Forum Discussion

Marius Du Toit's avatar
Marius Du Toit
Copper Contributor
Feb 28, 2018
Solved

How to automate Get & Transform from new CSV files

I need advise from the Get & Transform experts to automate the collection of data from CSV files - Using Excel 2016   The client uses a 'non-standard' ERP system which has no ODBC or other method...
  • Marius Du Toit's avatar
    Mar 19, 2018

    Bugger!  First time ever I answered my own question.

     

    After some experimentation with Excel 2016 and the Get & Transform feature I discovered how to accomplish the required outcome.

     

    Without going into too much detail, this is how it works.

    1) I created a folder where the user can dump their monthly CSV files.

    To start with, there is no need to remove the CSV files after the data has been imported into Excel, as long as new files added don't contain duplicate information.  This creates added advantages

    (a) accumulation of historical data (b) other queries could access the same data for different purposes.

    2) In Excel use (on the Data tab) GET DATA > FROM FILE > FROM FOLDER

    Follow the prompts to complete the query building process

    3) Drop new CSV files in the folder and refresh the data in Excel (Data Tab - Refresh all)

     

    This solution works perfectly for my client, but your requirement may differ.

Resources