Calling Views and Stored Procedures from Excel - Microsoft Business Intelligence Tools for Excel Analysts - page 212

Using the Get External Data group in Excel allows you to establish an updatable data connection
between Excel and SQL. Follow these steps:

1. On the Data tab, select From SQL Server from the From Other Sources drop-down list.

The Data Connection Wizard opens, as shown in Figure 11-1. You use the wizard to configure
your connection settings so Excel can establish a link to the server. The first step is to provide
Excel with authentication information.

Figure 11-1: Enter your authentication information.

2. Enter the name of your server and username and password. Select the Use Windows
Authentication radio button if you use Windows authentication. Click Next when you're
done.

Note the two inputs needed in Figure 11-1:

Server Name: This is the name of the server that contains the database you want to con-
nect to. You get this from your IT department when they give you access. Your server
name will be different from the one shown in Figure 11-1.

●

Log on Credentials: These are your login credentials. Depending on how your IT depart-
ment gives you access, you select either Windows Authentication or SQL Server
Authentication. Windows Authentication means that the server will recognize you by
your Windows login. SQL Server Authentication means that the IT department created a
distinct username and password for you. If you're using SQL Server Authentication, you
need to provide a username and password.

●

The next step is to select the database with which you are working, as shown in Figure 11-2.
Every SQL Server can contain multiple databases. You'll need to have your IT department
give you the name of the one you're interested in.