Although the clipboard cut-and-paste approach is neat, it doesn’t always work out. If you need to export data to a file and you don’t have the corresponding program installed on your computer (or you just don’t want to bother running it), then you need a different way to transfer your information. Similarly, if you’re downloading data from the Web or fetching information from a program that doesn’t support Windows cut-and-paste, you need the full-fledged Access import feature.
When Microsoft designed Access 2007, they spent a fair bit of time making the import and export features clearer and more straightforward. Nowadays, you can do all the importing and exporting you want from a single ribbon tab, which is named External Data (Figure 10-3).
Figure 10-3. The External Data tab’s Import section lets you pipe data into Access using a variety of formats. The Export section does the reverseit takes your table, and exports it in a bunch of different flavors.
Note: The Import and Export sections have easy-to-access buttons for the most popular file formats. If you don’t see what you want, then click the More button to see an expanded list of choices.
Whether you’re importing or exporting data, the process is essentially the same. You answer a few questions about what file you want to use and how you want to make the conversion, and then Access does your bidding.
Once you finish performing an import or export operation, Access gives you the option of saving all your steps. If you do, you can reuse them later on. This method’s a great way to save time if you need to perform the same export or import process again (like if you need to import some data every day, or export a summary at the end of every month).
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