MSQuery: Query Specifications

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Query for Windows, version 1.0
• Microsoft Query for Windows 95, version 2.0
• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0

SUMMARY

In general, the specifications for Microsoft Query are limited by the ODBC drivers that are installed on your computer.

If you cannot tell the limitations of a particular driver by the documentation that comes with that driver, you can use ODBC Test (a programming tool for use with ODBC) to determine the driver's limits.

MORE INFORMATION

Characteristic         Specification in MS Query

Maximum number of       SQLGetInfo of SQL_MAX_TABLES_IN_SELECT tells the
tables in a query       driver's maximum.

Maximum number of       SQLGetInfo of SQL_MAX_COLUMNS_IN_SELECT tells the
fields in a dynaset     driver's maximum. A common limit is 255. For
                        SQLServer, it's approximately 1310.

Maximum dynaset size    There is no set maximum; usually limited by the
                        memory or hard disk space required to cache the
                        values. There is a maximum row size, however,
                        which is the maximum number of bytes in a single
                        row (which may or may not include long values, as
                        determined by a separate indicator).

Maximum number of       SQLGetInfo of SQL_MAX_COLUMNS_IN_ORDER_BY tells
sorted fields in a      the driver's maximum.

Maximum number of       One, since Query doesn't allow you to build
levels of nested        nested queries.

Maximum number of       Query puts up to 255 characters in the cell. If
characters in a cell    you zoom on the field, you can get up to 32K
                        of data in the Zoom dialog box. This is also
                        governed by the definition of the data type. You
                        can find out, for any given data type, the maximum
                        number of characters by calling SQLGetTypeInfo
                        for that type. For any given column, you can call
                        SQLDescribeCol to find out the maximum number of
                        characters that may be returned in that column.

in a WHERE or HAVING    the maximum length of a SQL statement (as below).

Maximum number of       Query allows up to 32K for the SQL statement that
characters in an SQL    it displays in the SQLdialog. The driver may have
statement               a limitation as returned by the
                        SQL_MAX_STATEMENT_LEN value available through
                        SQLGetInfo.