Get Sales Information from a Database

Topic at a glance

Chances are you sometimes work with data that isn’t stored on your computer. For example, your company may compile sales statistics in a database located on a networked mainframe.

Out of mountains of detailed data in the corporate database, extract just what is relevant to your work by using a query—a method of extracting specific data from a database. Then you can use familiar spreadsheet analysis tools on that data, without retyping it.

Before you start   you need to install and enable Microsoft Query and the correct Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) driver for your data source. If you chose the Minimum or Typical installation, you need to run Setup again to install Microsoft Query. See your database manager to find out which ODBC driver you need.