[AccessD] Should I use Attachments?

Sun May 15 17:16:34 CDT 2011

I use the following to open the file:

    If IsNull(Me.txtPicture) Then Exit Sub
    Shell "RunDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,ShellExec_RunDLL " & Me.txtPicture,
vbMaximizedFocus

Where Me.txtPicture contains the path and file name of the target.

The file is opened by the application to which the file extension is
associated.  So if there's a pdf in txtPicture it opens with Reader, .doc
file opens with Word, etc.  I suppose you could stash the path and file name
of an .mdb file and it would open in Access.

Of course, if they move the file, the link is broken.  I suppose I should
put a FIleExists check before the Shell and give a freindly message if the
file's not there.

Rocky

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Darrell Burns
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 2:56 PM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Should I use Attachments?

Jim & Rocky,

What I like about the Attachment object is that: 
1. it handles multiple files;
2. the user only has to dbl-click, select a file, and open; 3. since the
images are stored in the DB it doesn't matter if the files are moved,
renamed, or deleted. 
Have you guys (or anybody else) developed a way to mimic that functionality
through links?

Re: Jim's point about the the image being retrieved as the user moves thru
the records...does ACE actually retrieve the image when the record becomes
current? It appears that only the file count is displayed and the image
isn't retrieved til the user dbl-clicks. Am I wrong?

-DB

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Jim Lawrence
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 12:30 PM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Should I use Attachments?

We went through this issue many times, from MS Access to Oracle and MS SQL
databases and keeping the images external is always faster. Sometimes we had
to store the images internal to the database but then, when working in
Oracle forms, a button had to be added to initiate the image loading...if
someone just flitted from record to record the impact of an image being
retrieved from the actual database was show stopper...and this would impact
every user on the system.

My vote is to store them external and enjoy the performance.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Rocky Smolin
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 8:50 AM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Should I use Attachments?

Even inside the database don't you need some way to identify the picture - a
title or caption?  So renaming the jpgs is one way to do that and so the
combo box to select the picture has those descriptive file names.  Or in the
table where you store the path and file name of the picture you let the user
enter a short description which shows in the combo box.  Either way the
photos stay outside the db.  If you store them in the db, the photos will
still be stored outside the db somewhere.  If they exist in two places that
opens up possibilities of having the one set not be the same as the other
set.

Still voting for keeping them outside.

However, I am interested in whether or not a graphic file can now be stored
in a db without bloating it.  Please let us know what your experiments
reveal.

Rocky

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 8:16 AM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Should I use Attachments?

I've been toying with this new feature, which is basically a binary data
type which a built-in compressor/decompressor. A client and I are
experimenting with it, for one basic reason: a given record might have
associated with it anywhere from 2 to 60 photos. Having that many photos
living in some directory somewhere, especially given their arbitrary names,
can quickly become quite a hassle. On the other hand, simply specifying the
path to a given client's photos seems workable. So I don't yet know which
method we'll choose.

A.

On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 7:25 AM, Jim Dettman <jimdettman at verizon.net> wrote:

>
>  I'm not sure what you mean by "not backward-compatible".  It's a new 
> feature and did not exist in prior versions, so yes, it would not be 
> available in JET (it's an ACE only feature).
>
>  As far as performance, I have not heard anything in that regard.  
> It's not the same animal as an OLE field; there is no OLE wrapper 
> around
the object.
> And the data is compressed to boot.  So bloating DB's is a thing of 
> the past.
>
>  However because of that, you just can't pull the raw data out and 
> move it or use it in some other way.  Also, you still must contend 
> with the ACE DB limit of 2GB.
>
>  Given all that, I would still do it the traditional way as Rocky 
> said; store a path in the DB and keep everything outside of the DB.
>
> Jim.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Darrell 
> Burns
> Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 08:33 PM
> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
> Subject: [AccessD] Should I use Attachments?
>
> New subject: my client wants to link PDF documents to records in an 
> Asset table in an A2007 app. The attachment data type is perfect for 
> what I want to do, but I've heard bad things about it. I know one 
> caveat is that it's not backward-compatible. I've also heard that it's 
> a performance drag. (I tried using OLE fields in A2000 a few years ago 
> and quickly abandoned that approach). The Asset table would range from 
> a few hundred to a couple thousand records per client. I'll be 
> deploying
the app as a runtime.
>
> I'd be interested in hearing the pros & cons of attachments.
>
> Thanx,
> DB
>
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