MS Access - cannot edit a linked Smartsheet

I have an MS Access databases set up with the Data Connector. I can link to my spreadsheet and read it, but cannot edit nor append to it.

Normally, when linking via odbc to an external data source, MS Access will show a popup stating that the use must select from a list of the linked table's columns to act as a primary key IF MS access cannot determine the primary key before linking.

But when I link to my Smartshee, MS Access will not show that screen, and therefore it must recognize the _rownum_ column as the primary key (and in fact, when viewing the linked table's design inside of MS Access, _rownum_ shows as the primary key.

But I cannot edit nor append to the smartsheet. When an ODBC linked table is locked like this, it happens only whe MS Access cannot recognize a primary key within the linked table, and therefore appropriately locks the table. But in this case, there is a primary key, AND MS Access must be recognizing it as a primary ket because it does not display the "pick-a-primary-key" window before the link acutally takes place.

I am the Owner of mty spreadsheet and should have full rights to to the sheet, and I have looked everywhere in the Smartsheet side of things to see if there is something I can switch on or off to allow the sheet to be edited when it is linked to by ODBC, but I can find nothing, and there is nothing that can be done on the MS Access side.

What is the solution to being to edit an ODBC-linked SmartSheet from an MS Access database?

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Comments

Joseph Miller

Hello Jeff,

Unfortunately at this time Access is not supported by our Live Data Connector. You can find a list of all supported options in our documentation.

Just as an FYI - our Live Data Connector is only meant to read data from Smartsheet. It is not able to write data into Smartsheet.

I apologize for the inconvenience. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thanks!

Joseph

Jeff Goodman

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.

Scottd

Has there been anymore discussion about allowing access to write back to a smart sheet. Updating specific fields in Smartsheet is painful when you are using data from various systems. If I export fresh data and import it into Smartsheet it creates a new sheet. Is there anyway to refresh all the data or even specific lines in a smart sheet and preserve any formulas, attachments or notes and not use cut and paste?

Roughly 4 years later, the question is if Smartsheet Live Data Connector using ODBC v3.8 now provides the ability to edit data in Smartsheet from connecting apps such as Microsoft Access? I looked through the documentation and it is not explicitly and clearly stated there that you can only view the data, but not edit it.

I am trying to move my teams away from Outlook and into Smartsheet for exchanging actions. Today it is much easier for them to simply send an email with an action then going into Smartsheet, finding the right file and then scrolling down to the last row and adding action in a new row.

There is some help from Forms and Outlook Smartsheet Add-in, but it is still cumbersome. Too many clicks in outlook add-in, and a login everytime, before you can add something. You will need to create a form for every file and then find the right weblink in your bookmarks. As a famous person once said: "Sounds good, doesn't work (at least for my team)".

There are other competitors to Smartsheet, which are making it easier for users to develop their custom app solution (in Android for example) to be able to both view and edit data. It will eventually make such tools more powerful, and that they also give much attractive pricing and features for individual users.