The command or Action "SendObject" isn't available now

[Ken OHanlon]

I wrote a short program that uses "SendObject". It works fine on my computer, it works fine on my clients computer, but when I copy/paste it up to the server to use it there also, Access issues the following message: The expression on click......The command or Action "SendObject" isn't available now. If you click on the See Details button you get:

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) encountered a problem while attempting to access a property or method. The problem may be one of the following:
A reference is missing.
For help restoring missing references, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 283806.
An Expression is misspelled.
Check all expressions used in event properties for correct spelling.
A user-defined function is declared as a sub or as a private function in a module.
Expressions can resolve a user-defined function only if the function is declared as one of the following:
A public function in a module
A public or private function in a code module of the current form or report
Security in Access is set to Medium or High and the Microsoft Jet 4.0 SP8 update is not installed.
A more recent verion of Jet 4.0 must be installed for Access to function properly when security is set to Medium or High. To obtain the latest version of Microsoft Jet, go to Windows Update.

All computers are using Access 2003, and XP except the server which is using Server 2003. Security is set to LOW just like all the other computers. All the other help points should not be it, right? Thanks in advance, Ken

[Stewart Ross]

Hi Ken. This is probably a references issue - which relates to the object libraries that are loaded. On the problem machine either a reference is missing, or there is a conflict of references (with an older and a newer version of the same library in scope at the same time). Given that it is SendObject that is in conflict I suspect a duplicate reference, but you will need to check the list to find out for sure.

To check the references, open a code module and from the Visual Basic editor choose Tools, References and scroll through all the ones ticked. Check first on the known good machine and note down all those ticked. Check on the machine with the problems, in particular for duplicate references or references missing.

I attach a screenshot showing the list of references for a test database of mine as an exemplar.

The MS knowledge base article mentioned in the Help message is linked here for reference.

-Stewart

[Ken OHanlon]

Hi Ken. This is probably a references issue - which relates to the object libraries that are loaded. On the problem machine either a reference is missing, or there is a conflict of references (with an older and a newer version of the same library in scope at the same time). Given that it is SendObject that is in conflict I suspect a duplicate reference, but you will need to check the list to find out for sure.

To check the references, open a code module and from the Visual Basic editor choose Tools, References and scroll through all the ones ticked. Check first on the known good machine and note down all those ticked. Check on the machine with the problems, in particular for duplicate references or references missing.

I attach a screenshot showing the list of references for a test database of mine as an exemplar.

The MS knowledge base article mentioned in the Help message is linked here for reference.

-Stewart

Hi Stewart, thanks for replying. I looked at that before posting this problem. Both computers(Good and Bad) have exactly the same ticks and they are the first 5 ticks of your exemplar. NO doubles, and nothing that says MISSING! The computer(Server 2003) with this problem is new and was just set up for this application. I hope you have another idea!! Thanks- Ken.

[Stewart Ross]

Hi Ken. Hmm, which version of Access are you using? Ah, I notice now you mentioned 2003. 2007 is compatible with Server 2003, but Access 2003 does not say specifically that it is. The System Requirements information from MS simply specifies XP or a later OS. This could be very significant, and I suspect is what is wrong.

Why do you need to run Access 2003 on Server 2003, which is really intended as a web or file server? If it was SQL server (a back-end database designed for server applications) I would understand it, but not Access which, even when shared, is designed to run on an end-user PC (on XP or Vista primarily).

Perhaps other contributors could clarify whether the use of Server 2003 could cause a reference difficulty, which appears the most likely cause of this issue to me...

-Stewart

[Ken OHanlon]

Hi Ken. Hmm, which version of Access are you using? Ah, I notice now you mentioned 2003. 2007 is compatible with Server 2003, but Access 2003 does not say specifically that it is. The System Requirements information from MS simply specifies XP or a later OS. This could be very significant, and I suspect is what is wrong.

Why do you need to run Access 2003 on Server 2003, which is really intended as a web or file server? If it was SQL server (a back-end database designed for server applications) I would understand it, but not Access which, even when shared, is designed to run on an end-user PC (on XP or Vista primarily).

Perhaps other contributors could clarify whether the use of Server 2003 could cause a reference difficulty, which appears the most likely cause of this issue to me...

-Stewart

Hi Stewart, thanks for replying so fast.

I'll be the first to tell you that what I am about to tell you is crazy, but the client is always right, right? I wrote my client an Access 2003 application(mdb) that he loves. It runs on a Server 2003 network but doesn’t have a SQL backend. The problem now is that my client’s employees are always on the phone answering questions for his customers that a direct customer web access would solve. I told him that we needed to convert the backend to SQL and then use PHP to create a web user access program. My client did not want to go thu all the de-bugging of converting over. I can understand that! Well his “hardware man” told him to just add another server to this system and let his customers access it from the web with “Remote Desktop Connection”. So that how we get to this Server 2003 w/ Access 2003 computer coming into existence. The rest of the story is once the customer finds what he wants using “Remote Desktop Connection” he then wants to get this data into his own computer. So he E-mails himself the data out of my clients computer and into his own using sendobject. Thats a long story, I hope it was good reading!!! If you have a better way, please clue me in. Thanks- Ken.

[Stewart Ross]

Hi Ken. Oh dear... Your proposed solution was a good one, but if your client won't listen...

I don't use MS Remote Desktop, so it is not familiar to me. I do use the Citrix thin client system which is not the same but has similar features.

What if you were to try splitting your Access application into a front end/back end application where the back-end (just the shared tables and nothing else) is on the Server 2003 system accessed via remote desktop as necessary, and the front-end with all the forms, reports, and code is local, residing on each end-user's computer as is normal with any Access Front End/Back End split. The front end would have no changing tables, as these would reside on the back-end database and would be linked as necessary via the remote desktop folder involved.

Using a front end/back end split there will be no attempt to run the front end on a server OS that is not compatible. I am assuming that the back-end will still work when used that way on a Server 2003 platform, and this may not be true, but it is the only other solution I can think of that might help. It would do away with the need for users to e-mail anything back to themselves as well...

There is a HowTo article on front end/back end splits linked here.



Good luck!

-Stewart