The following procedure describes how to access your COBOL data from Microsoft Excel 2000, the spreadsheet component of Microsoft Office 2000. Another procedure has been provided for users of Excel Version 7.0 (the version that came with Microsoft Office 95). If you have a different version of Excel, follow whichever procedure you desire. Even though your steps may be slightly different, the concepts will be largely the same.
To access data from Excel 2000:
1. Start Excel.
2. Select "Add-Ins" from the Tool menu. To locate the "Add-ins" option, point to the expansion arrows on the bottom of the Tools menu.
A dialog box displays.
3. Check the "MS Query Add-In" check box, and click "OK." If this add-in does not appear on your list, reinstall Excel, being sure to select "MS Query" from the list of functions to install.
4. Point to "Get External Data" on the Data menu, then select "New Database Query."
This invokes Microsoft Query. The "Choose Data Source" dialog box displays.
If you want to use MS Query's "Query Wizard" to create your SQL query, leave the "Use Query Wizard" checkbox checked. Refer to MS Query's online documentation for instructions on using the Query Wizard.
For simplicity, deselect the Query Wizard.
5. Select the DSN that corresponds to the data source you want to access and click "OK." (Refer to Section 3.1, Data Source Names (DSNs), for instructions on creating DSNs.) A dialog box displays. This box lets you select the tables to add to your Excel spreadsheet.
6. Select the table or tables that you want to add (e.g., "customer"), then click "Add." Close the box when you're done. For each table you selected, a list box displays on the MS Query screen. This list box lists all of the columns in the associated table.
7. Double-click each column that you want to read into your Word document, and that column displays on the screen. If you want to add all columns, double click the "*" at the top of the list box.
8. To enter a SQL statement, click the "SQL" button on the button bar. A dialog box displays.
In this box, type the SQL statement you want to invoke. Press "OK" when you're done. (For a description of the SQL commands supported by AcuODBC, refer to Section 6.3, SQL Syntax Supported by AcuODBC.)
9. Select "Return Data to Excel" from the MS Query File menu.
A dialog box displays:
10. Select where to put the data, then click "OK." Click "Properties. . ." to select further options.
You are returned to Excel. The data you selected displays in the current Excel spreadsheet.