Microsoft KB Archive/182822

= ACC: How to Transpose Data in a Table or Query =

Article ID: 182822

Article Last Modified on 1/22/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 2.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q182822



Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.



SUMMARY
At times, you may need to transpose the data in a table or query so that the field names are listed vertically down the left column and the data extends across the page horizontally. For example, you may need to transpose the data for a report or before exporting it to a text file. This article shows you two methods that you can use to accomplish this task. Method 1 shows you how you can export the data to Microsoft Excel, transpose the data, and then import the result back into Microsoft Access. Method 2 shows you how you can use an Access Basic or Visual Basic for Applications procedure to accomplish this task.



MORE INFORMATION
Note that neither method works if you have more than 255 records because the maximum number of fields in a Microsoft Access table is 255.

Method 1 - Transpose the Data in Microsoft Excel
Export the Data to Microsoft Excel.

If you are using Microsoft Access 2.0, follow these steps to export the data to Microsoft Excel:


 * 1) Start Microsoft Access and open your database. In the Database window, click the table or query that you want to export.
 * 2) On the File menu, click Export.
 * 3) In the Export dialog box, click the version of Microsoft Excel to which you want to export the data, and then click OK.
 * 4) In the Select Microsoft Access Object dialog box, make sure that the object you want to export is selected. Click OK.
 * 5) In the Export To File dialog box, specify the location and file name, and then click OK.

If you are using Microsoft Access version 7.0 or later, follow these steps to export the data to Microsoft Excel:


 * 1) Start Microsoft Access and open your database. In the Database window, click the table or query that you want to export.
 * 2) On the File menu, click Save As/Export.
 * 3) In the Save As dialog box, click To An External File Or Database, and then click OK.
 * 4) In the Save Table In dialog box, select the version of Excel to which you are exporting in the Save As Type box.
 * 5) Specify the name and location of the file, and then click Export.

Transpose the Data in Microsoft Excel.

Follow these steps to transpose the data in Microsoft Excel:


 * 1) Start Microsoft Excel and open the spreadsheet that you created in step 5 of the "Export the Data to Microsoft Excel" section.
 * 2) Press CTRL+HOME to go to cell A1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+END to select all of the data.
 * 3) On the Edit menu, click Copy.
 * 4) On the Insert menu, click Worksheet.
 * 5) On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
 * 6) In the Paste Special dialog box, select the Transpose check box and click OK.
 * 7) On the Format menu, point to Sheet, and then click Rename. Type a name for the sheet that contains the transposed data. If you want, click Save As on the File menu to export the data directly to text from Microsoft Excel.
 * 8) Save and close the workbook, and then quit Microsoft Excel.

Import the Data into Microsoft Access.

NOTE: You can avoid the possibility of type conversion failures if you create a blank table that consists entirely of text fields and you append the data to that table rather than importing the data into a new table. However, you cannot append spreadsheet data to an existing table in a Microsoft Access 7.0 database. For more information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

148165 ACC95: Import Spreadsheet Wizard Cannot Append Data to Table

If you are using Microsoft Access 2.0, follow these steps to import the transposed data into Microsoft Access:


 * 1) On the File menu, click Import.
 * 2) In the Import dialog box, click the appropriate version of Microsoft Excel, and then click OK.
 * 3) In the Select File dialog box, locate and select the spreadsheet file containing the transposed data, and then click Import.
 * 4) In the Import Spreadsheet dialog box, select the sheet containing the transposed data from the Sheet Name list. Do not select the First Row Contains Field Names check box.
 * 5) If you previously created a table consisting entirely of text fields, select that table from the Append To Existing Table list; otherwise, click Create New Table. Click OK.

If you are using Microsoft Access version 7.0 or later, follow these steps to import the transposed data into Microsoft Access:


 * 1) On the File menu, point to Get External Data, and then click Import.
 * 2) In the Import dialog box, click Microsoft Excel (*.xls) in the Files Of Type list.
 * 3) Locate and select the file you saved after transposing the data in Microsoft Excel. Then click Import.
 * 4) On the first screen of the Import Spreadsheet Wizard, click Show worksheets, and select the worksheet that contains the transposed data; click Next.
 * 5) Do not select the First Row Contains Column Headings check box in the second screen of the Import Spreadsheet Wizard. Click Next.
 * 6) If you are using Microsoft Access version 7.0, click Next.

If you are using Microsoft Access 97 and you previously created a table consisting entirely of text fields, select that table from the Existing table list; otherwise, click In A New Table, and then click Next twice.
 * 1) If you are importing into a new table, click No Primary Key.
 * 2) Click Finish. The resulting table contains the transposed data.

