Upload Excel data into online database

[DH]

I will have an online database (probably SQL or Oracle) that I need to
upload data to from an Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will be
distributed to clients who will fill in the required information. Once the
spreadsheet is complete, I'd like for them to be able to go to a website,
point to the file on their computer, and have the information uploaded into
the database.

Can someone give me a conceptual idea of what I'll need to do this or what
would be best to accomplish this? Asp, asp.net, etc? I've googled around and
seen many ideas and products to upload/convert excel data in various ways,
but wasn't sure if there was a "best" way out there if you are starting the
project from scratch and can choose anything. There may even be a small
budget to pay for software as long as it isn't too expensive.

So here is my problem in 2 steps:

a) Can an excel file be uploaded and read into a database in .xls format? I
CAN make them use csv but if we can keep it in .xls then I think that would
be smoother.

b) What tools do I need to do the transfer from file to database? What is
the best language to use for this transfer? 3rd party utilities to read the
Excel?

 

[Bill Li]

Via VBA, you can directly upload data into database from
Excle spreadsheet. You can also convert Excle to other
format, and use other application to upload them.