I want to link an excel file to SQL Server 2014 whereby I can edit the file and the data gets updated on the server automatically.
Similar to what happens when you link sql server to Access whereas you can edit the data and the changes take effect in the server.
Thanks in advance
There is no out of the box solution for this. You can do this either of two ways:
Write a C# code which has a file watcher attached to the Excel file which uploads the Excel file using SSIS job to the database.
Create a scheduled SSIS job which imports the Excel file periodically.
Understanding the purpose would allow for greater elaboration.
This depends on the type of data you wish to edit.
For master data, if you have the Enterprise or Business Intelligence edition of SQL Server and Master Data Services set up, there is a plug-in for Excel:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh231024(v=sql.120).aspx
For transactional data, I would strongly advise against using Excel as a front-end and would recommend you to consider alternatives.
However, if you are compelled to go down this route, you can achieve this using VBA scripting and linking via a DAL (Data Access Layer) such as ADO.NET. Be aware that giving such power to your users could open up your system to sql injection attacks - only proceed so if you trust the users 100%. Another thing to take into consideration is validation checks - validation checks should be applied to every cell where data can be entered. More information can be found here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/316934
Related
I am trying to create a data entry "app" to collect daily readings across our site. Here are the three biggest constraints:
Software - ideally, we would use some software within the Microsoft 365 Suite, mainly because those are the only approved apps on site. It may be possible to use open source software, but that might raise some flags in terms of security. So my thoughts are to use either Excel or Access.
Cost - ideally, we do not want purchase any additional software licenses. I would try and create something with Power Apps, but we do not have the licensing for an Azure or SQL server to store the data. I could be missing something here though.
Mobile-Friendly - finally, it needs to work on an Android tablet. Currently, we collect readings using pen and paper. The whole idea of this is to move towards using a tablet.
The easiest approach would be to create an Excel spreadsheet, save it on OneDrive, and edit the spreadsheet. I don't love this option because we are collecting 100's of data points each day. This would end up with a very wide spreadsheet that will be cumbersome to navigate.
The other option I looked into was creating an Access database and accompanying form and storing it on SharePoint. However, it seems Microsoft has stopped supporting Access databases on SharePoint.
I have created data entry forms using VBA, similar to this, but these do not work on mobile.
Is it possible to create a data entry form in Excel that also works on the Android version of Excel? Are there other alternatives I am not thinking of?
I am engaged in just this kind of project also. I have written an app in PowerApps, built an Excel spreadsheet and stored it in OneDrive, and am running it (the app) on an iPad. The design differs somewhat from your description of directly presenting a spreadsheet to the user (which I think PowerApps could do) because I don't want users having direct access to the data.
Edit: You do not need Azure or SQL, unless you are storing tons of data. Excel can be a satisfactory data storage location for modest uses.
I found the learning curve for PowerApps to be quite steep, as it's a different paradigm than line-by-line coding.
I think this is a more user friendly way to collect data than trying to run an Excel form, and once you get it made and polished, you'll look like a pro :)
I am by no means an expert but if you need some tips I'll do what I can to help. It sounds like we are at similar developmental stages.
Is it possible to create a data entry form in Excel that also works on the Android version of Excel? Are there other alternatives I am not thinking of?
Microsoft Forms does the job when created from OneDrive on mobile browser. Side note: the form I just created and the response I submitted have now disappeared from my OneDrive.
I also saw some people using Power Automate to save responses from a form into an Excel file (every reponse).
I'm working on creating an excel report that collects data from a local copy of a SQL Server database on my maschine, where I use Power Query to retrieve the data. These are then loaded into a PowerPivot data model. Now I'm finished with the development and on my way to put this into production on another server on the customer's server. The Excel workbook must change database settings using sql server database user Connection (not integrated). I had hoped that I could change the database Connection Properties at the Data tab, but there are not any easy way to change the connection string to the new server. Now I can't see any option that going through every Power Query query and change them manually. I have great hope that you Power Query experts have a Nice explaination and an example how I can solve this.
Hope to hear from you soon
Regards Geir F
There isn't a great solution for bulk server rename today, but we're very aware of the customer demand! (I can't promise anything about upcoming features, but at some point in the past I heard the dev team discuss this feature.) I'd recommend showing your support for this feature at https://excel.uservoice.com/
If you need to solve this soon, manually opening each query and editting the server string is what you need to do, sorry :\
(If you're building new reports again, Power BI Desktop lets you parameterize the server name to a top-level query, which would allow for quick rename operations!)
Do you only need to change the server name? If you go to the Data Source Settings window, you can select the SQL Server source you are using and click on the "Change Source..." button. If you change the server name in that dialog, it will change the server name in all of the queries that use that source (assuming it's the first step in the query).
I am running an automated Data job on a windows server that outputs a SAS dataset everyday. On top of this, I have an Excel Report connected via Excel's Local Data Provider.
My problem is, that the Data Connection needs to be manually refreshed by a person with SAS installed on their PC. I have tried writing a piece of SAS code that opens the Excel file on the server and then triggers a piece of VBA that did the refreshing, before closing and saving. This works perfectly if I'm logged into the server. But it doesn't seem to work if nobody's signed in. I believe this has something to do with having an active user session.
UPDATE
The process that I use to connect to a local data source from Excel, looks like this:
Data Connection Wizard
Select SAS Local Data Provider from OLE DB Providers
Add the Route to my SAS Dataset as data source
Select My source table and create a Pivot Report
Is there any way to do something like this?
