Part III: More-Advanced Access Techniques
616
- On the next screen (shown in Figure 17.8), select the First Row Contains Column
Headings check box and click Next.
FIGURE 17.8
Does the first row contain column headers?Column headings will become field names in the new tableNormally you don’t want the Excel column headings stored as field data. Access uses the
column headings as the field names in the new table.
- On the next screen (shown in Figure 17.9), you can override the default field name and
data type, remove fields from the import, and create an index on a field. When you’re
done, click Next. - On the next screen, set a primary key for the new table (see Figure 17.10) and click Next.
A primary key uniquely identifies each row in a table.
Caution
Be somewhat wary when choosing a primary key for the imported file. The field you choose must conform to
the rules of primary keys: No value can be null and no duplicates are allowed. The purpose of a table’s primary
key is to uniquely identify the rows in the table, so if no column in the Excel spreadsheet is appropriate for this
purpose, it’s probably best to let Access add a default primary key field. The primary key added by Access is
always an AutoNumber and always conforms to data normalization rules.