This isn't a coding question, so much as it is a functionality question.
I'm a bit new to Powerpivot and I'm attempting to use Powerpivot as a way to deliver reports to my team rather than SSRS because in our company, the only SSRS ReportServer I can use is officially "owned" by a team that is hostile to my team.
I have written numerous SQL ad-hoc queries that we are using for reports in SSRS, but been I've trying to migrate them to Powerpivot. For some of the reports, I've been able to paste the SQL query into the powerpivot window and make a pivottable out of these. However, I'd like to be able have some workbooks just contain the results of the query (they don't deal with numbers, as some of them are a data dump or a large collection of text strings), so that they look like the powerpivot window's dataset, but that they can be filtered, sorted, etc. Is this possible, or can I only use pivottables? I can't seem to find a way that I can just get Excel to directly display what is in the Powerpivot window without pivoting it - I know it is called Power*pivot* but because the PP window just shows the query results itself, I'm hoping there is a way to use it as an alternative to SSRS.
Also is there anyway to check if our Sharepoint server is capable of running Powerpivot so that I can deploy reports there for users to use without having Powerpivot installed on their computers other than by saving it to Sharepoint and seeing if a user can run it? If not, how difficult would it be to have an IT team update the SP server so that it can handle PP?
Any help is appreciated, as I'm in a position where I cannot contact IT or project management, and I can't raise any red flags with IT/BI/PM. Thank you very much for your time.
It sounds like you just want to get the results of your SQL query directly into an Excel spreadsheet, where you can use the Excel filter and sort capability. It doesn't appear that you want to use any of the functionality that PowerPivot provides, so you can achieve what you described by using an existing Excel component, Microsoft Query. It's a bit of a clunky old interface but it works. Here's some instructions to use:
In an Excel spreadsheet, click on the Data tab, select the "From Other Sources" button on the Get External Data area of the ribbon.
Select "From Microsoft Query"
On the "Choose Data Source" click OK to create a new data source
On the "Create new data source" window select the appropriate driver and database details for your data source
If using a SQL Server data source, don't select anything for the optional step 4 (select a default table).
Click OK to return to the Choose Data Source window, then OK again to select the new data source.
You're now prompted to choose columns for your query, but if you already have some SQL then click Cancel - this will display a prompt to continue editing in Microsoft Query - click Yes.
The Add Tables window pops up, click Close
You're now in the Microsoft Query interface. If you click on the SQL button, you can paste in your SQL. Click the Return Data button to run the query, the results will be displayed in an Excel worksheet.
Once this is set up, you just need to click "Refresh Data" on the Data tab to re-run the query and update the spreadsheet.
Related
Let's say you've built up a nice database, and you want to generate a read-only Excel doc so others can view it without screwing up source data. You open Excel, go to:
Data ribbon → Get Data → From Database → From Microsoft Access Database.
But after you preview your database on the next window, you notice that the query you need isn't there.
More than likely, there are three things that could be happening:
1) You haven't saved your databse
Most likely issue is that you created your query, but you haven't saved it or the database.
2) Existing connections may need to be refreshed
If you've already established a connection to Excel, and you've made sure the database has been saved, the next likely issue is that the connection is out of date. Even though it's "connected", the list of tables and queries may be cached and not automatically updated when prompted.
Simply go to Data ribbon → Refresh All
3) Your query may be using incompatible expressions
I just learned the hard way that the nz() function is incompatible with Excel, so when I tried to link the query, it wouldn't show up in the list. For anyone else with nz(), use iif(isnull()) instead.
If your query is not showing up after saving the database or refreshing the connection, try the following:
In Excel, go to Data ribbon → Get Data → From Other Sources → From Microsoft Query
A little window will pop up. Select MS Access Database, and press OK
Another window will pop up. Navigate to your database directory, and press OK
This should show a complete list of your tables and queries. From there, expand the query you need. It will either connect without issue, or it will identify the unrecognized SQL expression.
Our project is moving from MySQL to MS SQL and after a long time working with MySQL Workbench I really miss some features in SQL Server Management studio (2014).
Do you know whether they exist in SSMS or there is an alternative/replacement application for SSMS to work with database?
Functions are listed below:
Generate update data script to review and to be able to copy-paste it. Do not update data when I move to another row when the table is opened for editing.
Some changes are still made in database in our project, and sometimes it's easier to add some rows manually in 5 tables, get the script, test it and run the script at production environment. I don't want to write a script for each update and I don't want to make a mistake when copying data to production server using edit table option.
