Create Excel Connections
Connecting to an Excel file is easy. To create the connection, simply open the Excel file from the Create New Connection dialog 
To create an Excel connection
-
Click
-
Select Excel from the Group list.
- Browse to and select the Excel file.
-
Complete the Create New Connection dialog. Review the following for additional information:
General Tab Description Category
Select a category if you want to color code your connection.
Tip: The color is applied in the Connection Manager and other connection dialogs. You can also create a new category for your connection.
Advanced Tab Description Enable import mode
Select this checkbox to set IMEX=1 in the connection string, which converts intermixed data to text.
Show system tables
Select to display worksheets as system tables. Toad uses the worksheet name suffixed with a dollar sign ($). Automatically create ranges
Select this option if you want Toad to automatically create named ranges. Toad creates one named range in each worksheet (unless the Toad name, AutoRange_<worksheet name>, already exists).
Note: Toad does not overwrite the user defined named ranges. The Toad-created named ranges and the user defined named ranges are both visible in the Object Explorer after connecting.
Deselect this option if the Excel file contains user defined named ranges and you do not want Toad to create additional named ranges.
Important: If you deselect this option, and your Excel file does not contain named ranges, Toad is unable to create tables from your data.
The feature is selected by default.
Hide named ranges
Select the named ranges to hide.
Note: Named ranges are not displayed until after a connection is created (in the Connections or Connection Properties dialog). In Excel 2007 files, named ranges are not displayed for active connections.
Open in Excel
Click to open the selected file in Excel. This is useful if you want to modify your file or define named ranges before connecting.
-
Click Connect to connect immediately while saving the connection information. Optionally, click Save to save the connection without connecting.
Understand how Toad creates data tables from an Excel file
Toad uses Excel named ranges (regions) to define the data to include in a table. Therefore, any data that you want to display and easily query in Toad must be included in an Excel named range (region).
You can create named ranges using one of the following methods:
- Preferred method: You can ask Toad to automatically create named ranges when you create the connection to the Excel file. Toad creates one table from each worksheet and includes the contents of every formatted cell.
- If you do not want to include a worksheet's entire contents in one named range, or if a worksheet contains more than one table, then define the named ranges ahead of time in Excel.
To create a named range in Excel
-
In the Excel file, select the data that you want to include in the table (including column headings). Then define a named range.
» In Excel 2003, select Insert | Name | Define. » In Excel 2007, right-click the data and select Name a Range. - Save your Excel file. In Toad, create a new connection to the file. In the New Connection dialog, deselect Automatically create ranges.
To allow Toad to automatically create named ranges
| » | When creating a new connection to the Excel file, in the New Connection dialog, select Automatically create ranges. Toad creates one named range for each worksheet and includes the contents of every formatted cell. |
Tip: For an Excel file with an existing connection, in the Navigation Manger, right-click the file and select Properties. On the Advanced tab, select Automatically create ranges. Toad creates the named ranges the next time you reconnect to this file.
To hide named ranges
You can hide an Excel file's named ranges so that they do not display as tables in the Object Explorer.
-
In the Navigation Manager, right-click an Excel file connection and select Properties.
Note: In Excel 2007 files, the connection must be inactive for the named ranges to display.
- On the Advanced tab, select the named ranges to hide.
To view or modify connection properties
To view an Excel connection's properties, do one of the following:
- Right-click an Excel file connection in the Navigation or Connection Manager and select Properties.
- Select
on the Connections toolbar to open the Connections dialog. Select the Excel file connection in the left pane to view the connection properties in the right pane.
Considerations and Limitations
| Consideration/Limitation | Description |
|---|---|
|
Excel 2016 64-bit or Office 365 64-bit |
To successfully create a connection to an Excel file using Excel 2016 64-bit, the Microsoft Access Database Engine is required and might not have been included in the Excel installation. In addition, the architecture (bitness) of the engine must match the bitness of Toad. If using 64-bit Toad, the 64-bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine is required. If using 32-bit Toad, the 32-bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine is required.
Note: This requirement applies only to connections to Excel, not to the Toad functionality of importing/exporting to Excel. |
Troubleshoot Excel
To troubleshoot Excel issues, see the following:
- See Troubleshoot Excel® Issues for more information about troubleshooting Excel connection issues.
- For a list of Excel file limitations from Microsoft, see Microsoft Excel specifications and limits.
- For special considerations when using Excel macro-enabled files, especially in Automation scripts, see Using Macro-Enabled Excel Files.
Tip: Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.