I'm looking for a macro/vbs to update all the external data query connections to point at a different server or database. This is a pain to do manually and in versions of Excel before 2007 it sometimes seems impossible to do manually.
Anyone have a sample? I see there are different types of connections 'OLEDB' and 'ODBC', so I guess I need to deal with different formats of connection strings?
I ended up writing the following, which prompts for the connection details, creates a connection string, then updates all external data queries to use that connection string.
'''' Prompts for connection details and updates all the external data connections in the workbook accordingly.
'''' Changes all connections to use ODBC connections instead of OLEDB connections.
'''' Could be modified to use OLEDB if there's a need for that.
Sub PromptAndUpdateAllConnections()
Dim Server As String, Database As String, IntegratedSecurity As Boolean, UserId As String, Password As String, ApplicationName As String
Dim ConnectionString As String
Dim MsgTitle As String
MsgTitle = "Connection Update"
If vbOK = MsgBox("You will be asked for information to connect to the database, and this spreadsheet will be updated to connect using those details.", vbOKCancel, MsgTitle) Then
Server = InputBox("Database server or alias and instance name, e.g. 'LONDB01' or 'LONDB01\INST2'", MsgTitle)
If Server = "" Then GoTo Cancelled
Database = InputBox("Database name", MsgTitle, "a default value")
If Database = "" Then GoTo Cancelled
IntegratedSecurity = (vbYes = MsgBox("Integrated Security? (i.e. has your windows account been given access to connect to the database)", vbYesNo, MsgTitle))
If Not IntegratedSecurity Then
UserId = InputBox("User Id", MsgTitle)
If UserId = "" Then GoTo Cancelled
Password = InputBox("Password", MsgTitle)
If Password = "" Then GoTo Cancelled
End If
ApplicationName = "Excel Reporting"
ConnectionString = GetConnectionString(Server, Database, IntegratedSecurity, UserId, Password, ApplicationName)
UpdateAllQueryTableConnections ConnectionString
MsgBox "Spreadsheet Updated", vbOKOnly, MsgTitle
End If
Exit Sub
Cancelled:
MsgBox "Spreadsheet not updated", vbOKOnly, MsgTitle
End Sub
'''' Generates an ODBC connection string from the given details.
Function GetConnectionString(Server As String, Database As String, IntegratedSecurity As Boolean, _
UserId As String, Password As String, ApplicationName As String)
Dim result As String
If IntegratedSecurity Then
result = "ODBC;DRIVER=SQL Server;SERVER=" & Server & ";DATABASE=" & Database _
& ";Trusted_Connection=Yes;APP=" & ApplicationName & ";"
Else
result = "ODBC;DRIVER=SQL Server;SERVER=" & Server & ";DATABASE=" & Database _
& ";UID=" & UserId & ";PWD=" & Password & ";APP=" & ApplicationName & ";"
End If
RM_GetConnectionString = result
End Function
'''' Sets all external data connection strings to the given value (regardless of whether they're
'''' currently ODBC or OLEDB connections. Appears to change type successfully.
Sub UpdateAllQueryTableConnections(ConnectionString As String)
Dim w As Worksheet, qt As QueryTable
Dim cn As WorkbookConnection
Dim odbcCn As ODBCConnection, oledbCn As OLEDBConnection
For Each cn In ThisWorkbook.Connections
If cn.Type = xlConnectionTypeODBC Then
Set odbcCn = cn.ODBCConnection
odbcCn.SavePassword = True
odbcCn.Connection = ConnectionString
ElseIf cn.Type = xlConnectionTypeOLEDB Then
Set oledbCn = cn.OLEDBConnection
oledbCn.SavePassword = True
oledbCn.Connection = ConnectionString
End If
Next
End Sub