Connecting to Excel Online

Concept Information

ACCESSDATA command

Excel Online is a web-based version of the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program. You can use the Excel Online data connector to import your organization's Excel Online data.

Note

The Excel Online data connector is provided by our data access and connectivity partner, CData Software. Detailed information about individual connection fields is available in the CData documentation, linked below.

Before you start

Before you start the connection process, review the Windows DSN Configuration section in the CData documentation, and gather any connection prerequisites such as user name, password, token, or key values.

For help gathering the connection prerequisites, contact the Excel Online administrator in your organization. If your administrator cannot help you, you or your administrator should contact Excel Online Support.

Connection properties

Beyond basic connectivity and authentication, you can configure additional properties of the connection to the data source. For more information, see Connection Properties in the CData documentation.

Create an Excel Online connection

  1. From the Analytics main menu, select Import > Database and application.

  2. From the New Connections tab, in the ACL DSN Connectors (Bundled) section, select Excel Online.

    Tip

    You can filter the list of available connectors by entering a search string in the Filter connections box. Connectors are listed alphabetically.

    The DSN Configuration dialog box appears.

  3. In the DSN Configuration dialog box:

    • In the Show Required or Basic tab, provide values for the required or basic fields.

    • In the Show All or Advanced tab, provide values for any advanced fields, if necessary.

  4. Select Test Connection.

    Note

    When you select the Test Connection button, it validates whether the connection and authentication details provided are correct. If you select OK without selecting Test Connection, the connection details are saved without any validation and may not work later if the values provided are incorrect.

  5. If a log-in page appears, provide the required connection or authentication details.

    When the connection is successful, a dialog box opens displaying a success message.

  6. Select OK in the dialog box that appears.

    The connection to Excel Online is established successfully.

  7. In the DSN Configuration dialog box, select OK.

    The connection for Excel Online is saved to the Existing Connections tab. In the future, you can reconnect to Excel Online from the saved connection.

    Once the connection is established, the Data Access window opens to the Staging Area and you can begin importing data. For help importing data from Excel Online, see Working with the Data Access window.

Rename the connection

When you create the Excel Online data connection, you cannot provide a Connection name of your choice and the connection is saved to the Existing Connections tab with the same name as your data source. If you want to rename it, navigate to the Existing Connections tab, expand the ACL DSN Connectors section, click the ellipsis icon corresponding to Excel Online and select Rename connection.