Spotfire - Change datasource from SQL to excel - spotfire

I'm looking for a way to change my data source using script. In other words, I'm actually connected to the ​SQL database. I have some graphs, some tables, and some functions.
Is there a way to tell to Spotfire to switch from SQL data source to a folder present on my computer? This folder is just the same tables, with the same names but fixed, not changing yet at a date.
So, I'm looking for a button using Python script to change the data source. If you know a package/function to do so, I would be happy to try it.
Thanks for your time,

Related

Excel PowerPivot - change data source type

I have an Excel 2016 with 30 graphs based on PowerPivot. PowerPivot fetches the data from another Excel sheet, but I want it to get the data from a SQL server table instead.
How can I change the data source type in PowerPivot? I've tried looking in the Excel xml without any luck. Would be a lot of work re-creating all graphs over again just to switch data source
Thanks
Dennis
One suggestion I would make for the future, if all the users are using 2016 is to use Power Query which comes standard with that version of excel. In the Power Query loading data into Power Pivot scenario, all Power Pivot cares about is the column names. This means that the query can be changed between data source types without causing issues, as long as the same column names are changed.
As an example, I have one file that based on a parameter flag rips data out of a series of excel files on a shared network drive or Share Point. Both of which would be different data sources. The first opening a folder as the data source, then excel files listed within the folder. The other opening a share point list as its data source, then navigating though excel files.

Add data into access records via Excel import

Hello and thanks for any help. I'm a noob with Access but my company has asked a question about possibly importing some information for certain records in Access. Basically, I work for an insurance company and they have a claims system which was built in Access about a decade ago by someone who has left the company recently. The system works and is fine for current needs. However, we were recently asked to amend a field for certain records (claims). Because there are about 200-300 records, we are looking at a possible import solution.
The problem is, I have never done this before and am worried that it might affect other records or other fields in the records. The only thing that needs to change is one field and the rest must remain unchanged.
I know the Access table name & record numbers (RecordNo - textbox in Access) and the name of the field I want to change (Reference - textbox in Access) but am unsure how this can be imported, how the excel file needs to be prepared and how to make sure no new records are added but instead existing records are amended.
For instance, can I just have 2 columns, one called "RecordNo" and the other "Reference"? Or do I need to add blank columns to account for the extra columns in the Access table? Do I need to create a named range or an excel table or simply put the columns in Excel? Is there any specific formatting that I should be using (Text or General or something else - the Reference will be a text value as it has both numbers and letters)? When importing in Access using the import wizard, do I need to choose "Append a copy of the records to the table"? How will it know which record to amend as the Access table will contain thousands of records that I don't want changed in any way?
I also have access to the "Navigation Pane" in Access where I can find tables and queries etc and not sure if the records in question can be bulk amended on the table instead?
To make matters more complicated, the Access database is on the server and needs to be accessed by multiple users at the same time so I would ideally like to test this out on a separate copy. But copying it to my own computer does not sever the connection with the copy on the server and any changes are reflected in the original copy immediately.
I tried looking online but I can't seem to find anything that will quash my worries. I can find a few articles talking about importing issues, though not what I would be interested in, but they are all for previous versions of Access and really I can barely understand the current version. We are using Excel and Access 2013.
If possible, I would rather not use VBA as the current database has a lot of it anyway and its's difficult to manage and navigate. I also have no idea about Access VBA, just excel.
Thank you
To make matters more complicated, the Access database is on the server
and needs to be accessed by multiple users at the same time so I would
ideally like to test this out on a separate copy. But copying it to my
own computer does not sever the connection with the copy on the server
and any changes are reflected in the original copy immediately
That is because you are only copying the front end. There is somewhere a separate access file that is the back end. Or it could be a different database system like MS SQL Server or MySQL. So your first task it to find where the actual data is.
Beyond that, under no circumstances import an excel file directly into an existing table. Create an excel file with the necessary fields (record identifier and new value) and import it as a new table, then create an update query to effect the changes you need.

Consumer PowerPivot/Excel DataModel from another Excel file?

Short version: Is there any way/hack to use the embedded DataModel/PowerPivot cube of an Excel 2013/6 file from another Excel file?
Long version:
We have a large Excel Data Model with >400k rows and >100 measurements, feeding multiple reports (i.e. PivotTable on separate worksheets). As all this is growing, we want to split this out into a (large) data model and multiple reports. I know this could be done with SharePoint or PowerBI - however one of the key requirements is to be able to analyse the data offline. Hence, I'm trying to figure out any way to connect to the data model from another file....
There's no way that I know to do what you're asking. Is there any reason you can't just include all the reports in one workbook with the data model? Since you have to be able to analyze offline, anyway, everyone will need a local copy of the model. If the concern is just that there will be too many sheets in a single workbook, you could just put a thin veneer of VBA in it to hide and unhide sheets in groups for ease of use.
It looks like Microsoft has added an option to establish connection via ODC file.
See this f.e. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/reporting-services/report-data/use-an-office-data-connection-odc-with-reports?view=sql-server-ver15
However it's not working out for me, I am using Excel 2016, exported data model from the file with data model as a separate odc file but when I try to add this as a connection in another file - I get the message - can't open the file. Looks like creating ODC file is not that straightforward.
Anyone had similar issues?

Save Excel sheet into SQL

Excel has a Get External Data ribbon bar in the Data tab where we can choose to import tables from SQL databases. This process worked out nicely for me. But my question is, is there any way to save this data back into SQL? Does Excel provide some API that facilitates the coding of such a function without parsing everything and doing it from scratch?
Thanks
It may not be the solution you are looking for, but I posted some VBA code a long while back that will take a range in Excel and convert it to XML and builds the SQL to put that data into a temp table in SQL Server. Here's a link if you are interested.
The easiest way to do this is to use the import function within SSMS. You can select which sheets to use, customise column mappings and so on. If creates an SSIS that you can then manipulate further if required. However that approach is a pull from Sql, not a push from Excel, if you want to do that you'd have to code some VBA to do it for you.
Non-programmatically:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/connect-to-import-sql-server-data-HA010217956.aspx
Programmatically - I can only think of the OpenRowSet function in MSSQL:
http://www.mssqltips.com/tip.asp?tip=1540
http://www.sql-server-helper.com/tips/read-import-excel-file-p01.aspx
Using openrowset to read an Excel file into a temp table; how do I reference that table?

Creating a table in Excel

I was working on project for my company. The requirements are to create an excel report at the end.
The way I am currently coding/thinking.
Remote Server ---> Local Access table --> give user a UI to filter data however they want --> Export to excel.
However, one of my analysts asked me if we can stay away from access and use Excel only. So I was wondering, is there a way to create a "table" like access table in Excel? This way, when I import data from remote server, I can put it in a table (IN EXCEL), create a form for UI, and have everything contained in one file.
I can't paste the raw data into a sheet because of performance issues (however, I have not tried it. I just assume that it is a lot faster to query a 'real' table then to search through excel cells).
Can you think of a alternate solution?
One option is to use Microsoft Query to directly access the remote database. In this case, the users would need to use the UI of MS Query (which isn't the prettiest) for filtering, but it would get the job done without needing the intermediate database.
Here is a good reference from the Microsoft site.

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