Section 77. Import Data into a Calc Database

77. Import Data into a Calc Database

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

75 About Calc Databases

76 Create a Calc Database

SEE ALSO

78 Sort Calc Database Data

77. Import Data into a Calc Database

Although you can type data into a Calc database, if you already have that data stored elsewhere, you can usually import that data directly into Calc by first saving the data in a format that Calc can read. For example, suppose your company uses an Access database for its records and you want to import the customer table into Calc's database so that you can work with the data more easily. You would first export that customer table's data in Excel's XLS spreadsheet format and then open that spreadsheet in Calc.

Once the table is open, you must define the data range and save the file as a Calc spreadsheet. See 73 Import and Export Sheet Data for help with importing non-Calc spreadsheets into Calc and 76 Create a Calc Database for help with converting your imported data to a Calc spreadsheet data range.

NOTE

A spreadsheet can have multiple data ranges, and they can overlap. Depending on how you want to sort or filter your data (see 79 Filter Data That You Want to See ), you might overlap several columns , or fields, in several different range names .

1.	Export Your Data In Access, or wherever your data resides, export that data to an Excel spreadsheet or an OpenDocument spreadsheet (if this option is available). In Access, you can right-click over a table name , select the Export option, select the Excel XLS spreadsheet format, and click Export All to export the entire table.
2.	Load the Data Select File, Open and then select the file to load into Calc.
3.	Create a Data Range from the Data Select all the data including the column headings. Once you've selected all the data that is to reside in the database, select Data, Define Range to define the data as a data range and to name the data range. This name becomes your database name for this data. TIP If column headings didn't import from the original source, you should take the time to add them. The column names will serve as field names for your data. Click Add to save the data range and return to your spreadsheet. If you don't perform any database- related tasks , such as sorting or filtering, you can work with the data just as you would any spreadsheet data. The data, when defined in a data range, however, is also available to you for analysis as a database.