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3/20/2011
LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 2 of 13

Linking with IBM AS400

Tables
Posted By a.p.r.pillai On 19 Jun 2008. Under External
Links Tags: MsaccessLinks

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AS400
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AS400 I Series

We c a n c o nvert IBM iSeries (AS400) DB2 Ta b le

into d Ba se Fo rm a t, download a nd Link o r Im p o rt
into MS-Access Da ta b a ses. The d o w nlo a d ing
p ro c ed ure m ust b e c rea ted a nd run fro m AS400
Menus. If it req uires severa l step s b efo re the
outp ut file b eing tra nsferred to lo c a l d rive then it
c a n b e a uto m a ted w ith Ma c ro Sc rip ts. The key
strokes c a n b e rec o rd ed a nd m o d ified in suc h a
w a y tha t the ta rg et file g o es to a sp ec ific
lo c a tio n on the Lo c a l Ma c hine w ith a
p red efined na m e tha t rem a ins linked w ith the
Microsoft Access Database.

If yo u ha ve suffic ient Ac c ess Privileg es to iSeries

(AS400) Ma in Fra m e Ta b les yo u c a n Link them
d irec tly into your MS-Ac c ess Da ta b a se . We a re
g o ing to lo o k into this m etho d w ith ODBC b a se d
procedure shortly.

No rm a lly, Rep o rts a re g enera ted fro m AS400

a nd p ro vid ed to Users a s Ha rd Co p ies, o r
c o nverted into Rep o rt Sp o o l File in Text Form , if
So ft Co p y is requested for. We c a n d o w nlo a d
this File either in Text fo rm or up loa d it into
Mic roso ft Exc el (m a y no t Pa rse the d a ta
correctly into Num b er or Da te etc .) w ith iSeries
Report Down-Loa der Progra m. AS400 ta b les a lso

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LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 3 of 13

c a n b e d o w nlo a d ed d irec tly into Mic ro so ft Exc el

a nd in this p ro c ess, if the num b er o f lines a re
m o re tha n 65535 (the lim ita tio n o f Mic roso ft Excel
Worksheet) it w ill c rea te m o re tha n o ne
Wo rksheet a uto m a tic a lly to a c c o m m o d a te a ll
the data into Excel File.

La ter o n, w e w ill lo o k into a VBA Prog ra m to

up lo a d the AS400 Report Sp oo l File d irec tly into
Mic roso ft Ac c e ss Ta b le, a fter rem o ving Rep ort
Headers and other unwanted lines.

But for now, let us go through the steps for Linking

IBM iSeries DB2 Ta b les into MS-Ac c ess Da ta b a se.
The exa m p le im a g es a re c rea ted fro m
Windows2000 Workstation.

Creating ODBC System DSN

1. Select Sta rt Menu ? – > Settings ? – >

Control Pa nel ? > Administra tive Tools ? ->
double-Click on Data Sources (ODBC).

The ODBC Da ta Source Administra tor

Setting s w ill b e d isp la yed . See the Im a g e
g iven b elo w . The Fo llo w ing Step s w ill w a lk
you through the procedure:

http://goo.gl/fb/mKnOU
a p p lic a tions? Severa l 35 days ago
q ueries o f d ifferent

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LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 4 of 13

2. Select System DSN Ta b o n the ODBC Da ta

Source Administrator.

3. Click Add? Butto n to d isp la y a list o f Da ta

Source Drivers.

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LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 5 of 13

4. Select Client Access ODBC Driver (32-bit)

fro m the d isp la yed list in the Crea te New
Data Source Control and Click Finish.

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LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 6 of 13

5. Typ e a na m e in the Da ta Source na me

Control. I ha ve inserted the na m e myData
as Data Source Name. We have to look for
this na m e w hen w e a ttem p t to link the
Table to MS-Access.

6. Click on the Server Tab.

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LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 7 of 13

7. Typ e the sp ec ific iSeries Fo ld er Na m e

w here your d a ta ta b le resid es in the
Library List Control. If more than one Library
is there then separate them with Comas.

8. Put a c hec k m a rk o n the Read-Only

(Select sta tements only) o p tio n und er
Connection Type, to ensure tha t w e ha ve
no intention to m od ify the d a ta in iSeries
Table.

