help with an append query

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kathy
  • Start date Start date
K

Kathy

Hi,

I need to add a query to an Access 2K db i'm working on
that will import an Excel file with about 2,000 records,
and will overwrite/update any existing duplicate records,
but will not delete non-duplicates. I suspect that by
nature, an append query would not wipe out existing
records, but just want to be sure. Along this same line,
when importing data from Excel,what is the best way to
avoid import errors (failure) due to unmatched field
names? I've been told you can use an import specification
but i don't know how to do this, unless it's the same
thing as the Import Wizard which is fairly worthless. Any
suggestions on how best to do this would sure be
appreciated!
 
I've learned that the best way to bring excel data into
Access is to use the "paste append" function instead of
the "import" function. I have successfully added
information to Access this way into a table that already
had values.

If the duplicated field is your primary key, Access will
give an error message because primary keys can never be
duplicated. Access can also put these duplicates in a
separate table called tblError. Then you can go through
and delete or fix as necessary. But I think Access
usually takes teh curren table as the correct one, and
you'd have to use the tblError to correct those.
 
Could you perhaps explain in a little more detail how a
paste append function works. I'm not familiar with that
approach and would appreciate some specifics on how to do
it. thanks!
 
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