When you want to run Excel unattended, thus no interactive user is logged on, you can do this with a Windows service. You have to ensure some settings for Excel, as well as it is important how you start excel.
Be aware of Microsoft does not support, or even suggest you to do something like this. Excel is a client software, it is exactly the opposite of a piece of software that is easy to maintain running as as service. Read this excellent article Considerations for server-side Automation of Office about the topic. Even when a little old (talking about Office 2003) it is still state of the art.
Please consider these conditions:
You cannot use the System or Network account, you have to let the windows service running under an account that at least have excel started once. This cannot be done with the named ones (as they cannot be used as interactive users)
Excel has to be opened at least once with the user under with the windows service account will run. You'll have to configure dcom settings, open vba once to initialize it, and most probably set some settings like "trust vba model" to be able to programmatically access Excel
last but not least when starting Excel you have to start it with loading the user profile. The Process.Start method in c# allows exactly that by just setting a boolean value to true.
Doing it like this, Excel should just start fine and update data connection with the VBA.
You may want to implement that windows service in c#, as it is really easy, have a look: Creating a Basic Windows Service in C#.
When using c#, be aware of you have to correctly dispose interop objects, pretty good described in How to properly clean up Excel interop objects
I'm hoping this is possible.
The organization I work for has a Sharepoint site and I am able to Upload Files to pages, however I am not an admin on our Sharepoint. I'm not sure what the version is, I think its older (ie: 2005).
I have some Excel Reports I've built. The data for these reports is pulled from a SQL Server Database which I have full control over. I have setup a Job in SQL Server to run every 12 minutes, this procedure pulls in some data and updates a few tables. These tables are used to feed my Excel Reports.
I have a separate Scheduled task set to open my excel report(s) refresh the data connections and save as a PDF.
I would like to link to these PDF Files via our Sharepoint so that the VIPs can access the reports as they want, but they always see the most up to date report.
I was trying to link to a Shortcut to the PDF Files but SharePoint doesn't seem to like that. How do I make the SharePoint link point to the PDF File that is saved over every 15 minutes?
Thanks in advance,
Any insight is greatly appreciated.
The way I do it (newish version of Sharepoint) is make the save location for the PDF the network location where Sharepoint keeps the files for that site. Usually you'll have access to those if you can edit the Sharepoint site.
Here is a tutorial to find that network location.
EDIT: It very well may be disabled by the admin at the moment. But it looks like the functionality is there.
Given the age of your SharePoint (either 03 or 07), most of the modern tools that you could use to do this don't exist for you (Excel reporting, BI tools, etc). The easiest solution I can think of is to actually modify the other side of the equation. A few options:
Change your report to output two copies of the same file. One entitled (as an example) currentreport.xls and the other report20150626.xls . Put the link to the currentreport.xls in SharePoint.
Build an ASP.net page that runs the SQL query you have built and pull the data through a view. Since this would be pulled on demand, it may be a few more cycles of your SQL code, but indexing, caching and selective data pull can prevent this from being an issue. Put the asp.net code in an iFrame in a SharePoint content editor web part.
Build your report using SSRS and host the output of that in SharePoint using an iFrame.
Run a scheduled job in SQL that copies your current report data to a table and query that table instead of your normal report table. That way you only have one Excel file that points to a specific table so no need to update links. You can always keep copying data to specific files if you need a historical record and can't use the DB to store this data for you (though the amount of space that it would take to do so would be minimal).
Wanted some opinions on which method is a better practice. We have a sales report that MUST be generated in a very specific format (down to the row colors and fonts).
I already have written a macro which pulls from our database and populates the entire workbook in about 15 seconds. The question is how should it be populated?
1) Process server-side: Users initiate the request on the intranet page. ASP.NET opens the workbook template, executes the macro and serves back the final sheet.
2) Process locally: Users download the blank template, run from their desktops which automatically connect to the database.
I like the first one because I can enforce the template, timing, users, and security of the data. But is running Excel automation on an internet web server recommended? I like the second option, but I'm afraid of losing standardization as template sheets begin floating around the company.
As for server side:
I highly.. HIGHLY.. recommend checking out the OpenOffice/LibreOffice XML format for spread sheets.
You can use the localc binary in headless mode to convert the XML file to XLSX or what have you. I use it to create PDF files instead of using ReportLab.
Alternatively here are some other projects that attempt to write to Microsoft formats directly:
http://pypi.python.org/pypi/xlrd
http://pypi.python.org/pypi/xlwt
As for client side:
If you expect the user to be only using Excel and not any other spreadsheet software then go ahead and use an ODBC data source. ODBC will have to be configured per user unless you use some fun VBScript to pull the data from an HTTP server every time it is loaded. There is also the option of making an XLS spreadsheet that simply holds the data and including it into an XLS document as well which would be both a server and client XLS requirement.
Go for server side. Makes information simple to archive and share and will most likely be multi-platform as well.
If you like to use your first option, then you want to avoid using VBA on an installed instance of Excel on the server. This is extremely resource intensive and does not scale well. Instead, if you are writing ASP.NET code, then you should try using the Microsoft Office Interop functionality that is built into the .NET framework. It should possible to adapt your existing VBA code to run under ASP.NET with some changes, but you will have a much more reliable product in the end.
Example Code
However, as #whardier points out in his response, if this were for a large scale or public site, the suggestions he makes would be much more suitable and would scale much further.