Downloading from SQL Server to Excel on Client Machine

[BadRabbit]

A customer has requested that he wants the facility on his website to download report outputs into Excel format on his local machine (as well as viewing reports on screen of course).

I have no real idea how to do this, or even if it can be done. I'm using SQL Server 2000 via an ASP.NET environment. I have no access to the server itself apart from standard FTP (i.e. no config privs or anything) and the customer won't even have FTP.

If the solution is too complex to go into here, does anyone know of any sites that might be of help? (I have looked but not found any).

Alternatively, if this is beyond me and can't easily be sorted with packaged software, I will need to outsource this task, so an idea of how big a job it is would help.

Just to clarify, I'm not after having the customer write is own SQL or anything, just download the results of any of the pre-defined reports (or the whole database itself) when he wants.

Thanks a lot.

 

[jerasi]

You can always use ASP.NET to create a tab delimited results file and name it something like results.xls. On your html file have a link to results.xls, that will allow your customer to download (using right click and "save target as...&quot or view the file in his/her browser.
This is not a big task and depending on how much data there is to sort through it should probably take two to four hours to complete.
We do lots of work of that nature so if you do think of outsourcing this task please let us know info@solvedfast.com


Let me put it this way:
While StressLevel Is High
Productivity -= 1
Marriage = Nothing
End While

 

[BadRabbit]

Thanks jerasi, that doesn't sound too difficult, even for a novice like myself. I'll keep your offer in mind because the customer's time-scale will also have a bearing on what is outsourced.

Cheers.