Adodb connection in vba for excel

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ADO in Excel VBA – Connecting to database using SQL

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  • adodb.connection vba

ADO Excel VBA – SQL Connecting to Database Example Macros helps to connect the different data sources from Excel VBA. Select, Delete,Update Records set.

In this Section:

  • What is ADO?
  • What is Database?
  • What is SQL?
  • adodb.connection VBA Reference
  • Practical Learning: Using ADO and SQL with VBA
  • Example File

What is ADO?

ADO Stands for ActiveX Data Objects, is Microsoft’s Client-Server technology to access the data between Client and Server.  ADO can’t access the data source directly, it will take help of OLE DB Provider to communicate with the data source.  Most of the times OLE DB providers are specific to a particular Data Source Type. However, we have an OLE DB provider for ODBC, it is a general purpose provider with help of this ADO can access any Data source which can understand ODBC.
ADO in Excel VBA - Connecting to a database using SQL -example-1

What is Database?

Database (DB) is a collection of information organized in such a way that a computer program can easily understand and read the data. And the Database Management System (DBMS) are designed to understand and interact with other computer applications to perform the different operations on the data. MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Oracle, and IBM DB2 are some of the well know DBMS.

Generally the information stored in the data in the form of tables, and a table is designed with set of records (rows) and fields (columns).

You can use Microsoft Excel to store some data, where an Excel workbook will act as a data source, worksheet will be a table and the rows and the columns of the worksheet will be records and the fields of the table.

What is SQL?

SQL Stands for Structured Query Language, ADO use SQL commands to communicate with the databases. Following are the most commonly used SQL commands to deal with the databases:

SELECT command used to retrieve the data from a data source
INSERT command used to insert the records to a data source
UPDATE command used to modify the existing records of the data source
DELETE command used to delete the records from a data source

adodb.connection VBA Reference

adodb.connection VBA Reference helps as to refer ADO in Excel VBA. We can use ADO in Excel VBA to connect the data base and perform data manipulating operations. We need add ‘Microsoft Activex Data Objects Library’ from References to reference the ADO in VBA. Here is the adodb.connection VBA Reference screen-shot.

adodb.connection VBA Reference

ADO in Excel VBA – Practical Learning: Using ADO and SQL with VBA

To retrieve the data from any data source into Excel using ADO:
1. We have to Open the connection to the Data Source
2. We need to run the required SQL command
3. We have to copy the resulted record set into our worksheet
4. We have to close the record set and connection

We will  consider the Excel workbook as data source and we will connect to the worksheet (table) to retrieve the data. In this example we will get the data from Sheet1 to Sheet2 using ADO.

Assuming you have an excel workbook with the following data in Sheet1, as shown below.

EmpID EmpName EmpSalary

1

Jo

22000

2

Kelly

28000

3

Ravi

30000

ADO in Excel VBA - Connecting to a database using SQL -example-2

Step 1:Add reference for Microsoft Activex Data Objects Library

ADO in Excel VBA - Connecting to a database using SQL -example-3
1. Go to VBE (Alt+F11) and Select References.. from Tools Menu.
2. Then select ” Microsoft Activex Data Objects Library” from the list.
3. And Create sub procedure to write the code:

Sub sbADOExample()
'We will write the code here 
End Sub
Step 2: Create the Connection String with Provider and Data Source options
Dim sSQLQry As String
Dim ReturnArray

Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset

Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String


DBPath = ThisWorkbook.FullName 'Refering the sameworkbook as Data Source

'You can provide the full path of your external file as shown below
'DBPath ="C:InputData.xlsx"

sconnect = "Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=" & DBPath & ";HDR=Yes';"
'If any issue with MSDASQL Provider, Try the Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB:
'sconnect = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" & DBPath _
    & ";Extended Properties=""Excel 8.0;HDR=Yes;IMEX=1"";"

Step 3: Open the Connection to data source
Conn.Open sconnect
Step 4: Create SQL Command String
      sSQLSting = "SELECT * From [Sheet1$]" ' Your SQL Statement (Table Name= Sheet Name=[Sheet1$]) 
Step 5: Get the records by Opening this Query with in the Connected data source
       mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn
Step 6: Copy the reords into our worksheet
        Sheet2.Range("A2").CopyFromRecordset mrs
Step 7: Close the Record Set and Connection
           'Close Recordset
            mrs.Close

          'Close Connection
           Conn.Close
So, the final program should look like this:
Sub sbADOExample()
Dim sSQLQry As String
Dim ReturnArray

Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset

Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String



DBPath = ThisWorkbook.FullName

'You can provide the full path of your external file as shown below
'DBPath ="C:InputData.xlsx"

sconnect = "Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=" & DBPath & ";HDR=Yes';"

'If any issue with MSDASQL Provider, Try the Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB:
'sconnect = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" & DBPath _
    & ";Extended Properties=""Excel 8.0;HDR=Yes;IMEX=1"";"

Conn.Open sconnect
    
    sSQLSting = "SELECT * From [Sheet1$]" ' Your SQL Statement (Table Name= Sheet Name=[Sheet1$])
    
    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn
        '=>Load the Data into an array
        'ReturnArray = mrs.GetRows
                ''OR''
        '=>Paste the data into a sheet
        Sheet2.Range("A2").CopyFromRecordset mrs
    'Close Recordset
    mrs.Close

'Close Connection
Conn.Close

End Sub

Example File

You can download the example files here and explore it. Getting Data Using ADO (Using MSDASQL Provider)

Getting Data Using ADO (Using MSDASQL Provider)

Download the Example File: ANALYSIS TABS – Getting Data Using ADO (Using Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB Provider)

Getting Data Using ADO (Using Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB Provider)

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134 Comments

  1. Vandana
    August 7, 2013 at 4:49 PM — Reply
  2. lisa Pereira
    February 12, 2014 at 7:33 AM — Reply

    HI,
    Nice one.. I am trying to pull multiple values from one parameter in excel, for example. I need to pull the parameter from Range(“a2”) separated by commas,
    how can I do this?

  3. PNRao
    February 25, 2014 at 11:58 PM — Reply

    Hi Lisa,

    Assuming you have data at A1 as “1st,2nd,3rd,4th” and you want to separate it.

    You can use Split function to separate the values. Please see the following code.

    fullText=Range(“A1″).Value ‘i.e; fullText=”1,2,3,4″
    arraySplitValues=Split(fullText,”,”)

    Now your array contains the comma delimited values:
    arraySplitValues(0) contains 1st
    arraySplitValues(1) contains 2nd
    arraySplitValues(2) contains 3rd
    arraySplitValues(3) contains 4th

    You can print the values at any Range like:
    Range(“B1”)=arraySplitValues(3)

    or you can loop the entire array to print all values:

    For iCntr=0 to ubound(arraySplitValues,1)
    Cells(iCntr+1,2)=arraySplitValues(iCntr) ‘ this will print all the values in the B Column
    Next

    Please explain your question in more detailed,so that I can help you in better way.

    Thanks-PNRao!

  4. Hi – great article! 2 questions:
    1. Do you have to install the ActiveX Object library 2.8 on every machine that uses this Excel file? I ask because I need to set up multiple files for multiple users who could benefit from this functinality (ADODB + SQL queries vs. Linked spreadsheets).
    2. Do you know how to create an auto-install program for these MS library features? I ask because I don’t prefer to guide every user through the installation procedure.

    Thanks again!
    Stephen

  5. PNRao
    March 24, 2014 at 11:13 PM — Reply

    Hi Stephen,
    Thanks for your comments! Please see my answers below:
    1.You do not required to install ActiveX Object library in every machine, by default it is installed when user have installed in MS Office.
    2.I think the above information answers this question too…

    To help you in understanding clearly: ActiveX Object Library is .DLL file which is installed with your office installation. You need to this reference this in your code, to use the ADO functionality in Excel VBA.

    When you successfully write any code using ADO by referring ActiveX Object Library in your workbook. You can send the file to any one, it should work automatically in any system.

    Hope this helps.
    Thanks-PNRao!

  6. Lisa Pereira
    June 18, 2014 at 5:00 AM — Reply

    Hi PN,
    You are awesome , i love this site.have used your ideas and has helped me a lot. love it..
    What i needed to know was that having pulled the record set into sheet :-
    1) I want to use the values listed in rows in column A
    2) transpose them into a cell and use these values to pull another query record-set with the IN statement.
    is there a way to do this in one connection only or open another connection.?
    let me know if this is possible.
    Regards..
    lisa

  7. PNRao
    June 19, 2014 at 12:11 AM — Reply

    Hi Lisa,
    How are you doing! Thanks for your feedback!
    Yes, this can be done. Here is an example case:
    To explain this, I have entered some data in ADO sheet of the example file (available at end of the article)
    Step1: Entered 1 at Range A2, 2 at Range A3
    The I concatenate these values at C1 using the below formul
    -> =A2&”,”&A3
    i.e; Now you can see ‘1,2’ at C1, I want to pass this in my SQL IN Operator, So – I changed the SQL Query string as follows:

    Step2: sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [DataSheet$] where Quarter IN (” & Range(“C1”) & “);”
    i.e; it will form the query as ‘SELECT * From [DataSheet$] where Quarter IN (1,2);’

    Step3: Now executed and got the required values in the ADO sheet.

    Hope this helps!
    Thanks-PNRao!

  8. Jon McNeil
    July 1, 2014 at 9:58 PM — Reply

    Thanks PN,

    This is working nicely. The only thing that I cannot appear to fix is that when one user has the source file open (from which the data comes from) the other user, who is using the destination file (where the data is pulled to), opens a read-only source file when they run the macro. Is there a way round this?
    The source file is only supposed to be viewed by one person whereas the destination file is for multiple users

    Thanks in advance,

    Jon

  9. Shubhangi
    July 1, 2014 at 11:24 PM — Reply

    I used this code to connect to MS Access 2007 database but am getting a runtime error and an application error when I try to open the same. I used DSN as MS Access Database and Provider as Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0.
    Please help.

  10. PNRao
    July 2, 2014 at 3:35 PM — Reply
  11. Noz
    July 3, 2014 at 3:24 PM — Reply

    This is very well explained, if this had been available when I was first learning it would have save me loads of time. Do you have something similar on how to insert into SQL tables from excel?

  12. PNRao
    July 4, 2014 at 12:48 AM — Reply

    Hi Noz, Thanks for your comments!

