Right now I have an MS Access adp system with a single form. that form has a timer that checks to see if a record has been added to a table in my SQL Server database. If there is a record there, it opens it up and gets a bit of info. It gets a report name, the parameters necessary to produce that report and then the location to "save" it to.
The "saving" is actually using win2pdf 's printer driver to save the MS Access report as a PDF file.
The main command record is actually filled out by a webpage. So, here is the full process:
user cllics print putton next to invoice record on web page. Print button links to
http://myreporter.asp?report_name=invoice&id=123that page inserts those values into the report_queue record and then retreive's the Identity of the report_queue table. The Access ADP picks up that record, prints the report to a directory on the webserver calling it the name of the report plus the ID of the report_queue. Meanwhile, the webpage is scanning that direcotry on the webserver, waiting for the PDF to show up. Once it does, it redirects to that PDF and the user has a nice clean PDF invoice.
It works great. Even better, I just plop down 3 workstations with MS Access on it and run them all at the same time. Whichever picksup the command first does the job. If one blows out, it really doesn't matter.
The problem: I need to have the machine "logged into". That's no big deal if I've got the boxes sitting right there, but I need to move to a new facility where the severs are set up to run like servers, not workstations. :) And.... they are expensive. "Space" is expensive, so I can't just use a bunch of old workstations, like I do now. Basically, I'm going to have to pay for 2 servers (for redundancy) to do this. If I could somehow run MS Access in the background, like a service, and load up that form with it's little timer, I'd be a very happy man.
So... anyone have any ideas?
