How do I embedd PDF files in an field so that the pdf file will
automatically
present itself when viewing the field from a form?
You don't. The technical answer to your question is to make an OLE Object
column in your table, and embed whatever you want. But this is evil. What
you *should* do is put your external file on a well-known network path, and
then store the text of the UNC path (such as \\myserver\myshare\myfile.pdf)
in a Text column in your database. Then you can have a hyperlink or button
or whatever else makes sense, that opens your external file via its path.
Be aware, though, that since a .pdf file requires at least the Adobe Acrobat
Reader, the software for viewing the file should also be available, just in
case some "Bob Smith" user clicks your button on a machine that doesn't have
the software to read the file. (Guess how I know [grrrr])
Alternatively what format should I convert the pdf file into in order to
achieve the above?
There are both free and purchasable utilities out there that can convert a
..pdf to a Word doc, HTML, etc, but the result is still the same: Store the
file on an accessible network share, and store the text of the UNC path in
your database.
In any case, you DEFINATELY don't want all the storage overhead of all that
OLE baggage in your database to wrap the file as an OLE Object, wasting who
knows how much space, only to have John Jones want to kill you because he
can only see a postage-stamp sized pdf file in the OLE control on your form,
and Bob Smith want to kill you because he doesn't have the Acrobat Reader,
clicked your button and Windows gave him that dialog that says, "What do you
want to open the object with?: Notepad, Word, Powerpoint, etc"
--
Peace & happy computing,
Mike Labosh, MCSD MCT
Owner, vbSensei.Com
"Escriba coda ergo sum." -- vbSensei
