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Oracle database extract to Excel spreadsheet product
Oracle Tips by Burleson Consulting |
Excel-DB -
Incorporating Oracle into Excel Spreadsheets
I rarely recommend third-party
tools for Oracle and I never recommend a tools that I have not used myself and
found to be valuable. One such tool is
Excel-DB, a fantastic way to integrate a spreadsheet with Oracle and SQL
Server data. It can also get data from open-source databases like MySQL
and PostgreSQL.
Many Oracle shops have the need to extract Oracle data into
spreadsheets, especially large Oracle data warehouses where the
end-users want to extract Oracle data for multidimensional analysis
using Microsoft Excel pivot tables. Excel pivot tables are an
inexpensive alternative to expensive multidimensional presentation
tools and I sometimes recommend using spreadsheets for analyzing
Oracle warehouse data for several reasons:
- Easy – Most end-users already understand Excel spreadsheets,
so there is very little training involved.
- Powerful – Oracle pivot tables make it easy to do
sophisticated multidimensional analysis. To see examples, just use the
Excel help facility on pivot tables.
But how do we get the data from Oracle? One of the most common problems
with extracting Oracle data into spreadsheets are the cumbersome interfaces
and slow performance of ODBC. I never recommend any product that I have not
personally used and tested, and I’m very choosey who I endorse. I always
recommend the Excel-DB tool for applications that interface with Oracle and
Excel spreadsheets.
Fast and Easy Oracle Extracts to Spreadsheets
Excel-DB adds an "oracle" button to the MS-Excel toolbar and you can
VERY easily enter any SQL, press the button and see the results in
your spreadsheet. Excel-DB also uses a native API, so it's faster than
ODBC connections to Oracle databases. Windows Vista and Excel
2007 are supported environments for Excel-DB. According to the Excel-DB web
site:
- Get the current data that you need, instantly
- Use MS-Excel tools for advanced data analysis
- Super-fast, super-easy interface to Oracle and SQL Server
- Friendly wizard-based data interaction
- Consolidate data from many different databases
- Easy interface for Business Intelligence Analysis
Update Oracle from a excel spreadsheet
Excel-DB also allows spreadsheet data to be imported into Oracle tables.
According to their page, importing spreadsheet data into Oracle is as
simple as a few mouse clicks:
“Once data is retrieved into Excel, Excel-DB allows you to edit the
data in the spreadsheet. When the changes are made, the data can be
updated in the database with a few simple mouse clicks. Optionally
Excel-DB will ask you to confirm each individual change.”
Affordable and functional Oracle access for
spreadsheets
The Excel-DB tools is very reasonably priced. At less than $400 per
seat, it’s a great value and the site license discounts are huge.
When I see a really good
product I want people to know about it.
