Output to .xlsx erroring referencing Microsoft Access Database

Question

Hello,

I have an output tool that writes to a range in an .xlsx file. Every once in a while the tool will error out saying:

"Output Data (82): Error opening connect string: Microsoft Access Database Engine: External table is not in the expected format./3274 = -328602519"

which is confusing because I'm outputting to an .xlsx file, not a Microsoft Access Database. There is no access database referenced in the entire workflow.

Another confusing part is I don't consistently get the error; sometimes it writes to the .xlsx file as expected.

Help! I inherited this process so could it be that at some point it did reference a Microsoft Access Database and then was changed but Alteryx somehow has that saved in it's memory?

acarter881 · Answer

Hey, @ChristinaFPE.

That is interesting since it isn't always giving you an error.

I know to read/write to xlsb files, you need the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable. You can read more about it on this forum post.

Perhaps it may be best to install the redistributable anyway?

The other suggestion I have is to open the workflow in Notepad++ by right clicking on the workflow from File Explorer and selecting Edit with Notepad++. You can search for anything related to Access and see if it is referencing it somewhere.

It may be as simple as deleting the old Output Data tool and creating a new one.

Lastly, this forum post discusses the same error you mentioned.

I hope this helps. 😃