    Yes, you can write insert query, you can download the example file and change the query string as follows:
    sSQLSting = “INSERT INTO [DataSheet$](Quarter, Sales) Values(2,5000)”

    and comment the below line, as insert query will not return any values.
    ‘ActiveSheet.Range(“A2”).CopyFromRecordset mrs

    Now your ADO procedure should look like this:

    Sub sbADO()
    Dim sSQLQry As String
    Dim ReturnArray

    Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset

    Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String

    DBPath = ThisWorkbook.FullName

    'You can provide the full path of your external file as shown below
    'DBPath ="C:InputData.xlsx"

    sconnect = "Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=" & DBPath & ";HDR=Yes';"

    Conn.Open sconnect
    'sSQLSting = "SELECT * From [DataSheet$]" ' Your SQL Statemnt (Table Name= Sheet Name=[DataSheet$])
    sSQLSting = "INSERT INTO [DataSheet$](Quarter, Sales) Values(2,5000)"
    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn
    '=>Load the Data into an array
    'ReturnArray = mrs.GetRows
    ''OR''
    '=>Paste the data into a sheet
    'ActiveSheet.Range("A2").CopyFromRecordset mrs
    'Close Recordset
    mrs.Close

    'Close Connection
    Conn.Close

    End Sub

  13. Jaishree Ramani
    July 10, 2014 at 8:08 PM — Reply

    hello, this really helps when you have a simple query.. would you be kind enough to provide an example for a parameter query (multiple) i.e for dates say selct* from table data between fromDate and toDate?

  14. PNRao
    July 11, 2014 at 1:29 AM — Reply

    Hi,
    Sure, you change the query to suits your requirement.
    For example:
    I have changed the query sting from sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [DataSheet$]” to sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [DataSheet$] Where Quarter Between 2 And 4” in the example file. And now it will pull the data if the quarter is between 2 and 4.

    For your requirement, sSQLSting will be something like below:

    sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [DataSheet$] Where YOUR_Date_Varibale Between ‘LowerDate’ And ‘UpperDate’”

    If Dates creates any problems, try to use date values.

    Hope this helps-Thanks-PNRao!

  15. Jaishree Ramani
    July 11, 2014 at 6:57 PM — Reply

    Hi Sir,
    that works but I am having issue with the parameters dates as my query below
    “O.DELIVERY_DATE BETWEEN :”From date” AND :”To Date” ) . how do i setup the parameters in vba to ensure that the record-set only pulls data in ‘DD-MMM-YYYY’ format. right now i have the dates converted to text(“dd-mmm-yyyy”) but when the data is returned its shows up in ‘mm/ddd/yyyy’ .

    note :i have the user to input the dates..

  16. PNRao
    July 12, 2014 at 1:05 PM — Reply

    Hi,
    You can create the query string use as shown below:

    FromDate = 1 / 1 / 2010
    ToDate = 12 / 30 / 2012
    sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [DataSheet$] Where O.DELIVERY_DATE Between ” & FromDate & ” And ” & ToDate

    And your excel, default date format is ‘mm/ddd/yyyy’, you can format the dates using either sql or VBA.

    In VBA it is like this: Format(YourDate,”mm-dd-yyyy”)

    Thanks-PNRao!

  17. Jaishree Ramani
    July 14, 2014 at 8:21 PM — Reply

    Hi Sir,
    my code is
    userInput (“Pls type FromDate”) ,FromDate
    userInput (“Pls type ToDate”) ,ToDate
    FromDate = format(FromDate,”dd-mmm-yyyy”)
    ToDate = format(ToDate,”dd-mmm-yyyy”)

    “select…
    …..”AND O276054.DELIVERY_DATE BETWEEN ” & FromDate & ” And ” & ToDate & _ ”

    i tried that but i keep getting error ‘saying missing expression..’
    what am i doing wrong??

  18. PNRao
    July 15, 2014 at 10:56 AM — Reply

    Hi,
    I could not find any issue in the code. As per the Error message, something wrong with the query string. Could you please provide me the complete query string.

    Or you can try this: You can use Debug.Print YourstrQery, now look into the Immediate Window to see the resulted query.

    You can send me the file with some dummy data to our email id: info@analysistabs.com

    Thanks-PNRao!

  19. Nigel
    July 18, 2014 at 7:29 PM — Reply

    Hello, very good site .. quick question do you have an example for record-sets and Pivot tables or cross-tabs.?
    i have an issue which I am trying to merge two query’s into one record-set and Pivot them into a cross report?
    something similar to what Discoverer does. but I am trying to combine aggregate data points with Detail data points into one sheet without errors..(that’s why the two query s)

    please direct in a right direction if this is doable???

  20. PNRao
    July 20, 2014 at 12:31 AM — Reply

    Hi Nigel,

    Please look into the example below:


    'Add reference for Microsoft Activex Data Objects Library

    Sub sbADO()
    Dim sSQLQry As String
    Dim ReturnArray

    Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset

    Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String

    DBPath = ThisWorkbook.FullName

    'You can provide the full path of your external file as shown below
    'DBPath ="C:InputData.xlsx"

    sconnect = "Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=" & DBPath & ";HDR=Yes';"

    Conn.Open sconnect
    sSQLSting = "SELECT * From [DataSheet$]"

    '***********> You can change this query as per your requirement (Join / Union)

    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn

    'Set record set as a pivot table data source
    Set objPivotCache = ActiveWorkbook.PivotCaches.Add( _
    SourceType:=xlExternal)
    Set objPivotCache.Recordset = mrs
    With objPivotCache
    .CreatePivotTable TableDestination:=Range("G20"), _
    TableName:="MyPivotTable1"
    End With

    'Close Recordset
    mrs.Close

    'Close Connection
    Conn.Close

    End Sub

    Hope this helps! Thanks-PNRao!

  21. Gavrav
    July 24, 2014 at 1:59 PM — Reply

    Hi,
    I would like to automate my daily process by using VBA and macro actually my doubt is there any solution for instead of copying and pasting the query statement to SSMS 2005 which is stored in excel.So by making that statements as link or by clicking some command buttons to pass that query to SSMS and thus the statement should be executed automatically by using ODBC conn or OLEDB data sources. Is it Possible ???

  22. PNRao
    July 24, 2014 at 2:53 PM — Reply

    Hi Gavrav,

    Yes – we can do this. You can simply record a macro and fetch the data using tools in Data menu tab.

    Thanks-PNRao!

  23. Ricky Dobriyal
    July 26, 2014 at 9:39 PM — Reply

    Hi All,
    I am very glad that I visited this website and would like thank you for giving such valuable info.
    I have one question in VBA while using ADO and database as excel how we can use where condition and other query on excel sheet like below example of this website.

    sconnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=Yes’;”

    Conn.Open sconnect
    sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [DataSheet$] WHERE ” ‘ Your SQL Statemnt (Table Name= Sheet Name=[DataSheet$])

    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn
    ‘=>Load the Data into an array
    ‘ReturnArray = mrs.GetRows
    ”OR”
    ‘=>Paste the data into a sheet
    ActiveSheet.Range(“A2”).CopyFromRecordset mrs
    ‘Close Recordset
    mrs.Close

    Here is only select condition used. Please help me how we can use different SQL condition.

    Another question how we can connect to MYsql database using VBA?

    Please help me in the above questions and thanks a ton in advannce.

    Regards,
    Ricky

  24. PNRao
    July 26, 2014 at 9:49 PM — Reply

    Hi Ricky,

    Thanks for your comments.

    Please check the codes provided in the comments section, I have given the example queries which you have mentioned.

    And regarding MySQL, you can use the following connection string:
    sconnect = “DRIVER={MySQL ODBC 5.1 Driver};” & _ “SERVER=[Server];” & _ “DATABASE=[Database];” & _ “USER=[UserName];” & _ “PASSWORD=[Password];” & _ “Option=3”

    And replace [Server], [Database], [UserName] and [Password] with the respective original server name, database, User and Password.

    If your system is not insstalled MySQL, then you have to download and install MYSQL ODBC Driver: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/odbc/5.1.html

    Hope this helps!
    Thanks-PNRao!

  25. Nigel
    July 29, 2014 at 8:32 PM — Reply

    Hi Pn,
    Thanks your previous example works perfectly. would you be able to help with multiple record sets. I need to add the second query record-set in between the data of the first record set after exporting to sheet.

  26. Nigel
    July 30, 2014 at 5:30 AM — Reply

    Hi PN, sorry hope if didn’t confuse you with my inquiry.. I will provide an example
    I need to combine two record sets as I cannot put them in one query due to the data constraints.
    query1= “select Total_DLV , AVAIL_DLV between date1 and date2 from Table1″ into Sheet1
    query2=”select Sch_DLV , between date1 and date2 from Table2” into Sheet1
    combine data from the two querys into sheet1 like
    DLV_date—>aug1, Aug 2 ,aug3 (horizontal)
    Total_DLV , ..
    AVAIL_DLV
    Sch_DLV
    please let me know if this is possible..

  27. Amir
    August 1, 2014 at 4:08 PM — Reply

    Hi
    Nice explanation!
    Question: how can i get the data from different ‘sourcerange’ from within one sheet i.e multiple columns?

    code:
    SourceRange = “C1:C6500 ,D1:D6500 ,AB1:AB6500,AG1:AG6500”
    szSQL = “SELECT * FROM [” & SourceSheet$ & “$” & SourceRange$ & “];”

  28. Nigel
    August 7, 2014 at 12:00 AM — Reply

    Hi PN ,
    i fixed the issue.,, this was more to do with my query itself. i managed to fix this within the first query itself. no need for multiple queries.
    however please provide an example for multiple record-sets if possible..

  29. Ricky Dobriyal
    August 17, 2014 at 12:54 AM — Reply

    Hello Team,

    I have a sheet with thousand records and I want filter recordes based on Activsheet name

    Query is working fine when I am putting directly the value in condition like below

    sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [Data$] where Country =’India’; ”

    But I want to filter it based on Acrive sheet name.

    I tried two methods but it is prompting same Run time error.

    s = ActiveSheet.Name

    sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [Data$] where Country =s ”
    sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [Data$] where Country =Activeshet.name ”
    sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [Data$] where Country =’Activeshet.name’ ”

    Please cound you advise me how I can do this..

  30. PNRao
    August 17, 2014 at 11:15 AM — Reply

    Hi Amir,
    You can mention the column names, instead of specifying multiple ranges, for example:
    szSQL = “SELECT Column1, Column2 FROM [Sheet1$]”

    Thanks-PNRao!

  31. PNRao
    August 17, 2014 at 11:44 AM — Reply

    Hi Ricky,
    Please change your code like this:

    s = ActiveSheet.Name
    sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [Data$] where Country = ‘” & s & “‘”

    Thanks-PNRao!

