How to Connect to & Open SAP ByDesign Data in Microsoft Excel

The CData ODBC driver for SAP ByDesign uses the standard ODBC interface to link SAP ByDesign data with applications like Microsoft Access and Excel. Follow the steps below to use Microsoft Query to import SAP ByDesign data into a spreadsheet and provide values to a parameterized query from cells in a spreadsheet.

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Set the following connection properties to connect to SAP ByDesign.

• Url: Set this to the Url of your SAP ByDesign site. For example, https://test.sapbydesign.com
• User: Set this to the username of your account.
• Password: Set this to the password of your account.
• CustomService or AnalyticsService: Only one of these must be specified. If you have a custom service you want to retrieve data from, specify CustomService. If you want to retrieve the reports of a analytical service, specify AnalyticsService.
  If neither is specified, 'cc_home_analytics.svc' will used as a default for the AnalyticsService property. If you are not sure what service to specify, you can always query the Services view to list available services.

You can then work with live SAP ByDesign data in Excel.

1. In Excel, open the Data tab and choose Get Data -> From Other Sources -> From Microsoft Query.
2. Choose the SAPByDesign DSN. Select the option to use Query Wizard to create/edit queries.
3. In the Query Wizard, expand the node for the table you would like to import into your spreadsheet. Select the columns you want to import and click the arrow to add them to your query. Alternatively, select the table name to add all columns for that table.
4. The Filter Data page allows you to specify criteria. For example, you can limit results by setting a date range.
5. If you want to use parameters in your query, select the option to edit the query in Microsoft Query.

6. To set a parameter in the query, you will need to modify the SQL statement directly. To do this, click the SQL button in the Query Editor. If you set filter criteria earlier, you should have a WHERE clause already in the query.

   To use a parameter, use a "?" character as the wildcard character for a field's value in the WHERE clause. For example, if you are importing the [Inventory Balance], you can set "ProductCategoryID=?".

7. Close the SQL dialog when you are finished editing the SQL statement. You will be prompted to enter a parameter value. In the next step, you will select a cell to provide this value. So, leave the box in the dialog blank.

8. Click File -> Return Data to Microsoft Excel. The Import Data dialog is displayed. Enter a cell where results should be imported.

9. Close the Import Data dialog. You will be prompted to enter a parameter value. Click the button next to the parameter box to select a cell. Select the option to automatically refresh the spreadsheet when the value changes.