How do I import an .accdb file into Python and use the data?

Justin picture Justin · Sep 13, 2014 · Viewed 31.2k times · Source

I am trying to figure out a way to create a program that allows me to find the best combination of data based on several different factors.

I have a Microsoft Access file with creature data in it. Attack, Defense, Health, Required Battle skill to use and several other bits of info.

I am trying to import this .accdb (Access 2013) file and be able to access the stored data.

I am going to try to make a program that scans all the data and runs all possible combinations (sets of 5 creatures) to find the strongest combination of creatures for different required battle skills (ex: 100 battle skill would use creature 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 where 125 battle skill would use creature 3, 5, 6, 8, and 10)

The main thing I need help with first is being able to import the data base for easy access so I do not have to recreate the data in python and so I can use the same program for new access databases in the future.

I have installed https://code.google.com/p/pypyodbc/ but can't seem to figure out how to get it to load an existing file.

Edit

I tried to use the code from Gord's answer, modified to fit my info.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import pypyodbc
pypyodbc.lowercase = False
conn = pypyodbc.connect(
    r"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};" +
    r"Dbq=C:\Users\Ju\Desktop\Dark Summoner.accdb;")
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute("SELECT Number, Name, Atk, Def, HP, BP, Species, Special FROM Impulse AA+");
while True:
    row = cur.fetchone()
    if row is None:
        break
    print (u"Creature with Number {1} is {1} ({2})".format(
        row.get("CreatureID"), row.get("Name_EN"), row.get("Name_JP")))
cur.close()
conn.close()

Was getting an error with the print line so added () around it.

I am now getting this error, similar to what I was getting in the past.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Ju\Desktop\Test.py", line 6, in <module>
    r"Dbq=C:\Users\Ju\Desktop\Dark Summoner.accdb;")
  File "C:\Python34\lib\site-packages\pypyodbc-1.3.3-py3.4.egg\pypyodbc.py", line 2434, in __init__
    self.connect(connectString, autocommit, ansi, timeout, unicode_results, readonly)
  File "C:\Python34\lib\site-packages\pypyodbc-1.3.3-py3.4.egg\pypyodbc.py", line 2483, in connect
    check_success(self, ret)
  File "C:\Python34\lib\site-packages\pypyodbc-1.3.3-py3.4.egg\pypyodbc.py", line 988, in check_success
    ctrl_err(SQL_HANDLE_DBC, ODBC_obj.dbc_h, ret, ODBC_obj.ansi)
  File "C:\Python34\lib\site-packages\pypyodbc-1.3.3-py3.4.egg\pypyodbc.py", line 964, in ctrl_err
    raise Error(state,err_text)
pypyodbc.Error: ('IM002', '[IM002] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified')

I looked through the pypyodbc.py file at the lines mentioned in the error code, but could not figure it out. I tried to remove the "r" from the beginning of r"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};" and tried a space between r and "Driver because I did not know what it was for, But got a different error.

Edit

I checked my files as suggested. I believe I am running 64bit. I checked both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions. I have Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb) in the 64 bit but not in the 32 bit. I am using the 2013 version of Microsoft Visual Studios.

Edit

Working now!

My final working code in case it helps anyone in the future.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import pypyodbc
pypyodbc.lowercase = False
conn = pypyodbc.connect(
    r"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};" +
    r"Dbq=C:\Users\Ju\Desktop\Dark Summoner.accdb;")
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute("SELECT Number, ID, Name, Atk, Def, HP, BP, Species, Special FROM Impulse_AA");
while True:
    row = cur.fetchone()
    if row is None:
        break
    print (u"ID: {1} {2} Atk:{3} Def:{4} HP:{5} BP:{6} Species: {7} {8}".format(
        row.get("Number"), row.get("ID"), row.get("Name"), row.get("Atk"),
        row.get("Def"), row.get("HP"), row.get("BP"), row.get("Species"), row.get("Special") ))
cur.close()
conn.close()

Answer

Gord Thompson picture Gord Thompson · Sep 13, 2014

Say you have a database file named "Database1.accdb" with a table named "Creatures" containing the following data:

CreatureID  Name_EN   Name_JP
----------  --------  -------
         1  Godzilla  ゴジラ
         2  Mothra    モスラ

A minimalist Python script to read the data via pypyodbc on a Windows machine would look something like this:

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import pypyodbc
pypyodbc.lowercase = False
conn = pypyodbc.connect(
    r"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};" +
    r"Dbq=C:\Users\Public\Database1.accdb;")
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute("SELECT CreatureID, Name_EN, Name_JP FROM Creatures");
while True:
    row = cur.fetchone()
    if row is None:
        break
    print(u"Creature with ID {0} is {1} ({2})".format(
        row.get("CreatureID"), row.get("Name_EN"), row.get("Name_JP")))
cur.close()
conn.close()

The resulting output is

Creature with ID 1 is Godzilla (ゴジラ)
Creature with ID 2 is Mothra (モスラ)

Edit

Note that to use the "Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)" driver you need to have the Access Database Engine (a.k.a "ACE") installed on your machine. You can check whether you have 32-bit or 64-bit Python by running the following script:

import struct
print("running as {0}-bit".format(struct.calcsize("P") * 8))

Armed with that information you can download and install the matching (32-bit or 64-bit) version of the Access Database Engine from here

Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable