Change back the import wizard

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  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

In older versions of Access, when we wanted to import data into an EXISTING
table, we could map the fields of the external data to which existing field
that data was meant for - in case the field names didn't match. I just spent
an hour helping my payroll manager tweaking csv text files and excel tables
in order to import them into a dbase she uses to track 401K data for our
auditors.

I suggest bringing back those steps of the import wizard, to give us more
control and more speed during this process. I hope you all agree and vote for
this.

-Monica

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http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...210ab&dg=microsoft.public.access.externaldata
 
Hi, Monica.
I just spent
an hour helping my payroll manager tweaking csv text files and excel
tables
in order to import them into a dbase
Click to expand...

You didn't mention which version of Access is installed on the computer, but
it would have taken a lot less time to import the data if your payroll
manager had installed either Microsoft Office 2003 SP-1 or the hotfix if he
had accidentally installed Microsoft Office XP SP-3 on his computer.
I suggest bringing back those steps of the import wizard, to give us more
control and more speed during this process. I hope you all agree and vote
for
this.
Click to expand...

Don't get your hopes up. It's not likely that too many people will vote for
a feature that's included in the service pack or the hotfix.

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.
 
My apologies. didn't think it was relevant to the vote.
We are using Win XP, SP1, office 03, Sp1 - no SP3 ever loaded to the best of
my knowledge. Hotfixes are carefully selected. But thanks for the heads up,
I'll have a LAN guy check her system.
Unfortunatly, I have no idea what app she uses to manage the payroll or what
her options are during the export - but they are scary looking txt files
when they get saved.
 
Gunny -
Do you happen to know off-hand what the number for the below referenced
hotfix is? We have a ton loaded in our images and my LAN guys don't always
keep track of which does what.
Thanks os much!
-Monica
 
Hi, Monica.
We are using Win XP, SP1, office 03, Sp1
Click to expand...

Then the necessary MS Office 2003 service pack has been installed. If the
Import Text Wizard doesn't allow you to map the field names and data types
for the import, then this service pack has _not_ been installed, regardless
of what your Windows administrator claims.

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.
 
Hi, Monica.
Do you happen to know off-hand what the number for the below referenced
hotfix is?
Click to expand...

You mentioned in your post yesterday that you are using MS Office 2003. The
hotfix for MS Office XP SP-3 will not help you, as it can only be used for
MS Office XP.

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.
 
Ok, I'm confused. You wrote: "it would have taken a lot less time to import the data if your payroll manager had installed either Microsoft Office 2003 SP-1"

I doubled checked (becuase the person in question uses 3 different machines) and she is using an Office '03 SP-1 machine. So why wasn't it easy and short like yu mention? It was a pretty straight forward get External Data, from TXT file. It was restrictive - like climbing into a bride's girdle - no wiggle room, no control! All I suggest here is, bring back the wiggle room. Build back in a step within the Wizard to allow users to map fields from the external source into an existing table source. maybe make it an adavcned button option, in case the users is clueless. Those of us who are not clueless, would like more control. See?
 
Hi, Monica.
So why wasn't it easy and short like yu mention?
Click to expand...

The steps for using the Import Text Wizard to map the column names of the
text file to the column names in an existing table is exactly the same in
Access 2003 SP-1 as with previous versions of Access, except for those which
have the Import Text Wizard bug. You've established that your manager's
computer wasn't using a version of Access with this bug, but you complained
that you couldn't map the column names as in previous versions of Access,
and therefore had to spend an hour changing the column headers in the text
files to get the column names to match the column names in the existing
table.

Are you saying that the "Advanced..." button isn't available in the Import
Text Wizard? Are you saying that you can't change the names of the imported
fields in the "Field Information" section of the "<FileName> Import
Specification" dialog window to match the names of the columns in the
existing table? Are you saying that you can't assign the imported field's
data type to a compatible one for the mapped column in the existing table
from this Wizard? Are you saying that you can't "skip" fields that are
named columns in the text file but don't exist in the existing table?

Or are you saying that in previous versions of Access, this is _not_ how you
mapped mismatched fields imported from text files to fields in existing
tables with the Import Text Wizard?
Build back in a step within the Wizard to allow users to map fields
from the external source into an existing table source. maybe make
it an adavcned button option, in case the users is clueless.
Click to expand...

Or are you saying that you want the Import Text Wizard to also import Excel
files -- and to automatically convert these Excel files into text files --
before attempting to import the data, because your payroll manager doesn't
know the difference between the Import Text Wizard and the Import
Spreadsheet Wizard? These are two different tools for importing files,
because each requires different drivers to access data stored in different
file formats, so these tools don't have identical capabilities.

Not all Access users are savvy enough to realize that these import wizards
are two different tools, but perhaps it would be quicker to solve this
problem by just training your payroll manager to convert the Excel
spreadsheet into a CSV or TXT file before importing it into Access. Access
will automatically invoke the proper import wizard (which always depends
upon the file format of the file to be imported), enabling your payroll
manager to map the columns with the Import Text Wizard and save these
mappings as an import spec for future imports.

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact
info.


Ok, I'm confused. You wrote: "it would have taken a lot less time to import
the data if your payroll manager had installed either Microsoft Office 2003
SP-1"

I doubled checked (becuase the person in question uses 3 different machines)
and she is using an Office '03 SP-1 machine. So why wasn't it easy and short
like yu mention? It was a pretty straight forward get External Data, from
TXT file. It was restrictive - like climbing into a bride's girdle - no
wiggle room, no control! All I suggest here is, bring back the wiggle room.
Build back in a step within the Wizard to allow users to map fields from the
external source into an existing table source. maybe make it an adavcned
button option, in case the users is clueless. Those of us who are not
clueless, would like more control. See?
 
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