T-SQL query with variable declarations in Excel VBA Code fail - sql

Question

I got a problem with running SQL query with "declare" and "set" functions in VBA.
Sheets("Arkusz1").Select
connstring = _
"ODBC;DRIVER=SQL Server;SERVER=my_database_server;UID=user;PWD=password;APP=Microsoft Office 2010;WSID=some_id;DATABASE=mydatabase"
With ActiveSheet.QueryTables.Add(Connection:=connstring, Destination:=Worksheets("Arkusz1").Range("A1"), Sql:=Array( _
"declare #dzisiaj date" & Chr(13), _
"set #dzisiaj = getdate()" & Chr(13), _
"select #dzisiaj as dzisiaj"))
.BackgroundQuery = False
.Refresh
End With
In SQL Server 2012 that code works fine, but... when I embed it into it gives me a run-time error '1004'. Also VBA code works on other queries works well.
My full SQL query has about 90 lines with 2 variable declarations (one declaration is a value from another 30 line SQL query), so it's mandatory to include variable declarations :)
How to solve that problem?

Answer 1

I figured it out. The key is to use ADODB connection to import data via SQL Query. Also necessary is to check Microsoft Active X Data Objects 2.0 library in Tools->References in Visual Basic Editor (Shortcut: Alt+F11 in Excel).
So, there is an example of my VBA code:
Sub sql_query_import()
' Declarations
Dim Cn As ADODB.Connection
Dim Server_Name As String
Dim Database_Name As String
Dim User_ID As String
Dim Password As String
Dim SQLStr As String
Dim rs As ADODB.Recordset
Set rs = New ADODB.Recordset
' Server connection settings
Server_Name = "192.168.1.106\my_database" ' IP of server name
Database_Name = "mydatabase" ' Database name
User_ID = "myusername" ' User name
Password = "mypassword" ' User password
' SQL Query
SQLStr = "SET NOCOUNT ON " & Chr(13) ' it's mandatory if you don't want to get error 3704
SQLStr = SQLStr & "declare #dzisiaj date " & Chr(13)
SQLStr = SQLStr & "set #dzisiaj = getdate() " & Chr(13)
SQLStr = SQLStr & "select #dzisiaj as 'today'
' Connect to database
Set Cn = New ADODB.Connection
Cn.Open "Driver={SQL Server};Server=" & Server_Name & ";Database=" & Database_Name & _
";Uid=" & User_ID & ";Pwd=" & Password & ";"
' Start connection
rs.Open SQLStr, Cn, adOpenStatic
' Load data
With rs
For i = 1 To .Fields.Count
Worksheets(1).Cells(1, i) = .Fields(i - 1).Name ' Include column name if not - delete it
Next i
End With
Worksheets(1).Cells(2, 1).CopyFromRecordset rs ' Start loading data to Cell A2
rs.Close
Set rs = Nothing
Cn.Close
Set Cn = Nothing
End Sub
Using in SQL Query "SET NOCOUNT ON" is necessary if you don't want to get error 3704.
Also, using
SQLStr = "SET NOCOUNT ON " & Chr(13) ' it's mandatory if you don't want to get error 3704
SQLStr = SQLStr & "declare #dzisiaj date " & Chr(13)
is more efficient way to include multi-line SQL Queries :)

Answer 2

I'm still new to vb and vba and learning myself, but I know you can declare and write to variables in VB.net which can then feed into an embedded SQL script. I would think you can do the same thing in vba. Here's what I suggest.
Declare a vb string like SQL_Var_1
Insert the 30-line SQL query as a separate query before the main query.
Write the result of the 30-line query to the vb string SQL_Var_1.
Remove the declarations from the Main SQL query but leaving the references to those variables.
Reference SQL_Var_1 as an input parameter in the embedded main query using the exact same name you used in the main query (i.e., #dzisiaj), like here.
If you follow these steps for both SQL variables, you should be able to achieve the same result as if you were using the declared SQL variables.