor-data-from-specific-column
**/
Imports IronXL
Sub Main()
    Dim wb As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx")
    Dim ws As WorkSheet = wb.WorkSheets.FirstOrDefault()
    For Each cell In ws("A2:A10")
        Console.WriteLine("value is: {0}", cell.Text)
    Next
    Console.ReadKey() 
End Sub

This will display the following output:

And we can see a Screenshot of Excel file Sample.xlsx:

6. Perform Functions on Data

It is simple to access filtered data from an Excel WorkSheet by applying aggregate functions like Sum, Min or Max in the following way:

Dim sum As Decimal = ws("From:To").Sum()
Dim min As Decimal = ws("From:To").Min()
Dim max As Decimal = ws("From:To").Max()

Dim sum As Decimal = ws("From:To").Sum()
Dim min As Decimal = ws("From:To").Min()
Dim max As Decimal = ws("From:To").Max()

You can read more about Excel Aggregate Functions here.

/**
Apply Functions to Data
anchor-perform-functions-on-data
**/
Imports IronXL
Sub Main()
    Dim wb As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx")
    Dim ws As WorkSheet = wb.WorkSheets.FirstOrDefault()

    Dim sum As Decimal = ws("G2:G10").Sum()
    Dim min As Decimal = ws("G2:G10").Min()
    Dim max As Decimal = ws("G2:G10").Max()

    Console.WriteLine("Sum is: {0}", sum)
    Console.WriteLine("Min is: {0}", min)
    Console.WriteLine("Max is: {0}", max)
    Console.ReadKey()
End Sub

/**
Apply Functions to Data
anchor-perform-functions-on-data
**/
Imports IronXL
Sub Main()
    Dim wb As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx")
    Dim ws As WorkSheet = wb.WorkSheets.FirstOrDefault()

    Dim sum As Decimal = ws("G2:G10").Sum()
    Dim min As Decimal = ws("G2:G10").Min()
    Dim max As Decimal = ws("G2:G10").Max()

    Console.WriteLine("Sum is: {0}", sum)
    Console.WriteLine("Min is: {0}", min)
    Console.WriteLine("Max is: {0}", max)
    Console.ReadKey()
End Sub

This code will give us this display:

And this Excel file Sample.xlsx:

You can learn more about how to read Excel in the linked article.

Tutorial Quick Access

Documentation API Reference

Access the documentation API reference of IronXL and the simple ways to work with Excel in your VB.NET project. Find lists of features, functions, classes and more.

Documentation API Reference