is Access 2003 going to do the Job?

[Lassitude]

Hi

A few years ago I worked in a CRM company and gained a lot of experience with a proprietary database system. I am familiar with database normalization and setting up table relationships. I am pretty new to Access and have a couple of questions relating to a favor I am doing for a friend- Setting up a contact database for his recruitment company. So far I have imported his data and set up a number of tables as per his specification...

1- Is it possible to set up Access for remote users, or alternatively so they can all use the same database? Currently they have 2 users in one office, and another 2 users on different sites. They do not have any servers, it's just a basic DSL connection via a Broadband Router, and I am not sure if VPN would provide enough bandwidth.

2- I would like to set up the email field with a button that will send an Email to the address displayed using Outlook. Is it possible and if so how do I do it?

3- I also would like the capability of archiving word documents, which I guess would be done in a similar way to point 2.

many thanks

Chris

[MMcCarthy]

Hi

A few years ago I worked in a CRM company and gained a lot of experience with a proprietary database system. I am familiar with database normalization and setting up table relationships. I am pretty new to Access and have a couple of questions relating to a favor I am doing for a friend- Setting up a contact database for his recruitment company. So far I have imported his data and set up a number of tables as per his specification...

1- Is it possible to set up Access for remote users, or alternatively so they can all use the same database? Currently they have 2 users in one office, and another 2 users on different sites. They do not have any servers, it's just a basic DSL connection via a Broadband Router, and I am not sure if VPN would provide enough bandwidth.

Although theoretically Access can create Data Access Pages which can be web enabled it is not a very successful or efficient method. However, Access can be used as a backend with a number of web frontend systems. VPN might actually be your best option.

2- I would like to set up the email field with a button that will send an Email to the address displayed using Outlook. Is it possible and if so how do I do it?

Depends on the requirements. The DoCmd.SendObject code is the simplest method of doing this. The syntax is as follows:

DoCmd.SendObject [objecttype][, objectname][, outputformat][, to][, cc][, bcc][, subject][, messagetext][, editmessage][, templatefile]

3- I also would like the capability of archiving word documents, which I guess would be done in a similar way to point 2.

There are a number of options here. You can use a copyfile function. You can link the documents to the database using an OLE Object type field. Don't embed as it will increase the size of the database.

[Lassitude]

Many thanks for you reply, it's been a while since I have used VB in anger but i'll dust off the cobwebs and give it a go...

thanks

Chris

[kcddoorman]

Sending e-mail using a button in VB will be easy enough. The biggest problem I have run into is using the data access pages. As Mary pointed out there are many other ways to get around using them. From what I have learned, you have to use IIS, the MS web server, to host the pages for things to work correctly. You can try to make the page available on a network shared folder but I have run into all kinds of problems doing it.

Here is an example of my e-mail button on a form.

Private Sub CMDemail_Click()
Dim strToWhom As String
Dim strSubject As String
Dim strBody As String
Dim strMsgBody As String
Dim intSeeOutlook As Integer
Dim strComment As String
 
'check to see if there are comments for the salesperson.
 
strComment = IIf(Nz([emailcomments]) = vbNullString, "", "--Please Check for comments.")
 
[notifyCheck] = True
strToWhom = [email]
 
strSubject = "WO# " & [wo number] & " is complete" & " " & strComment
 
 
strBody = "Kight Door Shop" & vbCrLf & Date & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & [Customer Name] & " | " & [job name] & " | WO # " & [wo number] & " | is complete." & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & "Comments:" & vbCrLf & [emailcomments]
 
'strMsgBody = "Hello?"
'strToWhom = "[e-mail]"
'strSubject = "This is a test"
'strBody = "This is a test"
 
DoCmd.SendObject , , , strToWhom, , , strSubject, strBody, intSeeOutlook
 
End Sub

[email], [wo number], [job name], [customer name], and [emailcomments] are all fields from the form's record source. You can use whatever you like to accomplish your goals.

Have Fun,
James