I have the following rows in my Excel input file:

Column1       Column2
0-5           3.040 
6             2.957 
7             2.876

and the following code which uses ADO.NET to read it:

string fileName = "input.xls";
var connectionString = string.Format("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; data source={0}; Extended Properties=Excel 8.0;", fileName);
var dbConnection = new OleDbConnection(connectionString);
dbConnection.Open();
try
{
    var dbCommand = new OleDbCommand("SELECT * FROM [Sheet1$]", dbConnection);
    var dbReader = dbCommand.ExecuteReader ();

    while (dbReader.Read())
    {
        string col1 = dbReader.GetValue(0).ToString();
        string col2 = dbReader.GetValue(1).ToString();                 
    }                
}
finally
{
    dbConnection.Close();
}

The results are very disturbing. Here's why:

The values of each column in the first time through the loop:

col1 is empty (blank)

col2 is 3.04016411633586

Second time:

col1 is 6

col2 is 2.95722928448829

Third time:

col1 is 7

col2 is 2.8763272933077

The first problem happens with col1 in the first iteration. I expect 0-5. The second problem happens at every iteration with col2 where ADO.NET obviously alters the values as it reads them. How to stop this mal-behavior?