Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access is an RDBMS from Microsoft. It is part of Microsoft Office 365 and includes a GUI and various software development tools. It has its own database engine and data format but also supports importing and linking data from other sources, including PostgreSQL databases (and thus bit.io). You can, therefore, import and link your bit.io data tables in Microsoft Access.

Importing Tables From or Linking to bit.io with Microsoft Access

In order to connect to bit.io with Microsoft Access, you'll need to find your PosgreSQL connection credentials from the bit.io Connect Tab of the database to which you would like to connect. You can find everything you need to know about your PostgreSQL credentials here.

Set Up and ODBC Data Source

Using these credentials, you must first set up an ODBC Data Source. Microsoft Access will connect to your database using this data source.

Connect Microsoft Access to bit.io using the ODBC data source

Once you've configured your ODBC data source, you can import or link to your bit.io tables using Microsoft Access.

First, from the "External Data" tab, select "New Data Source." From the "New Data Source" menu, select "From Other Sources" and "ODBC Database."

At this point, you will be given the option to "import the source data into a new table in the current database" or to "link to the data source by creating a linked table."

These approaches are quite different. Importing the source data means the tables from your bit.io database will be copied to the Access database, but changes in one database will not be reflected in the other. Linking enables you to sync changes between the two databases. Changes made to the access database will be reflected in the bit.io database, and vice versa.

After choosing whether to import or link to a data source, you will be prompted to select the data source you want to use. From the "Machine Data Source" tab, select the ODBC Postgres connection you configured at the beginning of this guide (PostgreSQL35W in the screenshot below).

Click "OK." You will be prompted to select the tables you want to import or sync. Once you select them, they will be imported or linked.

Exporting Data from Microsoft Access to bit.io

If you're interested in migrating tables from Microsoft Access to bit.io, first configure the ODBC data source as detailed at the beginning of this guide.

Once this ODBC connection has been configured, right click the table you'd like to move to bit.io and click "export." Choose "ODBC Database." Name your table when prompted. At the "Select Data Source" menu, from the "Machine Data Source" tab, select the ODBC Postgres connection you configured at the beginning of this guide (PostgreSQL35W in the screenshot below).

The export to bit.io will begin when you click OK. Note that, depending on the size of your table, this might take a very long time, and Access may be non-responsive during that time.

Using Access with bit.io

If you've simply imported or exported some tables: congratulations, you're done! You can use your tables on Access and/or bit.io, and changes made in one database will not affect the other.

If you've linked a bit.io table to Access, changes you make in Access will be reflected in bit.io and vice versa:

Linking lets you connect to data in another database without importing it, so that you can view and modify the latest data in both the source and destination databases without creating and maintaining two copies of the same data.