SQL*Server Import Export Wizard 2017 vs Office 64 bit

Not Oracle but since we're having to multi-platform these days might be relevant to some.

When you install SQL*Server Management Studio on 64 bit windows the Management Studio (SSMS, equivalent of SQL*Plus) is 64 bit but it installs the 32 bit version of Import Export Wizard (SSIS).  This is fine if you have the 32 bit version of Office installed or only import and export CSV or other non-Microsoft file types.

If you have 64 bit Office and try to import an Excel spreadsheet then you will get an error message: "The 'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' provider is not registered on the local machine. (System.Data)"

Googlign for this error message brings back a range of solutions (many dating back to SQL*Server 2008 and Office 2010) ranging from installing the 64 bit Access Runtime redistributable to setting up a VM in Oracle Virtual Box and putting the SSMS/SSIS software on that but not any form of Office.

When I ran into this error today we found, after some trial and error that the solution was to install the 32 bit Access Runtime redistributable:

• Access 2010
• Access 2016  

When downloading make sure to select the 32 bit version.

If viewing other solutions  be wary of the date of the article, we went down a lot of rabbit holes due to articles from 2010/11.

This entry was written on 18th January 2019, if you're reading it much after that then you may be facign a different situation.

Oracle Midlands User Group May 2014 Meeting

On 20th May 2014 Oracle Midlands User Group will be hosting a couple of talks by Christian Antognini.  For full details see: http://oraclemidlands.com/

The first talk covers adaptive query optimisation in Oracle 12c and how it can be used to ensure that the query optimiser generates better plans more often.  The second talk delves into the internals of row chaining and migration.

The venue is: InnovationBirmingham, Faraday Wharf, Holt St, Birmingham B7 4BB 

ROWID equivalent in Microsoft SQL*Server

The last few months I've been having to work with Microsoft SQL*Server 2008 R2 for a project I'm on.  I'm not finding it fun for a variety of reasons, including that it doesn't seem as capable as I recall Oracle being and that the source data I'm having to work with is very, very dirty.

One of the complicating factors is often there will be exactly, or almost exactly, duplicate rows when each row should be unique.  Obviously I need to have something to uniquely identify the rows for the delete so looked for an equivalent of ROWID (the pseudo-column in Oracle that uniquely identifies a row).  I found a page that talks about this.  The pseudo column is %%physloc%%.

Tablet PCs - Why so pricey?

Is touch screen really expensive to do or something. I've been tossing around the idea of getting a tablet PC to stick OneNote on to use for note taking, reading documents and some web surfing (including Gmail) via WiFi. I'm having to attend a lot of meetings/briefings where the ability to take notes and link them to documents and web pages would be incredibly useful.

Looking around the web the options seem to be:

• iPad, around the £500-900 mark but won't multitask or run OneNote and from what I've heard from all but the most ardent Apple worshipper is basically crap (iPhone without the ability to make calls)


• Tiny and low spec (more of a PDA than PC) around the £400-700 mark


• Equivalent spec to a, non-touchscreen, laptop that currently retails for about £300-450 but costing £1500-2100

I think I'm stick with pencil and paper with printouts of docs I want to read for now.

In terms of specification what I'm looking for is:

• 10-12 inch screen


• Run OneNote 2007, Acrobat reader and Firefox at the same time with reasonable performance from both


• WiFi


• At least 64Gb available local storage after all system/application requirements are fulfilled


• Support for external USB keyboard and mouse


• At least 3 USB ports (2 for keyboard and mouse plus one for memory stick)


• Price point under £500


• Handwriting recognition

Oracle aims to secure future of Sparc, Solaris and Sun hardware

Interesting article on ComputerWeekly.com about how Oracle are looking to secure the future of Sparc, Solaris and Sun Hardware. They don't mention it but I wouldn't be surprised if we see 'Database as an Appliance' coming soon with Oracle Database running on Sun Hardware with management taken out of the hands of the local DBA and automated or made accessible only to Oracle themselves. This isn't a 'Death of the DBA' thing, the sort of sites that could go for something like that are probably the ones that don't have a DBA, just a support tech who has a couple of books, the sort of sites that probably run M$ SQLServer now.

One thing they mention, as an aside, is that Oracle plan to OpenOffice.org to position it as a competitor to Microsoft Office. If they want to do that then I think the thing they really need to introduce to the suite is a desktop RDBMS to beat Access. Ideally something that can also act as a front end to Oracle with a tool that will let you take a desktop database and export it to a full blown Oracle server then use the existing database (or copy thereof) as the front end. A similar process already exists for Access and SQLServer. This might look like a competitor for their development tools arm but then there are already plenty of competitive development tools from other vendors (including Access from Microsoft) in that market.

Oracle to buy Sun

Oracle announced today that they will be buying Sun Microsystems. Their plan is to produce 'pre-integrated' systems where everything from the bare metal, silicon and spinning rust up to the application front end is from themselves. The idea is that customers will save money on systems integration costs but reliability will go up.

Ada Lovelace Day

Apparently today is Ada Lovelace Day. Ada Lovelace (aka Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace) is widely recognised as the first computer programmer. The daughter of Lord Byron, she was encouraged away from her father's dissolute lifestyle by her mother, who encouraged her interest in mathematics. Ada excelled at mathematics and became a friend for Charles Babbage.

When Babbage created his Difference Engine, the first programmable computer, Ada wrote out the method to configure it to calculate Bernoulli numbers. Hence her appellation as the first computer programmer.

Ada Lovelace day was created by Suw Charman-Anderson as a way to promote women in IT.