Excel (2002) Export limitation to 255 columns

  • Hi all,

    maybe really a newbie-question but this causes some pain to me.

    We have created some reports (SQL Server 2005). We show them with plenty of hidden colums (more than 255) by default. If the user wants so, he can show them to have a more detailed view. We use Excel 2002 in our enterprise.

    If the user choses export to excel this fails (because of the high number of columns).

    What can I do to allow this export (most time, user wants to have the overview with 5 - 30 columns)?

    Is there a possibility to skip the most detailed level just for the export?

    Do I have to crate a new report (maybe with transponation rows columns)?

    Thanks for your answers

    Best Regards

    Smerg

  • I'm not a SQL server expert, but Excel 2007 has several thousand columns.

  • Management decided to use Excel 2002

    🙁

  • Yes, you're probably stuck creating a separate report. You don't say what your data source is or how the data is formatted, but here's another idea:

    Instead of pulling all that data and hiding it, consider using a multi-select parameter, and having the user pick the facts they want as part of the report run. You'll have to output the data one fact per row (plus fact name in the key) and then you'll be able to use a cross tab. Not very elegant, but it seems to satisfy the "adhoc" request.

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