Photos in Access 2000

[gm]

Hi;
I have written a database that tracks all the installation we have ever
done. I have a small heating company.
I have recently started keeping a directory of digital photographs of the
completed job. I can create a hyperlink button that will link to a
photgraph, but I cannot link to a specific photo of that specific job. Each
job has its' own unique identifier, I call it the GOTC number. It is a
separate field in the table of installed equipment, and I display all of the
data in a form. In that form I created a command button called pic, but I
cannot find a way to dynamically point the hyperlink to the GOTC for that
job. I store the photos in a subdirectory of my database, because adding
them into the database would make it very unwieldy very quickly.
Is there a way to dynamically point to the picture in a given directory? It
would be even better if it will display several photos in that same
directory. Another choice might be to automatically open a windows explorer
with that directory (named as the GOTC number) with the display mode set to
thumbnails.

Please help me if you can.
TIA

[Ted]

I use the following method of viewing images in an Access application:
On a form I insert an Image object from the forms toolbar.
Give it a name such as ImageSpot.
The table bound to the form should have field that is long enough to
hold the path and filename of the image which can be stored on the
local computer or a network server if you have one. Let's call that
ImagePath.
In the On Double-Click properties for that text box for that field I'll
add an Open File dialog that will retrieve the name of the image in a
common and easy to use interface and store the path and filename in the
ImagePath field. The same code will then issue a command to set the
image property of your ImageSpot object to the name of the image.

Here is the example of the Double-Click event:

Private Sub Image_DblClick( Cancel As Integer)
Dim strDirectory As String
Dim strTitle As String
Dim strSheetFilter As String

'Open the Open File dialog to retrieve the name of an image file
strDirectory = DLookup("[Data]", "tblAppSettings Local") &
"SubFolderName\ " 'Location of Images
strTitle = "Please select the desired Image"
strSheetFilter = "Image"

Me!ImagePath = TrimFilePath(Ge tOpenFile(strDi rectory, strTitle,
strSheetFilter) )

If IsNull(Me!Image Path) Or Me!ImagePath = "" Then
Me!ImageSpot.Pi cture = CurrentProject. Path & "\CompanyLogo.b mp"
Else
Me!ImageSpot.Pi cture = DLookup("[Images]",
"tblAppSettings Local") & "\" & Me!ImagePath
End If
End Sub

Once you have done that, then you need to be able to update the image
spot as you navigate through your records so I use this code in the
OnOpen AND the OnCurrent events for the form:

If IsNull(Me!Image Path) Or Me!ImagePath = "" Then
Me!ImageSpot.Pi cture = CurrentProject. Path & "\CompanyLogo.b mp"
Else
Me!ImageSpot.Pi cture = DLookup("[Images]",
"tblAppSettings Local") & "\" & Me!ImagePath
End If

You will note in the code above the statement:
strDirectory = DLookup("[Data]", "tblAppSettings Local") &
"SubFolderName\ " 'Location of Images
I use a table within the application where I store certain information
that may change but stays the same most of the time. These program
parameters can be easily maintained in one central location where many
different procedures can access the values, and if the value changes I
only have to change it in one location.

One other note of interest is that you can use the same
Me!ImageSpot.Pi cture = command to insert images into reports before
they print simply by adding the image hold to the detail section of the
report and adding the Me!ImageSpot.Pi cture = command to the OnFormat
event property of the Detail section of the report.

I got the following code from one of the Access web sites and modified
it just a little. Copy and paste it into a new module (I named my
module basOpenFileDial og). Then the code above will work to retrieve
the name of the image:

Option Compare Database

'************** *** Code Start **************
'This code was originally written by Ken Getz.
'It is not to be altered or distributed,
'except as part of an application.
'You are free to use it in any application,
'provided the copyright notice is left unchanged.
'
' Code courtesy of:
' Microsoft Access 95 How-To
' Ken Getz and Paul Litwin
' Waite Group Press, 1996

Type tagOPENFILENAME
lStructSize As Long
hWndOwner As Long
hInstance As Long
strFilter As String
strCustomFilter As String
nMaxCustFilter As Long
nFilterIndex As Long
strFile As String
nMaxFile As Long
strFileTitle As String
nMaxFileTitle As Long
strInitialDir As String
strTitle As String
Flags As Long
nFileOffset As Integer
nFileExtension As Integer
strDefExt As String
lCustData As Long
lpfnHook As Long
lpTemplateName As String
End Type

Declare Function aht_apiGetOpenF ileName Lib "comdlg32.d ll" _
Alias "GetOpenFileNam eA" (OFN As tagOPENFILENAME ) As Boolean