9. Click Apply fo llow ed b y OK Button. The

System Da ta So urc e Na m e myData
a p p ea rs in the System DSN Ta b . See the

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LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 8 of 13

image below.

10. Click OK to c lose the ODBC Co nfig ura tio n

Ma in Co ntro l (the Ap p ly b utto n rem a ins
disabled in this case).

Linking to MS-Access Database

1. Open your MS-Access Database.

2. Select File ? -> Get Externa l Da ta ? – > Link

Table or Import Option.

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3. Select ODBC Da ta ba ses in the Files of Type

c o ntro l in the Common Dia log Control a nd
Click Link (o r Import) Button a s the c a se
may be.

4. Select Ma chine Da ta Source Ta b o n the

ODBC Co ntro l a nd find the Da ta So urc e
Name myData tha t yo u ha ve c rea ted ,
select it and click OK.

Yo u w ill b e p ro m p ted fo r AS400 User-ID

and password. Key-in your User ID,
Password and Click OK.

A List w ill op en up sho w ing a ll the Ta b le

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LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 10 of 13

Na m es a va ila b le in the AS400 iSerie s

Ma c hine Pre fixed w ith the Lib ra ry Na m e
following by a period.

5. Select the Table(s) to Link and Click OK.

The Field s of the selec ted Ta b le w ill b e

d isp la yed sug g esting to hig hlig ht o ne o r
more fields for indexing, if needed.

6. Hig hlig ht the Field (s), if yo u w o uld like to

c rea te a Uniq ue Ind ex fo r the Ta b le,
otherwise Click OK without selecting any.

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LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 11 of 13

The selec ted Ta b le w ill b e linked (o r Im p o rted a s

the case may be) into your Database.

If the ta b le rem a ins linked , w henever yo u

a ttem p t to use the ta b le a fter o p ening yo ur MS-
Ac c ess Da ta b a se fo r the first tim e it w ill p ro m p t
fo r the AS400 iSeries UserID a nd Password a nd
after that the login is valid for the current Session.

If yo u d o n’ t w a nt this to ha p p en in the m id d le o f
so m e p ro c essing step s it is b etter to invo ke the
lo g in im m ed ia tely a fter op ening the Da ta b a se.
To do this, create a Query or Form or Report using
the linked iSeries Ta b le tha t o p e ns w ith a n
Autoexec Ma cro o r the Fo rm in Sta rtup , o r even
b etter w rite a VBA ro utine to o p en the linked
ta b le w hic h w ill invo ke the lo g in a nd the User is
p ro m p ted fo r keying in her User ID a nd Password
a t the b eg inning o f the c urrent sessio n itself. This
will take care of the rest of the Session.

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LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 12 of 13

Days in Month Function

Finding Consecutive Workdays with Query

Transparent Command Buttons

Colorful Command Buttons

Double Action Command Button

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2 Responses To “Linking With IBM AS400

Tables”

Anonymous Says:
February 25, 2010 at 4:54 pm

this type of data transfer is not possible in

windows xp. I am getting junk data when
data are being transferred from as400 to ms
access. But same thing is possible in windows
2000. I do not know , what is the reason? Pls
advise me. Amitmohan

A.P.R. Pillai Says:

February 27, 2010 at 2:42 pm

I could not test the procedure under

WindowsXP. Now I am retired from service I
don't have access to AS400 System to try it
out either. But, I don't see why it cannot work
under WindowsXP. Try to insert the ODBC

http://msaccesstips.com/2008/06/linking-with-ibm-as400-tables/ 3/20/2011
LEARN MS-ACCESS TIPS AND TRICKS - Linking with IBM AS400 Tables Page 13 of 13

String into the ConnectStr Property of a new

Query and open the AS400 Table directly
rather than linking it to the database.
Sample ODBC String is given below.

ODBC;DSN=myData;UID=UserID;PWD=Password;TABLE=PAVUP.APC161D

You may read the Article:

http://www.msaccesstips.com/2008/09/source
-connect-str-property-and-odbc/ to take
the ODBC string from your DSN.

Regards,

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