T-SQL Replacement for Access Normalization Using Record Set? - tsql

Question

I'm relatively new to T-SQL, so I hope someone with more experience/knowledge can help.
I have inherited an Access database that I'm moving to SQL Server. The original database imports and normalizes transaction data from Excel files in the following steps:
imports the Excel file to a staging table,
updates tables related to several of the columns if any new values are found, and
finally moves the data to the main table, but with inner joins to the PK columns on the updated tables from step 2 replacing the actual values.
Step 2 above makes use of a "normalizing" table:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[tblNormalize](
[Normalize_ID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[Table_Raw] [nvarchar](255) NULL,
[Field_Raw] [nvarchar](255) NULL,
[Table_Normal] [nvarchar](255) NULL,
[Field_Normal] [nvarchar](255) NULL,
[Data_Type] [nvarchar](255) NULL,
CONSTRAINT [tblNormalize$ID] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
(
[Normalize_ID] ASC
)WITH (STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
[Table_Raw] is the name of the staging table.
[Field_Raw] is the name of the field in the staging table - necessary since the field name could be different from what's in the tables to be updated.
[Table_Normal] is the name of the table to be updated.
[Field_Normal] is the name of the field to be updated.
For example, if one of the values in the Location column of the staging table is "Tennessee", this step would check the corresponding Location column in the Location table to make sure that "Tennessee" exists, and if not, inserts it as a new record and creates a new primary key.
So my question: How do I accomplish this step in T-SQL, without using a record set in Access? I've figured out how to use MERGE in a stored procedure to do it for individual columns with the relevant tables, but still using a record set in VBA to move through each row of the normalizing table while calling the stored procedure. (All the tables now reside on on SQL Server, and I've linked to them in Access using ODBC.) Here's what I have so far:
VBA:
Public Function funTestNormalize(strTableRaw As String)
'---Normalizes the data in the tblPayrollStaging table after it's been imported, using the dbo_tblNormalize table---
Dim db As Database, rst As Recordset, qdef As DAO.QueryDef
Set db = CurrentDb
Set rst = db.OpenRecordset("Select * From dbo_tblNormalize WHERE Table_Raw = '" & strTableRaw & "';", dbOpenDynaset, dbSeeChanges)
'Cycle through each row of dbo_tblNormalize (corresponds to the fields in tblPayrollStaging)
If Not rst.EOF Then
rst.MoveFirst
DoCmd.SetWarnings False
Set qdef = CurrentDb.QueryDefs("qryPassThru") 'Sets the QueryDef
qdef.Connect = CurrentDb.TableDefs("dbo_tblSheet").Connect 'Assigns a connection to the QueryDef
qdef.ReturnsRecords = False 'Avoids the "3065 error"
Do Until rst.EOF
With qdef
.SQL = "EXEC uspUpdateNormalizingTables " & rst![Table_Raw] & ", " & rst![Field_Raw] & ", " & rst![Table_Normal] & ", " & rst!Field_Normal & ";" 'Sets the .SQL value to the needed T-SQL
.Execute dbFailOnError 'Executes the QueryDef
End With
rst.MoveNext
Loop
End If
rst.Close
End Function
SQL Server (using SSMS):
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[uspUpdateNormalizingTables]
-- Add the parameters for the stored procedure here
#tableRaw nvarchar(50),
#fieldRaw nvarchar(50),
#tableNormal nvarchar(50),
#fieldNormal nvarchar(50)
AS
BEGIN
-- SET NOCOUNT ON added to prevent extra result sets from interfering with SELECT statements.
SET NOCOUNT ON
EXEC('INSERT INTO ' + #tableNormal + ' (' + #fieldNormal + ')' +
' SELECT DISTINCT ' + #tableRaw + '.' + #fieldRaw +
' FROM ' + #tableRaw +
' WHERE (NOT EXISTS (SELECT ' + #fieldNormal + ' FROM ' + #tableNormal + ' WHERE ' + #tableNormal + '.' + #fieldNormal + ' = ' + #tableRaw + '.' + #fieldRaw + ')) AND (' + #tableRaw + '.' + #fieldRaw + ' IS NOT NULL);')
END
GO
Would I need to use cursors (which I haven't used yet, and would have to figure out), or is there maybe a more elegant solution which I haven't considered? Any help you can give is appreciated!