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    September 1, 2014 at 4:10 AM — Reply

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  33. Yogesh
    September 10, 2014 at 10:55 PM — Reply

    is there a way to send parameters(through InputBox/MsgBox) using Select statement and extracting user specific data into excel using ADO.
    Thanks for all your help and support.
    Yogesh

  34. Mandeep
    September 11, 2014 at 9:56 AM — Reply

    Dear Pn rao,

    Please let me know if you are pulling data from excel , is this code using sql while retrieving data ? because this is not connecting to server. waiting for your response. thanks in advance.
    MAndeep

  35. Mandeep
    September 11, 2014 at 9:59 AM — Reply

    Explain me this line of code please ” sconnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=Yes’;”

  36. PNRao
    September 11, 2014 at 8:19 PM — Reply

    Hi Mandeep,
    We need to create a connection string to connect any data base using VBA.
    sconnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=Yes’;”

    Provider=MSDASQL.1 : This is OLEDB Provider, this helps excel to understand the data base query syntax.
    DSN=Excel Files : Data Source Name, Excel Files is data source in the given example.
    DBQ= &DBPath : Data base file path, this is the full path of Excel File to connect.
    HDR=Yes’: Headers, Yes – if the first line of your data (in sheet or range) having headers, other wise No.

    Hope this helps!
    Thanks-PNRao!

  37. PNRao
    September 11, 2014 at 8:22 PM — Reply

    Hi Mandeep,
    Yes, we are pulling the data from Excel using ADO. You need to change the connection string if you are connecting any other DB.

    Thanks-PNRao!

  38. PNRao
    September 11, 2014 at 8:28 PM — Reply

    Hi Yogesh,
    Yes, you can use Inputbox to enter some parameters and change the query accordingly.
    Example:
    x = InputBox(“Please enter field to select”, “Please Enter”)
    ‘You cna change the below query
    ‘sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [Sheet1$]
    ‘As shown below:
    sSQLSting = “SELECT ” & x & ” From [Sheet1$]”
    ‘Your remaing code here, similarly you can keep a WHERE Condition—

    Thanks-PNRao!

  39. Navneet Rao Ingle
    September 15, 2014 at 2:35 PM — Reply

    Hi PN,
    I am trying to copy the data from one workbook to another. Everything goes fine till the fetching of data from the source workbook but when I tried to paste the data in the destination workbook I am getting the following error:

    Run-time error ‘-2147467259 (80004005)’:

    You cannont move a part of a PivotTable report, or insert worksheet
    cells, rows, or columns inside a PivotTable report. To insert worksheet
    cells, rows, or columns, first move the PivotTable report (with the
    PivotTable report selected, on the Options tab, in the Actions group,
    click Move PivotTable). To add, move, or remove cells within the
    report, do one of the following:

    Code used is:

    Dim DNameRecvd
    Dim query As String
    Dim ReturnArray

    DNameRecvd = DName

    Dim conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset

    Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String
    DBPath = ThisWorkbook.FullName

    sconnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=Yes’;”

    conn.Open sconnect
    query = “SELECT * from [Data$]”
    mrs.Open query, conn

    Workbooks(“DestinationFile”).Activate
    Sheets(“Sheet4”).Activate

    Sheet4.Range(“A2”).CopyFromRecordset mrs ‘—-Receiving error message at this line

    mrs.Close
    ActiveWorkbook.Save
    MsgBox (“Done”)

    Please help. Thanks in Advance.

  40. gayathiri
    September 22, 2014 at 3:47 PM — Reply

    Dear Pn Rao
    i have to go through entire spreadsheet/workbook to find current status of articles by adding received date to 20 and if it matches today’s date. change the color of that row. can i do it without ADO connection

  41. PNRao
    September 22, 2014 at 7:56 PM — Reply

    Hi Gayathri,
    Yes, we can open the workbook and do whatever we want without using VBA. Your code will be some thing like this:
    You can open the required file:
    set Wb=Workbooks.Open(“C:tempworkbook.xlsx”)
    Assuming you have recieved date in Column A
    iCntr=1
    Do while Wb.Sheets(“SheetName”).Cells(iCntr,1)<>”
    If Format(Wb.Sheets(“SheetName”).Cells(iCntr,1),”DD-MM-YYYY”)=Format(Now(),”DD-MM-YYYY”) then
    ‘Here you can change the cell/range color
    End If
    Loop

    Hope this helps!
    Thanks-PNRao!

  42. gayathiri
    September 23, 2014 at 11:14 AM — Reply

    thanks a lot.. :)but where to put this code. either by keeping a button or create a macro module for this workbook. My requirement is Say if the article is received on september 10 i have to get that row say in green color on september 30

  43. gayathiri
    September 24, 2014 at 1:37 PM — Reply

    Mr.Rao thanks for your timely help:) :) Customized ur code and it works well..

  44. PNRao
    September 26, 2014 at 9:31 PM — Reply

    You are most welcome!
    Thanks-PNRao!

  45. Est228
    October 10, 2014 at 9:45 PM — Reply

    Dear PnRao
    I am using this code to connect to MS Access 2013 and used your previous comment to Shubhangi to structure the code. Everything seems to be working fine until I get to this part of the code:
    sSQLSting = “SELECT * FROM [BD_X]” where BD_X is the name of my Access table
    Here I keep getting an Error. I all ready have the required OLEDB and also tried using this code instead:
    sSQLSting = “SELECT * FROM [BD_X$]”
    I would appreciate some help.

  46. PNRao
    October 12, 2014 at 10:06 AM — Reply

    Hi,
    You can use the table name directly: sSQLSting = “SELECT * FROM BD_X”.

    If you want to refer Excel sheet as table then it will be like [BD_X$], if you connect any data base like MS Access, MS SQL Server, Oracle or Teradata you can use the table name.

    Hope this helps!
    Thanks-PNRao!

  47. Philip
    October 26, 2014 at 8:48 PM — Reply

    Greetings PNRao,

    I am in between developing a small project for the place I work at.
    Currently I am helping out the call center gang with automating their reports.
    There is a huge report that they spool off a web site at the end of each month…
    They obtain it in the form of an excel file with 97 format, which means each sheet is limited to 65535 rows only.
    So therefore the report spans to 4 sheets and could be more…
    I have completely automated this report into various pivot format for them per their requirement using Excel VBA.
    However the code is slow to about 10 seconds.
    There are many data analysis involved like filtering out the blanks off 2 columns, unwanted rows from another and pivoting them to obtain 4 reports using different criteria each.
    I am talking about 260000+ records analyzed to about 72000+ actual meaningful data for the report.

    Now, I thought maybe ADO could work out the trick more efficiently and faster.
    I have worked with ADO before in access/excel and know how to on the basics of connection etc.

    Currently, I need to know 2 things at this point:

    1) Is the ADO method faster than using excel automation via variant and/or range methods combined with loops?
    2) How do I append data from 4 sheets into 1 recordset to later analyze it with various select statements? Do I have to use an append query to obtain data from each sheets? If so, let me know how the query would look.

    Note: What I am thinking of doing is to completely do the required data manipulations within ADODB recordset and insert the manipulated data into a new sheet in Excel 8 format. Also, to run queries and to obtain the reports required from these manipulated data and again insert sheets into excel form query object.

    Could you kindly guide me into the various steps I need to be looking at to achieve these goals.

    Thanks in advance,
    Philip

  48. Suruchi
    October 27, 2014 at 10:47 PM — Reply

    Hi PN ,

    This is really helpful .
    One thing that is not working at my end is changing HDR=No’; … this code is not giving me the header which is required.
    I tried with for loop which is working in that case , just wanted to know if how would HDR would work.

    Thank you

  49. Suruchi
    October 28, 2014 at 11:55 AM — Reply

    Hi PN,

    This code is working fine , but I am not able to get the header eve after making HDR =No .
    Could you please help me on this .

    Thanks ,
    Suruchi

  50. PNRao
    October 29, 2014 at 10:34 PM — Reply

    Hi Philip,
    PivotTable is better than ADO, if your customers use Excel 2010 or higher. And to combine the Data into one record set, you query all data into one record set using UNIONs.

    Hope this helps.
    Thanks-PNRao!

  51. PNRao
    October 29, 2014 at 10:38 PM — Reply

    Hi Suruchi,
    The usage of HDR is to tell the ADO whether your data has headers or not.
    HDR= Yes means: You have the data and the first row is having headers and data starts from the next row.
    HDR= No means: Your data has no header row and and data the data starts from the first row.

    Hope this clarifies your query.
    Thanks-PNRao!

  52. Mani
    November 6, 2014 at 2:29 PM — Reply

    Hi PNRao,

    This is a great & Nice Information!
    Would you be kind enough to answer the following question too,

    Question: how can i get the data from Oracle Database, currently I use SQL Developer to query and store the result in excel and process it later, but since the number of individual sqls increased i’m looking for something like this and if you can help me in this regard, it would be great.

    Thanks in advance
    Mani

  53. Amjed
    November 14, 2014 at 4:34 PM — Reply

    Hi,
    i would like to connect to PL/SQL developer from MS Excel and fetch the records from it and copy to the excel sheet. The query i want to execute is ‘SELECT * FROM TABLE_NAME’. Please let me know the connection string to use.
    Thanks in Advance.

  54. Satyarth Rao
    November 19, 2014 at 11:54 PM — Reply

    Hi PN,
    I am trying to pull data from SQL Server 2012 using excel VBA Code but it is showing that SQL Sever is not exit or access is denied. Please let me know how to do so. It will be a great help.
    Thanks in Advance.

  55. Scott
    November 28, 2014 at 4:08 AM — Reply

    Is it possible to join 2 tables from separate databases in an SQL query within Excel VBA?
    I am currently extracting data from a table in a Firebird database but need to access data from records form a table in another Firebird database. The results of the query are used as input to a case statement that totals and dumps data into a worksheet.
    I can do this in Access since I link to the tables as required, can I have 2 connections open at once in Excel?

  56. Prasad Sakpal
    December 2, 2014 at 12:40 PM — Reply

    Amazing Website…………..Thank you for giving me proper information.

  57. Prasad Sakpal
    December 2, 2014 at 12:44 PM — Reply

    With help of this website, i have entered the insert query & it is properly working but on this “mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn” statement getting errors ‘Run-Time Error 3704’. Please help on this..I appreciated.

