Linking to DP4 from Microsoft Excel

Within Micrsoft Excel, you can create a DDE link to your DP4 database by entering a formula array. More precisely, the formula is a remote reference formula of this general construction:

=SQLDDE|<database_name>!<SQL_query> 

where SQLDDE names the DP4 SQL DDE server, <database_name> is the DP4 database from which you want to retrieve data, and <SQL_query> is the SELECT statement that is run against the database.

The following example uses such a formula to retrieve customer names:

1. Select the array range by highlighting a block of cells, one column wide
   
2. Click the Formula bar and enter the formula as:
   SQLDDE|salesord!'SELECT name FROM customer'
   
3. Press <Ctrl+Shift+Enter>. Excel establishes the link and fills the array with the results of the query on the SALESORD database
   

The sample salesord.xls worksheet supplied includes the above example. For more information on this facility or about array formulas, refer to the information provided by Microsoft Excel.