Access Live DB2 Data in Excel for the Web (Excel 365/Online) through Connect Spreadsheets

Microsoft Excel for the web represents a cloud-native iteration of Microsoft Excel. When combined with Connect Spreadsheets by CData, you gain immediate access to DB2 data directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article shows how to connect to DB2 in Connect Spreadsheets and access and update live DB2 data in Excel spreadsheets online.

Connect Spreadsheets is the easiest way to get all your live data into Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets - no more downloading, wrangling, and uploading files again. Just connect to your data, select the dataset you'd like to see, and import it into your spreadsheet.

Configure DB2 Connectivity for Excel

Connectivity to DB2 from Excel is made possible through Connect Spreadsheets . To work with DB2 data from Excel, we start by creating and configuring a DB2 connection.

1. Log into Connect Spreadsheets, click Sources and click Add Connection
2. Select "DB2" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to DB2.

   Set the following properties to connect to DB2:

   • Server: Set this to the name of the server running DB2.
   • Port: Set this to the port the DB2 server is listening on.
   • Database: Set this to the name of the DB2 database.
   • User: Set this to the username of a user allowed to access the database.
   • Password: Set this to the password of a user allowed to access the database.

   You will also need to install the corresponding DB2 driver:

   • Windows: Install the IBM Data Server Provider for .NET.

     On Windows, installing the IBM Data Server Provider is sufficient, as the installation registers it in the machine.config.

   • Java: Install the IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC.

     In the Java version, place the IBM Data Server Driver JAR in the www\WEB-INF\lib\ folder for this application.

   
4. Click Create & Test

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to DB2 data from Excel for the web.

Access Live DB2 Data in Excel for the web

The steps below outline connecting to Connect Spreadsheets from Excel to access live DB2 data.

1. Log into Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
2. Click Insert and click Office Add-ins. (If you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4.)
3. Search for Connect Spreadsheets and click "Get it now" to install the Add-in.
4. Back in Excel, open the Data ribbon select and click the CData Connect Spreadsheets "Get Data" button.
5. In the Add-In panel, click "Log in" to sign into and authenticate with your Connect Spreadsheets account
6. In the Connect Spreadsheets panel in Excel, click Import
7. Choose a Connection (e.g. DB21), Table (e.g. Orders), and Columns to import
8. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit
9. Click Execute to import the data

Update DB2 Data from Excel

In addition to viewing DB2 data in Excel, Connect Spreadsheets also lets you update and delete DB2 data. Begin by importing data (as described above).

1. Update any cell or cells with changes you want to push to DB2
2. In the Connect Spreadsheets Add-In panel, select Update
3. Optionally highlight the cell(s) you wish to update and select an update option ("Update All" or "Update Selected")
4. Click Execute to push the updates to DB2

A notification will appear when the update is complete.

Live Access to DB2 Data from Spreadsheets

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live DB2 data from your Excel workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.

Try Connect Spreadsheets and get real-time data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your spreadsheet apps.