  58. Prasad Sakpal
    December 2, 2014 at 12:45 PM — Reply

    Record is properly inserted into SQL database but getting above error message. please check…

  59. Sub sbADO()
    Dim sSQLQry As String
    Dim ReturnArray
    Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset
    Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String
    sconnect = “Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Data Source=******;Initial Catalog=******;User ID=*******;Password=*****;”
    Conn.Open sconnect
    sSQLSting = “INSERT INTO [tablename](code, fname,lname,process) Values(‘20202020′,’Prasad’,’Sakpal’,’PC001′)”
    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn ‘ Getting error message on this line, but record is properly inserted in to SQL database.
    mrs.Close
    Conn.Close
    End Sub

    Error is = ‘Run-Time Error 3704′
    Application Defined or Object Defined Error

  60. sandeep
    December 5, 2014 at 4:49 PM — Reply

    Hi,
    I have a query. While uploading data to SQL, if i try to download data from SQL using excal vba it is failing and throwing error.Do we have any wayt to handle mulitple calls in SQL using VBA….
    An really confused shud it be done at vba end or SQL end?

  61. This thread has been very helpful in getting going. However, there is one problem. I am using an ODBC driver talking to Google big query but I imagine this problem I have could be relevant to any DBMS connection that has it’s own SQL variant. The key requirement for me is to be able to pass the NATIVE SQL code that the DBMS supports rather than being forced into submitting ANSI SQL which very limiting. I’m using a driver that is meant to supports both.
    The following works as intended:
    Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset
    Conn.Open “DSN=bq”
    SQLString = “SELECT count(*) as a from EVENTS.Game_20141205 ”
    mrs.Open SQLString, Conn
    Sheet2.Range(“A2”).CopyFromRecordset mrs
    mrs.Close
    Conn.Close

    But if I try and submit any non-ANSI SQL statement for example:
    SQLString = “select a from (SELECT count(*) as a from EVENTS.Game_20141205) ”
    (and this SQL runs perfectly well if you send it directly to Google bigquery directly from the google webconsole)

    The driver pops an error:
    Run-time error ‘-2147217911 (80040e09)’:
    [Simba][SQLEngine] (31480) syntax error near ‘select a from (SELECT count(*) as a from EVENTS.Game_20141205) <<>>
    which I assume is because it’s not ANSI form SQL. Does anyone know how to submit the native SQL through vba (which should directly be passed through to the DBMS without any checking)

  62. Henning
    December 15, 2014 at 8:06 PM — Reply

    In the file “remedy-export” there are no header and 5 rows of data

    When I run the code, it only assigns data from row 2 to row 5 to the array. What am I doing wrong?

    [code]
    Sub Connect_to_Sheet()
    Dim SQLString As String
    Dim ReturnArray
    Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim rsRecordset As New ADODB.Recordset
    Dim DBPath As String, sConnect As String

    Dim Col_Idx, Row_Idx As Long

    DBPath = ThisWorkbook.Path & “remedy-export.xlsx”
    sConnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=NO’;”
    Conn.Open sConnect

    SQLString = “SELECT * From [Ark2$]”
    rsRecordset.Open SQLString, Conn, adOpenStatic, adLockReadOnly
    Row_Idx = rsRecordset.RecordCount
    ReturnArray = rsRecordset.GetRows
    rsRecordset.Close

    Conn.Close

    End Sub
    [end code]

  63. saibabu
    December 19, 2014 at 12:14 AM — Reply

    Hi All,

    i want to copy only specific cells range.

    KINDLY HELP ME.

  64. kesav
    December 30, 2014 at 1:12 PM — Reply

    hi pn
    i am trying to connect ms access 2010 data base but its showing erroe
    provider not recognized can to help me for over comming from this problem
    thanks
    kesav

  65. baha
    January 6, 2015 at 11:14 PM — Reply

    Ho to delete table in existing access database? by using

  66. PNRao
    January 12, 2015 at 9:25 PM — Reply

    Hi Baha,

    You can delete the table using TRUNCATE or Drop statement if have full permissions.
    To delete only the data: TRUNCATE TABLE table_name;

    Warning: If you use the below statement, you will loss the entire table and you can not roll back.
    To delete entire data: DROP TABLE table_name;

    Thanks-PNRao!

  67. Haridas
    January 25, 2015 at 12:37 AM — Reply

    Hi,
    I need VBA & SQL learning material because i don’t have knowledge in VBA but i have knowledge in MS Office(Advance excel..).
    Any one please send to my email.

  68. sachin
    January 27, 2015 at 6:10 PM — Reply

    I was creating a macro to remove exact row duplicate in excel using sql query,but it it giving me “Runtime error -2147217865(80040e37)”. Below isthe VBA code

    Sub sbADOExample()
    Dim sSQLQry As String
    Dim ReturnArray

    Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset

    Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String

    DBPath = ThisWorkbook.FullName

    ‘You can provide the full path of your external file as shown below
    ‘DBPath =”E:tempInputData.xlsx”

    sconnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=Yes’;”

    Conn.Open sconnect

    sSQLSting = “select distinct column1, count(*) From [Sheet1$] group by column1 having count(*) >1″

    ‘ Your SQL Statement (Table Name= Sheet Name=[Sheet1$])

    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn
    ‘=>Load the Data into an array
    ‘ReturnArray = mrs.GetRows
    ”OR”
    ‘=>Paste the data into a sheet
    Sheet2.Range(“A2”).CopyFromRecordset mrs
    ‘Close Recordset
    mrs.Close

    ‘Close Connection
    Conn.Close

    End Sub

    Note : Above code working perfectly fine for 2 column

  69. PNRao
    February 3, 2015 at 9:53 PM — Reply

    Hi Sachin,

    I found no issues in your code. Please send your file with some dummy data. So that we can help you to solve your issue.

    Thanks-PNRao!

  70. Manoj
    February 23, 2015 at 5:40 PM — Reply

    Hi PN Rao – Thanks for the post really helpful
    I am trying to use Sum( Case when ( condition) then 1 else 0 end ) in this concept and it keeps saying automation error
    The same code is working perfectly in SQL server
    Please advise

    Thanks
    Manoj

  71. Hi Rao

    I am also getting the same kind of error as Sachin is geeting

    I am getting the error in this line “mrs.Open sSQLsting,conn”

    error is “Runtime error -2147217865(80040e37)”

  72. PNRao
    March 2, 2015 at 7:05 PM — Reply

    Hi Richard and Sachin,

    Please make sure that the field names are correct. I could not find any issue in the Sachin’s query.

    Thanks-PNRao!

  73. Enrico
    March 19, 2015 at 9:13 PM — Reply

    Dear analists

    the code is working but I am retrieving in Sheets(1) just 54’816 lines on 575’000 present in Sheets(2).
    do you know why?
    I am using Excel 2010

    Thanks
    Enrico

  74. Aswin
    March 23, 2015 at 11:41 PM — Reply

    Hi PN ,

    Read through the post great information you are sharing indeed.. I have a scenario where i would need to pull the values in a column in sheet say Sheet1 whose range may be dynamically changing into IN clause in SQL server query with values like ‘A’,’B’,’C’ etc

  75. guys77
    March 29, 2015 at 10:36 AM — Reply

    Hi experts..
    How about Dbf files?what string/connection code?
    Thanks

  76. KUMAR
    May 4, 2015 at 1:07 PM — Reply

    Really great. I could get what I could not even in Microsoft site

  77. HONEY
    May 8, 2015 at 12:23 PM — Reply

    Hi,

    I want to access the info of memory usage of production database in my excel sheet.

    can anyone help me with vba.

  78. sheriff
    May 14, 2015 at 9:54 PM — Reply

    Hi,

    I want to get a notification automatically when a file is copied in a folder. Can this be done by VBA macro ?

    Please help me.

    Thanks,
    Sheriff

  79. sheriff
    May 14, 2015 at 9:58 PM — Reply
  80. Sam
    May 22, 2015 at 8:04 AM — Reply

    Hi,

    Thanks for sharing this info…
    Very useful

    regards
    sam

  81. Anand Jo
    May 29, 2015 at 9:19 PM — Reply

    Thanks for the code. It works with the user input when input command is used. But, it does not work when the user enters a value in the textfield in the userform created in excel VBA. Why does this happen? It just does not work with the userform text field input. Any help is appreciated. Here is the code:

    Sub UForm()
    Dim sSQLSting As String
    Dim ReturnArray

    Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset
    Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String

    DBPath = ThisWorkbook.FullName
    sconnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=Yes’;”
    Conn.Open sconnect
    sSQLSting = “SELECT * From [Sheet1$] where Order_Number = ” & ordernotext1 ‘ Your SQL Statement (Table Name= Sheet Name=[Sheet1$])
    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn

    Sheets(“ReportsO”).Range(“A8”).CopyFromRecordset mrs
    mrs.Close
    Conn.Close
    End Sub

  82. kishan Sanghani
    June 5, 2015 at 4:18 AM — Reply

    Hi ,

    I am able to execute query from VBA on my DB2. But sometime I need to abort query because of DB conjunction. Please suggest me way to abort query , if executed through VBA.

    Thanks in advance.

    Regards,
    Kishan Sanghani

  83. Krishna
    June 10, 2015 at 9:00 PM — Reply

    Hi,

    Am able to connect to excel data source using ADO connection. But my excel has 265000 rows and 118 columns. When I try to open record set, it struck and it taking more time.. Is that any way to use Ado connection and open record set in quick turnaround? Pls suggest.. Tnx

  84. UDAY PRATAP
    June 17, 2015 at 5:09 PM — Reply

    Nice Explanation…..Thanks.
    If I want to save picture of employees in (the respective rows) a column. for example Emp_Photo
    and if I run Select * from [Sheet1$] it is bringing all information but not the pictures
    How to achieve it?

  85. UDAY PRATAP
    June 17, 2015 at 5:12 PM — Reply

    Try to connect in a blank New workbook and after connection is established then copy the original sheet into this new workseets.

  86. Vic
    June 30, 2015 at 7:37 PM — Reply

    Hi,

    The code you gave worked! I am really kinda new to this old VBA stuff. My problem is it opens on a new sheet in a new workbook. How can I have the data displayed on an existing sheet with existing columns?

    Thank you in advance for your help PN.

    – V

  87. Sameer
    July 9, 2015 at 5:56 PM — Reply

    Hi PN – Your site has awesome content and I am hoping you can resolve my query.

    I have a MySQL database and I have connect it to excel using VBA on the local machine. Now I want to give the same excel file as an input/output mechanism to all the users to interact with the database installed on my computer. All the users are in a network. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

  88. PNRao
    July 9, 2015 at 7:51 PM — Reply

    Hi Sameer,

    Thanks for your feedback!

