Here is my problem.
I am working with a database that is VERY simple, it has one table with 21 fields and a series of values. I have created a simple select query that selects 2 fields and generates a total value based on a query calculations field.
What I would like to do is to have an input form with combo boxes that allows users to pass in which fields they would like to select. Basically creating a GUI for someone LESS skilled (if that's possible) than myself to run the query.
Currently I have 21 potential fields. Would I have to create 21 x 21 queries and then try to write some kind of code that would link to the appropriate query if the criteria were selected from the combo boxes? Is there some kind of VBA script that could generate the query on the fly repeatedly?
Any hints on the way forward would be very helpful I've never used VBA but willing to thrash around if someone points in the right direction.
As per Comments, below = SQL for query
SELECT paddling.Paddling, boating.Boating, [boating]![Boating]*[paddling]![Paddling] AS Expr1
FROM paddling INNER JOIN boating ON paddling.useSpace = boating.useSpace;
Related
I've been searching the internet for hours trying to figure out if the following is even possible:
To choose the AS400 query records directly from Excel.
I haven't found any solution or description of how this could be achieved, which makes me guess that it's simply not possible. However, I haven't seen anyone confirm that it is impossible.
So my question is: Is this possible? And if it is, could you point me in the right direction in order for me to start learning how to do it?
I know its possible to run a query from Excel, and then adding parameters via SQL statements, but in my case, this presents several problems that could be avoided by choosing the records before the query is executed.
Example:
I have a query with a column (lets call it ColVal) that can hold the values 1 and/or 2. In the AS400 program under the menu "Work with queries" and then "Choose records" I can specify which records the query should contain when it has run based on the value in ColVal. This means i can get three different situations (A, B and C) when i run the query:
A) The query only contains records where the value in ColVal is 1
B) The query only contains records where the value in ColVal is 2
C) The query contains records where the value in ColVal is either 1 or 2
The goal is to be able to choose which situation I want from Excel in order to circumvent opening and using the AS400 program.
However, using situation C and then editing the query in Excel with an SQL statement to mimic situation A or B is not an option, as this means the query still contains undesired records.
This whole thing boils down to the following: Is it even possible to run the query from Excel essentially changing the data it contains and not just outputting it to excel? If this is possible, is it then possible to pass a parameter to the AS400 system and use it to create situation A, B or C?
I hope this example makes sense.
Edit - New example
Say i have different customers A and B. I can open the AS400 program and run a query in which i have specified that I only want data on customer A. I can then open Excel and use filters (as Hambone described) on the query to determine which records I want to output. However, if I want to work with data from customer B, I have to open the AS400 again and run the query with different parameters. I would like to be able to "change" my dataset from customer A to B from Excel, without having to include both in my recordset and then filter out one of them.
I imagined this is doable if you could pass a parameter to the AS400. The AS400 then runs the query using this parameter as the criteria for which records should be stored in the query. This means that if the parameter is Customer B, then there is no way to acces data from customer A, without running the query through AS400 again.
Any ideas are greatly appreciated :)
Follow up to my comment, here is a quick primer on how to run an ODBC query directly in MS Excel using Microsoft Query. This is very different than Power Query, which you referenced, in that MS Query is standard with Excel -- it's not a plug-in. This is relevant because it means everyone has it. If you are deploying a solution to others, that's an important consideration.
To start an MS Query in Excel, go to the data tab, select "From Other Sources" -> "Microsoft Query."
A list of your ODBC connections will come up. Pick the one that you want and select "OK."
It may or may not ask you for a login (depending on which ODBC connection you use and how its configured).
The next part is important. MS Query is going to try to have you use its builder to create the query. If you have the SQL, skip this part. It's horrible. Click "Cancel" on the query wizard, and then click the "SQL" button to enter your own SQL. If you can, make sure the result set is small (like use where 1 = 2 in the query).
When MS Query returns results, click the button next to the SQL Button to have it return the results to the spreadsheet. It looks like a little door.
From here, any time you want to refresh the query, you can simply right-click the data table in Excel and select "refresh." Alternatively you can go to the data tab on the ribbon and select "Refresh."
By the way if you have linked pivot tables and charts, the "Refresh All" option will refresh those as well, in the correct order.
To edit your query at any time, right-click on the table in Excel, go to Table-External Data Properties:
Then Click on the Connection Properties icon (highlighted below)
Click on the second tab (Definition) and edit the SQL Directly.
Parameters can be declared simply by inserting a bare "?" in place of your literal.
In other words, if your query looks like this:
select *
from users
where user_id = 'hambone'
Just change it to:
select *
from users
where user_id = ?
Excel will prompt you for a user id before it runs the query. From here, you also have the option of putting the parameter value in a cell within the spreadsheet and having the query read it from there. You'll see these when you right-click the table and go to the "Parameters" menu option.
Let me know if this helps or is unclear.
-- EDIT 7/23/2018 --
To follow up on your latest edit, it is possible to handle the scenario you describe, where you want to be able to filter on a value, or if none is given, then not have a filter. You see this a lot when you present multiple filter options to the user and you want a blank to mean "no filter," which is obviously counter to the way SQL works.
However, you can hack SQL to still make it work:
select * from activities
where
(activity = ? or ? is null) and
(energy = ? or ? is null)
In this example you have to declare four parameters instead of two, two for each.
