Linked table not pulling all fields

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I have a linked table to an excel file. the link will not pull all fields. i’ve tried several times to reestablish the link, but still it will not pull the a field called “short description” with a length of no longer 120 characters. can you help me figure out what i’m doing wrong!!!!!

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Add a new column in Excel, before the problem one. Call it something short and simple with no spaces. Add some sample test data. See if you can pull that in as a new field in your database. If it imports, copy the contents of the problem column into the working column. Does it still work? This may give a clue as to the problem.

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I performed the test you suggested. everything work. what does this tell us?

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Do you just not see that field at all? or do you see the field but NOT the data in it?
Are there any error message?
Is there anything unusual about the data in the missing field?

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So you can import the data you want in the new field. Try renaming the old column in Excel to something else, and rename the new column to what it should be. Try the import again. Hopefully it will work okay.

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after inserting and deleting the field in front of the short desc field (which happens to be the last field in the sheet), i was able to link properly to the field. i had our staff run the exported data which populates the table (they have to do this daily) today and we’re back to square one. the table doesn’t recognize the field again. i dont’ want to have to insert another manual step unless i absoultely have to.

i just don’t understand why it won’t recognize the last column of data automatically.

thanks to all who are attempting to help!

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Can you post the Excel spreadsheet here without any sensitive data, so we can try it ourselves.

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after inserting and deleting the field in front of the short desc field (which happens to be the last field in the sheet), i was able to link properly to the field. i had our staff run the exported data which populates the table (they have to do this daily) today and we’re back to square one. the table doesn’t recognize the field again. i dont’ want to have to insert another manual step unless i absoultely have to.

i just don’t understand why it won’t recognize the last column of data automatically.

Hi –
You haven’t mentioned which product and version that you are using…If you are using Microsoft Access, the problem might be related to your choice of field name. Note that these three words are considered Reserved words:

Short
Description
Desc

So, a combination of reserved words that includes a space character, such as “short description” or “short desc” might be enough to confuse the situation, whereas I would expect that “ShortDescription” or “ShortDesc” should be okay. For a complete list of reserved words in Microsoft Access, see Access MVP Allen Browne’s listing:

Problem Names and Reserved Words in Access
http://www.allenbrowne.com/AppIssueBadWord.html

Tom Wickerath
Microsoft Access MVP

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