RODBC and Access - Loading data

Question

I am trying to load some data into R from an Access database. All of the instructions I can find say to use odbcConnectAccess(\"file.mdb\") but I cannot seem to load this fu

Answer 1

Here is what my session looks like. Does yours look similar?

library(RODBC)
setwd("C:/Users/Farrel/Documents/Working")
channel<-odbcConnectAccess("RRPre.mdb")
uniquehuman<-sqlFetch(channel, "AgeGenderofUniqueHumans")

It works perfectly on my system. Window 7, Microsoft Access around 2007. I do not know how proficient you are in Access databases. I used it for a few years and discovered that as long as I was the sole user it worked alright. The minute I tried to copy the database or share it or have a collegue add data to it it became unworkable. I have done all I can to work with it no more. If you have an ongoing use scenario then I guess you have to get odbcConnectAccess to work. However, if it is a one off then just export from Access to a more conventional data format, such as a csv table.

Answer 2

If you're using on a Mac, I've found success using Actual Technologies drivers to connect to Access databases. If you've already set up the ODBC connection, using ODBC Source Administrator on Windows or ODBC Administrator on a Mac, the rest is fairly straightforward.

library(RODBC)
# Open up channel to database supplying name of ODBC connection and user name

data.ch<-odbcConnect("ODBC_Connection_name",uid="user_name") 

There is also an option to supply a password in odbcConnect, but I've set up the connection with the password included.

sqlTables(data.ch) # Query the connection for all tables

# Fetch all data from a table called "Table_name" or use standard SQL statements
 df<-sqlFetch(data.ch,"Table_name")