Overview
The export Excel to Access instruction allows a user to export data from an Excel worksheet to a Table in a Access database. The various ways in which this instruction can be configured will be explained as we proceed further through this article.
Before we get started
Please further create a ‘Manipulate a file’ or ‘Multiple file manipulations’ action step so that you can add and use instructions.
The source file that we are going to use looks like this:
The target file that we are going to use looks like this:
Steps
1. Create a ‘Export Excel to Access’ instruction.
2. Link the file named “Source” as the source file.
3. For the Source file, select Sheet1.
4. Use an Advanced Range from A1 to the last cell in ColumnA as far as D.
5. Link the file named “Target” as the target file.
6. For the Target file, select Table1.
7. The ‘Recreate table structure?’ rule should be enabled by default. Enabling this rule enables the instruction to 1) clear all the existing data and designs from the Table, and 2) impose the structure of the Excel data onto the Table. What this means is that any fields and any data within those fields which pre-exist in the Table will be cleared, and new fields will be created. The number of new fields created will correspond to the number of columns found in the selected Excel data. The Table is therefore re-designed to conform to the Excel data. The structure of the Excel data is therefore ‘re-created’.
8. Enable the ‘Include column headings?’ rule by ticking its box. This allows the Table to be re-designed using the cells in the first row of the Excel data as column headings for the new Table structure. If this rule is not enabled, the re-designed Table will have default field names of “F01,” “F02,” “F03,” and so on, while the first row of the Excel data will be imported into the Table as part of the data.
9. Save and run the step.
10. After the step finishes running, download and open the target file. As you can see, the Table has been completely re-designed to match the structure of the Excel data:
