Get path from OLE Object Link MS Access 2007 - ms-access

I have a couple tables in a database that use OLE Objects as links to files on network drives. I used the module from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/199066 to try to get the path from the OLE Objects but all I get is links to .ico or .exe rather than the actual path. If I double click on the Links field value the files open correctly from the network location.

The properties you seek is as following,
You should
Dim Ref As Reference
For Each Ref In References
MsgBox Ref.Name & " > " & Ref.FullPath
Next
Will give you names and paths as message.

Related

run-time 2737 when connecting OLE Object (Word file) who is inside OneDrive Folder

I'm developing a solution based on Word and Access.
In an Access mask, the user click a command and a Word file is automacilly created and inserted in a BoundObjectFrame via the following command:
With OleDoc
.Class = "Word.Document"
.OLETypeAllowed = acOLELinked
.SourceDoc = strFullNameFile
.Action = acOLECreateLink
End With
Everything is fine if the file named strFullNameFile is in a normal folder on my computer. But if is in a subfolder inside my OneDrive folder in my computer, I get a
Run-time error 2737
Impossible to find file with OLE object linked...
Do you have any idea why?
Thanks, Lauro
You need to pass the path with subfolder too.
It's searching the file in main folder.

Creating a Document Database using Microsoft Access

I am attempting to create a table within a database which store all of the documents related to the database "in it". What I really want to do is have a file uploaded and have vba code which copies the file to a network location, renames the file by concatenating two fields from the document table form (eliminating the issue of duplicate file names in the external location), and then stores the file name and file path in a file path field in the table. I am very new to access and vba so I am having difficulty getting everything to work. The code I currently have is below:
Option Compare Database
Private Sub Command15_Click()
Dim f As Object
Set f = Application.FileDialog(3)
f.AllowMultiSelect = False
If f.Show Then
For i = 1 To f.SelectedItems.Count
sFile = Filename(f.SelectedItems(i), sPath)
MsgBox sPath & "---" & sFile
Next
End If
End Sub
Public Function Filename(ByVal strPath As String, sPath) As String
sPath = Left(strPath, InStrRev(strPath, "\"))
Filename = Mid(strPath, InStrRev(strPath, "\") + 1)
End Function
I can not seem to get a handle on how to move, rename by concatenating the two fields from the form, or store the path in the path field of the table. I have been to the following locations to obtain what information I could
ms access browse for file and get file name and path
VBA to copy a file from one directory to another
I am currently using Microsoft Access 2010, and I do not wish to use the file attachment field type because of database size constraints. Currently I press a button and a file explorer appears to navigate to the file being uploaded, and the path and file name are entered into strings. After this point I am lost. If any other information is needed please let me know. Thanks in advance for the assistance.
I believe your approach to managing the documents is right. In most cases, it doesn't make much sense to store documents in the database itself when the filesystem is a more suited to this job.
What you are doing is fairly straightforward but the main complexity will come from the correct management of the various paths and filenames and extracting the right information from them.
It can become tricky if you're not using some helper functions to to dissect and recompose the various bits of the paths.
I have created a sample database that has a few functions. Might not be exactly in line with what you need but you can easily play around with it to suit your particular case.
The sample database includes a Tools VBA module that has a few useful functions to split a Path into its constituents.
Basically, the database has 2 forms.
The main form allows you to set the network path where the files are to be saved.
You can then select a pre-defined Account number (listed in the Account table) associated with a document, then click the upload button.
This creates a new record in the Document table and opens a form where you can edit the document title and click a button to upload a file to the server.
The file selected by the user is copied to the server after its path has been transformed.
I took the assumption that the file would keep its original extension, the filename would be renamed to the ID of the Document record where the file information is saved (like 5845.pdf) and that the folder where the file is saved on the server would be the account number, so that a source file selected by the user
C:\Users\user\Desktop\SuperSecretFile.pdf
would be saved as, for instance:
\\docserver\files\123-55547\5845.pdf
The Main form also allows you to update an existing record, open the file from the server, open the server's folder where the file is located or even copy the server file back to the user's computer with the original name of the file.
I'll let you play around with it. Let me know if you have any issues.

How can I automatically link an Access front-end file to a back-end?

I have a pair of Access files, a front end and a back end, that I share with several users and update frequently. I'm looking for a way to automatically link the two files so my users don't need to use the Linked Table Manager. I suspect that a solution can be created with VBA. I reviewed a few possibilities, here and here, but they don't apply to my specific scenario, below.
The two files always exist in the same user directory.
These are the only two Access files in each directory.
The directories are located on the users' local C: drives (in a Dropbox folder).
The names of the two files change slightly with each version/build update.
Example front-end name: "DigExams_0.10.f005.u101.accdb"
Example back-end name: "DigExams_backend_0.10.b001.u101.accdb"
Naming convention: "Filename*_major#.minor#.build#.user#.accdb"
[ * The back end file also includes the word "backend". ]
I was thinking that some code could be embedded into a button on the front end that would (OnClick) run the Linked Table Manager, look for the only other Access file in the directory (or the file with "backend" in the name), and then link all of the tables to it. If there was a conflict, such as a third Access file in the directory, an error would appear.
Advice? Suggestions? Thanks!
The target file is stored in the Connect property of the TableDef object.
You will need to replace the releveant part of the Connect property with the new file name.
Dim tdf as TableDef
For each tdf in CurrentDB.TablDefs
StringToBeParsed =tdf.Connect
.... 'here goes the code to replace the connection string with new target file
Next

Access 2007 - Display PDF content on a form

On Access 2007, is there a way to display the content of a PDF, even if it is just the first page, on a form? This PDF saved in a table as attachment.
Disclaimer: This answer will only work for PDF files stored outside of your database as separate file. They can be located over a network connection, but I do not know how to access them directly from your database table. This site gives a thorough guide to using the attachments, but doesn't show how to actually display them automatically. It is likely functionality not provided by Access.
You can display anything Internet Explorer can display with a Microsoft Web Browser Control.
Once you've added the control, you can navigate to whatever you want to display during the load or open event of the form.
For example, if the control is called WebBrowser0 then the following would work:
Private Sub Form_Load()
Me.WebBrowser0.Navigate2 "C:\example.pdf" 'Substitute the actual address here.
End Sub
This is an extremely versatile method for displaying other content within Access. You can find more information here.
The only two methods I know of for previewing a PDF (WebBrowswer as suggested by Daniel and the Adobe Active X control) require a file path to be passed to the control.
I recommend extracting the file from the attachment field and saving it to a temporary location such as C:\Documents and Settings\username\AppData. This can be found by using the vba Environ command.
Extracting the file is done with the SaveToFile method in the embedded DAO recordset (which is how attachments are stored in memory).
Example Code
Assume each record has a field called AttachedFile and each record has only one attached PDF. The form is using a WebBrowser control named PreviewBrowser to view the PDF
Private Sub Form_Current()
On Error GoTo ExitSub
Dim FormRS As DAO.Recordset
Set FormRS = Me.Recordset
Dim RecAtt As DAO.Recordset
If (Me.AttachedFile.AttachmentCount > 0) Then
Set RecAtt = FormRS.Fields("AttachedFile").Value
RecAtt.OpenRecordset
Dim Path As String
FilePath = Environ("APPDATA") & "\Preview.pdf"
If (Dir(FilePath) <> "") Then Kill FilePath
RecAtt.Fields("FileData").SaveToFile FilePath
Me.PreviewBrowser.Navigate2 FilePath
End If
ExitSub:
RecAtt.Close
End Sub
Of course the code needs to be a bit more complicated if there are multiple attachments to a given record, but that would be done by manipulating the RecAtt recordset.

Storing PDFs in MS Access Database using Forms

I need to store PDF files in an Access database on a shared drive using a form. I figured out how to do this in tables (using the OLE Object field, then just drag-and-drop) but I would like to do this on a Form that has a Save button. Clicking the save button would store the file (not just a link) in the database. Any ideas on how to do this?
EDIT:
I am using Access 2003, and the DB will be stored on a share drive, so I'm not sure linking to the files will solve the problem.
We have several databases that contain 10's of thousands of documents (pdf, doc, jpg, ...), no problem at all. In Access, we use the following code to upload a binary object to a binary field:
Function LoadFileFromDisk(Bestand, Optional FileName As String = "")
Dim imgByte() As Byte
If FileName = "" Then FileName = strFileName
Open FileName For Binary Lock Read As #1
ReDim imgByte(1 To LOF(1))
Get #1, , imgByte
Close #1
If Not IsEmpty(imgByte) Then Bestand.Value = imgByte
End Function
In this case, Bestand is the field that contains the binary data.
We use MS SQL Server as a backend, but the same should work on an Access backend.
If you used the same concept but upsized to SQL Server- storing PDFs inside of an Image datatype (or varbinary(max)) then you could SEARCH INSIDE THE PDFs using Full Text Search.
I show that Microsoft says you can do this for any file type where you can register an IFILTER product.. and I just was at the Adobe website the other day and say that their Acrobat IFILTER is indeed FREE.
Maybe this will help: ACC2000: Reading, Storing, and Writing Binary Large Objects (BLOBs).
What they do: Read a file in chunks and add it to a blob using a VBA function.
A field of OLE Object, by default would use a Bound Object Frame on the form. Right click on it and you can Insert an object. It comes complete with browsing for the file. Double-click on the field and the actual document will open.
I recommend going with David's advice and link. Unless you have a need to transfer a single file and want all the PDF's included. Size and performance will be an issue.
If security is an issue and the Access file is the only control you have (You are unable to set security on the folder containing all the linked files.), then you would have to embed.