I am trying to create a pivot table in excel from an access database. I have various tables regarding helicopter flights statistics. When I go to pivot table and 'get external data' I go to the databse and try to import. I receive the message "String data, right truncated column no.1 - [TABLE CAT_1] There is a table called "category" within the database. I assume it refers to this. I have tried lengthening the format to 255 characters. There is nothing longer than this in the table. All to no avail. help !