Grapher reads data from several data file types including: Excel XLS and XLSX, dBase DBF, and Access MDB and ACCDB files. You can use the File | Open command to select and plot directly from any of these data files.
But Grapher can also load database data into the program using Microsoft ODBC connections. Microsoft's Data Link tool provides a direct connection to data stored on network databases (such as Oracle). For information about how Data Link works, please refer to Microsoft's website and help files.
Opening and loading database files
Some examples of opening a database file or loading a database are given below.
Method 1: Opening a Microsoft Access Database (*.MDB or *.ACCDB)
- Click File | Open (or any command that prompts to open a data file).
- In the Open or Open Data dialog, select an ACCDB or MBD file and click Open.
- In the Database Tables and Fields dialog, a list of tables is displayed with a preview of the table contents. Select the appropriate table to load.
- Click OK and the data is opened.
Method 2: Loading a New Database (Microsoft Access example)
- Click File | Open.
- Click the Database button in the Open dialog.
- In the Data Link Properties dialog, on the Provider page, select the appropriate driver, such as Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers, and click Next.
- On the Connection page, toggle Use connection string and click the Build button.
- In the Select Data Source dialog on the File Data Source page, click the New button.
- In the Create New Data Source dialog, select the appropriate file type, such as Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb), and click Next.
- In the Create New Data Source dialog, click the Browse button.
- In the Save As dialog, choose the directory where the database file is located. Type in a File name for the data source connection. This can be the same as the database file that you are opening, or it can be something entirely different. Click the Save button.
- In the Create New Data Source dialog, click the Next button.
- In the Create New Data Source dialog, click the Finish button.
- In the ODBC Microsoft Access Setup dialog, click the Select button.
- In the Select Database dialog, select the database file that you wish to open and click the OK button.
- In the ODBC Microsoft Access Setup dialog, click the OK button.
- If a Create Data Source dialog appears telling you "The File Data Source was not saved", click OK to dismiss the message.
- In the Select Data Source dialog, click the OK button unless you saw the Create Data Source dialog from the previous step. In that case, navigate to and double click on the file created in step 9.
- In the ODBC Microsoft Access Setup dialog, click the OK button.
- In the Data Link Properties dialog, click the OK button.
- In the Database Tables and Fields dialog, select the table and any fields that you want to import and click the OK button. The information is imported.
Method 3: Loading a Recently Loaded Database
- Click File | Open.
- Click the Database button in the Open dialog.
- If a database has been recently loaded, the Recent Database Connections dialog appears. You can click on the recently loaded database and click OK.
- In the Data Link Properties dialog, verify the Connection string is correct and click OK.
- In the Database Tables and Fields dialog, select the table and any fields that you want to import and click the OK button. The information is imported into the worksheet.
Method 4: Loading a New Database (SQL example)
- Click File | Open.
- Click the Database button in the Open dialog.
- In the Data Link Properties dialog, on the Provider tab, select the appropriate driver, such as Microsoft OLE DB Provider for for SQL Server, and click Next.
- On the Connection tab, click the Refresh button to refresh the list of connected SQL databases.
- Click the drop-down list under Select or enter a server name: and select the appropriate SQL server.
- Select the appropriate login option in the Enter information to log on to the server section. Input User name and Password, if required.
- Click the drop-down list under Select the database on the server and select the appropriate database.
- Click OK.
- In the Database Tables and Fields dialog, select the table and any fields that you want to import and click the OK button. The information should be imported into the worksheet.
Notes
- To load data from a database server, the bit-version of Grapher and the bit-version of your database software must be the same. If you’re connecting to a Microsoft Access MDB or ACCDB file, for example, and you’re running a 32-bit version of Microsoft Office, you will need to use a 32-bit version of Grapher.
- Office 365 uses Click-to-Run, a feature that speeds up the installation process for many Microsoft products. But Click-to-Run may also prevent other applications from using the Access ODBC driver. If this happens, you may get an error that Grapher cannot connect to the ODBC database driver. To resolve this, you can install the latest Microsoft Access Runtime. As noted above, be sure your bit-version of Runtime and Grapher are the same (e.g., if you have Grapher 64-bit installed, then install the 64-bit version of the Runtime).
- If you are exporting your database data, Grapher does not currently export Microsoft Access .MBD or .ACCDB files.
Updated May 2023
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