title: Connection string to connect to remote Oracle 11g
body: <p>I need to connect to a remote Oracle server from VBA. I do not want to install any additional drivers or software to connect as I need to distribute the Excel to the team. </p>
  
  <p>I tried several connection strings giving errors like <code>SQL_HANDLE_ENV failed</code>. or <code>Oracle client and networking components not found.</code> or when use <code>OraOLEDB.Oracle</code> I get Provider not found.</p>
  
  <p>Connection strings tried so far:</p>
  
  <pre><code>    "Driver={Microsoft ODBC for Oracle}; CONNECTSTRING=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=hostname)(PORT=1521))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=servicename))); uid=username; pwd=Password;"
  
      "PROVIDER=MSDAORA.Oracle;DATA SOURCE=hostname;USER ID=username;PASSWORD=Password"
  
      "PROVIDER=MSDAORA;DATA SOURCE=hostname;USER ID=username;PASSWORD=Password"
  
      "Driver={Oracle in OraClient11g_home1};Dbq=servicename;Uid=username;Pwd=Password;"
  
      "Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;Data Source=hostname;User Id=username;Password=Password;"
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>There are some pre defined drivers in windows i suppose. But does it not work for oracle? I use windows 8
  Any help greatly appreciated..</p>
  
  <p>I did some more research and came across ODP.net. So the conclusion i think is either use Oracle Instant Client or ODP.net. But i am no sure if any .net Application like ODP.net will work without .Net framework. Please let me know if anyone came across this.</p>