Best way to import data on a monthly schedule (1 Viewer)

[DBDUDE]

Hi. I'm designing a database that will generate monthly invoices for 500 customers. The customers all rent copy machines, and each month we get an Excel report which lists the number of copies made at each copier.

My first step is to import in all data, including the static information about each copier (location, contact details, model #, etc). This will be a one-time deal, updated only when new copiers are purchased.

Then, I need to import the monthly data, such as the number of copies made at each machine, any adjustments, etc - and this will be a monthly process.

Currently, the static identifier information is spread amongst several spreadsheets. I already have the tables and relationships set up, and I've tested that my queries and reports work with test data. I need to import the actual data into those already created tables. What is the best way to import this data?

Then, I need to import the montlhly data. This is all contained in one excel file, with some identifier information there too. What is the best way to import this data?

Thanks all for any help.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

The best way to import data depends on the format of the selected data.

If it is in spreadsheets, import or link the spreadsheets. If it is in text files with fixed formats, you can import text files if they have consistent delimiters. If the text files are not consistently formatted, you might do better to invest a bit of time with Notepad or Wordpad to format them before importing. Particularly if it is a one-time formatting, you might do VERY MUCH better by editing the input before importing it.

If the Excel files in question are of different formats, the worst that would happen is that you have to import several different spreadsheets to different tables and then write append queries to merge the tables into one having the desired final format.