    Here are the possible solutions and my preference order:

    Solution 1: You can create new database in any server and export the local database into server and change the connection string. All your user need to have MySQL OLEDB Provider in their PCs.

    Solution 2. You can export to MS Access database and change the connection string. For this your user do not required to install any additional Provider.

    Hope this helps!
    Thanks-PNRao!

  89. Mahantesh
    September 9, 2015 at 5:18 PM — Reply

    StrSQL=”SELECT * FROM [Shee1$] MINUS SELECT * FROM [Sheet2$] is not getting executed.

    Help required.

  90. Dung Nguyen
    September 14, 2015 at 8:58 PM — Reply

    Hi PNRao,

    I would query to the first worksheet of selected workbook through navigate to the workbook location and user select it( I used worksheets(1) but can not successful), can you show me a sample how to assign this parameter of worksheets(1) to the vba query?

    Regards/Dung

  91. This paragraph ցives ϲlear idea in support οf the new users.

  92. Sriram
    October 7, 2015 at 12:48 PM — Reply

    Hi
    Am trying to run sql Analysis query in excel macro . Can you please help me .

    Thanks in advance

  93. Dan
    October 21, 2015 at 7:20 AM — Reply

    Hi,

    Very helpful page, thank you.

    I have managed to use a select query to retreive data from a second sheet however I am wanting to update data in a sheet using this method. I have changed the sSQLSting to an update query which appears to run but the data does not update.

    Could I please trouble you for a simple example of how to update a cell value?

    Column A (Dealer) is unique and Column B (Value) is the cell that I am trying to update

    Sheet name = DATA
    Column A = Dealer
    Column B = Value

    Thank you,

    Dan

  94. Dan
    October 21, 2015 at 10:19 AM — Reply

    Sorry for wasting your time with my first message, was a pretty simple mistake in the end.
    I have it working however I am wanting to source the value that I am updating from a cell on the sheet. I have done this with:
    Dim NewVal As String
    NewVal = Sheets(“ADO”).Range(“N2”).Value
    When I try to put this into the sSQLSting it errors. Can you please help me out.

    Thanks again.

    Code:

    ‘Add reference for Microsoft Activex Data Objects Library

    Sub sbADOUPDATE()
    Dim sSQLQry As String
    Dim sSQLQry2 As String
    Dim NewVal As String

    Dim ReturnArray

    Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset

    Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String

    DBPath = “P:DocumentsSALESOrderwrite2015TestingBook2.xlsx”
    NewVal = Sheets(“ADO”).Range(“N2″).Value

    ‘You can provide the full path of your external file as shown below
    ‘DBPath =”C:InputData.xlsx”

    sconnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=Yes’;”

    Conn.Open sconnect
    sSQLSting = “UPDATE [Data$] SET Content = ‘testing2’ WHERE Dealer = ‘Q325′”

    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn
    sSQLSting2 = “UPDATE [Data$] SET Content = 1000 WHERE Dealer = ‘Q375′”

    mrs.Open sSQLSting2, Conn

    ‘Close Connection
    Conn.Close

    End Sub

  95. Masaru
    November 1, 2015 at 11:58 PM — Reply

    Question: I have a header where it has been merge with under a 3 column, is it possible to call the sub column? Thanks!

  96. Michael
    November 10, 2015 at 8:37 PM — Reply

    Hi All
    I have a spreadsheet with an Excel Table named Table1 with two Columns named Quarter and Sales.
    The Table has say 4 rows of data beneath the header. Then there is more data in the rows below the table which is not part of the table.

    How do I copy only the data in the Table rows?
    Using SqlQry = “SELECT [Quarter], [Sales] FROM [Sheet2$][Table1$]”
    Copied all the data in the two columns including the data outside the Table.
    Thanks.

  97. loes
    November 25, 2015 at 7:52 PM — Reply

    Hello,

    I am trying to set up a connection to MySQL and came across this example. I applied the code to my own file. But what i can not seem to figure out is why the file does not take the values you write in A1, A2 etc. where in the code do you tell the code to skip the first line?

  98. Ray
    November 26, 2015 at 10:35 AM — Reply

    This is precisely what i was searching for..Thanks a Ton.

    One question please….Here we saw fetching data from a spreadsheet using ADO.

    Can we write data from a User interface,like a form (in Spreadsheet A) to a Database (Spreadsheet B) using ADO ?

    Please can you point me to where can I get more info on this.

    All the best with your efforts. God bless !

  99. mike
    January 15, 2016 at 1:22 PM — Reply

    Hello,

    I have made a connection with a dbf file with VBA this works great, but is it also possible to open multiple dbf files en join them in the SQL? Iám trying hard but can’t figure it out.

  100. Shwetanjali Das
    February 11, 2016 at 12:10 PM — Reply

    Hi,

    I want to fetch records from a database. How to do that? I have read only access to that database.

  101. srimeenakshi
    March 22, 2016 at 6:01 PM — Reply

    hi friends,
    i want a code to update a table in a database. when we click command button in vba?
    anyone can help me

  102. Iris
    March 29, 2016 at 3:21 PM — Reply

    hi, i couldn’t download the example file, seems the linkage was corrupted.

  103. Akit
    May 3, 2016 at 10:09 AM — Reply

    HI ,

    Really helpful blog, I am encountering an error when I tried to use Like operator in my sql statement.

    exs
    Dim sSQLQry As String
    Dim ReturnArray
    Dim Conn As New ADODB.Connection
    Dim mrs As New ADODB.Recordset
    Dim DBPath As String, sconnect As String
    DBPath = ThisWorkbook.FullName
    ‘You can provide the full path of your external file as shown below
    ‘DBPath =”C:InputData.xlsx”
    sconnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=Yes’;”
    Conn.Open sconnect
    Debug.Print YourstrQery,

    1. SQLSting = “SELECT * From [Sheet1$] WHERE [URL] like ‘%POST /login.form HTTP/1.1%’ ”

    2. SQLSting = “SELECT * From [Sheet1$] WHERE session in(Select Distinct session from [Sheet1$]) and [URL] like ‘%POST /login.form HTTP/1.1%’ ”

    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn

  104. ram
    May 10, 2016 at 12:34 PM — Reply

    There are records in the sheet titled ‘Table2’, which have Cust_ID not present in column Cust_ID in the sheet titled ‘Table1’ (e.g. 110, 117). Can you write an Excel VBA program that transfers the data in these sheets to 2 separate tables in Access DB, runs the appropriate query and provides the list of unmatched records from ‘Table2’? Please use ADO method for database connectivity. The program should execute on clicking a button in Excel and output should comprise of unmatched records displayed in a new Excel sheet.

  105. Guilherme
    June 4, 2016 at 12:08 AM — Reply

    I did’nt find the example file =(
    Can you send me the link?

  106. PNRao
    June 4, 2016 at 9:43 PM — Reply

    Thanks- We have fixed the download link.

    Thanks-PNRao!

  107. Kamal Kroor
    June 21, 2016 at 1:08 PM — Reply

    Dear All,
    Any one can help me with using variables in update command? in the above example, update is used only with exact number which will not be the case for real time situation. We need a variable that takes values from the user form.
    Thanks,

    Kamal Kroor

  108. Célio Ávila
    June 21, 2016 at 7:56 PM — Reply

    Damn… I’ve been trying so hard to learn this, but nothing ever seems to work.
    I finally downloaded the example file and not even that is working. I get the message, “System error &H8000FFFF (-2147418113). Catastrophic Failure.”
    I activated the 2.8 library something, so I dont know what could be going wrong.

    Also, every source I look for to study gives me a completely different macro example, so I can’t even compare them to better understand the coding.

    When I do find good content to learn SQL from, it doesnt seem to be related to excel vba, so it doesnt help me all that much.

    I’m trying to learn how to filter data with ADO insteand of using autofilter. At first I saw someone posting this example:

    Sub testConnection()
    Dim wb As Workbook
    Dim c As WorkbookConnection
    Dim sql As String

    Set wb = ActiveWorkbook

    Set c = wb.Connections.Item(1)
    sql = c.ODBCConnection.CommandText
    sql = Replace(sql, “WHERE (`’Sheet1$’`.k=10)”, _
    “WHERE (`’Sheet1$’`.k=9) AND (`’Sheet1$’`.l=11) AND (`’Sheet1$’`.m=12) AND (`’Sheet1$’`.n=13) “)
    c.ODBCConnection.CommandText = sql
    c.Refresh

    End Sub

    can anyone make sense of this?

  109. Ankush
    June 28, 2016 at 3:31 PM — Reply

    Hi

    Could you let me know if we can connect a macro to the server and get the information from the log files.

    And if yes , then could you let me know how we could connect to the server.

  110. Stanley
    July 1, 2016 at 1:25 PM — Reply

    Hi PNRao,

    Your website is awesome!
    Do you have experience to use RANK() OVER(PARTITION BY) function by ADODB connection?
    I need to rank first and output them.
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Stanley

  111. Stewart
    July 15, 2016 at 2:27 PM — Reply

    HI PNRao,

    New to using VBA & ADO , I wish to use a similar code that uses an input-box to pull through the relevant input from a closed workbook to my current active workbook, is this possible?

    Kind Regards,

    Stewart

  112. Sanjeev Sharma
    August 6, 2016 at 12:54 AM — Reply

    Thanks!! for the valuable information!!

  113. Pawan
    August 30, 2016 at 10:49 AM — Reply

    Very nice Article. I have one query in this that I have one column which has number as well as text and I found one thing that vb query that declare the fields type as Number and it will not show Text values. So is it possible to import all the fields with data type as a string because string can capture both number as well as text.

  114. Tomi
    August 30, 2016 at 11:58 PM — Reply

    Hi, I am new to VBA and application development. Please how can someone start with learning VBA and Database Application development? Thank you

  115. Durgam Sasidhar
    January 4, 2017 at 7:36 PM — Reply

    WOW, This is what am searching for entire day, and this post Cleared My doubts and issues. Thx a lot

  116. Sunil Sehgal
    April 5, 2017 at 11:05 AM — Reply

    Hello sir,
    While I run my code it is showing automation error. Can you please etell me why is it so occuring.. tell me the solutio n for the same.

  117. Hasan
    May 4, 2017 at 9:05 PM — Reply

    Hi,

    when the Excel file is opened read-only, the sql query (with both providers MSDASQL and Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB) does not return any results.

    Any ideas how to overcome this, maybe using additional parameters?

  118. Rakesh
    May 17, 2017 at 2:43 PM — Reply

    Hi PNRao,

    Information provided by you in your website is excellent.
    I customised this code to postgresql,but getting an Run-Time error object required: 424.Can you please help me with this error.

    Thanks
    Rakesh

  119. AK
    July 19, 2017 at 7:57 PM — Reply

    Dear PN,

    Really, this webpage is very useful, thanks for your efforts.

    I have one question here:
    Instead of figures (2 & 5000) at ‘Values(2,500)’ how can use variables or cells from active sheet?

    Thanks in advance & regards,
    AK

  120. PNRao
    July 19, 2017 at 8:51 PM — Reply
    You need to form the string as per your requirement.
    Replace the below statement:
    sSQLSting = “INSERT INTO [DataSheet$](Quarter, Sales) Values(2,5000)”.
    
    With:
    
    sSQLSting = “INSERT INTO [DataSheet$](Quarter, Sales) Values(" &Range("A1") &"," &Range("A2") &")”.
    

    The second statement will read the values from Range A1 and A2 of ActiveSheet. You can also specify the sheet name if it is not a active sheet, Sheets(“SheetName”).Range(“A1”)

    Thanks!

  121. YasserKhalil
    July 20, 2017 at 10:59 PM — Reply

    That’s really awesome. Thank you very much
    How to update closed workbook using ADO?

  122. Andi permana
    November 30, 2017 at 4:36 PM — Reply

    How do I use where statement and group by??

  123. Mayur raj
    March 4, 2018 at 12:50 PM — Reply

    Hi recordset stores the result in array form, when using select a view/output is getting stored.but using insert there is no output, it will process the query and store data in mentioned table.
    Add one more line, select * from [inserted_table]
    Before msr.
    Hope you get the logic.
    Thanks

  124. Anil
    April 19, 2018 at 6:10 PM — Reply

    Hi Sir,

    I have insert code but show the error.

    Option Explicit
    Dim BlnVal As Boolean

    Private Sub Done_Click()
    Dim sSQLQry As String
    Dim ReturnArray
    Dim con As ADODB.Connection
    Dim sqlstr As String, datasource As String
    Set con = New ADODB.Connection
    datasource = “D:TEST.xlsx” ‘change to suit

    Dim sconnect As String
    sconnect = “Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;” & _
    “Data Source=” & datasource & “;” & _
    “Extended Properties=”Excel 12.0;HDR=YES”;”
    With con
    .Open sconnect

    sqlstr = “Insert Into [Sheet2$](Sno, Name, Amt) Values (GP.ComboBox1.Value, GP.TextBox1, GP.TextBox2)”

    .Execute sqlstr
    .Close
    End With

    Set con = Nothing

    End Sub

  125. Anil
    April 19, 2018 at 6:14 PM — Reply

    I have insert data in offline Excel File & Same Update Data Combobox1 and TextBox1 only Number accept. not Text.

  126. nalini raju
    May 14, 2018 at 6:47 PM — Reply

    ‘Iam not able to insert
    ‘Iam getting error–Automation error in runtime
    ‘Using MSDASQL Provider
    ‘sconnect = “Provider=MSDASQL.1;DSN=Excel Files;DBQ=” & DBPath & “;HDR=Yes’;”

    ‘Using Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB Provider – If you get an issue with Jet OLEDN Provider try MSDASQL Provider (above statement)
    sconnect = “Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=” & DBPath _
    & “;Extended Properties=”Excel 8.0;HDR=Yes;IMEX=1″;”

    Conn.Open sconnect
    ‘DeleteId = InputBox(“Name”)
    ” sSQLSting = “SELECT DISTINCT Date,SalesRep,Product,Discount,Units,Region,Net_Sales From [DataSheet$]”
    ‘ Your SQL Statemnt (Table Name= Sheet Name=[DataSheet$])
    ‘ sSQLSting = “UPDATE [DataSheet$] SET SalesRep=10,Product=10,Discount=10,Units=10,Region=10 WHERE Units=1”
    sSQLSting = “INSERT INTO [RAMA$](Quarter, Sales) Values(” & Sheets(“RAMA”).Range(“A1”) & “,” & Sheets(“RAMA”).Range(“A2”) & “)”
    ‘ sSQLSting = “Select * from [DataSheet$]” ‘ where Date is not null”
    mrs.Open sSQLSting, Conn

    ‘ Sheets(“RAMA”).Range(“A1”).CopyFromRecordset mrs

    mrs.Close

    ‘Close Connection
    Conn.Close
    End Sub

  127. Taesoo
    June 14, 2018 at 4:51 PM — Reply

    Hi,

    I read date from db file but can not read full data.
    Below is the data in db file
    Date
    4/16/2016 16:39
    4/19/2016 12:50
    4/22/2016 16:12
    4/25/2016 10:28
    4/27/2016 10:51

    This is what I read
    Date
    4/16/2016
    4/19/2016
    4/22/2016
    4/25/2016
    4/27/2016

    Sub db_query()

    Dim conn As Object, rst As Object
    Worksheets(“results”).Range(“A2:AI5001”).ClearContents

    Set conn = CreateObject(“ADODB.Connection”)
    Set rst = CreateObject(“ADODB.Recordset”)

    conn.Open “DRIVER=SQLite3 ODBC Driver;Database=D:backup.db;”

    strSQL = “SELECT Date from Tb_Result_Summary”
    rst.Open strSQL, conn, 1, 1

    Worksheets(“results”).Range(“A2”).CopyFromRecordset rst
    rst.Close

    Set rst = Nothing: Set conn = Nothing

    End Sub

  128. Baze
    July 9, 2018 at 3:50 PM — Reply

    Hi PN, thank you for this material. it is very educative especially for a person who is beginner in VBA like me.
    I am trying to make a connection from my excel file to a database and i tried your code but it resulted in a mistake :

    ‘Sheet1$’ is not a valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid characters or punctuation and that it is not too long

    I am apologizing in advance, cause this question might seem very beginner for you, but I am in my first steps with VBA.

  129. Deepak Bisht
    October 2, 2018 at 6:45 PM — Reply

    Each time i pull data the file opened in read only mode.. Please advise

  130. Prabhu Murugan
    December 20, 2018 at 9:42 AM — Reply

    Hi,

    A column in an excel file consist of values only. But still select query for the field throws data type mismatch in criteria even after I changed all the cells to values.

    select * from table where field < 0

    It works only for

    select * from table where field < ‘0’

  131. Amber
    July 18, 2019 at 5:58 AM — Reply

    I want to get into an array all records brought by getRows but I can’t. When I try like this, the array stay empty anyway. I only get success by using getString but my goal is insert each record into a cell of a listbox. I hope you can understend my english!

  132. anil
    November 17, 2019 at 12:50 PM — Reply

    thanks for efforts sir as a beginer easyly understand whole concept

  133. Mon
    February 9, 2020 at 1:15 PM — Reply

    Hi,

    please advise how can I use the SQL command to delete the record

    thank you

  134. Dinesh
    May 2, 2020 at 10:37 PM — Reply

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Example

Requirements:

Add following references to the project:

  • Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.8 Library

  • Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Recordset 2.8 Library

enter image description here

Declare variables

Private mDataBase As New ADODB.Connection
Private mRS As New ADODB.Recordset
Private mCmd As New ADODB.Command

Create connection

a. with Windows Authentication

Private Sub OpenConnection(pServer As String, pCatalog As String)
    Call mDataBase.Open("Provider=SQLOLEDB;Initial Catalog=" & pCatalog & ";Data Source=" & pServer & ";Integrated Security=SSPI")
    mCmd.ActiveConnection = mDataBase
End Sub

b. with SQL Server Authentication

Private Sub OpenConnection2(pServer As String, pCatalog As String, pUser As String, pPsw As String)
    Call mDataBase.Open("Provider=SQLOLEDB;Initial Catalog=" & pCatalog & ";Data Source=" & pServer & ";Integrated Security=SSPI;User ID=" & pUser & ";Password=" & pPsw)
    mCmd.ActiveConnection = mDataBase
End Sub

Execute sql command

Private Sub ExecuteCmd(sql As String)
    mCmd.CommandText = sql
    Set mRS = mCmd.Execute
End Sub

Read data from record set

Private Sub ReadRS()
    Do While Not (mRS.EOF)
        Debug.Print "ShipperID: " & mRS.Fields("ShipperID").Value & " CompanyName: " & mRS.Fields("CompanyName").Value & " Phone: " & mRS.Fields("Phone").Value
        Call mRS.MoveNext
    Loop
End Sub

Close connection

Private Sub CloseConnection()
    Call mDataBase.Close
    Set mRS = Nothing
    Set mCmd = Nothing
    Set mDataBase = Nothing
End Sub

How to use it?

Public Sub Program()
    Call OpenConnection("ServerName", "NORTHWND")
    Call ExecuteCmd("INSERT INTO [NORTHWND].[dbo].[Shippers]([CompanyName],[Phone]) Values ('speedy shipping','(503) 555-1234')")
    Call ExecuteCmd("SELECT * FROM [NORTHWND].[dbo].[Shippers]")
    Call ReadRS
    Call CloseConnection
End Sub

Result

ShipperID: 1 CompanyName: Speedy Express Phone: (503) 555-9831

ShipperID: 2 CompanyName: United Package Phone: (503) 555-3199

ShipperID: 3 CompanyName: Federal Shipping Phone: (503) 555-9931

ShipperID: 4 CompanyName: speedy shipping Phone: (503) 555-1234

Table of Contents

Definitive Guide To ADO in Excel and VBA

There are several methods to work with external data and files in Excel. ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) is one of the best and most frequently used tools to work with external data and files. In Excel, we can use the combination of ADO with VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) to work with external data sets in memory. ADO always comes in handy when we need to perform complex, multi-layered procedures and checks on external datasets.

What is ActiveX Data Objects (ADO)?

ADO in Excel and VBA is a tool in that helps developers to write VBA code to access data without knowing how the database is implemented; developers should be aware of the database connectivity only. Being a developer, you don’t need to know the SQL to access a database when using ADO, although you can run SQL commands directly using ADO. So, in short, ADO helps developers accomplish two major tasks:

  • Connect to a data source
  • Specify the datasets with which to work

Using the ADODB connection, we connect our VBA application with the databases e.g., SQL, MS Access, Microsoft List, Excel workbook, etc.,

Understanding the fundamental syntax of ADO (Connection String and Recordset)

While dealing with external data and files, we must connect the data source before doing anything. To establish the connection, we must provide VBA a few pieces of information. The required information will be provided to VBA in the form of the connection string.

