JavOO

JavOO : Java Odbc for Office.

Introduction

JavOO is a small multithread secure server written in Java and working on Windows platform.

It allows you to share Microsoft Access and Excel resources, which will be accessed by a distant client program through the native ODBC driver of Windows. The client will be able to do SQL select queries on these resources.

 For example:
 a laboratory in Madrid has an PC running on Windows and wants to make accessible its Access database to a collaborator in Strasbourg. 
 For that, install JavOO on the PC in Madrid, configure the path and access rights to the Access file 
 and open the port 18000 (and/or 18001 for SSL secure connection).
 The computer in Strasbourg can now do SQL select queries on the remote Access database in Madrid.

Download

The actual version is beta 1.0 .

To get Windows installer of JavOO, please send an email to Guillaume.Berthommier@igbmc.u-strasbg.fr

Installation and Configuration

Double-click on the file JavOOsetup.exe and follow the instructions.

By default the program will be installed in the directory C:\Program Files\JavOO\ .

Interface Description

This is what you get when you launch JavOO:

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STOP button (1) 

Stop the server, disconnecting all clients.

START button (2) 

Start the server, the server is ready to accept connections from clients.

Server Log Area (3) 

Some actions executed by the server are logged in this text area.

Clear button (4) 

This button clears the Server Log Area (3).

Save button (5) 

This button is not used at the moment. In further development you will be able to save the content of the Server Log Area (3).

Config button (6) 

This button display the configuration window. It will be described below.

Test Client button (7) 

This button is used to test the server, the result output of the test will be shown in the Server Log Area (3).

The first thing you have to do is declaring one or more resources (Excel and/or Access files), which is describe in the Configuration Section.

Configuration Section

Now that you've installed JavOO, you need to add your Excel and/or Access resources. For that, click on the Config button (6), you get the JavOO Server Configuration window.

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Resource list (1) 

All defined resources are declared here. There are already three declared resources in JavOO that are here for testing purpose : see Test Client button (7) in the Interface Description section.

Add New Excel (2) 

Add a new empty Excel resource. Don't forget to enter a proper name for the resource (see further).

Add New Access (3) 

Add a new empty Access resource. Don't forget to enter a proper name for the resource (see further).

Edit (4) 

Allows you to edit an existing resource declared in the Resource list (1). For that, select a resource in the list then press the button.

Clone (5) 

Allows you to clone an existing resource declared in the Resource list (1). For that, select a resource in the list then press the button.

Remove (6) 

Allows you to remove an existing resource declared in the Resource list (1). For that, select a resource in the list then press the button.

Excel File

• Usually people do not define username and password for Excel files, so if your file doesn't have this kind of protection you can leave them blank.
• The declaration of an Excel resource is a bit specific, let's see:
  • An Excel file has one or many sheets, each one has a specific name, depending on the localisation of your computer, ie "Feuil1" in french, "Sheet1" in english, "Tabelle1" in german, etc. These names can be edited. Because many sheets can be accessible, you will have to define the proper name in the sheet attribute of the Excel resource.
  • Now the tricky part: the selection is a specific region of you sheet, containing the header line of the table and it's content. Here is an example of a selection:

Name	Age	Gender
Bob	30	Male
Jane	28	Female
Cindy	45	Female

The nice part here is that you can define one or many selections in the same sheet, but you will have to declare as many Excel resources as the number of selections you want to be accessible.

How to create a selection in Excel

1. First select a region of your sheet containing the header and the data of your table.
2. Then, in the menu, choose Insert -> Name -> Define.
3. A new window should appear, enter the name you want for the selection, press OK then Close.
4. Do not forget to save the file.

Troubleshooting

If you any problem, please send me an email at <Guillaume.Berthommier@igbmc.u-strasbg.fr> .