Declare Function aht_apiGetSaveF ileName Lib "comdlg32.d ll" _
Alias "GetSaveFileNam eA" (OFN As tagOPENFILENAME ) As Boolean
Declare Function CommDlgExtended Error Lib "comdlg32.d ll" () As Long

Global Const ahtOFN_READONLY = &H1
Global Const ahtOFN_OVERWRIT EPROMPT = &H2
Global Const ahtOFN_HIDEREAD ONLY = &H4
Global Const ahtOFN_NOCHANGE DIR = &H8
Global Const ahtOFN_SHOWHELP = &H10
' You won't use these.
'Global Const ahtOFN_ENABLEHO OK = &H20
'Global Const ahtOFN_ENABLETE MPLATE = &H40
'Global Const ahtOFN_ENABLETE MPLATEHANDLE = &H80
Global Const ahtOFN_NOVALIDA TE = &H100
Global Const ahtOFN_ALLOWMUL TISELECT = &H200
Global Const ahtOFN_EXTENSIO NDIFFERENT = &H400
Global Const ahtOFN_PATHMUST EXIST = &H800
Global Const ahtOFN_FILEMUST EXIST = &H1000
Global Const ahtOFN_CREATEPR OMPT = &H2000
Global Const ahtOFN_SHAREAWA RE = &H4000
Global Const ahtOFN_NOREADON LYRETURN = &H8000
Global Const ahtOFN_NOTESTFI LECREATE = &H10000
Global Const ahtOFN_NONETWOR KBUTTON = &H20000
Global Const ahtOFN_NOLONGNA MES = &H40000
' New for Windows 95
Global Const ahtOFN_EXPLORER = &H80000
Global Const ahtOFN_NODEREFE RENCELINKS = &H100000
Global Const ahtOFN_LONGNAME S = &H200000

Function TestIt()
Dim strFilter As String
Dim lngFlags As Long
strFilter = ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter, "Access Files (*.mda,
*.mdb)", _
"*.MDA;*.MD B")
strFilter = ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter, "dBASE Files (*.dbf)",
"*.DBF")
strFilter = ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter, "Text Files (*.txt)",
"*.TXT")
strFilter = ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter, "All Files (*.*)", "*.*")
MsgBox "You selected: " & ahtCommonFileOp enSave(InitialD ir:="C:\",
_
Filter:=strFilt er, FilterIndex:=3, Flags:=lngFlags , _
DialogTitle:="H ello! Open Me!")
' Since you passed in a variable for lngFlags,
' the function places the output flags value in the variable.
Debug.Print Hex(lngFlags)
End Function

Function GetOpenFile(Opt ional varDirectory As Variant, _
Optional varTitleForDial og As Variant, Optional strFilterZ As
String) As Variant
' Here's an example that gets an Access database name.
Dim strFilter As String
Dim lngFlags As Long
Dim varFileName As Variant
' Specify that the chosen file must already exist,
' don't change directories when you're done
' Also, don't bother displaying
' the read-only box. It'll only confuse people.
lngFlags = ahtOFN_FILEMUST EXIST Or _
ahtOFN_HIDEREAD ONLY Or ahtOFN_NOCHANGE DIR
If IsMissing(varDi rectory) Then
varDirectory = ""
End If
If IsMissing(varTi tleForDialog) Then
varTitleForDial og = ""
End If

' Define the filter string and allocate space in the "c"
' string Duplicate this line with changes as necessary for
' more file templates.

Select Case strFilterZ
Case "Spreadshee t"
strFilter = ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter, _
"Spreadshee ts (*.xls), (*.wb3)", "*.XLS;*.WB 3")
Case "MDB"
strFilter = ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter, _
"Access (*.mdb)", "*.MDB;*.MD A")
Case "Image"
strFilter = ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter, _
"Images (*.bmp), (*.jpg)", "*.BMP;*.JP G")
Case Else
End Select

'If strFilterZ = "Spreadshee t" Then 'added this to filter for
spreadsheets
' strFilter = ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter, _
' "Spreadshee ts (*.xls), (*.wb3)", "*.XLS;*.WB 3")
'Else
' 'not a spreadsheet
' strFilter = ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter, _
' "Access (*.mdb)", "*.MDB;*.MD A")
'End If

' Now actually call to get the file name.
varFileName = ahtCommonFileOp enSave( _
OpenFile:=True, _
InitialDir:=var Directory, _
Filter:=strFilt er, _
Flags:=lngFlags , _
DialogTitle:=va rTitleForDialog )
If Not IsNull(varFileN ame) Then
varFileName = TrimNull(varFil eName)
End If
GetOpenFile = varFileName
End Function

