I was wondering if anyone knew how to reverse engineer an Access Database. I would like to be able to generate the SQL code that is used to create the database tables and to insert all the records in the table. In other words, I would like to create whats is similar to a MySQL dump file.
Any ideas would be great
thanks
jason
There's nothing built into Access that will generate the DDL for your tables.
There are many third party tools however (ERWin, ERStudio, Visio, etc) that can generate the DDL for you.
I don't know anything that will generate the Insert scripts for you. Access does however have plenty of export/import options if you just want to create a copy of your data and then use that as an import source.
It should be pointed out that there's nothing stopping you from writing some VBA code to loop through the TableDefs and creating the DDL and insert scripts yourself.
One possible approach that may work, is to upsize your tables to SQL server, and then have SQL server generate scripts for you.
Unfortunately the resulting scripts would probably be only compatible with SQL server. So then you would have to run them on SQL server and then pull the data in tables down to access.
Access does support DDL, but unfortunately it does not have any tools are facilities built in to generate the scripts.
Related
Want to create a script to export Data and tables and views to a sql script.
I have SQL Server 2008 r2.
So far I've only been able to automatically generate an sqlscript for all tables and views. But the data wasn't included.
OR is there any easier way to export data, tables, views, from one SQL Server to my ISP's SQL server?
Regards
Tea
If for some reason a backup/restore won't work for you, SSMS' Generate Scripts tool includes an advanced scripting option to include data:
Here are some options to think over (prioritised in terms of what I would recommend):-
A simple backup and restore will be the easiest and quickest solution;
Using a data scripting tool (like Red-Gate's Data Compare) could solve your needs;
Use the database comparison as part of Visual Studio.
A SSIS package could be developed to pump data back and forth between the two instances; or
Write your own script using the SET IDENTITY INSERT ON / OFF command for the identity seeded tables
The easiest way to do this is to create a backup, copy the .bak file to the other server, and restore the backup there.
Like #jhewlett said that will be the best way to do it. to answer the question in the comment section. no it shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure that the SQL Server Versions are the same. Had a bit of an issue not to long ago where there were two pc's with different releases of the R2 installed and couldn't restore the backup. Other thing you can also do is to script the entire database with data, but this will not be recommended as it could take a long time to generate the script and for it to finish running on the other computer.
Or you can simply just stop the SQL server instance and copy the database away onto an external hard drive and re-attach it to the other server. just remember to start the instances after doing this step.
I use Navicat Premium for these kind of things in mysql. It generates sql from data, tables, views and anything else. It provides tools to copy or synchronize table from one database on different server or platforms as well. For example I use it so much to transfer my tables from MySQL to a SQLite database, So easy and fast. Otherwise I had to transfer it manually with so much trouble.
very good tool and required for any DB admin or programmer. It support MySQL, Oracle, MS SQL Server, PostgreSQL and SQLite.
To Generate a schema with data follow these steps.
Select database to generate a schema '>' right click '>' Tasks '>' Generate schema '>' click NEXT in popup window '>'
select DB object to generate schema and click NEXT '>'
Go to advance option and scroll down '>'
Find Type of data to script and select one option as you need. '>'
and then Next Next and finish it.
Enjoy it.
If you don't want to port all tables data (for example you need to port just some base data in special tables) scripting options is not useful for you. In this case you'll have two options. First is using some third parties tools such as Red-Gate and Second way is writing the script by yourself. I prefer Second option because except the expensive price of most of them i want to run just little script for little delete, update and inserting purpose. But the important problem is here: maybe the record count is too long to write scripts record by record. I Think the linked Server is good point to solve that. It's enough for describing Just Declare Linked Server as you see in Images and get new script in your source DB and write scripts with access to both source and destination DB. Attached image must be clear.
Create New Linked Server:
Write Destination SQL Server Address:
Fill Login Info:
Now you have Linked Server:
Write script and enjoy:
Hope this help.
I need to transfer certain information out of our SQL Server database into an MS Access database. I've already got the access table structure setup. I'm looking for a pure sql solution; something I could run straight from ssms and not have to code anything in c# or vb.
