Microsoft Excel® |
Sets the options necessary for linking to a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet. For more information see External Databases: An Overview. | ||
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Note We only read from your spreadsheets, no changes are ever made to your files. | ||
Linking to an Excel® spreadshteet is done by setting a field's Appearance in our database to Excel® Link and then choosing a column from your spreadsheet for the Formatting. In the Details screen you then choose a value from the designated Key Column of your spreadsheet, and when you move off the field you will see the contents of the column specified in the Formatting property. | ||
Note Linking to Excel® will only work with Excel® 2000 or newer, and you must have Excel® installed on your computer. | ||
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Link to a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet | |
If this is ticked then links to your selected workbook will be attempted as and when required. If this is unticked then no links to your workbook will be attempted. |
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Workbooks | |
A Workbook is a collection of worksheets (or spreadsheets), stored as a single file. This area allows you to list all the workbooks that you have access to, and then from within that workbook choose the worksheet that you want to link to. | ||
To add an Excel® workbook: | ||
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Click the ![]() |
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Browse for an XLS file (Duplicates are not allowed) |
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Click the OK button | |
To remove a workbook: | ||
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Highlight the workbook you want to remove | |
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Click the ![]() |
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Note When you delete a workbook, it is only removed from the list, not deleted off the system. | ||
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Worksheet | |
After you select a workbook you must then choose one of the worksheets (a spreadsheet) held within that workbook. The worksheet drop-list will contain the names of all available worksheets. If you are unfamiliar with worksheets, it's almost certain that your data is in Sheet 1. |
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Note If your workbook is password protected you may get an error message when we try to build a list of worksheet names if you haven't entered the password in the Password box. To overcome this problem, enter the password and the re-select the workbook from the list. | ||
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Password | |
If your workbook is password protected you must enter the password here. This saves having to enter the password each time we link to your workbook. Passwords are case-sensitive. |
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Key column | |
Choose a column from your worksheet that contains a unique identifier for each row, such as an account number or serial number. You then choose an entry from this key column when you click on an Excel® Link field in the Details screen, and when you move off the field the value will reflect the content of the column specified in the Formatting property. |
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Tech Note Only the first 72 columns of your worksheet will be made available. There is no limit to the number of rows in your worksheet. Workbooks are open as read-only, however we cannot open a workbook if it is already open for exclusive access in Excel® on the same computer or elsewhere on the network. |
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Related topics External Databases: An Overview |