Whitepapers - Oracle desktop integration

By Peter Forbes and Ben Lamb, 31st January 2005

A common question users running Oracle based apps ask is - How do I access data using standard Windows products like Word and Excel?

The simple answer for Windows users is to use ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) drivers which provide a common interface between database software and desktop apps.

However when talking about technology, the answers are often more complex. Oracle ODBC drivers have a reputation for being hard to install and retrieving data using complex queries often result in failure...

In the following series of articles we'll show you how to setup the Oracle ODBC connection and then demonstrate a number of options on how to retreive data into Excel and Word.

Installing the Oracle ODBC Driver How to install and configure Oracle ODBC connection using Oracle's instantclient.

Using Oracle data in Microsoft Word How to retrieve single table data from Oracle using the mail merge functionality.

Advanced methods for retrieving Oracle data into Word and Excel

• Creating a complex query using MS Query
  Shows how to create complex SQL queries using MS Query and use the returned data in Word and Excel
• Opening your query in Word
  How to save your MS Query and open it from Word
• Opening your query with parameters in Word
  If you have parameters, we need save your data to a worksheet, this explains how.
• Using your query with Mail Merge
  Create your Mail Merge Word doc using data from your query