Function ahtCommonFileOp enSave( _
Optional ByRef Flags As Variant, _
Optional ByVal InitialDir As Variant, _
Optional ByVal Filter As Variant, _
Optional ByVal FilterIndex As Variant, _
Optional ByVal DefaultExt As Variant, _
Optional ByVal FileName As Variant, _
Optional ByVal DialogTitle As Variant, _
Optional ByVal hWnd As Variant, _
Optional ByVal OpenFile As Variant) As Variant
' This is the entry point you'll use to call the common
' file open/save dialog. The parameters are listed
' below, and all are optional.
'
' In:
' Flags: one or more of the ahtOFN_* constants, OR'd together.
' InitialDir: the directory in which to first look
' Filter: a set of file filters, set up by calling
' AddFilterItem. See examples.
' FilterIndex: 1-based integer indicating which filter
' set to use, by default (1 if unspecified)
' DefaultExt: Extension to use if the user doesn't enter one.
' Only useful on file saves.
' FileName: Default value for the file name text box.
' DialogTitle: Title for the dialog.
' hWnd: parent window handle
' OpenFile: Boolean(True=Op en File/False=Save As)
' Out:
' Return Value: Either Null or the selected filename
Dim OFN As tagOPENFILENAME
Dim strFileName As String
Dim strFileTitle As String
Dim fResult As Boolean
' Give the dialog a caption title.
If IsMissing(Initi alDir) Then InitialDir = CurDir
If IsMissing(Filte r) Then Filter = ""
If IsMissing(Filte rIndex) Then FilterIndex = 1
If IsMissing(Flags ) Then Flags = 0&
If IsMissing(Defau ltExt) Then DefaultExt = ""
If IsMissing(FileN ame) Then FileName = ""
If IsMissing(Dialo gTitle) Then DialogTitle = ""
If IsMissing(hWnd) Then hWnd = Application.hWn dAccessApp
If IsMissing(OpenF ile) Then OpenFile = True
' Allocate string space for the returned strings.
strFileName = Left(FileName & String(256, 0), 256)
strFileTitle = String(256, 0)
' Set up the data structure before you call the function
With OFN
.lStructSize = Len(OFN)
.hWndOwner = hWnd
.strFilter = Filter
.nFilterIndex = FilterIndex
.strFile = strFileName
.nMaxFile = Len(strFileName )
.strFileTitle = strFileTitle
.nMaxFileTitle = Len(strFileTitl e)
.strTitle = DialogTitle
.Flags = Flags
.strDefExt = DefaultExt
.strInitialDir = InitialDir
' Didn't think most people would want to deal with
' these options.
.hInstance = 0
'.strCustomFilt er = ""
'.nMaxCustFilte r = 0
.lpfnHook = 0
'New for NT 4.0
.strCustomFilte r = String(255, 0)
.nMaxCustFilter = 255
End With
' This will pass the desired data structure to the
' Windows API, which will in turn it uses to display
' the Open/Save As Dialog.
If OpenFile Then
fResult = aht_apiGetOpenF ileName(OFN)
Else
fResult = aht_apiGetSaveF ileName(OFN)
End If

' The function call filled in the strFileTitle member
' of the structure. You'll have to write special code
' to retrieve that if you're interested.
If fResult Then
' You might care to check the Flags member of the
' structure to get information about the chosen file.
' In this example, if you bothered to pass in a
' value for Flags, we'll fill it in with the outgoing
' Flags value.
If Not IsMissing(Flags ) Then Flags = OFN.Flags
ahtCommonFileOp enSave = TrimNull(OFN.st rFile)
Else
ahtCommonFileOp enSave = vbNullString
End If
End Function

Function ahtAddFilterIte m(strFilter As String, _
strDescription As String, Optional varItem As Variant) As String
' Tack a new chunk onto the file filter.
' That is, take the old value, stick onto it the description,
' (like "Databases" ), a null character, the skeleton
' (like "*.mdb;*.md a") and a final null character.

If IsMissing(varIt em) Then varItem = "*.*"
ahtAddFilterIte m = strFilter & _
strDescription & vbNullChar & _
varItem & vbNullChar
End Function

Private Function TrimNull(ByVal strItem As String) As String
Dim intPos As Integer
intPos = InStr(strItem, vbNullChar)
If intPos > 0 Then
TrimNull = Left(strItem, intPos - 1)
Else
TrimNull = strItem
End If
End Function
'************** Code End *************** **

Function TrimFilePath(st rFile) As String
TrimFilePath = Right(strFile, (Len(strFile) - (InStrRev(strFi le,
"\"))))
'TrimFilePath = strFile
End Function