You might also have to play with datatypes, depending on the RDBMS (for example for numerics you might have to say ? = 0 instead of ? is null or even ? = '' for text).
Here is a working example where a single filter was applied on the query above and you can clearly see the second one did not have an impact.
Yes it's possible. You need to use an ODBC driver to connect to the AS400 and retrieve the data. The driver and documentation are Here
I need to add a field to a SSRS report. I tried modifying the dataset (query) but the results prouduced insane results, with zipcodes showing up in the name fields and names showing up in a datetime field. I suspect it is because of the groups but I don't understand how they work. The Dataset is created by 4 selects. The first 3 insert into temp tables and the fourth pulls from it. I suspect that I will have to re-write the query but it would be nice if I could use it as is with modifications. Either way I need to understand the groups.
I read
Data Region Cells, Data Region and Understanding Groups. Aside from the fact that they use terms specific to SSRS without defining them they are so undetailed I doubt many people who do not already understand SSRS can get anything out of them.
I did not write this report but I must modify it. I understand SQL well. Not so much with SSRS.
Can anyone explain how to find out what the Row Groups mean? Mine look like this:
Here is the tablix
We are using Excel 2013 and Power Pivot to build modules that consist of several Pivot tables that are all pulling data from the same Power Pivot table, which queries our T-SQL data warehouse.
In an effort to simplify and fully automate this module, we wanted to create a text field that would allow a user to enter a value (a client ID# for example), and then have that value be used as a parameter in the Power Pivot query.
Is it possible to pass a Parameter in the Power Pivot query, which is housed in a text field outside of the query?
You can also pass a slicer or combobox selection to a cell. Define a name for that cell. Put that cell (and others if you have multiple text variables to use) in a table. For convenience, I usually name this table "Parameters". You can then 'read in' the parameters to your query and drop them in your query statements.
The code at the top of your query to read these parameters in might look like...
let
Parameter_Table = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="Parameter"]}[Content],
XXX_Value = Parameter_Table{1}[Value],
YYY_Value = Parameter_Table{2}[Value],
ZZZ_Value = Parameter_Table{3}[Value],
Followed by your query wherein instead of searching for, say a manually typed in customer called "BigDataCo", you would replace "BigDataCo" with XXX_Value.
Refreshing the link each time a different customer is selected will indeed be a very slow approach, but this has worked for me.
Rather than pass a parameter to the data source SQL query, why not utilize a pivot table filter or slicer to do allow the users to dynamically filter the data? This is much faster than refreshing the data from the source.
If for some reason you need to pass this directly to the source query, you'll have to do some VBA work.
I apologize if this is an easy one, but I can't find this on the web anywhere!
I have a list of tables and queries, and a full list of fields from each table and query.
I want to choose my fields in an Access form, and then, on another form, choose a query/table in one column (along with a field) and join it to a table/query in another column (along with the field.) My form for the joins would look like this:
Object1 Field1 Object2 Field2
and so on. I would want to be able to choose my fields through combo boxes, THEN make the SQL string dynamically. I can't use a where clause -- it has to be a join.
The problem is, the structure will change every time. Access gets funny about putting in parentheses. Also, if an object is chosen more than once, Access will want to join it (assuming I do it right) in a different manner than T-SQL.
Is there a way to write a query in T-SQL, and quickly convert to Access? Does anyone know the FROM clause algorithm Access uses to construct the FROM clause? I am stuck here, and I cannot find a solution to save my soul! Thank you in advance, David
tldr: Can not update records from query because of aggregate functions. What workarounds do you suggest?
I have a table containing decision criteria to which a user can assign a relative weight. I calculate the absolute weight in an SQL query using an aggregate function (as described here Divide the value of each row by the SUM of this column).
qryDecisionCriteria
name relative_weight absolute_weight (calculated)
price 2 50 %
quality 1 25 %
experience 1 25 %
I would like to present the query result in a form, where the user can update the relative weights, and then sees the absolute_weights.
However, the query results are not updatable, because the query involves an aggregate function.
What alternative methods or workarounds could I use, so that a user can edit relative_weights and view absolute_weights as a kind of visual feedback?
I read about temporary tables here http://www.fmsinc.com/MicrosoftAccess/query/non-updateable/index.html but I'm not sure, how to implement this.
Maybe I could also create an additional "edit form" based on a simple query, that is automatically invoked when the user selects a record in qryDecisionCriteria data?
Or maybe just display data from two queries (one updatable, one with the calculated field) next to each other in the form?
Which options would you recommend and why?
Make the Record Source for the form the updatable base query. In the text box which shows the calculated absolute weight set the control source to
=DSum("relative_weight","<base table name>")/Forms!<Form Name>!relative_weight
You'll need to be sure that you do two things with this
When you drag fields onto a form in Access it makes the name of the control the same as the control source column. this is really annoying and can cause a lot of headaches. Rename your control to something like txtColumnName. That way Forms!<Form Name>!relative_weight is guaranteed to reference the field and not the textbox.
in the AfterChange event for the relative_weight textbox you should add an event handler in which the following code is run
txtabsolute_weight.Requery
This will make sure the formula is recalculated whenever someone changes a weight. Otherwise they need to hit F5.