Outlook/Access 2003 - Outlook View Control on Form w/ Multiple Calendars

[scs]

I've been doing a lot of research and purchased (but haven't completely
read) Sue Mosher's book. However, before I spend much more time I'd like to
find out if my idea is even feasible. The basic idea is to create an
appointment system for multiple therapists that can be used by a
receptionist and other staff. Using Outlook and Exchange is very nice but
the appointment data needs to end up in an Access table immediately.

We can purchase SBS 2003 with Exchange 2003 or we can buy a third party tool
for calendar sharing whichever would be the easiest to use. I currently
have an SBS 2003 server to test with. I'd like to build a multi-user split
Access project with the following features:

Ability to view multiple (3 users) Outlook 2003 calendars on an Access 2003
form. Do I have to use multiple Outlook View Controls or can one control
somehow show multiple calendars? If I have to use multiple controls then
can they be synched some how similar to the way they are when you view
multiple calendars in Outlook? In other words, all show the same date and
time of day.

Write appointments entered into any of the calendars to a table in access.
Or if that's next to impossible, I'd like to build some text boxes and a
command button to add the appointment simultaneously to the appropriate
calendar and to a table. Is either feasible?

Is it easier to work with calendars in a single pst file or Exchange folders
when using Access and VBA?

Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions, resources, etc.

Steve

 

[Danny J. Lesandrini]

I read this quickly, but it sounds like you will be storing appointments
in Outlook (aka Exchange) and would like to report on them in Access.

If that is correct, then it's a simple matter to link from Access to
Exchange (or Outlook) and report to users on pending appointments.

Alternatively, you can write automation code to create appointments
and tasks. I've got some VBScript downloads at my web site that show
how it can be done, even in VBScript. VBA is probably even easier to
write the code, but why reinvent the wheel. Allow users to make the
appointments in Outlook where they are used to doing so, and report
on them in your app using linked tables to the schedule data.

 

[Steve]

Thanks very much. I'd love to just have the users work in Outlook most of
the time with Exchange. If I link to the tables in Outlook or Exchange
would there be a way that I could associate an appointment with a client in
Access? What's the trick to that? I guess I could link to the Contacts
folder in Outlook to for my database. Seems that most folks don't opt to
use Outlook contacts in their database due to the structure of Outlook.
Maybe this is what needs to be done for this project though?

Thanks again!

 

[scs]

Thanks Danny,

After more research and some trials I see that linked calendar tables do not
provide the fields needed for my project. Only exporting from Outlook gives
me start and end time and dates. Seems ridiculous to me that you couldn't
just link to these necessary fields. Few applications wouldn't need these
fields. I'm sure there is a way to do what I wan't but obviously it's going
to be an educational experience. Very little resources are available to
help with this particular subject. How can a user link to meaningful
calendar data in Outlook from Access?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

As you've found, the linked table method has major limitations, including the inability to show even all the reasonably important fields. While articles have been written on how to expand on this method's obvious features, I've never been able to duplicate the results. See http://www.outlookcode.com/d/database.htm#linkedtables .

That page will also give you other ideas on how to work with databases and Outlook together. You'll need to write code or use a third-party tool that does the heavy lifting. For your project, SQLView might be very suitable, so that the data is stored in Access from the very start, but exposed in Outlook folders to support all the functionality you want to see in Outlook.


--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[scs]

Thanks Sue. I'll look into SQLView. I like Microsoft products but I just
don't understand what they are thinking. Tight integration of
Outlook/Access makes good sense.

As you've found, the linked table method has major limitations, including
the inability to show even all the reasonably important fields. While
articles have been written on how to expand on this method's obvious
features, I've never been able to duplicate the results. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/database.htm#linkedtables .

That page will also give you other ideas on how to work with databases and
Outlook together. You'll need to write code or use a third-party tool that
does the heavy lifting. For your project, SQLView might be very suitable, so
that the data is stored in Access from the very start, but exposed in
Outlook folders to support all the functionality you want to see in Outlook.


--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers