Desktop and Server Databases

I ntr oduction to D ata I m por t/ Expor t

I ntr oduction
I m port ing dat a allows you t o get infor m at ion fr om an ext er nal source and insert it in your dat abase. Micr osoft Access can accept dat a fr om various applicat ions, and w it h a lit t le t rick, you can im port even fr om unfr iendly applicat ions. Before im por t ing dat a, you m ust m ake sure t hat it is in a form at Microsoft Access can read; even if t hat dat a is com ing from anot her applicat ion of t he Microsoft Office suit e.

To im port a file or obj ect s, on t he Ribbon, you can click t he Ext ernal Dat a t ab. I n t he I m port sect ion of t he Ribbon, click t he but t on t hat cor responds t o t he t ype of obj ect you w ant t o get . What happens depends on t he t ype of file you are t rying t o im port . Expor t ing a Microsoft Access obj ect consist s of saving a t able in a form at t hat an applicat ion ot her t han Micr osoft Access can use. Because t his depends on t he ext er nal applicat ion, we w ill review differ ent issues as w e m ove on.

I m por ting M icr osoft Access Objects

Micr osoft Access obj ect s are probably t he easiest obj ect s t o im port because, cr eat ed wit h t he sam e applicat ion, t hese obj ect s are already form at t ed and r ecognizable. You can im por t obj ect s of a Micr osoft Access t ype of any version. To im port obj ect s fr om anot her Microsoft Access dat abase, on t he Ribbon, you can click t he Ext er nal Dat a t ab. I n t he I m por t sect ion of t he

Ribbon, click t he Access but t on . This would open t he Get Ext er nal Dat a - Access Dat abase wizard. You should first locat e t he folder t hat cont ains t he dat abase, and t hen select t he dat abase.

Pr actical Lear ning: I m por ting a M icr osoft Access Object

1. St art Micr osoft Access and open t he Clar ksville I ce Cream 1 dat abase you creat ed in Lesson 2

2. On t he ribbon, click Ext ernal Dat a. I n t he I m por t sect ion, click Access 3. I n t he fir st page of t he Get Ext ernal Dat a - Access Dat abase w izar d, click Br owse 4. Locat e t he folder t hat cont ains t he resour ces for t hese lessons and select it 5. I n t he list of files, click Clarksville I ce Cream .m db and click Open 6. On t he wizard, click OK 7. I n t he Tables proper t y page of t he I m port Obj ect s dialog box, click Select All

8. Click OK 9. On t he dialog box, click Close

Splitting a D atabase
Most of t he dat abases w e w ill creat e in our lessons are referr ed t o as deskt op dat abases because t hey are m eant t o be inst alled in t he com put er w her e t hey will be used. For m aint enance pur poses, t he pr oblem wit h t his appr oach is t hat , if you dist ribut e your dat abase t o t he users or if you have dist ribut ed t he dat abase t o a few people already, if you m odify t he dat abase, you w ill have t o visit each one's com put er t o inst all a new version of t he dat abase or t o m odify t he dat abase on each user's com put er. For exam ple, im agine t hat som e or all users of t he dat abase call you and say t hat a cert ain for m or r eport seem s t o produce a wr ong result and you suspect t hat an expr ession in t he dat abase is false. Once you find out w hat needs t o be done t o correct t he pr oblem , you would have t o visit each com put er t o m ake t he change. Also, if you want t o backup t he dat abase, alt hough you need only t he values st ored in t he t ables, you m ay have t o visit each com put er. Som et im es t his is not possible and it is unpr ofessional. Micr osoft Access provides an alt ernat ive t o t his pr oblem . You can divide your dat abase in t wo part s. One par t would be inst alled on one com put er t hat can be a server or j ust anot her com put er. This is r eferr ed t o as back - end. The ot her par t would be inst alled in each user's com put er. These users com put er can t hen connect t o t he back - end dat abase t hat st ores t he act ual dat abase. The user s com put er have only t he graphical int er face t hat allows t hem t o w ork. I f you m odify t he dat abase ( for exam ple if you corr ect an expression t hat w as pr oducing w rong r esult s) , you can do it on t he back - end dat abase and t he user s' com put ers w ould r eceive t he change. To im plem ent t his scenar io, you split your dat abase. To split a dat abase, on t he Ribbon, you can click Dat abase Tools. I n t he Move Dat a sect ion, you

can click t he Access Dat abase but t on ( if you receive a Microsoft Office Access Secur it y Not ice, read it and click Open) . This w ould open t he Dat abase Split t er dialog box wit h four paragr aphs and t wo but t ons. Aft er r eading t hem , you can click Split Dat abase. This w ould open t he Creat e Back - End Dat abase dialog box. I t w ould suggest a nam e of a dat abase t hat is m ade of t he or iginal nam e of t he dat abase followed by _be. You can keep t hat nam e or change it . Once you are ready, you can click Split . The split t ing pr ocess w ould st art . When t he split t ing is over , you will r eceive a m essage box and you can click OK. Aft er split t ing a dat abase, t he t ables w ould be r em oved from t he Navigat ion Pane. The linking t ables w ould have new icons and each icon w ould appear wit h an arrow t hat indicat es t hat t he t able is only linked t o an act ual t able in t he back - end dat abase. Also, aft er split t ing a dat abase, since t he act ual t ables would have been rem oved from t he Navigat ion Pane, you cannot m odify t heir st r uct ure from a user 's com put er. That is, you cannot add a colum n or change t he dat a t ype of a field. Aft er split t ing t he dat abase, you can inst all t he _be file, t hat was cr eat ed when split t ing, t o t he server or t he com put er t hat will host it . Then inst all t he or iginal dat abase on t he user 's com put ers. You should ( m ust ) t hen est ablish a connect ion bet ween each user's com put er and t he back - end server .

Pr actical Lear ning: Splitting a D atabase

1. Fr om t he r esources t hat accom pany t hese lessons, open t he Bet hesda Car Rent al2 dat abase. Not ice t he obj ect s in t he Navigat ion Pane

2. On t he Ribbon, click Dat abase Tools

3. I n t he Move Dat a sect ion, click Access Dat abase

4. You receive a Dat abase Split t er dialog box. Read t he paragr aphs and click Split Dat abase 5. I n t he Creat e Back - End Dat abase dialog box, change t he nam e of t he file t o bcr 5 and click Split . When t he split t ing is over, a dialog box appear s

6. Read it and click OK 7. Open t he bcr 5 dat abase. Not ice t he icons of t he t ables in t he Navigat ion Pane and t he absence of t he for m s

8. Re- open t he Bet hesda Car Rent al5 dat abase and not ice t he new icons of t he t ables in t he Navigat ion Pane

9. I n t he Cars sect ion, r ight - click Car s and click Design View 10. You receive a m essage box. Read it and click No ( if you open one of t he form s, cr eat e a new r ecor d, and open t he bcr 5 dat abase, you w ill not ice t hat t he new record you creat ed exist s)

ACCD E Files
I f you have cr eat ed a dat abase and decide t o dist r ibut e it or t o give it t o a cust om er , colleagues or em ployees, t hey m ay be t em pt ed t o open t he form s in Design View and possibly m odify t heir st ruct ures. There are t w o disadvant ages t o such an act ion. They m ay com prom ise or corr upt your hard w ork, possibly rendering it obsolet e. Som e bad eye m ay decide t o cheat on your VBA code. Microsoft Access allows you t o m ake som e or m ost of t hese act ions difficult or im possible. An ACCDE file is a dat abase com piled by Micr osoft Access so t he user s of t he dat abase cannot change t he design of form s or r eport s, cr eat e new form s or r eport s, view it s VBA code, or im port form s, repor t s or VBA code. Before cr eat ing an ACCDE file, you should enable t he securit y. To do t his, on t he Message Bar, you can click Opt ions... I n t he Microsoft Office Securit y Opt ions dialog box, click t he Enable This Cont ent radio but t on and click OK. To creat e an ACCDE file of your dat abase, aft er opening it , on t he Ribbon, you can click Dat abase Tools. I n t he Dat abase Tools sect ion, you can click Make ACCDE. You w ill receive t he Save As dialog box wit h a suggest ed file. You can accept t hat file nam e or r eplace it . Aft er t his, you can click Save.

M icr osoft Access and M icr osoft SQL Ser ver

I ntr oduction
I f you have a Microsoft SQL Ser ver dat abase and you w ant t o use it in a Microsoft Access dat abase, you have various opt ions. You can im port t he obj ect s from t he server dat abase or you can creat e a Microsoft Access pr oj ect t hat is a dat abase whose t ables link t o t he server.

I m por ting M icr osoft SQL Ser ver Tables

I f you have reason you server , you dat abase in one or m ore t ables t hat are part of a Microsoft SQL Ser ver dat abase but for som e do not w ant , do not need, or ar e not allowed, t o w ork dir ect ly on t he dat abase can im port t he obj ect s t o Micr osoft Access. You first need t o creat e t he r ecipient Microsoft Access.

Micr osoft Access t r eat s Micr osoft SQL Ser ver as one of t he ODBC fam ily of dat abases ( t he Micr osoft Windows operat ing syst em has a driver t hat allow s different dat abase environm ent s t o com m unicat e or int eract wit h t he sam e dat abase, as long as t hey follow som e rules of t he ODBC driver; for exam ple, an applicat ion cr eat ed w it h Delphi and a PHP w eb sit e bot h can com m unicat e w it h a Micr osoft Access dat abase or a Microsoft SQL Ser ver dat abase) . Ther efore, before im port ing a Microsoft SQL Server t able ( or a t able fr om any ODBC com pliant dat abase) , you should first creat e a dat a source. You can creat e t he dat a sour ce from Microsoft Access or you can fir st cr eat e it using Cont r ol Panel:

To st art t he dat a sour ce fr om Cont r ol Panel, in Micr osoft Windows XP, you can open t he

Cont rol Panel, open t he Adm inist rat ive Tools, and double- click Dat a Sources ( ODBC) . This w ould open t he ODBC Dat a Sour ce Adm inist rat or:

You can t hen click Add.

To im por t a t able in Microsoft Access, on t he Ribbon, you can click Ext er nal Dat a and, in t he I m xport sect ion, click More - > ODBC Dat abase. This would open t he Get Ext ernal Dat a - > ODBC Dat abase dialog box. I f you w ant t o im por t a t able, you should accept t he first radio but t on and click OK. This w ould open t he Select Dat a Sour ce dialog:

I f you had already creat ed t he dat a source, you can select it and click OK. I f t he Dat a Source is not displaying but you k now where it is locat ed, you can click t he Up One Level but t on t o locat e it s folder and select it . Ot herwise, you can creat e a new dat a source. To do t his, click t he New but t on.

I n bot h cases, you would get t he Cr eat e New Dat a Sour ce dialog box:

From t here, you can click t he t ype of dat abase you want t o im por t . I n t his case, you would click SQL Server. I f you st ar t ed from Cont rol Panel, you w ould click Finish. I f you had st ar t ed from Micr osoft Access, you can click Next . You w ould be pr om pt ed t o ent er a nam e for t he dat a source:

Aft er t yping t he nam e, you can click Next and click Finish. Next , t he Cr eat e a New Dat a Sour ce dialog box wit h t he nam e you previously specified. You are allowed t o t ype a sm all descript ion of t he dat abase. You can t ype anyt hing. Then, in t he Server com bo box, select t he nam e of t he server w her e t he dat abase is locat ed. I f t he dat abase is in t he sam e com put er you are using, you can t ype ( loca l) :

You can t hen click Next :

You can accept all default s or, if you ar e creat ing a sensit ive dat abase t hat would require people t o log in, you can click t he second r adio but t on, t hen pr ovide a user nam e and a passw ord. When ready, click Next . The next page of t he w izar d allow s you t o select t he act ual dat abase t hat has t he t able( s) you w ant t o im port . To select it , you should click t he t op check box t o access it s com bo box. Then click t he ar row of t he com bo box t o display t he list of dat abases and select t he one you want :

Aft er select ing t he dat abase, you can click Next . The last page of t he wizar d allows you t o set som e opt ions. Once you are r eady, you can click Finish:

To m ake sure everyt hing is alr ight , you can click t he Test Dat a Sour ce but t on. I f everyt hing looks alright , you can click OK. I f you had st art ed from t he Cont rol Panel, t he process would end. I f you add st art ed from Micr osoft Access, t he Select Dat a Sour ce dialog box w ould com e back w it h t he dat a sour ce you had j ust creat ed. You can t hen select it :

And click OK. A dialog box would display, cont aining all t he obj ect s t hat belong t o t he dat abase you had select ed. The nam es of t he t ables st art w it h t he schem a nam e, in t his case dbo:

Because t her e are m any obj ect s t hat Microsoft SQL Server creat es for each dat abase, you cert ainly w ould not need all of t hem . Ther efor e, you should select only t he t able ( and pr obably t he views) . To select an obj ect , sim ply click it , t hen click each of t he ot her obj ect s you would need. Once you are ready, click OK. Micr osoft Access w ould st art analyzing and im port ing t he t able( s) . When t he pr ocess is over, a dialog box would let you know. You can t hen click Close. Once you do, t he nam es of t he t ables would appear in t he Navigat ion Pane. Each st ar t s w it h t he schem a nam e and an under scor e. I n m ost cases, you m ay have t o r enam e each by rem oving t he schem a pr efix.

Linking to a M icr osoft SQL Ser ver D atabase

I nst ead of im por t ing t he whole dat abase or som e of it s t able fr om a Micr osoft SQL Server applicat ion, you can cr eat e a proj ect in Micr osoft Access t hat w ould connect t o t he t able from t he server. That way, if you ent er dat a in t he Microsoft Access dat abase, t he dat a w ould be st ored on t he server . This also m akes it possible t o creat e visually good looking obj ect s in Micr osoft Access inst ead of t he som ew hat less friendly t ables of Micr osoft SQL Server ( in realit y, you never want t o let users wor k on t he ser ver and in fact , a visual int erface in Micr osoft Access allow s you t o exercise a great level of cont rol over w hat your users can do or cannot do w it h your dat abase) . To cr eat e an applicat ion in Microsoft Access t hat can com m unicat e wit h t he obj ect s st ored in a Micr osoft SQL Ser ver dat abase, you can link t he t ables fr om Microsoft Access t o t ables of a Micr osoft SQL Server dat abase or you can creat e what is called a dat abase proj ect or sim ply a proj ect . You have various opt ions. Aft er cr eat ing a dat abase in Microsoft SQL Ser ver, t o creat e t ables linked t o it , in Microsoft Access, on t he Ribbon, click Ext ernal Dat a and, in t he Export sect ion, click More - > ODBC Dat abase. I n t he Get Ext er nal Dat a - ODBC Dat abase dialog box, click t he second radio but t on:

Then click OK. The Select Dat a Source dialog box w ould open and you m ust select a dat a source. I f you had not creat ed one, t hen follow t h e st eps t o cre a t e it . I n t he Select Dat a Sour ce dialog ox, click t he dat a source nam e and click OK. This w ould open t he Link t able dialog box. I n t he list of t ables, you should click only t he act ual t ables you will use in Microsoft Access:

Aft er select ing t he t ables, click OK. I f Micr osoft Access needs som e explanat ion about som e t ables ( or views) , you m ay r eceive a dialog box asking you t o ident ify t he r ecor ds unique ident ifiers. When ever yt hing is done, t he linked t ables w ould appear in t he Navigat ion Pane:

Once t he t ables have been linked, you can use t hem as you see fit . You can cr eat e t he for m s and allow t he user s t o exploit t he dat abase. The new r ecor ds would be added t o t he dat abase on t he ser ver.

Expor ting M icr osoft SQL Ser ver Tables

I f you have creat ed a dat abase in Micr osoft Access and w ant t o use it in Micr osoft SQL Ser ver, you can expor t it . Befor e doing t his, you m ust creat e a dat abase in Microsoft SQL Ser ver. I t w ould also be a good idea t o creat e a dat a sour ce, alt hough you can cr eat e it fr om Microsoft Access. To expor t a t able:

I n t he Navigat ion Pane, right - click a t able, posit ion t he m ouse on Export , and click ODBC Dat abase I n t he Navigat ion Pane, click a t able you want t o export . On t he Ribbon, click Ext ernal Dat a and, in t he Export sect ion, click More - > ODBC Dat abase

This would open t he Expor t dialog box t hat asks you t o specify t he nam e of t he t able t hat w ill be creat ed in Micr osoft SQL Server . By default , t he Export dialog box would suggest t he sam e nam e as t he dat abase t hat was select ed:

You can accept it or ent er a new one. Aft er specifying t he nam e of t he t able, click OK. The Select Dat a Source dialog box w ould com e up. I f you had alr eady creat ed a dat a sour ce, you can select it s nam e. Ot herw ise, use t he New but t on t o launch a wizard t hat w ould assist you t o cr eat e a dat a sour ce. Aft er specifying t he dat a source of t he dat abase t hat w ill receive t he t able, click OK. I f everyt hing is alright , t he t able w ould be export ed. Once t he t able has been expor t ed, a dialog box would com e up t o let you know . You can t hen click Close.

U psizing a M icr osoft Access D atabase to a Ser ver D atabase

Micr osoft Access has som e lim it at ions as com pared t o Microsoft SQL Server. For exam ple, Micr osoft Access has lim it s on bot h t he size of a dat abase and t he num ber of people w ho can connect t o a back - end dat abase at t he sam e t im e. I f you find out t hat Micr osoft Access is becom ing t oo r est r aint t o accom m odat e your expanding dat abase, you can upgrade it t o a form al server dat abase. That is, you can t r ansfer t he Microsoft Access dat abase t o a Microsoft SQL Server dat abase w her e it w ould enj oy m ore opt ions. Before upsizing a dat abase, you should enable t he securit y. To do t his, on t he Message Bar,

you can click Opt ions... I f t he Microsoft Office Securit y Opt ions dialog box, click t he Enable This Cont ent radio but t on and click OK. To upsize a Microsoft Access dat abase, open t he dat abase. On t he Ribbon, you can click

Dat abase Tools. I n t he Move Dat a sect ion, click t he SQL Ser ver but t on t he Upsizing Wizar d:

. This w ould open

The first page of t he Upsizing Wizard allows you t o specify w het her you w ill use an exist ing Micr osoft SQL Server dat abase or you w ant t o creat e a brand new one. I f you had already cr eat ed a dat abase on t he server and you only w ant t o add t he t ables ( and queries) t o it , you can select t he first opt ion. I n t his case, you m ust cr eat e a dat a source for t he exist ing dat abase, and follow t he wizard. I f you did not fir st creat e t he server dat abase, you can accept t he second radio. Once you ar e r eady, click Next . I f you had select ed t he first radio but t on, clicking Next w ould open t he Select Dat a Sour ce dialog box. I f you had select ed t he second radio but t on in t he first page of t he w izard before clicking Next , t he second page of t he wizar d w ould com e up:

The second page of t he w izar d allow s you t o specify t he nam e of t he ser ver wher e t he dat abase will be inst alled. You m ust also specify how you w ill be aut hent icat ed. The bot t om sect ion of t he page displays a t ext box w it h a suggest ed nam e of t he server . The nam e is m ade of t he nam e of t he Micr osoft Access dat abase you st art ed from and appended w it h t he "SQL" suffix. You can accept t hat nam e or change it . Once you are ready, click Next . The w izar d would analyze t he dat abase and display t he nam es of t he t ables in t he t hird page of t he w izar d:

The t hir d page allow s you t o select w hat t ables should be creat ed in t he dat abase ser ver:

Aft er select ing t he t ables, you can click Next :

The fourt h page of t he w izard allows you t o specify som e opt ions t hat would be applied t o t he dat abase on t he ser ver. Aft er accept ing t he default s or m aking your select ions, you can click Next :

I n t he sam e way, t he fift h page present s som e opt ions. Once you have reviewed it , accept ed or m aking changes, you can click Next ( or Finish) . The last page only let s you know t hat all inform at ion is ready t o apply on t he server:

You can t hen click Finish. The wizard w ould t hen st art creat ing t he dat abase or applying t he changes:

When t he process is over, a r eport w ould be present ed t o you.

Lesson Sum m ar y
M CAS: U sing M icr osoft Office Access 20 0 7 Topics
S4 E5 Split dat abases I m port dat a