Method 2 - Use a Custom Function to Transpose the Table
This method assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.

NOTE: Visual Basic for Applications is called Access Basic in Microsoft Access version 2.0. For more information about Access Basic, please refer to the "Building Applications" manual.

  If you are using Microsoft Access 2.0, create a new module in your database and enter the following procedure:

Function Transposer(strSource As String, strTarget As String)

Dim db As Database Dim tdfNewDef As TableDef Dim fldNewField As Field Dim rstSource As Recordset, rstTarget As Recordset Dim i As Integer, j As Integer

On Error GoTo Transposer_Err

Set db = CurrentDB Set rstSource = db.OpenRecordset(strSource) rstSource.MoveLast

' Create a new table to hold the transposed data. ' Create a field for each record in the original table. Set tdfNewDef = db.CreateTableDef(strTarget) For i = 0 To rstSource.RecordCount - 1 Set fldNewField = tdfNewDef.CreateField(CStr(i + 1), DB_TEXT) tdfNewDef.Fields.Append fldNewField Next i        db.TableDefs.Append tdfNewDef

' Open the new table and fill the first field with ' field names from the original table. Set rstTarget = db.OpenRecordset(strTarget) For i = 0 To rstSource.Fields.Count - 1 rstTarget.AddNew rstTarget.Fields(0) = rstSource.Fields(i).Name rstTarget.Update Next i

rstSource.MoveFirst rstTarget.MoveFirst ' Fill each column of the new table ' with a record from the original table. For j = 0 To rstSource.Fields.Count - 1 ' Begin with the second field, because the first field ' already contains the field names. For i = 1 To rstTarget.Fields.Count - 1

rstTarget.Edit rstTarget.Fields(i) = rstSource.Fields(j) rstSource.MoveNext rstTarget.Update

Next i           rstSource.MoveFirst rstTarget.MoveNext Next j        rstSource.Close rstTarget.Close db.Close

Exit Function

Transposer_Err:

Select Case Err Case 3010 MsgBox "The table " & strTarget & " already exists." Case 3011 MsgBox "The table " & strSource & " doesn't exist." Case Else MsgBox CStr(Error) & " " & Error(Err) End Select

Exit Function

End Function

If you are using Microsoft Access version 7.0 or later, create a new module in your database and enter the following procedure:

Function Transposer(strSource As String, strTarget As String)

Dim db As Database Dim tdfNewDef As TableDef Dim fldNewField As Field Dim rstSource As Recordset, rstTarget As Recordset Dim i As Integer, j As Integer

On Error GoTo Transposer_Err

Set db = CurrentDb Set rstSource = db.OpenRecordset(strSource) rstSource.MoveLast

' Create a new table to hold the transposed data. ' Create a field for each record in the original table. Set tdfNewDef = db.CreateTableDef(strTarget) For i = 0 To rstSource.RecordCount Set fldNewField = tdfNewDef.CreateField(CStr(i + 1), dbText) tdfNewDef.Fields.Append fldNewField Next i        db.TableDefs.Append tdfNewDef

' Open the new table and fill the first field with ' field names from the original table. Set rstTarget = db.OpenRecordset(strTarget) For i = 0 To rstSource.Fields.Count - 1 With rstTarget .AddNew .Fields(0) = rstSource.Fields(i).Name .Update End With Next i

rstSource.MoveFirst rstTarget.MoveFirst ' Fill each column of the new table ' with a record from the original table. For j = 0 To rstSource.Fields.Count - 1 ' Begin with the second field, because the first field ' already contains the field names. For i = 1 To rstTarget.Fields.Count - 1 With rstTarget .Edit .Fields(i) = rstSource.Fields(j) rstSource.MoveNext .Update End With

Next i           rstSource.MoveFirst rstTarget.MoveNext Next j

db.Close

Exit Function

Transposer_Err:

Select Case Err Case 3010 MsgBox "The table " & strTarget & " already exists." Case 3078 MsgBox "The table " & strSource & " doesn't exist." Case Else MsgBox CStr(Err) & " " & Err.Description End Select

Exit Function

End Function  To test the function, open the Debug window (or the Immediate window in Microsoft Access version 2.0). If you are in the sample database Northwind.mdb (or Nwind.mdb), for example, and you want to transpose the Suppliers table, type the following line, and then press ENTER:

?Transposer("Suppliers","SuppliersTrans") 

Additional query words: inf reverse turn around set up differently

Keywords: kbhowto KB182822

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