What is a connection string?

A connection string is nothing but a text string that contains a series of variables (also called arguments), which VBA uses to identify the data source and open the connection for further use.

Let’s understand the connection string and its arguments that point to an MS Access database and MS Excel Workbook. You can find several other connection strings at ConnectionStrings.com – Forgot that connection string? Get it here!

Connection Sting – MS Access database 

“Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0; ” & _
“Data Source= C:MyDatabase.accdb;” & _
“User ID= Administrator;” & _
“Password= AdminPassword”

Connection Sting – MS Excel workbook

“Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0; ” & _
“Data Source= C:MyExcelWorkbook.xlsx;” & _
“Extended Properties=Excel 12.0”

ADO connection string can have multiple arguments basis the data source type. Let’s understand the arguments which commonly used i.e., Provider, Data Source, Extended Properties, User ID, and Password (the same have been used in the previous example for MS Access and Excel).

Live Project – Data Entry Application in Excel and VBA using ADO
Data Entry Application in Excel and Access

Provider: With the help of Provider argument in the connection string, VBA identifies the type of data source we are going to work with. Suppose we are going to work with MS Access or MS Excel datasets, then the Provider syntax will be:

Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0

Data Source: This argument helps VBA to find the source of database or workbook that contains the data needed. For this parameter, we need to pass the full path of the database or workbook. For example:

Data Source=C:MydirectoryMyDatabaseName.accdb

Extended Properties: Extended Properties is required when we connect to an Excel Workbook. With the help of this argument, VBA identifies that data source is something else than a database. You can use this argument below:

Extended Properties=Excel 12.0

User ID: The User ID argument is optional and only used if the data source is protected with a user id and password. For example:

User Id = Admin

Password: This argument is optional and only need if the password is required to connect to the data source. For example:

Password = MyPassword

Note: You can skip User ID and Password arguments if the data source is not protected.

What is a Recordset?

A Recordset object is a group of records that can either come from a data source or as the output of a query to the table. The Recordset provides several methods and properties to examine the data that exists within the data source.

In addition to building a connection to the data source, we need to define the dataset (Recordset) with which we need to work. We can define the Recordset to open an existing table or query using the 4 common arguments: Source, ConnectString, CursorType, and LockType.

Recordset.Open Source, ConnectString, CursorType, LockType

Let’s understand all these 4 parameters.

Source in Recordset

The source data is typically a table, a SQL statement, or a query that retrieves records from the data source. Please see the below example of Source in different scenarios.

Providing MS Access table name ‘Product’ to Source

Recordset.Open “Product”

SQL statement to Source. In below code, MySQL is a variable holding SQL statement.

MySQL=”Select * from [Product] where Region=”North’”
Recordset.Open MySQL

ConnectString in Recordset

ConnectString is the argument that we have already discussed while understanding the ConnectionString. We just need to pass the ConnectionString here so that Recordset can identify the data source.

So, suppose we are going to connect with MS Access table ‘Product’ in Recordset then the code will be like:

Recordset.Open Product, ConnectionString

CursorType in Recordset

A cursor is a mechanism that enables the Recordset to move over the records in a database. It allows developers to retrieve each row at a time and manipulate its data. In simple language, a cursor is nothing more than a point to a row on which you are performing the data manipulation work.

The CursorType that are commonly used in Recordset code:

  1. adOpenForwardOnly: This is the default cursor type available in Recordset. If we don’t pass any CursorType in the code, then Recordset will automatically consider adOpenForwardOnly. This cursor is very efficient and allows us to move through the Recordset from beginning to end (one way only). This cursor is ideal for reporting purposes where we need to extract the data. This cursor does not allow to perform any changes to data.
  2. adOpenDynamic: When we need to loop through the data, moving up and down in the datasets, and want to identify any edits made to the dataset then adOpenDynamic can be used in Recordset. As it performs almost all the activities required in database operation, this cursor takes a lot of memory and resources of the system and should be used only when needed.
  3. adOpenStatic: This CursorType is ideal for quick return as it uses a static copy of data from the database. This is different from adOpenForwardOnly CursorType as it allows the developer to navigate the returned records. In addition to these, this CursorType allows data to be updateable by setting the LockType except adLockReadOnly (we will see LockType in upcoming part of this blog).

LockType: A LockType is a mechanism that helps developer to apply restrictions on a table or datasets to avoid unauthorized access or changes to the Recordset. We usually use two LockType in ADO:

  • adLockReadOnly: This is the default LockType in Recordset which indicates that there is no need to edit the data returned. If we don’t provide the LockType to Recordset then VBA considers this internally.
  • adLockOptimistic: This LockType is ideal when we need to edit the data returned to Recordset. We can use this if we want to perform Add, Update and Delete method in the database.

Referencing the ADO object library in VBA

Now, we have strong fundamentals of ADO and the codes/arguments. Let’s create our own ADO procedures to perform some basic operations. It will help us get more clarity and understanding of ADO in real projects.

To use the ADO in the Excel project, we need to add the reference of the ADO object library in the Visual Basic Application (VBA) window. Once we add the reference of ADO in the Excel project, Excel will start understanding the objects, properties, and methods of ADO.

Note: we can use ADO library without giving the reference of ADO in Excel with Late Binding technique, but it will increase the complexity of code and you will not be able to get the help while writing the code. So, we would recommend you start using the Early Binding i.e., giving the reference of ADO and then writing the code. Once you have expertise in the code then you can move to Late Binding technique.

To start adding the reference of ADO, just open the MS Excel application and create a new workbook and save the file with a Macro enabled extension e.g., .xlsm. Open the Visual Basic Editor window using the Shortcut key ALT + F11.

image 11

Saving Excel file with macro enabled extension

Once Visual Basic Editor window will appear on screen then click on Tools (available in the application menu) -> References….

image 12

Tool menu to open Reference Dialog Box

Once you click on References.. then it will open the References dialog box as shown in the picture below. In the available references list, just scroll down until you find the latest version of the Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library. Just tick the Checkbox and click on the OK button available in the dialog box to add the ADO reference to the current Excel file.

image 13

Reference Dialog Box in VBA to Select ADO

Note: you can see several versions of the ADO library in Reference dialog box. We would recommend you select the latest version from the list or if you are developing a project for your client then check the version of MS Excel and available ADO on client system and then go with that library to make your code compatible.

After clicking on OK button, we can open the Reference dialog box again to ensure that whether the ADO reference is selected or not. If that is selected, then it will start appearing on top of the list as check marked (as you can see in above image).

VBA code to Use ADO and get data from MS Access database

Writing the code to get the data from Customer table of MS Access database.

Sub GetCustomerData ()
Dim MyConnect as String
Dim MyRecordset as ADODB.Recordset
MyConnect= “Provider=Micorosft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;” & _
“Data Source= D:TheDataLabsSales.accdb”
Set MyRecordset= New ADODB.Recordset
MyRecordset.Open “Customer”, MyConnect, adOpenStatic, adLockReadOnly
ThisWorkbook.Sheets(“Customer”).Range(“A2”).CopyFromRecordset MyRecorset
With ActiveSheet.Range (“A1:C1”)
.value = Array (“Name”, “Gender”, “Address”)
.EntireColumn.AutoFit
End With
End Sub

Now we are done with putting all the code together in a procedure to get the data from Customer table and provide the output in MS Excel worksheet “Customer”.

Understand VBA Codes line by line

For better clarity, let’s take a moment to understand the VBA code.

Sub GetCustomerData ()

With the help of this line, we are declaring a procedure named ‘GetCustomerData’.

Dim MyConnect as String

Declaring a string variable to hold the Connection sting so that VBA can identify the data source.

Dim MyRecordset as ADODB.Recordset

Declaring a Recordset object variable to hold the data that will be returned by the procedure.

MyConnect= “Provider=Micorosft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0; Data Source= D:TheDataLabsSales.accdb”

Here, we are defining the connection string for the ADO procedure. As we are connecting the ‘Sales’ MS database to get the data from the Customer table hence, we are passing the Provider parameter as Micorosft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 and Source as D:TheDataLabsSales.accdb. The same has been already discussed in the Connection String section of the post.

Set MyRecordset= New ADODB.Recordset

With the help of the line of code, we are setting the reference of ADODB Recordset to MyRecordset object variable.

MyRecordset.Open “Customer”, MyConnect, adOpenStatic, adLockReadOnly

This line of code helps us in opening the Recordset to return static and read-only data.

ThisWorkbook.Sheets(“Customer”).Range(“A2”).CopyFromRecordset MyRecorset

Here, we are using Excel’s CopyFromRecordset method to get the data from the Recordset and provide the output in the range starting from the “A2” to the spreadsheet named ‘Customer’.

With ActiveSheet.Range (“A1:C1”) …. End With

These lines of Code help us in getting the column header and putting the header name in active sheet range A1 to C1. We need these lines of code because the CopyFromRecordset method does not return column headers or field names.

Live Project in Excel

Using ADO with Microsoft Visual Basic, we have developed the Data Entry Application Project in MS Excel and MS Access to transfer the data. Refer the below link.
Data Entry Application in Excel and Access

Interested in developing Data Entry Form without Using ADO
Easy-To-Follow: Create a Fully Automated Data Entry Userform in Excel and VBA in 5 Easy Steps
How to Create a Multi-User Data Entry Form in Excel (Step-by-step Guide)
Advance Data Entry Form

Read more topics

If you have any question on ‘Definitive Guide To ADO in Excel and VBA’ then please leave your comment in comment section. Thanks!

When it comes to big amount of data, Excel application is not the best solution to work with, in case of storage. Much better fit would be a database like Access or MSSM. In this article I’m going to show You how to connect to Microsoft SQL Server using VBA.

Database & server

In my case I got AdventureWorks2016 database installed on my PC. I connected to that base and the view of Object Explorer in Managament Studio looks like this.

Here You can see the server name, database name and tables name in Tables folder, which all will be necessary in further steps.

References

To be able to create connection and then operate on pulled data from database, You need to check in the Tools/References 2 checkboxes: Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library and Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Recordset Library.

It doesn’t have to be the version 2.8, just like in the screen above. You have much more possibilities.

When choosing the references try to think about the future users (ot their Office version) of this code You create.

ADODB Connection

After setting up the references You can declare connection of ADODB library.

Dim connection As ADODB.connection
Set connection = New ADODB.connection

Connection String

This is the main thing of ADODB connection, to be able to connect to the database. You need to know at least the provider, server name, database name and authentication method.

