Can I programmatically enable and disable ms-excel file sharing / co-authoring of an xlsx file stored in SharePoint and linked to ms-access?

Question

We have a ms-excel xlsx file stored in SharePoint. This file can be edited in two ways: directly in SharePoint or through ms-access acting as a front-end of the xlsx file (as an external linked table). We want the xlsx file to be edited while the ms-access database is open.

While ms-access is open, the xlsx file appears as read-only. We want programmatically disable the read-only state, so that other people could edit the xlsx file while ms-access is open and, also, enable read-only again when necessary.

I think that the only way to get this is by sharing the xlsx file. My question is as follows:

• I don't know whether the best way to share the xlsx file is using co-authoring or using the standard ms-excel sharing. We tried to do it manually using co-authoring, but the xlsx file could not be edited through ms-access.

• If we manage to edit the xlsx file through ms-access, then, is it possible to change the shared status programmatically while ms-access is open throug VBA, .NET, VSTO, MS-Javascript API or any other language? I have searched in Google, but I have found nothing but some .NET library for ms-word (Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.CoAuthoring), but, curiously, not for ms-excel and, as the great wise Confucius said, "if you search something in Google for more than three hours and you don't find it, this means that it doesn't exist".

But maybe someone has had this same odd problem and could help us.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You can't. The first application to open the file will "hold" it, and the next will either could open it as read-only or not at all.

You may be able to let Access open the Excel file, import the data to a table, and then close the file. If the file already is opened in Excel, it may fail, and that you must, of course, take care of.

Another option could be to have a function in Excel that exports the data to another workbook, and then let Access read this.