Report template help needed

[Jeffrey Berger]

I'm attempting to create a template to produce a report that uses tab
separated files as input. I'm developing on Mac OS X, but need to have
the report run on Windows platforms as well.

The tab separated files are produced by another application. This
application consists of a collection of screens and video clips. The
application writes a record each time a screen is selected and each
time a video is played. The application runs on a kiosk and we need to
know which parts of the application are being accessed. Each month, a
new data file is started.

I had hoped to set up the report as one worksheet in an Excel file
that refered to a second worksheet for data. The second worksheet
would be reloaded each month with the data from that month.
Unfortunately, clearing and reloading the data worksheet seems to
break all the links from the report data sheet.

I've also looked into using Excel's ODBC feature to access the monthly
data as a database, but haven't been able to get the OpenLink SQL
driver to function.

I've used Excel for simple spreadsheets before, but I'm basically a
newbie. Haven't used databases much either.

Any help greatly appreciated!

-Jeff

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Jeffrey,

How does the data get from the Kiosk to your Mac? Via a network? Via a
CD? What program is writing the data?

-Jim

 

[Jeffrey Berger]

The monthly data file will be sent by sneaker-net or as an email
attachment. Currently, the filename is yyyymm.txt where yyyy = current
year and mm = current month (01-12). The program writing the data is
my own creation (authored in iShell), so I have total control of
format, filename, etc.

But, it seems I've found the answer to my own problem -- use the
Refresh Data command in the Data menu.

The mistake I was making was to clear the worksheet containing the
monthly data, then to import a new version into the same worksheet.
Doing things this way produced a popup with the message "The start of
the destination range specified lies within an existing External Data
Range..."

Thanks for your help!
-Jeff

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

OK - glad you sorted things out.