Hi all I’m very new to access and I’m having problems importing data into a data base for another program (AutoCAD electrical 2009). What I’m trying to do is import data from an excel sheet I have made the excel sheet as close to the Access set up as possible. When I try to import it I get an error message saying an error has occurred trying to import file “file name.xls’ ”. The file was not imported I’m trying to import into an already created table. Can any 1 help what is the likely error ?

Regards

Ross

I take it you are using the import wizard. Have you tried importing to a new table instead of an existing one?

What I’m trying to do is add to an already existing data base to add new component that I have in xl so it doesn’t help to crate a new table. What I’m doing is trying to add new components like voltage transformers to the liberty that has been created by AutoCAD originally

I was describing a debugging route to see why it would not import. Break the problem down into steps that can be verified.

hi mate yes i will let me import a new table im thinking that i dont have permtion to do this do you think it could be any thing else ?

hi mate yes i will let me import a new table im thinking that i dont have permtion to do this do you think it could be any thing else ?I believe successfully importing to a new table eliminates permissions as a source of the problem. What version of Access are you using and what OS?

the best thing to do is import into a new table

then validate the date to make sure it looks right

then add it to the existing data

this can all be automated, but needs a fair bit of code, depending on the extent of validation and checking required

there are lots of potential issues

- wrong file imported
- file layout changed
- file already imported
- critical data missing from imported file
- new master records in imported file
- data changed since last import

etc etc

- thats why its best not to contaminate your real data without some data cleaning procedures

Rural I’m using access 2003 and OS not sure. gemma how do I validate the data and add it to the already created data base ?

Rural I’m using access 2003 and OS not sure. Is it safe to also assume you do not have a lot of seat time with a personal computer?

gemma how do I validate the data and add it to the already created data base ?
Just so you understand that you just asked Dave how to do almost a complete application. Validation is unique depending on the data you are checking.