Q148406: HOWTO: How to Create a Microsoft Excel Remote View from Visual F

Article: Q148406
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): WINDOWS:2.5,3.0,3.0b
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbcode kbMDAC250
Last Modified: 22-FEB-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b 
- Microsoft Data Access Components version 2.5 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article describes how to create a Remote View programmatically in Visual
FoxPro to access data that resides in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (.xls file).

MORE INFORMATION
================

If you haven't done so already, install the Microsoft Excel ODBC driver that
ships with Visual FoxPro. To connect to a Microsoft Excel data source, you must
install the Microsoft Excel ODBC Driver and set up a Microsoft Excel data source
through the ODBC Microsoft Excel Setup dialog box in the Windows Control Panel.
This is a level 1 ODBC driver, so the data source is a directory name or the
current directory, as indicated in the Setup dialog box. The currently shipping
Microsoft Excel ODBC driver provides an option in the Setup dialog box to
specify Microsoft Excel versions 3.0 - 4.0 or Microsoft Excel version 5.0
files.

The following is a code sample that "connects" to a Microsoft Excel data source.
In a Visual FoxPro application, you will most likely place this in a separate
program file or in the Load or Init events of a form (.scx file).

  *-- Connect to an Microsoft Excel Data Source
  * The parameter passed with SQLCONNECT is the name of the data source.
  * The default for Microsoft Excel is Excel Files. If there is any
  * trouble with this, execute it with no parameter and a list of
  * currently available data sources will come up. The text of the
  * listing that pertains to Microsoft Excel is the actual value to pass
  * as a parameter. Retry it with that value.
  *
  * Still from within the SQLCONNECT() function, a "Select Workbook"
  * dialog will come up. Next, the program performs some error checking.
  * Finally, Microsoft Excel is told which sheet of the workbook is desired
  * within the SQLEXEC() function with the "Sheetn$" where "n" is a
  * number from 1 to the number of sheets in the workbook.

     nConnHand = SQLCONNECT("Excel Files")
     IF nConnHand > 0
        =MESSAGEBOX("Connected to Microsoft Excel File",0)
     ELSE
        =MESSAGEBOX("Unable to connect to Microsoft Excel File ..",0)
     ENDIF
     nXResult = SQLEXEC(nConnHand, 'SELECT * FROM "Sheet1$"','MyCursor')

REFERENCES
==========

For more information, please see the Visual FoxPro Help for SQLCONNECT() and
SQLEXEC(). Also try creating a Remote View with the interface tools. Then
right-click the cursor, and choose View SQL.

Additional query words: VFoxWin

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Keywords          : kbcode kbMDAC250 
Technology        : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbMDACSearch kbMDAC250 kbVFP300 kbVFP300b
Version           : WINDOWS:2.5,3.0,3.0b
Issue type        : kbhowto

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