More Pass-Through Queries! Evaluation Code 245 Dan DeBower Technical Consultant SCT Tuesday, March 26 th, :00am – 9:30am

2 Evaluation Code 245 Session Rules of Etiquette Please hold all questions until the session ends Please turn off your cell phone/beeper If you must leave the session early, please do so as discreetly as possible Please avoid side conversation during the session But if you have a burning on-topic question, ask! Thank you for your cooperation!

3 Evaluation Code 245 Introduction I presented MS Access Pass-Through Queries at Summit last year, in Toronto This presentation grew out of the feedback I received from that session I will not cover the setup of ODBC or other technical issues during this presentation. (Feel free to ask questions at the end, though!) Remember: Im assuming you know some SQL

4 Evaluation Code 245 Agenda Review Pass-Throughs Rename your fields The Make Table Query Delete and Append (an alternative to Make Table) The TimeStamp Easy access to Object:Access

5 Evaluation Code 245 Review Use the latest version of MS Access: if youre using Office2000, make sure youre on Service Pack Two (SP2) Create and Prepare your query Create a Pass-Through query Prepare your connection Enter your SQL

6 Evaluation Code 245 Create a Pass-Through Query The NEW button, on the database Queries tab. Or from the menu: Insert - Query From the wizard, select Design View And Close the show table window And Query - SQL Specific - Pass-Through

7 Evaluation Code 245 Prepare Your Connection Create an ODBC Connection String In the Properties window enter a connection string: ODBC;DSN=???;DBQ=???;UID=???;PWD=???; DSN- your ODBC Data Source Name DBQ- your Oracle database instance UID- your Oracle UserID PWD- your Oracle Password

8 Evaluation Code 245 Prepare Your Connection Create an ODBC Connection String If you leave out the Username and Password, Access will display a connection window ODBC;DSN=Banner;DBQ=PROD;

9 Evaluation Code 245 Enter Your SQL Remember - you can write and test your SQL queries in SQLPlus and then Copy-Paste from the SQL editor to the Pass-Through window! [And SQLPlus gives better error messages!]

10 Evaluation Code 245 The Make Table Query Make Table Queries allow you to save the output of your Pass-Throughs Without a Make Table, your Pass-Through will run every time you update your reports or queries that are based upon your Pass-Through With a Make Table, your saved data doesnt change unless you want it to. No more mismatched reports because someone updated Banner

11 Evaluation Code 245 Create a Make Table Query Create a query in Design View Add your Pass-Through with the Show Table window and close Show Table Select Query – Make-Table Query Enter a Table Name Double click * in your Pass-Through to select all the fields And Save your Query with a unique name

12 Evaluation Code 245 Rename Your Fields Seeing Banner field names in your Access tables can be hard to read and confusing When you enter a field name in your Pass- Through select statement, add a space, and then a unique (short) name From select spriden_last_name, To select spriden_last_name LNAME,

13 Evaluation Code 245 Hint If you receive an error that your query was Cancelled by the user, your ODBC connection probably Timed Out. In other words, its just taking too long In the Query Properties window, set the ODBC Timeout property to 0 Make sure your Pass-Through and Make Table queries both get changed

14 Evaluation Code 245 Delete and Append A Make Table Query completely deletes and re- creates your table every time you run it But what if you dont want to destroy the table youve made? Have you formatted the Datasheet view or added an index? Delete and Append allows you to keep your existing table, remove all the records, and repopulate with an Append Query

15 Evaluation Code 245 Delete and Append Delete Select the Macro tab Select New, creating a new Macro Select the action RunSQL At the bottom of the Macro page on the SQL Statement line, enter delete * from [tablename] And save your Macro with a unique name

16 Evaluation Code 245 Delete and Append Append Open your Make-Table Query Select Query – Append Query Append Querys add records to an existing table Remember -- If you change your Pass-Through, you must re- Make your table. Append doesnt work if the Query doesnt match the Table

17 Evaluation Code 245 Delete and Append By adding a second command to your Macro, you can perform your Delete and Append in one step Open your Delete Macro Add the Action OpenQuery after RunSQL Choose your Append Query for Query Name And set Data Mode to Read Only (faster) Save your Macro Insert a SetWarnings to No Action at the top

18 Evaluation Code 245 Delete and Append Now youve got a single Macro that 1.Doesnt destroy any changes youve made to your Table design 2.Automatically updates your table without asking any questions 3.Can be added to a Button on a Form or as an Event on a report (or even called from another Macro)

19 Evaluation Code 245 The TimeStamp Always add a field to the end of the select statement in your Pass-Through Sysdate TimeStamp This TimeStamp field will record the date and time that your Pass-Through was last run Every record in your Table will have the same TimeStamp (even if it takes a while to run) Use an Append Query, and keep a history Valuable for statistical analysis!

20 Evaluation Code 245 Easy Access to Object:Access Problem: Oracle SQLNet (or Net8) isnt set up on every workstation because we use web-enabled Banner Problem: I like Object:Access, but its just too slow Problem: The Banner and Network administrators dont like me running reports during the day…

21 Evaluation Code 245 Easy Access to Object:Access Solution: Create a simple Data Warehouse! Create a Pass-Through Make Table that creates an unrestricted copy of Object:Access output Select * from as_student_data Where term_code_key = And dont forget the Manditory Conditions, like Term Code Key…

22 Evaluation Code 245 Easy Access to Object:Access Create a Macro to Delete and Append Put this new database in a shared directory on a Windows server (that has ODBC set up) Use the windows Task Scheduler to start this process daily (after hours) with the command line qualifier /x MacroName Use a LINK to this database from your workstation, and you have a simple warehouse!

23 Evaluation Code 245 Final Comments Use Macros! You can write entire applications without programming a single line of Visual Basic Learn more SQL! An understanding of SQL gives you an understanding of the inner workings of Oracle and Banner And youll write better reports!

24 Evaluation Code 245 Final Comments MS Access is a very broad, powerful application But its quirky… If a technique doesnt work, try something similar Maybe youre running into a quirk… And PLAY with Access! Mess around! Try new things! Use techniques you havent used before! Get an Access book!

25 Evaluation Code 245 Questions? Questions and (hopefully!) Answers… Would you like to see something demonstrated? Any Tips or Tricks you'd like to share? Suggesting a topic for next year?

26 Evaluation Code 245 Thank You! Dan DeBower Please fill out the Evaluation Form Evaluation Code 245 Check out the MS Access Reporting (BOF) session Wed, 10:00am – 11:30am in Marquis NW (M)