Review update table script BEFORE the changes were made, not after (I am talking about Tools - Options - Designer - Auto generate change scripts).
Upload a file using select file dialog into a binary field.
Again, I know about using OPENROWSET function, just interested how to do it as I used to.
Ability to view large text fields in a convenient way in SSMS. Now I have to copy data from a field and paste it into notepad. (For example, error message with a long trace log)
Save a few tabs with some useful scripts and open all of them when I open SSMS.
Is there any way to organize tabs to be able to work with 10+ tabs more effectively? Now only 6 of them can be shown on the screen (compate it to 15 tabs in MySQL WB).
Simple 'search field' (like Ctrl+F in Excel) to be able to search data in all fields displayed on the screen.
I would appreciate any ideas.
Thank you.
I've got an .rpt file that I did not write and can find no documentation about. I want to be able to review the SQL that is generated from this report so that I can figure out, well, what data it was pulling and what WHERE clause parameters were used.
I can open it up and see the report layout. But when I select Database|Show SQL Query... the report tries to connect to the data source. The problem is, the data source being used is unknown to me, probably an ODBC connection used by whoever wrote the query. All I can do at that stage is 'Cancel' and I'm back to looking at the report designer.
Am I missing something? Can I get to the SQL query without connecting to the datasource? It seems like viewing the selection criteria shouldn't be dependent on a data connection.
Thanks.
version: Crystal Reports 2008
I know that this is an old thread, but I encountered this same problem. Effectively we used to have a database/application that has since been aquired by an external agency.
Although they now have the database/application they don't have access to crystal reports, so we can't just send them the old report that we used to run. Likewise we can't run it as we don't even have the database set up anywhere.... So instead our plan was just to extract the SQL code generated by the report and forward that on.
We experienced the same problem, but the solution is actually pretty simple.
If you don't have access to the original data source, just create a new 'blank' datasource (such as an ODBC connection). As long as the connection to the datasource works (i.e. it is some kind of valid datasource this it works fine). When running the 'Show SQL' option point the report to this datasource. As long as you don't try to actually run the report (and only show the SQL) the operation wont fail. This worked for our situation anyway. (Crystal Reports 2008)
(I can give more details if it helps in any way.)
It should be possible to find out some details about the existing datasource, by selecting Database > Set Datasource Location... .
As well as enabling you to change the datasource location, this should show you some information about the current datasource, such as which type of datasource is being used, and possibly (dependant on the type of driver) the name of the database. It is likely to be less helpful if (as you surmise) the datasource is ODBC, but if it uses a native driver there may be something useful.
Without the password, I'm not sure how much you can do. It seems "Show SQL Query" requires to report to run first, then generate the SQL plan.
It's not ideal, but you could go to Database > Visual Linking Expert to at least see the tables and how they are joined, and the go to the Record Selection Formula Editor and see what the custom WHERE statements are.
Viewing the SQL of a Command in a Crystal Report File
There are times you have just the report file, but not the associated database structure that the report uses.
This is common when dealing with example reports of functionality you wish to mimic.
This is a workaround ONLY to allow you to see the SQL of a Command that a Crystal Report is based on, when you don't have the underlying database connection that the report is based on.
In essence, the dialog box has to be satisfied before it will show the SQL, so we fool it with a legitimate Data Source, just not one that would work with the SQL that is actually in the SQL Command.
Why does a report use a command? Doesn't Crystal Reports have the ability to link tables?
When a Crystal Report is based on a record set that is too complex for the table linking functionality within Crystal Reports, the report can instead be based on a SQL Query, usually developed/tested in another editor tool and pasted into the command. This allows advanced SQL functions to be utilized.
If you don't already have a Data Source on your computer set up that you can connect to, you will need to build one first.
A simple Microsoft Access .mdb file saved in a simple location will suffice.
I placed mine with the path C:\A_test\test.mdb to make it easy to find.
If you don't have one, google for a sample mdb file and download it, saving it with a name and location you can remember. (You won't ever actually open this file, but just connect to it.)
Once you have the file saved, open the ODBC Administrator and create a New Data Source.
(you can get to the ODBC Administrator quickly from Start > type ODBC in the Search)
On the User DSN tab, click the Add button.
Scroll down the driver list to Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb), select it and click the Finish button.
In the Data Source Name box, type a name (I used MyTest).
Click the Select Button and select the mdb file you saved from a previous step, click OK.
