Now that you have installed and setup ODBC (Lab Note #11), let's access your HP3000 data with Microsoft Excel.
My example uses a DSN named MNTDBE for eAM Asset Management, formerly MNT Maintenance Management.
Start up MS Excel and try these steps. (Oh, I'm still using Office 97 on WinNT 4.0)
1.
Top Menu:
Under "Data", choose Get External Data, then Create New Query.
2.
Choose Data Source:
select your DSN [MNTDBE]; select the box "Use the Query Wizard..."; click OK.
Query Wizard
3.
- Choose Columns:
Expand table ITEM_DATA, double click or move the following fields; click Next.
PART_NUMBER, DATE_ADDED, DATE_CHANGED, DATE_OBSOLETE
4.
- Filter Data:
No filter; click Next.
5.
- Sort Order:
No sort; click Next.
6.
- Finish:
select Return data to Excel; optionally save your query; click Finish.
7.
Returning External Data:
select Existing worksheet; click OK.
You should have similar data as seen in Lab Note #10.
| PART_NUMBER | DATE_ADDED | DATE_CHANGED | DATE_OBSOLETE |
| 102-08 | 970710 | | |
| 300-06 | 970805 | 970805 | |
| 201-14 | 970710 | 970806 | |
| 202 | 970805 | | |
| CINEMASCOPE LENS | A00301 | A00301 | A70707 |
| 100-08 | 970710 | | |
| 201-06 | 970710 | 970806 | |
And if you are running on MPE 6.5 with the patch as described in Lab Note #10, your data would be similar to this,
using a date Custom format of "mm/dd/yyyy".
| PART_NUMBER | DATE_ADDED | DATE_CHANGED | DATE_OBSOLETE |
| 102-08 | 07/10/1997 | 12/31/9901 | 12/31/9901 |
| 300-06 | 08/05/1997 | 08/05/1997 | 12/31/9901 |
| 201-14 | 07/10/1997 | 08/06/1997 | 12/31/9901 |
| 202 | 08/05/1997 | 12/31/9901 | 12/31/9901 |
| CINEMASCOPE LENS | 03/01/2000 | 03/01/2000 | 07/07/2007 |
| 100-08 | 07/10/1997 | 12/31/9901 | 12/31/9901 |
| 201-06 | 07/10/1997 | 08/06/1997 | 12/31/9901 |
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to try this in MS Access, then MS Word. Maybe you could get an
Excel macro to find and email some data to someone, or produce some HTML for web viewing.
Now you should be able to see excellent possibilities with which to excel.