I am quite new to SQL Server but I'm looking for a tool that integrates Excel with SQL Server and provide a two way connection Read/write.
I want to be able to pull data from SQL server and perform some evaluation/data manipulation and then write the data back to the server.
Basically my client receives Excel raw data from vendors which they perform some validation on the spreadsheet then send the spreadsheet back but a copy of the data needs to be in some sort of data management system. I have test MDS and I'm not full satisfied. The functionality I'm looking for is
Data validation
Data match - match and merge /consolidate two or more worksheets into one
read/write to sql
I Do not want the import/export wizard and don't want to use SSIS and they are both not suitable.
There's Google - like it has never been before. And there are quite a big number of subject experts posting on their blogs for the love of helping people like you and me.
So check out here multiple ways you can import data into SQL Server, without using SSIS such as,
bcp Utility
e.g.
bcp dbo.ImportTest in 'C:\ImportData.txt' -T -SserverName\instanceName
Bult Insert using T-SQL
e.g.
`BULK INSERT dbo.ImportTest`
`FROM 'C:\ImportData.txt'`
`WITH ( FIELDTERMINATOR =',', FIRSTROW = 2 )`
Note the article was published and last updated in 2012. So you may further check the compatibility for older versions if you are using any.
PS: I still believe you could be using SSIS as not to Re-invent the wheel...
Related
I have a stored procedure that I am going to run every weekend, it produces a result set that I need to export into an Excel file.
For the above problem I want to automate this process, so I am going to create a SQL Job and I am going to run this stored procedure every weekend so that that generated Excel file is sent to my reporter.
For this I need steps to export the result set data to an Excel file.
And also is it possible to send that Excel file to the specific mail while running the job itself?
So, you might try your luck on https://dba.stackexchange.com/, but in my experience a SQL Agent job running a stored procedure could be coaxed to return CSV or XML - and those could end up in Excel, but there are missing links. I think the missing links would involve programming and potentially 3rd party tools to avoid using Excel's COM API.
I'd strongly recommend your pursuing SQL Server Reporting Services. It is included free with your edition of SQL and includes the ability to
run reports on a schedule (subscriptions),
format the results as an Excel file
distribute the results via email
You'd take your query and use it as the data source for a "report" and use the report wizard to create a very simple table with the results.
Avoid page headers (or footers) that span columns - this will keep the excel output cleaner.
References
Stack Overflow: reporting-services-export-to-excel-with-multiple-worksheets
Technet: Reporting Services
Working on a data data accuracy project. I have to find a way to compare data from a query from a SQL Server db with the data from a query from a MS Access db. The data on both db's should be identical, but sometimes there are errors. I have looked at data comparison tools but these seem to only be able to compare data from identical db vendors.
Is there a process that someone has used in the past to do this or an idea on how I might best approach this?
You can look at both data sets in Access, SQL, or Excel:
If the data set is small enough, I recommend Excel.
If you know SQL, you can export your Access data to text files, then do a Bulk Insert and get everything into SQL Server.
If you want to look at both data sets in Access, try this:
Go to your ODBC Data Source Administrator (searching for 'ODBC' from your Start menu should be sufficient)
Create a new System DSN connecting to your SQL Server db
Open your Access db (I'm using 2010, your version may be different)
Go to External Data->ODBC Database->Machine Data Source
Link to your tables of choice from your SQL Server
Query away!
I have a requirement whereby I need to refresh databases on Server A with data from Server B (the schemas will always be the same) with subsets of data
Unfortunately, due to the way the servers have been set up and are run (hosted), the option of using BCP is not available to me. Also, the servers may not be able to see each other/are linked so a SP on Server B will not be able to access Server A directly.
Because of this, my plan is to run an export procedure on Server A to create a file (XML?) which is placed on to a location available to Server B. I would then create a procedure on Server B to consume the data into the database
My question is: without the use of BCP, what options are available to me for the bulk exporting of data (with selection criteria) from my source server? And does my plan sound sensible? Am I missing any obvious approach/have others solved this problem before?
Helo Mike,
have you considered using of SQL Server Integration Services? You could export your data by dynamic SELECT statemenet save them into binary file and transfer them (FTP) to the second locality for loading.
I'm wanting to take data from a SQL Server table and populate a Oracle table. Right now, my solution is to dump the data into a Excel table, write a macro to create a sql file that I can load into Oracle. The problem with this is I want to automate this process and I'm not sure I can automate this.
Is there an easy way to automate populating a Oracle table with data from a SQL Server table?
Thanks in advance
I suppose it depends on your definition of "easy".
The most robust approach would be to either use heterogeneous connectivity in Oracle to create a database link to the SQL Server database and then pull the data from SQL Server or to create a linked server in SQL Server that connects to Oracle and then push the data from SQL Server to Oracle.
Yes. Take a look at MS SQL's SSIS which stands for SQL Server Integration Services. SSIS allows all sorts of advanced capabilities, including automated with Sql Server Jobs, for moving data between disparate data sources. In your case, connecting to Oracle can be achieved a variety of ways.
There are three ways to automate this:
1) You can do as Paul suggested and created an SSIS package that will do this and it can be scheduled via SQL Agent,
2) If you don't want to deal with SSIS, you can download the free SQL# (SQLsharp) CLR Library from http://www.SQLsharp.com/ and use the DB_BulkCopy Stored Procedure to do this in a T-SQL Stored Proc which can also be scheduled via SQL Agent. [note: I am the author of SQL#]
3) You can also set up a Linked Server from SQL Server to Oracle, but this has the draw-back of being a potential security hole. Of course, you could use an Oracle Login that only has write-access to that single table (or something similar to that).
There are lots and lots of ways to do it. Which you choose depends on your requirements.
Using Excel is fine if it's a one time thing.
If it's a once-in-a-while thing, then you could write a simple .NET app that uses a single DataSet and multiple DataAdapters to do the data dump. C# code example here.
if it's a regular thing, then you could put the above in a Schtasks task, or you could use SSIS. I think SSIS is an extra-cost option.
if the requirement is for "online access", then a linked database is probably appropriate.
I am using Enterprise Miner 6.2 and want to create a data source but my option is a SAS Table. How do I go about exporting SQL Server or Excel data into a SAS table?
SAS has many ways of connecting to and/or reading data from disparate sources. I haven't used Enterprise Miner, so I'm not sure which of SAS' methods are available to you directly from within EM, but it's likely there will be someone at your site who has some interface to Base SAS and who can help you/advise what data access products are installed and how you can use them.
For SQL Server data, SAS/Access to SQL Server or SAS/Access to OLE DB will allow you to read directly from SQL Server tables in place. Alternatively, someone could provide you with a dump of the data you need from the SQL Server database.
For Excel data, there are also SAS/Access products, but SAS also has native capabilities to read in the data if saved as, for example, a .csv or .txt file.
To help answer you further, perhaps can you come back with some details about what SAS products/interfaces are available to you?