>>>Try "Save As"
>>
>>Easier: since I already have a list of date column names, I'm simply widening the column so the .text will be a digit now:
>>

*---------------------------------------------------
>>	PROCEDURE GetColumnNames(tn)
>>*[2012/11/26 17:39:35] ndragan - just use the clipboard
>>		LOCAL aF[1], lnfields
>>		loXls=this.oexcel
>>		loxls.ActiveSheet.ROWS(tn).SELECT
>>		loxls.SELECTION.COPY()
>>		_CLIPTEXT=TRIM(_CLIPTEXT, 1, 0h0d)
>>		lnfields=ALINES(aF, _CLIPTEXT, hTab)
>>		DIMENSION THIS.aFld[lnFields]
>>		ACOPY(aF, THIS.aFld)
>>		*[2012/11/30 15:20:39] ndragan - widen the date fields so that Excel2010 doesn't see ######.
>>		FOR i=1 to lnFields
>>			IF lower(af[i])$this.cValueFieldsList
>>				loxls.columns(i).ColumnWidth = 15.57
>>			endif
>>		ENDFOR
>>

>>Which now works even without saving the file. I just wish I didn't have to waste so much time on this.
>>
>>
>
>PMFJI. I am always looking at how people extract data from excel to VFP. And I am trying to understand your code but it goes over my head. Hopefully, if it is not too much trouble, I can ask you. How do you get the value of 'tn" that you pass to this function? And one more; what is the 'this.oexcel' you use in this function? TIA.

Tn is the row with the header, usually 1 but I've seen multiline headers, so I've put it as parameter just in case.

"This" is, in my case, a wrapper class that has all the code I'd need that's common to various import scenarios; this.oExcel is an instance of excel that it creates.