Knowledge Base

Using a field alias in Query does not work with some third-party databases

Article ID: 298955

Article Last Modified on 1/31/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Office Excel 2003
Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition
Microsoft Excel 2000 Standard Edition
Microsoft Query 2000

This article was previously published under Q298955

Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

When you try to use Microsoft Query to return data from some third-party databases into Microsoft Excel, apostrophes (') around alias names can cause the query to fail. The error message that you receive depends on the data source that you use.

CAUSE

This behavior is the result of a design change in Microsoft Query. Apostrophes are now automatically used when aliasing, to prevent errors that are caused by an alias that contains spaces or reserved words.

RESOLUTION

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.
Excel 2003 You do not have to download anything to fix this problem in Microsoft Office Excel 2003. See the "More Information" section of this article for instructions about how to enable this functionality
Excel 2002

The global Excel 2002 version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

   Date         Time            Size    File name
   ----------------------------------------------------
   24-Sep-2002  01:29        2,100,760  Msqry32.msp
   24-Sep-2002  02:02        1,331,424  Msqry32_admin.msp

After the hotfix is installed, the following files will have the listed attributes or later:

   Date         Time   Version            Size    File name
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   13-Sep-2002  03:52  10.0.4510.0       739,912  Msqry32.exe

Excel 2000

The global Excel 2000 version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

   Date         Time            Size    File name
   ---------------------------------------------------
   08-Nov-2002  13:41        1,166,692  Msqry32.msp
   08-Nov-2002  16:36        1,419,628  Msqry32_admin.msp

After the hotfix is installed, the following files will have the listed attributes or later:

   Date         Time   Version            Size    File name
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   19-Sep-2002  20:31  9.0.0.6919      1,089,536  Msqry32.exe

After you install this hotfix, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section of this article to set the AllowAlias registry key and to activate the hotfix.

Note After you install the fix that is described in this article, and set the AllowAlias registry key, Microsoft Query will behave as it did in Excel 97.

WORKAROUND

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.
To work around this issue, add quotation marks to the alias from inside Microsoft Query. To do this, follow these steps:

Double-click the field name in Microsoft Query.
In the Edit Column dialog box, type your field name alias surrounded by quotation marks.

For example, type "Fred" (with the quotation marks), and then click OK.

After you have returned the data back to Excel, you can use Microsoft Visual Basics for Applications (VBA) to modify the SQL and remove the quotation marks from a QueryTable or from a PivotTable:
```
ActiveSheet.Querytable(1).SQL = "new sql string"
                    
```
```
ActiveSheet.PivotTables(1).Pivotcache.Commandtext = "new sql string"
                    
```

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
After you install this hotfix, follow these steps to set the AllowAlias registry key and to activate the hotfix. Use the appropriate steps for your version of Excel.

Excel 2003

You do not have to install the hotfix. To resolve this issue, follow these steps. To activate this hotfix, follow these steps:

Quit all Office programs..
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate, and then click to select the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\query\options
After you select the key that is specified in step 4, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
Type AllowAlias, and then press ENTER.
Right-click AllowAlias, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 2, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

Excel 2002 This update was first included in Office XP Service Pack 3. For additional information about the latest service pack for Office XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307841 How to obtain the latest Office XP Service Pack

To activate this hotfix, follow these steps:

Quit all Office programs..
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate, and then click to select the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\query\options
After you select the key that is specified in step 4, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
Type AllowAlias, and then press ENTER.
Right-click AllowAlias, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 2, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

Excel 2000

To activate this hotfix, follow these steps:

Quit all Office programs..
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate, and then click to select the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\query\options
After you select the key that is specified in step 4, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
Type AllowAlias, and then press ENTER.
Right-click AllowAlias, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 2, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

REFERENCES

If you do not have to use aliasing with Microsoft Query, you can turn off aliasing completely.

For additional information about how to turn off aliasing in Microsoft Query, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

259347 XL2000: Error Message: ORA-00923:FROM Keyword Not Found Where Expected

Additional query words: msquery aliasing double-quotes single quotation marks

Keywords: kbqfe kbhotfixserver kbbug kbfix KB298955

Microsoft KB Archive/298955

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