SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

1696691 - Excel spreadsheets not visible under ODBC connection in Crystal Reports

Symptom

  • Sheets not available.
  • No MS Excel sheets displays in Crystal Reports.
  • Connection to MS Excel only show "Add Command" in Crystal Reports.
  • MS Excel Spreadsheets are not available when creating a report in Crystal Reports, using an ODBC connection to MS Excel.

Environment

  • SAP Crystal Reports 2016
  • SAP Crystal Reports 2020
  • SAP Crystal Reports 2025

Reproducing the Issue

  1. In Microsoft ODBC Administrator, create an ODBC connection using the MS Excel ODBC driver to the MS Excel spreadsheet to report from. 
  2. In Crystal Reports, create a new report using the ODBC DSN created in step 1.
  3. It does not display anything under the new connection, other that "Add Command". The MS Excel spreadsheets are missing.

Cause

  • When Using ODBC connection to MS Excel document, the spreadsheets are interpreted as "System Tables", and by default, the system tables are not visible when creating an ODBC connection in Crystal Reports.

Resolution

  • To be able to display the MS Excel sheets when using an ODBC connection to a MS Excel document in Crystal Reports, check the Crystal Reports Database Option: "System Tables"
       
    1. Open Crystal Reports.
        
    2. Under the menu "File", select "Options..."
        
    3. In the "Options" window, under the tab "Database", check the Data Explorer option "System Tables".
       
    4. Click "OK" to accept the change.
         
    5. Now, when creating a new report using an ODBC connection to a MS Excel spreadsheet, it it will display the available sheets.

See Also

  • 1669329 - How to create a report of MS Excel spreadsheet saved in .xlsx format in Crystal Reports?

Keywords

ODBC, Excel Spreadsheets, missing, Excel 2003 , KBA , BI-RA-CR , Crystal Reports designer or Business View Manager , Problem

Product

SAP Crystal Reports 2016 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2020 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2025