Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Import and export data
10
IN THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO
▪
Import information.
▪
Export information.
▪
Copy to and from other Office programs.
Good database design saves keystrokes when you're entering new information and main-
taining a database. But when you are populating a database, you can save even more time
and effort in another way: by importing data from existing files in other formats.
When you import information into a Microsoft Access 2013 database, the data being im-
ported usually needs to match certain patterns, or the import process might fail. There
aren't any such restrictions when exporting data from an Access database, and the process
rarely fails. However, some exported database objects aren't very useful in certain formats.
All the methods of importing and exporting data described in this chapter work well, but
they aren't the only ways to share information with other programs. Sometimes simple copy
and paste techniques are the most efficient methods, especially when you want to make
Access data available to other Microsoft Office 2013 programs.
TIP
Importing from and exporting to Microsoft SQL Server (the OBDC Database options
in the Import & Link group on the External Data tab) is beyond the scope of this topic. For
information, search for
SQL Server
in Access Help.
In this chapter, you'll experiment with getting information into and out of an Access data-
base. After an overview of the import processes for different types of files, you'll import
data from various sources. Then you'll export data to other Office 2013 programs. Finally,
you'll copy and paste data directly from an Access database into a Microsoft Word docu-
ment and a Microsoft Excel worksheet.
