Data Warehouse Troubleshooting

Heads up! Starting May 30, 2023, a campus VPN connection is required when logging into Data Warehouse from on and off campus access.

Heads up! For the most up to date information and resources, visit the IT Help Portal to browse a full list of services and instructions.

Stopping a Query

If you build a BI/Data Warehouse query and submit it, but forget to provide any selection (or limit) criteria, a "runaway" query can be created if the table(s) have a lot of records. In this case, you will want to stop the query.

To stop a query in MS Access, press CTRL and BREAK (PAUSE). You might have to do this three or four times to stop the query.

If that does not stop the query, then press CTRL, ALT and DELETE to abort your session.

No Records Returned after Query

Double-check your selection criteria. Selection data is case sensitive. Look at a sampling of the data you are wanting.

If you are using dates, make sure the date format is correct.
Example: If you entered "19990125" (YYYYMMDD) as the date, but the table date format is (MMDDYYYY) 01251999, you will not get any records returned.

If you are using multiple tables, double check what fields you are linking on. You might want to remove all the tables and then start adding (and linking) a table at a time. This may identify the table that is causing the problem (or give you some insight as to what you were doing wrong).

Locked Up and/or Error Messages While Running Queries

Sometimes when running a lot of queries (or using more than one session at a time), the query program (i.e. MS Access, SAS) gets lost. Log off and exit the software (you might also have to exit Windows or turn your computer off), then log back in and try running your query again. If you are hung up and are not able to log off, hold down CTRL, ALT and DELETE to end your task.

ODBC Failed Error Messages

The BI/Data Warehouse is either down, the server name is wrong or your services file cannot be located. Please report this issue to the IT Help Desk. 

Unable to Find a Table Using MS Access

If you get an error message when trying to access a table that you have used before, it could be caused by the following: 

  • The table name might have been changed,
  • You might have deleted it from your view,
  • It might be a new table that has been added to the BI/Data Warehouse, or
  • The table structure might have been changed since you used it last.

To resolve the problem, try re-linking the table.