We use ODBC currently to do this but quite laborious . We ar...

[Ian Dalton]

We use ODBC currently to do this but quite laborious . We are on 8.1.05M. Is there quicker way or do we need to upgrade to 8.2 so as not to have to use ODBC

[Toby Mills]

Hi Dan! Welcome the fabulous world of myibi:)

Starting in 7703 (I think) we started offering an adapter to read XLSX files directly.

You might take a look at this PDF, Chapter 16 to see if its helpful:

8105m Adapter Administration Manual

Chapter 16 - Using the Adapter for Excel (via Direct Retrieval)

Page 677

Managing Metadata for Excel (via Direct Retrieval) / Procedure: How to Create a Synonym

Hopefully that helps. Im assuming you want to leave the file as an xlsx - you could always use the Upload Data idea to actually move a copy of the file up to the reporting server and WF will automatically create a new master for you. Be aware when you do this, the file is not really still an XLSX file - it gets converted during the upload phase to a normal flat file. But the upload Data option is easy to do.

Either way, its handy to use the DATASET= paremeter in your master/acx to locate the file to be read instead of always having to do a FILEDEF to point to the file.

If you run into problems, let us know.

Thanks!

Toby

[Manoj Chaurasia]

Hi Ian

I second the welcome to myibi Tobys advice is exactly what I would recommend as well. I am curious as to why you feel ODBC is laborious. No matter which adapter you use the creation of metadata is a necessity but using Excel direct is the better way to access that data.

[Ian Dalton]

Thanks guys - I will take a look and let you know how I get on.

[Ian Dalton]

Hi Chuck, thanks for the welcome. I realize that regardless of adapter you need to create the metadata but with ODBC it is quite fiddly to ensure all the fields are in the correct format plus making sure that the data you wish to use is named correctly. It works fine but I think the Data Retrieval approach would be simpler and I believe you have to pay for this adapter (which we havent as yet !).

[Manoj Chaurasia]

Ian

Good news for you Excel direct is a free adapter

[Ian Dalton]

Hi Chuck, yes I have just found this out. We were told it was free from 8.2 so I assumed payable for 8.1.

Anyway I tried it out and it works really well - so simple to use. No more ODBC !!

Thanks to you and Toby for the excellent advice.

Ian

[Toby Mills]

Good to hear its smooth sailing for you with the Excel Direct adapter!

I presume we can make this thread [CLOSED]

[Ian Dalton]

Yes this now CLOSED. Many thanks again.