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URL: https://www.cdata.com/kb/tech/databricks-odbc-access-linked-tables.rst

⇱ How to Use a Microsoft Access Database to Update Databricks Data in Real Time

How to Use a Microsoft Access Database to Update Databricks Data in Real Time

👁 Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Update Databricks data by creating a linked table in Microsoft Access with the CData Databricks ODBC Driver.

CData ODBC drivers connect your data to any database management tool that supports Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). This includes many of the most popular productivity tools, adding new capabilities for document sharing and collaboration. Using the CData ODBC driver for Databricks, you can update live Databricks data in Microsoft Access; for example, you can make updates that can be immediately seen by other users.

About Databricks Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Databricks has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

  • Access all versions of Databricks from Runtime Versions 9.1 - 13.X to both the Pro and Classic Databricks SQL versions.
  • Leave Databricks in their preferred environment thanks to compatibility with any hosting solution.
  • Secure authenticate in a variety of ways, including personal access token, Azure Service Principal, and Azure AD.
  • Upload data to Databricks using Databricks File System, Azure Blog Storage, and AWS S3 Storage.

While many customers are using CData's solutions to migrate data from different systems into their Databricks data lakehouse, several customers use our live connectivity solutions to federate connectivity between their databases and Databricks. These customers are using SQL Server Linked Servers or Polybase to get live access to Databricks from within their existing RDBMs.

Read more about common Databricks use-cases and how CData's solutions help solve data problems in our blog: What is Databricks Used For? 6 Use Cases.


Getting Started


Connect to Databricks as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

To connect to a Databricks cluster, set the properties as described below.

Note: The needed values can be found in your Databricks instance by navigating to Clusters, and selecting the desired cluster, and selecting the JDBC/ODBC tab under Advanced Options.

  • Server: Set to the Server Hostname of your Databricks cluster.
  • HTTPPath: Set to the HTTP Path of your Databricks cluster.
  • Token: Set to your personal access token (this value can be obtained by navigating to the User Settings page of your Databricks instance and selecting the Access Tokens tab).

Create a Linked Table to Customers Data

Follow the steps below to create a linked table, which enables you to access live Customers data.

  1. On the External Data tab in Access, click ODBC Database. 👁 Use the Get External Data wizard to work with ODBC data sources in Access.
  2. Select the option to link to the data source. A linked table will enable you to read from and write data to the Customers table. 👁 Linked Tables enable you use the live connection to Databricks that is provided by the driver.

  3. Select the CData Databricks data source from the Machine Data Source tab.

    👁 DSNs listed in the Get External Data wizard.
  4. Select the Customers table. For more information on this table, see the "Data Model" chapter in the help documentation. 👁 Available tables. (Google is shown.)

  5. Double-click the linked table to make edits. The linked table will always have up-to-date data and any changes will be reflected back to the underlying table.

    👁 A linked table to the live data. (Google is shown.)

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Databricks ODBC Driver to get started:

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Learn more:

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Databricks ODBC Driver

The Databricks ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from Databricks, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access Databricks data like you would a database - read, write, and update through a standard ODBC Driver interface.