TOOLS: Adding docs (PDF) to a database

[Michael Kintner]

I am looking for add-on tools or code to allow me to attach scanned PDF
documents to a database record.

I would like to know if there are developer tools out there that can do the
following:
- Appending muliple as in many PDF docs to a specific record.
- Or maybe I create a folder and the AccessDB reads the contents of the
folder showing the files related to the specific record.

Kinda like a achive file manger of related files to a database record.

Note: Eventually this access database will be pushed to SQL server if that
helps.

Can anybody help me with this?

Thank you in advance.
Michael Kintner

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

Access 2007 is the first version which allows attachments to a record.
Earlier versions allowed embedding some document types.

You can simply open a document by using the ShellExecute api on the stored
path to the document:

http://www.mvps.org/access/api/api0018.htm

 

[Larry Linson]

You can also open a document with the Application.FollowHyperlink statement.
It's worked for documents on which I've used it whose file types were
registered.

Is it any _better_ than using ShellExecute? I don't know. Anybody have
information one way or the other?

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

 

[Guest]

Michael,

I'm against storing the "attachment" in the database. It bloats the
database, which depending on your application and the size of the
attachments, could quickly reach the 2GB max for Access. Personally, I
prefer to store pointers to the file.

In some applications, I have copied the files to a central repository and
renamed them, then stored the original name and the new name in my database.
The user can browse the application select an item, and click an Open button
to open the file.

By copying the file to a hidden folder on the network, I can prevent the
user from modifying it. When they click on the Open button, I can copy the
file from the repository to their local machine (usually C:\Temp or
C:\Windows\Temp) and open it using the docmd.followhyperlink method.

As far as code that will allow you to do this, take a look at the
BrowseFolder (http://www.mvps.org/access/api/api0002.htm) and Open/Save
dialog (http://www.mvps.org/access/api/api0001.htm) APIs on the Access Web.
You can wrap these calls in a little code to accomplish the rest of your task.

HTH
Dale

 

[David W. Fenton]

You can also open a document with the Application.FollowHyperlink
statement. It's worked for documents on which I've used it whose
file types were registered.

Is it any _better_ than using ShellExecute? I don't know. Anybody
have information one way or the other?

I've had circumstances where FollowHyperlink didn't work for some
unexplained reason where ShellExecute did. Also, I believe the error
messages are different with ShellExecute -- I found them easier to
work with than FollowHyperlink, which was often completely silent.

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

I've occasionally had followhyperlink fail. Now that you mention it,
however, ther is an excellent hyperlink method, that hasn't failed (on me at
least) yet:

Private Sub cmdMyButton_Click()
Me.cmdMyButton.HyperlinkAddress = "C:\Data\" & Me.txtFileName
End Sub

where C:\Data\ is the folder and txtFileName completes the fully qualified
path.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access
http://www.accessmvp.com

 

[Larry Linson]

Thanks, Arvin and David. I haven't used Application.FollowHyperlink a great
deal, and had not encountered a failure, but I'll keep an eye on it. When
it fails, does it just do so on some hyperlink addresses, or always on some
records, or always for the table?

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP