filestream - open excel file read only fails - excel

Question

I read an excel file (.xlsm; password-protected) with a vb.net application. I use the following interfaces:
System.IO.filestream
Syncfusion.XlsIO (NuGet)
That works, but I want to open it in ReadOnly-Mode, so that any other people can use this file with MS Office (write, save, ...).
Code:
Imports Syncfusion.XlsIO
Private SyncEE As Syncfusion.XlsIO.ExcelEngine
Private SyncWB As Syncfusion.XlsIO.IWorkbook
Private SyncFS As System.IO.FileStream
Public Sub new
SyncEE = New ExcelEngine
SyncFS = New FileStream(PathFile, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite)
SyncEE.Excel.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2016
SyncWB = SyncEE.Excel.Workbooks.Open(SyncFS, ExcelParseOptions.Default, openReadOnly, password)
SyncWB.Unprotect(password)
SyncWB = SyncEE.Excel.Workbooks.Open(SyncFS, ExcelOpenType.Automatic)
' read....
'discard
SyncWB.Close()
SyncWB = Nothing
SyncEE.Dispose()
SyncEE = Nothing
SyncFS.Dispose()
SyncFS = Nothing
End Sub
I tried it step by step and found out that i block the file at row:
SyncFS = New FileStream(PathFile, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite)
and I release the file at the 'discard' rows.
Blocking means that no one can edit and save the excel-file manually in MS Excel while I read it.

Answer 1

Greetings from Syncfusion.
You are blocking the file on loading the file using FileStream, as mentioned by you and you are discarding the FileStream object only at the end of your entire program. You can discard the FileStream object immediately after loading it into a workbook object so that others can use the file with MS Office (write, save, …) while you are reading it. Hence, we have modified your code as below to achieve your requirement.
Code snippet:
Private Sub new
SyncEE = New ExcelEngine
SyncFS = New FileStream(PathFile, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite)
SyncEE.Excel.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2016
SyncWB = SyncEE.Excel.Workbooks.Open(SyncFS, ExcelParseOptions.Default, openReadOnly, password)
'Discard FileStream
SyncFS.Dispose()
SyncFS = Nothing
' read....
'discard
SyncWB.Close()
SyncWB = Nothing
SyncEE.Dispose()
SyncEE = Nothing
End Sub
Note: I work for Syncfusion.
Regards,
Shamini