In addition to the visible rows and columns, XLS spreadsheets contain more information that is not visually available. The naked eye cannot see file properties like the creation date, company name, and other metadata. These details can help people organize older workbooks and improve document search. If you need to extract metadata from XLS workbooks, a .NET application can do that quickly, replacing the manual workflow. This guide demonstrates how .NET users can read metadata from XLS files in C# applications using a REST API. Let’s dive into the complete process and explore seamless Excel metadata extraction with only a handful of API calls.

Steps to Read Metadata from XLS Files in C# .NET

1. Install GroupDocs.Metadata Cloud SDK for .NET from NuGet
2. Set up your client credentials with the Configuration class
3. Initialize a MetadataApi class object to extract XLS file metadata
4. Add the source file using FileInfo and define ExtractOptions
5. Create and process a metadata extraction request with the Extract method
6. Print the extracted metadata of the XLS file

These simple steps enable you to send a metadata request and receive the available spreadsheet properties in a structured response. Reading XLS metadata programmatically can make spreadsheet organization less dependent on manual checks. You do not need to open individual Excel workbooks to find file information; you can collect file properties from an automated workflow. It boosts records management, file inventory, and spreadsheet processing in general. The .NET REST API empowers your document-manipulation apps across Windows, Linux, and macOS, giving teams greater flexibility when processing XLS files in different environments. Metadata parsing provides useful context without changing the workbook’s visible data.

Code to Read Metadata from XLS Files in C# .NET

The ability to read and extract metadata from XLS files is a useful outlet for understanding spreadsheet properties alongside their content. The GroupDocs.Metadata Cloud .NET SDK provides access to XLS metadata via REST API requests, enabling retrieval of supported properties in C# and other .NET-based applications. You can authenticate, select the source XLS file, request its metadata, and work with the returned information as part of your existing workflow.

Do you also work with PowerPoint presentations? If so, you can explore our guide to reading metadata from PPT files using the .NET REST API.