How to update Greenplum from Excel

The CData Excel Add-In for Greenplum enables you to edit and save Greenplum data directly from Excel. This article explains how to transfer data from Excel to Greenplum. This technique is useful if you want to work on Greenplum data in Excel and update changes, or if you have a whole spreadsheet you want to import into Greenplum. In this example, you will use the Orders table; however, the same process will work for any table that can be retrieved by the CData Excel Add-In.

Establish a Connection

If you have not already done so, create a new Greenplum connection by clicking From Greenplum on the ribbon.

To connect to Greenplum, set the Server, Port (the default port is 5432), and Database connection properties and set the User and Password you wish to use to authenticate to the server. If the Database property is not specified, the default database for the authenticate user is used.

Retrieve Data from Greenplum

To insert data into Greenplum, you will first need to retrieve data from the Greenplum table you want to add to. This links the Excel spreadsheet to the Greenplum table selected: After you retrieve data, any changes you make to the data are highlighted in red.

1. Click the From Greenplum button on the CData ribbon. The Data Selection wizard is displayed.
2. In the Table or View menu, select the Orders table.
3. In the Maximum Rows menu, select the number of rows you want to retrieve. If you want to insert rows, you need to retrieve only one row. The Query box will then display the SQL query that corresponds to your request.
4. In the Sheet Name box, enter the name for the sheet that will be populated. By default the add-in will create a new sheet with the name of the table.

Insert Rows to Greenplum

After retrieving data, you can add data from an existing spreadsheet in Excel.

1. In a cell after the last row, enter a formula referencing the corresponding cell from the other spreadsheet; for example, =MyOrdersSheetInExcel!A1.
2. After using a formula to reference the cells you want to add to Greenplum, select the cells that you are inserting data into and drag the formula down as far as needed. The referenced values you want to add will be displayed on the Orders sheet.
3. Highlight the rows you want to insert and click the Update Rows button.

As each row is inserted, the Id value will appear in the Id column and the row's text will change to black, indicating that the record has been inserted.