For MS SQL use SQLOLEDB.1 as provider. That should always work, unless You know that the provider for your database is different.

The server name You can see at the top of the object explorer.

So in my case it is (LocalDb)LocalDbTest.

Let server_name = "(LocalDb)LocalDbTest"

The database name is the name under the Databases folder tree in Object Explorer.

In my case this is AdventureWorks2016.

Let database_name = "AdventureWorks2016"

The authentication method depends on that if You pass the credentials in the connection string or use windows authentication and on provider. You can choose from the values: true , false, yes, no and sspi.

So putting all together it can look like this.

.ConnectionString = "Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Server=" & server_name & _
    ";database=" & database_name & ";Integrated Security=SSPI;"

Solution to connect local database

In case of MS SQL use SQLOLEDB.1 as provider, but if You got your database locally, as I have, go with SQLNCLI11. This is something I was fighting with and looking for hours to connect.

.ConnectionString = "Provider=SQLNCLI11;Server=" & server_name & _
    ";database=" & database_name & ";Integrated Security=SSPI;"

Open connection & state check

After completing the connection string, You can also set other properties like timeout. In the end open the connection using .Open.

With connection
    .ConnectionString = "Provider=SQLNCLI11;Server=" & server_name & _
        ";database=" & database_name & ";Integrated Security=SSPI;"
    .ConnectionTimeout = 10
    .Open
End With

If there was no error check the state of database You connected.

If connection.State = 1 Then
    Debug.Print "Connected!"
End If

SQL query

Having opened database connection You need to ask for data, I mean to build SQL query. In my case I just want to take all (*) data from TestTable table. The database name in this query is not really needed, because it is already in the connection string.

Dim sqlQuery As String
sqlQuery = "Select * from [AdventureWorks2016].[dbo].[TestTable]"

If You are not familiar with SQL I can say that the basics are even easier than VBA. As I said, basics of SQL.

Recordset – copy paste data from database

If You want to get the data from the query, You need to create Recordset of ADODB library. There are 2 main things – sqlQuery and connection. About the rest of properties You can read here.

Dim rsSql As New ADODB.Recordset
rsSql.CursorLocation = adUseClient
rsSql.Open sqlQuery, connection, adOpenStatic

After You .Open the recordset – get the data from database with SQL query using created connection, You can paste everything in chosen location.

ThisWorkbook.Sheets(1).Range("A1").CopyFromRecordset rsSql

And just like that all the data from the specified table is in the chosen range of your Workbook.

And remember that this method is not pasting headers, only the values of the columns below headline!

Connect to MS SQL code

Option Explicit

Sub connect2mssql()

Dim connection As ADODB.connection
Set connection = New ADODB.connection

Dim server_name As String, database_name As String
Let server_name = "(LocalDb)LocalDbTest"
Let database_name = "AdventureWorks2016"


With connection
    .ConnectionString = "Provider=SQLNCLI11;Server=" & server_name & _
        ";database=" & database_name & ";Integrated Security=SSPI;"
    'SQLOLEDB.1
    .ConnectionTimeout = 10
    .Open
End With

If connection.State = 1 Then
    Debug.Print "Connected!"
End If

Dim sqlQuery As String
sqlQuery = "Select * from [AdventureWorks2016].[dbo].[TestTable]"

Dim rsSql As New ADODB.Recordset
rsSql.CursorLocation = adUseClient
rsSql.Open sqlQuery, connection, adOpenStatic

ThisWorkbook.Sheets(1).Range("A1").CopyFromRecordset rsSql

End Sub

So, this is how You connect to Microsoft SQL Server using Excel VBA!

At first sight it seems like complex stuff, but in the end it is not that hard and it opens wide range of possibilities to automate data from other sources than only Excel workbooks. Combining the VBA knowledge with some more complex SQL queries can lead to really big tools dealing with tons of data. It is much easier to connect to the source than converting the data to Excel format and then start the macro. Also it speeds up the whole work a lot.

I’m very advanced in VBA, Excel, also easily linking VBA with other Office applications (e.g. PowerPoint) and external applications (e.g. SAP). I take part also in RPA processes (WebQuery, DataCache, IBM Access Client Solutions) where I can also use my SQL basic skillset. I’m trying now to widen my knowledge into TypeScript/JavaScript direction.
View all posts by Tomasz Płociński

Dim oConn As ADODB.Connection
Private Sub ConnectDB()
Set oConn = New ADODB.Connection
Dim str As String
str = "DRIVER={MySQL ODBC 5.2.2 Driver};" & _
                                            "SERVER=sql100.xtreemhost.com;" & _
                                            "PORT=3306" & _
                                            "DATABASE=xth_9595110_MyNotes;" & _
                                            "UID=xth_9595110;" & _
                                            "PWD=myPassword;" & _
                                            "Option=3"
''' error '''
oConn.Open str
End Sub

Private Sub InsertData()
Dim rs As ADODB.Recordset
Set rs = New ADODB.Recordset
ConnectDB
sql = "SELECT * FROM ComputingNotesTable"
rs.Open sql, oConn, adOpenDynamic, adLockOptimistic
Do Until rs.EOF
    Range("A1").Select
    ActiveCell = rs.Fields("Headings")
    rs.MoveNext
Loop
rs.Close
oConn.Close
Set oConn = Nothing
Set rs = Nothing
End Sub

Doing the similar things in PHP, I could successfully log in to the MySQL server.
I have installed the ODBC connector.
But in the above VBA codes, I failed.
An error turns up. (see the codes where the error exists)

$connect = mysql_connect("sql100.xtreemhost.com","xth_9595110","myPassword") or die(mysql_error());

mysql_select_db("myTable",$connect);

asked Nov 26, 2012 at 5:03

Tin Amaranth's user avatar

This piece of vba worked for me:

Sub connect()
    Dim Password As String
    Dim SQLStr As String
    'OMIT Dim Cn statement
    Dim Server_Name As String
    Dim User_ID As String
    Dim Database_Name As String
    'OMIT Dim rs statement

    Set rs = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset") 'EBGen-Daily
    Server_Name = Range("b2").Value
    Database_name = Range("b3").Value ' Name of database
    User_ID = Range("b4").Value 'id user or username
    Password = Range("b5").Value 'Password

    SQLStr = "SELECT * FROM ComputingNotesTable"

    Set Cn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") 'NEW STATEMENT
    Cn.Open "Driver={MySQL ODBC 5.2.2 Driver};Server=" & _ 
            Server_Name & ";Database=" & Database_Name & _
            ";Uid=" & User_ID & ";Pwd=" & Password & ";"

    rs.Open SQLStr, Cn, adOpenStatic

    Dim myArray()

    myArray = rs.GetRows()

    kolumner = UBound(myArray, 1)
    rader = UBound(myArray, 2)

    For K = 0 To kolumner ' Using For loop data are displayed
        Range("a5").Offset(0, K).Value = rs.Fields(K).Name
        For R = 0 To rader
           Range("A5").Offset(R + 1, K).Value = myArray(K, R)
        Next
    Next

    rs.Close
    Set rs = Nothing
    Cn.Close
    Set Cn = Nothing
End Sub

Jeroen's user avatar

Jeroen

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answered Nov 26, 2012 at 5:12

Ranjit Kumar's user avatar

Ranjit KumarRanjit Kumar

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9

Ranjit’s code caused the same error message as reported by Tin, but worked after updating Cn.open with the ODBC driver I’m running. Check the Drivers tab in the ODBC Data Source Administrator. Mine said «MySQL ODBC 5.3 Unicode Driver» so I updated accordingly.

answered Jun 18, 2015 at 15:00

Bob Davis's user avatar

Bob DavisBob Davis

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1

Just a side note for anyone that stumbles onto this same inquiry… My Operating System is 64 bit — so of course I downloaded the 64 bit MySQL driver… however, my Office applications are 32 bit… Once I downloaded the 32 bit version, the error went away and I could move forward.

answered Nov 7, 2015 at 12:57

aeroacoustic's user avatar

2

Updating this topic with a more recent answer, solution that worked for me with version 8.0 of MySQL Connector/ODBC (downloaded at https://downloads.mysql.com/archives/c-odbc/):

Public oConn As ADODB.Connection
Sub MySqlInit()
    If oConn Is Nothing Then
        Dim str As String
        str = "Driver={MySQL ODBC 8.0 Unicode Driver};SERVER=xxxxx;DATABASE=xxxxx;PORT=3306;UID=xxxxx;PWD=xxxxx;"
        Set oConn = New ADODB.Connection
        oConn.Open str
    End If
End Sub

The most important thing on this matter is to check the proper name and version of the installed driver at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREODBCODBCINST.INIODBC Drivers

answered Feb 27, 2019 at 1:13

ChrCury78's user avatar

ChrCury78ChrCury78

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Enable Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.8 Library

Dim oConn As ADODB.Connection 
Private Sub ConnectDB()     
Set oConn = New ADODB.Connection    
oConn.Open "DRIVER={MySQL ODBC 5.1 Driver};" & _        
"SERVER=localhost;" & _         
"DATABASE=yourdatabase;" & _        
"USER=yourdbusername;" & _      
"PASSWORD=yourdbpassword;" & _      
"Option=3" 
End Sub

There rest is here: http://www.heritage-tech.net/908/inserting-data-into-mysql-from-excel-using-vba/

answered Nov 26, 2012 at 5:13

Andrew's user avatar

AndrewAndrew

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2

Just to update this further

instead of looping through every row and column which takes forever.
try using

`Sub connect()
    Dim Password As String
    Dim SQLStr As String
    'OMIT Dim Cn statement
    Dim Server_Name As String
    Dim User_ID As String
    Dim Database_Name As String
    'OMIT Dim rs statement

    Set rs = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset") 'EBGen-Daily
    Server_Name = "Server_Name "
    Database_Name = "Database_Name" ' Name of database
    User_ID = "User_ID" 'id user or username
    Password = "Password" 'Password

    SQLStr = "SELECT * FROM item"

    Set Cn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") 'NEW STATEMENT
    Cn.Open "Driver={MySQL ODBC 8.0 ANSI Driver};Server=" & _
            Server_Name & ";Database=" & Database_Name & _
            ";Uid=" & User_ID & ";Pwd=" & Password & ";"

    rs.Open SQLStr, Cn, adOpenStatic
    Range("A2").CopyFromRecordset rs

    rs.Close
    Set rs = Nothing
    Cn.Close
    Set Cn = Nothing
End Sub

this is multiple minutes faster

answered Sep 1, 2022 at 8:56

Jeppe Silas Nygaard's user avatar

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