|
eCriteria Connect - How to Access eCriteria Databases from Excel
This page describes how to use Microsoft Excel as a simple-to-use database editor for eCriteria databases using the eCriteria Connect Excel add-in. eCriteria Web Services, upon which eCriteria Connect is based, are available to Premium and Enterprise accounts. eCriteria Connect is the Web Service connectivity tool allowing remote Internet and desktop PC applications to use eCriteria Web-hosted databases from within Microsoft Office application software. A Web Service is a targeted software application designed to be accessed by other applications over the Internet. This means that Web and non-Web applications alike immediately can gain database connectivity through eCriteria. eCriteria Connect is made possible by the Microsoft .NET Framework. eCriteria Connect functionality is available to Premium, Enterprise, and 30 day trial accounts. You can start by becoming a registered user of eCriteria, and create a new database. As the starting member of a broad base of eCrieria Connect Web service tools, we offer a Microsoft Excel add-in providing a direct connection to eCriteria. Now Excel may be used as a makeshift database content editor using several new Tool Menu items: Download, Add Data, Update Data, and New Database. Using the new interface avoids having to manually import and export data to and from eCriteria. Customers can start using eCriteria Connect by download the software below. Using eCriteria Connect requires a current version of Windows, Microsoft Office, the SOAP Toolkit 2.0 SP2 (available as a separate download from Microsoft, or as part of Windows XP). Microsoft Windows XP users already have SOAP installed. Depending on your specific Windows installation, you may need to update your operating system. Please read the entire contents of the SOAP download page for complete information. You may download the Microsoft SOAP Toolkit and install it on your Windows PC by clicking here: Download the eCriteria Connect Excel add-in by right-clicking on the link below, and selecting Save Target As:
Installing the eCriteria Connect Excel add-in is simple. Just follow the steps below: (1) Open Microsoft Excel (2) Select Add-Ins from the Tools menu (3) Click the Browse button, and point to the add-in file just downloaded (4) Click OK, then click OK again to exit the Add-Ins dialog box (5) You should now see the eCriteria Connect items in the Tools menu (6) To remove the add-in, select Add-Ins from the Tools menu, and uncheck eCriterianet Here is an overview of each new Excel Tool menu item provided by eCriteria Connect, describing how each function allows flexibility when accessing your eCriteria database: Download - Use this tool to connect to eCriteria, and download all records from one of your databases. All eCriteria Connect tools require you to login to eCriteria using your username and password. In addition, you must enter the name of the source database. After clicking on the Submit button in the dialog box, eCriteria starts to transmit the data content to Excel. Depending on how many records there are in the database, shortly you'll see the data in your Excel worksheet. Notice that the database field names appear in the first row of the worksheet. Also, you will see that while using some of the eCriteria Connect functions, parts of the worksheet become protected and you won't be able to do certain things like resize a column. You'll also notice that column A of the worksheet is hidden as it contains synchronization information required by eCriteria and should not be accessed.Add Data - This tools allows you to add bulk new records to an eCriteria database. You must make sure the new records you wish to add conform to the existing structure of the target database, i.e. the number of fields must match, as do their names, and sizes. Once you have entered the new data in your Excel worksheet, you select the Add Data function, login, and enter the name of the target database. After clicking the Submit button in the dialog box, eCriteria starts to transmit the new records to eCriteria. Without eCriteria Connect you'd have to first export the data from Excel to a .csv file, and then upload to eCrtiteria. Using eCriteria Connect is a much more direct approach. Update Data - Once you've downloaded data records from eCriteria to your Excel worksheet, you can make changes to the records directly from within Excel. Excel becomes a makeshift database editor. You can delete records by emptying each cell (i.e. database field) for that record. eCriteria interprets this as a request to delete the record. You cannot add new records with the update function. When you're ready, select the Update Data function, login, and enter the name of the target database. After clicking on the Submit button, eCriteria starts to update the records. New Database - You can easily use Excel to create new eCriteria databases. Begin by opening up a blank worksheet, fill in the first row with database field names, and enter data content in subsequent rows. Select the New Database function, login, and enter the name of the new database you wish to create. After clicking on the Submit button, you'll see another dialog box for you to specify the Column Type, Width, and Label for each field. Now click on the Create Database button to ask eCriteria to create the database with your Excel data. |
||
Copyright ©1994-2005 AMULET Development Corp. All rights reserved.