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Features in Depth > ExcelApplication.Open vs. ExcelTemplate

ExcelApplication.Open* vs. ExcelTemplate

* ExcelApplication.Open is not available in ExcelWriterSE.

ExcelWriter provides two means of using a preset spreadsheet format to generate a new spreadsheet:

The ExcelApplication object's Open method (see Modifying an Existing Spreadsheet)

The ExcelTemplate object (see How To Use Templates)

Using ExcelApplication.Open is slower than using ExcelTemplate because the ExcelApplication object is larger and more complex than the ExcelTemplate object. However, the ExcelApplication object is rich in features, and can modify spreadsheets at runtime, while ExcelTemplate can only fill in cell values. The following table summarizes the differences between the two.

Note: You can use ExcelTemplate and ExcelApplication together, as demonstrated in Passing ExcelApplication to ExcelTemplate and Passing ExcelTemplate to ExcelApplication.

	ExcelApp.Open	ExcelTemplate
Supported Excel formats	BIFF7 (Excel 95) and BIFF8 (Excel 97/2000/XP). Note: If you open a BIFF7 (Excel 95) format spreadsheet, you cannot apply BIFF8 features to it. ExcelWriter will save the spreadsheet in BIFF7 format.	BIFF8 only. ExcelTemplate does not support BIFF7 format templates, and will not generate BIFF7 format files.
Available in ExcelWriterSE	No.	Yes.
Modifications at runtime	Yes.	No.
Can populate template data markers	No.	Yes.
Performance	ExcelApplication's large object model makes it a slower means of modifying an existing file than ExcelTemplate.	Because it is compact, ExcelTemplate is a faster means of populating a new spreadsheet with data from a preformatted file than ExcelApp.Open.
Flexibility	ExcelApplication is rich in features which can be applied to an existing spreadsheet at runtime.	ExcelTemplate only fills in cell values at runtime (the data sources for the cell values can include database records, variables, and arrays).
Data Sources	ADO RecordSet ADO.NET DataTable ADO.NET DataSet OleDBDataReader SqlDataReader AdomdDataReader 1 and 2-dimensional arrays Variables	ADO RecordSet ADO.NET DataTable ADO.NET DataSet OleDBDataReader SqlDataReader AdomdDataReader 1 and 2-dimensional arrays Variables
Requires modification of an existing Excel spreadsheet before opening.	No.	Yes. To use an existing Excel spreadsheet as a template, you must add data markers to it.
Supports Macros and VBA	ExcelApplication preserves existing Macros and VBA but cannot create new Macros and VBA.	ExcelTemplate preserves existing Macros and VBA but cannot create new Macros and VBA.