Access Autopilot and Vista

[kite54surfer]

Hi all,

Does anybody know if Autopilot works with Vista?

Thanks for any help,

Emilio

[Stewart Ross]

Hi there. I note you've posted the same question on a different Access web forum - and the reply they gave you is the same as mine more or less!

What do you mean by Autopilot? The name of the software is unknown to me, and a quick Google search leaves me none the wiser.

And what has this got to do with Access?

Regards

-Stewart

[NeoPa]

I have moved this to Misc.

Unless and until this turns out to be Access related this seems to be the best place for it.

[NeoPa]

It seems that "Access Autopilot" is indeed Access related and needs to come back (done).

I would echo the wisdom of Stewart's response though. I recommend you google the product name and see if sites more directly related can help you. Questions about specific, non-standard software, are less likely to find answers here as we (mainly) deal with Access.

Feel free to leave the question here though and someone may be able to help.

PS. I've changed the title of the thread to reflect what the question is about to avoid any further confusion.

[kite54surfer]

Thanks for your help.

The fact that you didn't know about Access Autopilot, tells me a lot, I assumed it was widely used in the Access community.

I just want to automate Compacting back-end databases.

Is there any more current program that you know about?

Thanks again,
Emilio

[NeoPa]

I am currently working on a process at work to automate a process within a database.

It involves CMD files, FTP answer files and the Windows Scheduler service. Not for the feint-hearted I would say, but I can help if you're sure you're prepared for the steep learning curve.

[kite54surfer]

@NeoPa
I would take you up on your offer, thanks.

Emilio

[Stewart Ross]

Hi. You may both find this automatic compactor add-in Access 97 database coded by Dev Ashish of interest at the following link:

http://www.mvps.org/access/modules/mdl0030.htm

I have not tried this one myself, but I use other API-based code written by Dev Ashish and find his routines very well written.

-Stewart

[kite54surfer]

@Stewart Ross Inverness
Thanks a lot, I will try it.

[NeoPa]

@kite54surfer
Let me know how you get on. I haven't dug up the other thread where I discussed this before yet. It might be a job to find it.

[NeoPa]

An example CMD file that I use to run some Access code automatically, as well as to run some file processing code afterwards, is included below :

REM V: Drive should be available.
REM Make sure it is added if not.
REN V:\Vecta\Imports\Done Done
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO Cont1
NET USE V: \\STP01NTS003\Vecta
 
:Cont1
CD /D V:\Vecta
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO Cont2
ECHO Unable to map correct drive.
GOTO EndCmd
 
:Cont2
REM Start Access stuff here.  ;Auto is parameter passed into Access database
REM The AccessPath Environment Variable must be set for this to work.
"%AccessPath%\MSAccess.Exe" V:\Vecta\Vecta.Mdb ;Auto
 
CD Imports
REN Vecta*.Csv *.*
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO Cont3
ECHO No files to process.
GOTO EndCmd
 
:Cont3
REM WinZip CMDLine must be installed for this to work.
"C:\Program Files\WinZip\WZZip.Exe" -a+ -ex -ybc StatPlusVecta.Zip *.Csv
DEL *.Csv
START "Upload to VectaWeb" /DV:\Vecta\Imports /LOW FTP.Exe -n -s:V:\Vecta\VectaWebDaily.Ftp -w:16384 FTP.Server.com
 
:EndCmd
ECHO ON

Obviously, a CMD file can be scheduled to run quite easily.

PS. Instead of setting up AccessPath you can simply add the path to Access into your Path environment variable.

[NeoPa]

Some example code for handling the automatic code within the database :

Private Sub Form_Open(Cancel As Integer)
  ...
  If Command = "Auto" Then
    'Automatic code follows here
    Cancel = True
    Call Application.Quit(Option:=acQuitSaveNone)
  End If
End Sub

This would be found in the module of the form you set to start automatically within your database.

[NeoPa]

To illustrate an FTP file that can be used to automate the FTP job I've included my file (with some security amendments of course) :
VectaWebDaily.Ftp

user name password
binary
lcd V:\Vecta\Imports
cd /COSI/VectaFTP
delete StatPlusVecta-.Zip
rename StatPlusVecta.Zip StatPlusVecta-.Zip
bell on
put StatPlusVecta.Zip
bye

[kite54surfer]

@NeoPa
Thanks a lot NeoPa, but is way overkill for my needs.
The back-end is not shared and the users get program shut-off automatically after period of time if forget to close, so I never have to worry about db being in use.
I will keep looking for an easier solution, maybe just task scheduler?

Thanks again,
Emilio

[NeoPa]

No worries Emilio.

My suggested solution was actually using Task Sheduler (Windows Sheduler Service - See post #6). The rest was just some of the padding to allow the database to be opened normally too.

If the Scheduler opens the database, it will need to run in a type of batch mode anyway, as there will generally be no operator to trigger any activity.