Importing Problem

[Guest]

Hello,

I designed a new contacts database that has no entries. I need to import a
large number of contacts from excel. There are a few different Excel files so
I don't have to import all at once. When I try to import I get error messages
and nothing imports. I'm not really that familiar with importing and I have
the couple of questions. The table I want to import to has a number of fields
that do not exist in the excel spreadsheet. Is it possible to import the
fields in the Excel spreadsheet even if the table in Access has a number of
different fields not in the spreadsheet? Would I have to import into a new
table and then append the fields in that table to my contacts table even
though right now there are no entries of any kind in it. I saved the excel as
a text file but that didn't work either.
Could someone help me or provide me with al link to information regarding
importing. I have a large number of contacts that I need to enter into this
database and I don't want to have to do it manually. I am using Access 2003.

Thanks very much for any help. It would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Dee

 

[John Nurick]

Hi Dee,

I'd probably go at it like this:

1) Tidy up the Excel sheet. Delete any header or totals rows except
for one header row that contains the column names. Make these field
names the same as the names of the corresponding fields in your Access
table.

2) Scan the Excel sheet looking for values that are the wrong data
type for the field you want to import them to, such as a text value
(e.g. ? for "don't know" in a number column). Access won't allow a
number field to contain anything except numbers, so you must either
delete the text or change the Access field to from Number to Text.

3) Immediately after the header row, insert a new empty row. In each
cell here, type a dummy value that is unambiguously of the same type
as the same field in Access. This helps prevent the import mechanism
getting confused by Excel columns that contain mixed data that needs
to be imported as text.

4) Import the data. If necessary, start by importing it to a new table
and then create an Append query to move the new data to your 'real'
table; finally delete the temporary table.

Repeat for the other Excel files.

 

[Peter Hibbs]

Dee,

Not sure if it will help but you could look at this site which may do
what you want.

http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/...me='Excel to Access Converter Utility program'

HTH

Peter Hibbs.