I have a query in SQL Server that returns me 5 columns with some data.
I want to create a BizTalk application that saves me the result of my query in an Excel file.
I will create a SP for polling, using wcf adapter to do the communication between BT and SQL.
I don't know how to generate a file.xls. Is it possible?
Thanks
Any .xls file can be saved as a XML Workbook ( File-Save As from Excel), which is an XML document. You can see that this an XML doc you open it in notepad.
Now, the trick is to get hands on the schema used for generating this, which is perhaps proprietary for microsoft and may not be given out. So, the workaround is, if your excel file is failrly simple, you can save it as the Workbook and see the XML and generate an XSD based on it.
Now, map your incoming XML to this Workbook XSD and the resultant XML will open directly in Excel, when you double-click on it.
Hope this helps.
in that case you need to developed a custom pipeline
biztalk-custom-excel-pipeline-component
Related
I need to generate XLS file using TSQL only. I am generating XML based Excel.
I am trying to use FOR XML for this but as the output XLS file is fairly complex its taking much efforts and time.
Is there any other way to do it?
Or if its only way what's that can i do to do it effectively ?
It is not about exporting the data. I will respond to the user in XML format and that XML format will be opened by Excel(I will include headers that Excel know and will open the result in Excel.) User or I will not have direct access to SQL server so no way to export the results.The query will be exposed as Web-service. User will request the data and application will respond with XML that will be opened in Excel.
Good Afternoon,
I am in the process of developing in vb.net a simple “cheque printing” application which will allow users to fill in a few text boxes with the values that will be printed on a cheque.
When they hit the print button, the values will be sent to the printer, but I also want the values they input in the text boxes saved to a file, so like a history file of all the cheques that were created.
I am thinking to use either an access database or an excel spreadsheet as my history file, but I am not quite sure on which would be best.
Please note that in my environment storing this information in a SQL database is not an option and also this file will most likely be stored/accessed from the network.
The history file needs to be:
1.Stable (cannot corrupt easy)
2.Reliable
3.Easily exportable in case we need to export the information to one of our in-house systems.
4.editable from the application I am developing
Kindly advise,
A
XML. Save the data to DataTable object and then use the .WriteXML method to save it as an xml file. I'd advise creating a strongly-typed DataTable class for this, so that the XML can be exported with a reliable schema and imported easily.
If you are using different fonts, you could use a .rtf (rich text format) which will save the format of the text that you send to print... it is a universal file format, you can open it with open office, ms office, or any office suite you have...
Access will be best choice,
it's relational database and can make a form from this file to do what are you looking for without VB or any code.
Also you can access this file from network.
for more detail about setting for this file go to this link
http://goo.gl/bOfGp6
and you will find more options complete your work.
I would use a MySQL server. It's free.
XML is also good, but I hate sharing folders...
I have a lightswitch project in visual studio 2013, using vb.net. I would like the user to be able to click a button and have lightswitch find an excel file, and upload that file to a sql table according to a pre-determined column mapping.
My preference was to use the Office Integration extension for visual studio, which I got working with VS 2013 by downloading it from this link: http://www.ge.tt/71iuRQv/v/0
However, the documentation and examples for office integration seem to be very heavy on getting an excel spreadsheet into a display in the lightswitch web client, rather than into the sql data table, which is where I need it. Here are the examples I've been following:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bethmassi/archive/2012/07/18/new-and-improved-office-integration-pack-extension-for-lightswitch.aspx
Alternatively, I have an existing stored procedure, and I can request that the server call this stored proc by sending a web API extension from the client to the server. I have this working already for other stored procs, according to examples from Beth Masi and Paul van Bladel. (Stackoverflow won't let me post the links...)
The undesirable part of this approach is that the stored proc is old, and messy.
I've searched and searched, but have yet to find anyone approach this problem for VS 2013 with lightswitch. Any useful advice?
I've used the method detailed by Matt Sampson to store word files and it works very well. Since it just stores the raw binary it should handle Excel files just as well.
If you're creating the table in LightSwitch, use the Binary Type. If you use SQL create scripts use varbinary(MAX).
You need to create a custom Silverlight dialog box to gain access to the OpenFileDialog object. Then open the file in as a FileStream.
Finally, you need to add a handler for the closed method of the control and then show the control to the user. Most likely done in a button. This needs to be done on the main dispatcher.
The code examples are in C# but I just used one of the many available translators out on the web and copy/pasted the VB.NET code.
Another option might be to consider shelling out to the DTSEXEC run-time to execute an SSIS package to perform the upload - especially if the target Excel spreadsheets have predefined layouts and content data types.
Even simpler, you might be able to use the SQL Server BULK INSERT command to get the job done - although that would require a SQL Client connection to your database.
HTH
How can I find out where a Sharepoint Report is getting its data from?
Is it possible/easy?
I have a live report similar to one I am about to produce (it will use the same data source) but I do not know where this is coming from!
Thanks in advance!
The easiest is to just copy and rename the file, upload it and edit it in Report Builder on SharePoint. This way you will maintain the exact data source without needing to edit XML.
If you want to download it, go here Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Report Builder 3.0
However, if you favour a text editor you can open the .rdl file to edit it.
Look in the XML for something like:
<DataSources>
..data source details here.
Where the data comes from
</DataSources>
<DataSets>
.. actual returned date definitions here, like columns.
What the data is
</DataSets>
How to edit a Word Document (.docx) stored in a SQL Server Table?
Here is the tentative work flow:
Read BLOB from SQL Table through Ideablade
Write BLOB to disk as .docx
Open .docx using Word
User makes changes
Save .docx using Word
Read .docx into BLOB
Write BLOB back to SQL Table through Ideablade
All sample code is welcomed?
I am sure there are a lot of people doing this already.
Any other ideas on how to simplify this process?
I am using VB.NET, .NET 3.5 SP1, WinForm and SQL Server 2008.
Well, as to the how, here is how to read a blob and write a blob to SQL. Although frankly, unless you have very good reasons such as an existing backup system, you would probably be best served storing the file to the file system and the path and metadata in the database. Either way, abstract it in your BLL, so you can change your mind down the road.
Retrieving and updating the BLOB from the db shouldn't be a problem, you'll find lots of sample code to do that on the net.
A simple approach to your problem would be to create a "temp" or "working" directory somewhere and monitor it with System.IO.FileSystemWatcher (sample code). When the user wants to edit a file, fetch it from the db and store it the directory. Whenever the user saves the file, you'll get a notification from your FileSystemWatcher, so you can save it to the database. Don't forget to empty the directory from time to time.
The method I've seen for this that I think works best is to build this as an add-on for MS Word itself. Examples include the Save to Sharepoint, Save to Moodle, and other similar add-ins.