Click OK again. You will see your new Data Source listed by the name you gave it. Click OK.
You now have the data source you will need for the next steps.
Open the Crystal Report you want to see the SQL command for, and click on Database Expert button or Database>Database Expert Menu.
Under Selected Tables, right click on the Command and choose View Command
The Data Source Selection Box appears. Select the Data Source you created (or one you already use) and click the Finish button. The View Command box should open with the SQL in the left pane. Copy the SQL into your favorite text editor.
Whats happening is that the crystal reports needs a database to connect to regardless if its the original source DB or not.
Create a local database or use a database stored on a server, added it to your ODBC Datasources and use it when connecting. After a successful connection you should be able to view the SQL query without an error.
I know it is possible to get data from a SQL database into an excel sheet, but i'm looking for a way to make it possible to edit the data in excel, and after editing, writing it back to the SQL database.
It appears this is not a function in excel, and google didn't come up with much usefull.
If you want to have the Excel file do all of the work (retrieve from DB; manipulate; update DB) then you could look at ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). You can get an overview at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms680928(VS.85).aspx
You want the Import/Export wizard in SQL Management Studio. Depending on which version of SQL Server you are using, open SSMS (connect to the SQL instance you desire), right click on the database you want to import into and select Tasks.. "Import Data".
In the wizard, click Next (past the intro screen) and from the Data Source drop list select "Microsoft Excel". You specify the path and file name of the Excel spreadsheet, whether you have column headings or not.. then press Next. Just follow the wizard through, it'll set up the destination (can be SQL Server or another destination) etc.
There is help available for this process in SQL Server Books Online and more (a walkthrough) from MSDN.
If you need something deployable/more robust (or less wizard driven) then you'd need to take a look at SQL Server Integration Services (for a more "Enterprise" and security conscious approach). It's probably overkill for what you want to accomplish though.
There is a new Excel plug-in named "MySQL for Excel" : http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/windows/
I just had a need to do this, and this thread has been quiet for a long time, so I thought it might be useful to supply a recent data point.
In my application roving salespeople use a copy of an Excel workbook that tracks the progress of a prospect through a loan application. The current stage of the application needs to be automatically saved back to a remote SQL database so that we can run reporting on it.
Rejected methods for updating the database from Excel:
SSIS and OpenRowSet are both methods for allowing SQL Server to pull the data from Excel, and don't work very well when the Excel workbook is sitting in an undefined location on a user's computer, and certainly not when the workbook is currently open in Excel.
ADO is now, if not actually deprecated, nevertheless looking very long in the tooth. Also, I wanted the solution to be robust in the face of the user possibly not being connected to the internet.
I also considered running a web API on the destination server. Macros in the Excel workbook connect to the web API to transfer data. However, it can sometimes be painful to allow a web API to talk to the outside world. Also, the code to make it robust in the face of temporary loss of internet connection is painful.
The adopted solution:
The solution I plan to adopt is low-tech: email. Excel emails the data to an address hosted on an Exchange server. Everyone in the company has Outlook installed, so the emails are sent by programmatically adding them to the Outlook Outbox. Outlook nicely handles the case when the user is offline. At the server end, a custom C# executable, fired up at regular intervals by the Task Scheduler, polls the inbox and processes the emails.
You could use try these add-ins :
www.QueryCell.com (I created this one)
www.SQLDrill.com
www.Excel-DB.net
You can use the OPENROWSET function to manipulate Excel data from a T-SQL script. Example usage would be:
UPDATE OPENROWSET('Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0',
'Excel 8.0;DATABASE=c:\MySpreadsheet.xls',
'Select * from MyTable')
SET Field1='Value1' WHERE Field2 = 'Value2'
I have inherited an Excel spreadsheet which contains an external data query. I can edit the query, which provides a list of the columns returned, but it does provide the table that this data comes from. Is there any way to retrieve the actual SQL behind the query?
I think this may depend on the version of office you're using and the type of external data you're connecting to.
I believe if you're using Office 2003, and you're seeing columns like you say, there may be a SQL icon in the toolbar.
Click that to view the SQL used to return the data.
If you're using Office 2007, Go to the Data tab, click connections, then properties, then the definition tab, and change the command text.
However I believe you're using the first method.
This is from what I can remember, so I hope it's correct.
It could also be somewhat obsfuscated by using an ODBC link or something. Another way to get it is to run SQL Profiler on the SQL Server to see the exact SQL being executed. Of course, this won't help you edit it but you'll know what it is doing.