Creating Readable Output from SQL Server 2012 via MSAccess 2010. The SQL
Server environment is used to write and test efficient and effective queries.
IS475/675 Creating Readable Output from SQL Server 2012 via MSAccess 2010 The SQL Server environment is used to write and test efficient and effective queries. It is a DBMS that is designed to access data quickly and effectively; it is not a front-end data access tool. A good way to create a nicely formatted report is to direct the output from SQL Server into a format that is readable by another software package capable of producing nicely structured reports, such as Microsoft’s Access database management system. This handout describes creating a simple stored procedure and using an MS Access project to connect to SQL Server to view the stored procedure’s output. The handout assumes familiarity with both SQL Server 2012 and Microsoft Access 2010.
Stored Procedures A stored procedure is a type of query that is pre-compiled and saved on the database server. Stored procedures have many capabilities not found in simple queries, such as the ability to create explicit programming loops and detailed conditional logic through a programming language called “Transact-SQL” in the MS SQL Server environment. In addition, they run very fast and are stored in your database for central access and re-use. Stored procedures include both standard SQL and custom code specific to a given DBMS vendor, such as Microsoft.
Creating a Stored Procedure Sign on to SQL Server Management Studio as you normally do and open your database. 1. Click on “New Query” and create a stored procedure using the following code. CREATE PROCEDURE PutProcedureNameHere AS SELECT * FROM tblEmployee GO
In the place above where it says – PutProcedureNameHere – name your stored procedure. Do not use spaces in the name of the stored procedure. Where it says – SELECT * FROM tblEmployee, place the code that generates a result table you want to view in MS Access. 2. Press the Execute tool bar button. You will receive the message, ‘Command(s) completed successfully.’ if your syntax is correct, or an error message if there are problems. The ‘success’ message signifies your stored procedure has been successfully created and saved. 3. To validate that your stored procedure was created, press the F5 key to “refresh” your Object Explorer window. Under your database name, expand the Programmability set of database objects. Now expand the Stored Procedures set of objects. You should see a database object (dbo) called the name you put into the area “PutProcedureNameHere.” Since SQL Server has saved your stored procedure, you do not have to do or save anything else.
Displaying Your Stored Procedure Output in MS Access This part of the handout describes setting up a Project which is an MS Access database container that gets its data and queries from a SQL Server database. Once you have set up this project file, you can re-use it as often as necessary whenever you want to run and view the output from your stored procedures. Launch MS Access and create a new Access project using the file table and New option. No matter where you create your new project you have to use the Browse icon in order to specify that is a Microsoft Office Access Project. Don’t hit the “create” button directly – browse for a file so that you are able to change the type of container (database vs. project) created by MS Access. The Browse icon is located on the right side of the screen where it says “Blank Database”. Click on the file folder next to the File_Name input box. (See below)
You should now see the screen displayed below:
Name the project anything you like and locate it in a directory where you have read/write access. Save it as a Microsoft Office Access Projects file type. There will be a .adp extension placed on your filename. This is really important – you must save it as a project, not a database. You must have the .adp extension. Click on the Create button after naming the project. When you Create the project, you will then be presented with a dialog box asking, “Do you want to connect to an existing SQL Server database?” Answer Yes. A dialog box similar to the one below will be displayed. (Your dialog box will have empty information.) Fill out the dialog as shown, except use your own database name in step 3 shown below. (currently it says “YourDatabaseName” and you must replace that with the name of your database on SQL Server (the name of your database is your NetID). You can use the Test Connection button to make sure all your parameters are correct. After pressing the OK button, the database container will appear as shown at the bottom of this page. Go to the Queries section in the Objects area of the database and find your stored procedure (we called it ConnectToAccess in class). Double click the stored procedure to run it and it will display a grid you can copy and paste into Word or Excel. The grid will be fairly well formatted and contain column headers. Data formatted as currency will include dollar signs, commas and decimal points.
Altering and Re-running Stored Procedures You can change stored procedures that have been saved in your database and re-run them at will. To alter a stored procedure: 1. Expand the Treeview control in SQL Management Studio starting from your database to Programmability|Stored Procedures. 2. Right click your stored procedure and select Modify. 3. The saved stored procedure should look something like this:
SQL Server inserts a number of statements and changes the ‘CREATE PROCEDURE’ statement to an ‘ALTER PROCEDURE’ statement. You do not have to worry about the statements that SQL Server inserted or changed and you only have to change the actual SQL query that you wrote earlier. When you Execute this query, SQL Server will replace the prior stored procedure with the new one you configured.
Re-opening Your MS Access File The MS Access project file you created earlier can be used indefinitely whenever you want to run your stored procedures. You DO NOT have to create another project on MS Access. MS Access 2010 by default displays two security warnings when you open an existing file. To re-open the file you previously created: 1. When asked to block unsafe expressions, answer No. 2. When asked whether you want to open a file that may contain harmful code, respond with Open.
Please Note: When you create an object like a stored procedure, it won’t display in the SQL Server Object Explorer window or in the MS Access object area until you refresh the data using the F5 button. Sometimes you have to back out of the area where the object should be displayed and if worse comes to worse, you may have to quit the application and restart. You have to Refresh (F5) stored procedures in both SQL Server and MS Access after you’ve made changes to them.