I know this is possible if I were to setup an odbc datasource first. I'm wondering if this is possible to do without the odbc datasource?
If you want a 'pure' SQL solution, my proposal would be to connect from your SQL server to your Access database making use of OPENDATASOURCE.
You can then write your INSERT instructions using T-SQL. It will look like:
INSERT INTO OPENDATASOURCE('Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0','Data Source=myDatabaseName.mdb')...[myTableName] (insert instructions here)
The complexity of your INSERTs will depend on the differences between SQL and ACCESS databases. If tables and fields have the same names, it will be very easy. If models are different, you might have to build specific queries in order to 'shape' your data, before being able to insert it into your MS-Access tables and fields. But even if it gets complex, it can be treated through 'pure SQL'.
Consider setting up your Access db as a linked server in SQL Server. I found instructions and posted them in an answer to another SO question. I haven't tried them myself, so don't know what challenges you may encounter.
But if you can link the Access db, I think you may then be able to execute an insert statement from within SQL Server to add your selected SQL Server data to the Access table.
Here's a nice solution for ur question
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/13128/Exporting-Data-from-SQL-to-Access-in-Mdb-File
I have two databases, one on a remote server the other local. (SQL Server 2008)
The database on my local server has the entire structure setup but no data. I would like to copy the data from the remote server to my server and I am wondering the best method in which to do this.
The main issue I am experiencing is the user that I have to the remote database has limited permissions. I cannot read the stored procedures, user defined functions so when I use Import/Export wizard I do not get the schema etc. So a regular dump/restore is not working for me as it restores the tables without the Primary Keys/Foreign Keys and the stored procedures.
I'd like to do this,
INSERT INTO localtable SELECT * FROM remotedb.table
I was having issues because of the IDENTITY fields and I had to explicitly name all of the columns. Also I am not sure if SQL Server Management Studio allows you to use two different databases, remote and local, so I was looking for any advice.
I have also tried applications like SQL FTP and Backup and it fails because it runs out of memory (I have 16GB of memory on the machine and the DB is like 4GB). I also can use the SQL Server import/export wizard but then I don't get the schema information. I also tried SQL Compare from Red Gate and it runs into issues with the permissions. Unfortunately I do not have the time to request and gain access to a new user so I was hoping someone had a creative idea.
You can definitely use SQL Server Backups for this. It will not run out of memory. If it does please tell us the message (because likely you are misinterpreting it). This is the fastest possible and the most complete solution.
You can tell the export wizard to also script the schema. It is hidden under "advanced" somewhere (terrible UI). But the script will be extremely big and I know of no way to execute it.
You can drop all schema objects except PKs in the target database. Then you can use remote queries to copy all the data over. You will not get any problems with foreign keys and identity columns if you drop the beforehand. After you are done you can recreate all those objects. It is probably best if you use a transaction for all of this because that way you get consistent source data from a point-in-time.
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 trying come up with a way to pull the tables out of an Access database, automate the creation of those same tables in a SQL 2008 DB, and move the data to the new tables. This process will happen on a regular basis and there may be different tables each time.
I would like to do this totally in SSIS.
C# SQL CLR objects are an option.
The main issue I have been running into is how to get the Access table's schema and then convert that to a SQL script that I can run via SSIS.
Any ideas?
TIA
J
SSIS cannot adapt to new tables at runtime. (You can change connections, move a source to a table with a different name, but the same schema) So, it's not really easy to do what I think you are saying: Upsize an arbitrary set of tables in an Access DB to SQL (mirroring their structure and data, naming, etc), so that I can then write some straight SQL to transform the data into another SQL database or the same part of the database.
You can access the SSIS object model from C# and build a package (or modify a template package) programmatically and then execute it. This might offer the best bang for your buck, but the SSIS object model is kind of deep. The SSIS Team blog have finally started putting up examples (a year after I had to figure a lot of this out for myself)
There is always the upsizing wizard, and I'm sure there are some third party tools.