Can Access in a Citrix session automate Word on the workstation?

[John Nurick]

'Morning all,

I need to make our departmental CRM database (split MDBs) available
across the company WAN. Citrix is already in use for other sorts of
remote access and it's the obvious way to go; upsizing to a
client-server DB would be very expensive.

Some of the database features automate Word. For example, there's a
button that creates a new letter from a template and fills in the
contact's name and address. That works in Citrix - but of course it
launches Word in the Citrix session, it doesn't use the instance of Word
that's probably already running on the workstation.

This is a nuisance. The WAN connection has too much and too variable
latency (and maybe not enough bandwith) to provide a satisfactory
working environment for people who can type.

Question: is it possible for Access running in a Citrix session to
automate Word running on the workstation?

 

[Guest]

Hi John

I'd say no, because of the principle behind Citrix. After all, from the
Citrix server point of view, ALL processes run on the server, and the server
believes that your screen is so to say at the end of a very long cable
plugged in the back of the server... But of course, there IS something
running on your PC as well, the Citrix client software. I guess Citrix must
have been confronted with the same kind of questions like yours already.
Don't know if they have a solution (unlikely, especîally such a very
technical and very MS-based functionality as the one you want), but the best
is to ask them directly.
Well, that sounds like you don't need any user interaction in that process,
but only the result, i.e. the Word file. So that would be fine. When Word is
finished, then the user can see the Word document on the Citrix server, and
do what he wants with it. So why is that a problem if that file is on the
Citrix server ?

BAlex

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

Question: is it possible for Access running in a Citrix session to

automate Word running on the workstation?

No, it is not practical. And this explains why Microsoft as strategy choose
..net, and not thin client.....

So, they have to create, and edit that word document in remote session
window......

While not too important, but you can read my article that explains why ms
went the .net way..and not thin client here:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Articles/ThinClientsand.net.html

 

[John Nurick]

Well, that sounds like you don't need any user interaction in that process,
but only the result, i.e. the Word file. So that would be fine. When Word is
finished, then the user can see the Word document on the Citrix server, and
do what he wants with it. So why is that a problem if that file is on the
Citrix server ?

The user interaction comes immedately after the letter is created: the
idea is that the user can then start typing.

It's a problem because
-the latency of the WAN connection means that typing is no fun

-the file needs to be saved not on the (remote) Citrix server but on a
local file server. I.e. using Word in a Citrix session means that there
are two WAN connections in the equation, one from the workstation to the
Citrix session, the other from the instance of Word running in the
Citrix session back to the file server which is on the same LAN as the
workstation.

-users will get confused if they have multiple instances of Word running
on different desktops.

Of course, not all problems have solutions!

 

[John Nurick]

No, it is not practical. And this explains why Microsoft as strategy choose
.net, and not thin client.....

So, they have to create, and edit that word document in remote session
window......

Thanks, Albert.

 

[Aaron Kempf]

I agree

yet another reason that you should have moved to ADP instead of terminal

ADP works great over WAN, VPN, Wireless

these MDB chipmunks always pass the buck to the networking folk

Hi John

I'd say no, because of the principle behind Citrix. After all, from the
Citrix server point of view, ALL processes run on the server, and the server
believes that your screen is so to say at the end of a very long cable
plugged in the back of the server... But of course, there IS something
running on your PC as well, the Citrix client software. I guess Citrix must
have been confronted with the same kind of questions like yours already.
Don't know if they have a solution (unlikely, especîally such a very
technical and very MS-based functionality as the one you want), but the best
is to ask them directly.

the contact's name and address<<