- Date Parameters In Microsoft Query Wizard Excel
- Microsoft Query Parameters Excel
- Date Parameters In Microsoft Query Wizard Word
On my Contextures website, the focus in on Excel tips and tutorials. Behind the scenes, I use Microsoft Access too, for time tracking, website statistics and a few other key tasks. This week, I wanted to find files that hadn’t been updated for a long time, so I created a query that selects records older than X – Access asks what X is each time the query runs. Here’s what I built, and a few other Access query date criteria examples.
In the query design grid, in the Criteria row of the ProjectStart column, type Enter a project start data. The string Enter a project start data is your parameter prompt. The square brackets indicate that you want the query to ask for input, and the text is Enter a project start data is the parameter prompt displays. Let us now run your query and you will see the following prompt. Let us now enter the following date. Click OK to confirm. In the Database window, click the Create tab on the Ribbon and then click the Query Wizard button from the Queries section. The New Query Wizard dialog box appears, asking you what kind of Query Wizard you want to run. Choose Simple Query Wizard and click OK. Choose the first table you want to include in the query.
Access Query With Simple Date Criteria
If there is a date field in a table, it’s easy to build a simple query that selects record before or after a specific date. For example, use this criterion in the date field, to select records that were revised on or before January 1, 2017.
Date Parameters In Microsoft Query Wizard Excel
On the Default Values tab, change any default value to the equivalent date (i.e. CDate (')) or you can set it to Today to use the report run date as the default. Save and close the parameter properties. Look in the datasets node for the query you noted above. If I'm running the query through most SQL tools, the query that work is 'Select invoiceNumber, CustomerID, InvoiceAmount from Invoice where InvoiceDate '2013-01-01' However when I try to parameterize in is Microsoft Query I get invalid parameter errors for all of the date formats that I try. Make any changes needed in this tab and click on Definition tab. Click on Parameters button in bottom of the pop up next to edit query button Parameters pop up comes displaying the parameters used in the query. Here you must select the Get the value from following cell radio button to select the value of cell as the parameter for the query.
<= 1/1/2017
Access automatically puts number signs before and after the date, when you press Enter, or click away from the criteria cell
<= #1/1/2017#
Access Query Criteria for Specific Date Range
To select records within a specific date range, with two dates with the AND operator, in the query criteria. Here’s the criteria string that selects records from January 1, 2017 to May 31, 2017 (including those dates).
Between #1/1/2017# And #5/31/2017#
Query With Changeable Dates
Just like an Excel date formula, it’s usually better to have a variable in an Access query, instead of hard coding a specific date. In Excel, a formula could refer to a worksheet cell, and a date could be entered there, and changed easily.
In Access, you could have a text box on a form, and enter a date there. Then, refer to that text box in the Access query date criteria.
Here is a form where I can enter the start and end dates, and then run a series of reports based on those dates. It’s easy to change the dates before running the reports, and very efficient for doing month end summaries.
In the queries that the reports are based on, the date criteria refer to those text boxes.
Between [forms]![Menu].[txtStart] And [forms]![Menu].[txtEnd]
Query With Empty Date Boxes
[Update] In the comments, someone asked how to show all the data, if the date text boxes are left empty.
To do that, add 2 more fields in your query, with the text box names in them.
- [forms]![Menu].[txtStart]
- [forms]![Menu].[txtEnd]
Access automatically adds a name for each field – Expr1 and Expr2
Then, in the 2nd Criteria Row (OR), type Is Null in each of the new columns.
- Don’t put the new criteria in the same row as the existing criteria, or you won’t get any results when you run the query.
Query With Prompt for Dates
If you’re not running a series of reports from an Access form, it’s easier to use parameters in your query criteria. The parameters will prompt you to enter the start and end dates, or other criteria that you want to have as variables.
So, to select old records with a query, I can put a parameter in my original query, replacing the date. The Parameter is enclosed in square brackets.
<= [Before what date?]
When the query runs, the parameter will appear in a pop up message. Type a date in the input box, and click OK, to see the results.
More Access Query Date Criteria Examples
If you don’t want to enter the entire date (that can get tiring!), use a parameter as part of a date. In the next example, the DateSerial function is used in the criteria, and the parameter prompts you for the year.
The month (1) and day (1) are hard coded – the query will select everything before January 1st of the year that you enter.
<DateSerial([Before what year?],1,1)
How Many Years Old?
Maybe you would rather focus on the record age, instead of a specific year. In this example, I used the DateAdd function, with year as the interval, then a minus sign, and a prompt for how old the files should be. The Date function at the end will base the calculation on the current date.
<=DateAdd(“yyyy”,-[How many years old?],Date())
When you run the query, enter a number in the input box, and the query will select records that are on or before that date – X years before the current date.
Microsoft Query Parameters Excel
__________________
Save
- MS Access Tutorial
- MS Access Useful Resources
- Selected Reading
The best part about queries is that you can save and run the same query again and again, but when you run the same query again and again by only changing the criteria then you might consider the query to accept parameters.
If you frequently want to run variations of a particular query, consider using a parameter query
Parameter query retrieves information in an interactive manner prompting the end user to supply criteria before the query is run.
You can also specify what type of data a parameter should accept.
You can set the data type for any parameter, but it is especially important to set the data type for numeric, currency, or date/time data.
When you specify the data type that a parameter should accept, users see a more helpful error message if they enter the wrong type of data, such as entering text when currency is expected.
If a parameter is set to accept text data, any input is interpreted as text, and no error message is displayed.
Example
Let us now take a look at a simple example by creating a parameter query. Let us open your database and select Query Design in the Create table tab.
Double-click on the tblProjects and close the Show dialog box.
Select the field you want to see as a query result as shown in the following screenshot.
In the query design grid, in the Criteria row of the ProjectStart column, type [Enter a project start data]. The string [Enter a project start data] is your parameter prompt. The square brackets indicate that you want the query to ask for input, and the text is Enter a project start data is the parameter prompt displays.
Let us now run your query and you will see the following prompt.
Let us now enter the following date.
Click OK to confirm.
As a result, you will see the details of the project which started on 2/1/2007. Let us go to the Design View and run the query again.
Date Parameters In Microsoft Query Wizard Word
Enter the date as in the above screenshot and click Ok. You will now see the details of the project which started on 5/1/2008.