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Access package datatype (linked picture) - Can I extract the file path to the link?
I have an existing Access 97 application that needs to be upgraded to Access 2003 and moved to a different server. Because of the age, it is using the older Microsoft Image OLE Server from Eastman / eiStream. When adding a record on the old system, the user would right mouse on the Bound Object Frame, and select menu item Package Object > Edit Package. This opens the Object Packager dialog. The user selects File > Import which opens a file selection dialog. The user selects the file, and exits the Object Packager.
I still can't figure out if it is saving a link or embedding the object, I think it is the latter. When I first opened the application, the IMBTHUMB.OCX was missing. When double clicking on the bound object, a dialog would open saying it could not find the image file and gave a path from the old server. All the images (.JPG) are in a directory.
All the users want to know is if the JPG file exists for each record. Because the database column is of datype OLE Object, and the ObjectPackager was used, I can't extract the filename.
What I want to do is -> write code in Access that I can launch from a button that will get the JPG object from the database and somehow extract the filename or pathname. I can then store this name in the database in a String column, and modify the form to show the JPG using Microsoft Picture Viewer (outside of Access). I might be able to programmatically use the ObjectPackager, but I don't know what library I need to include, or if it even has an API.
Thanks!
Brad
I still can't figure out if it is saving a link or embedding the object, I think it is the latter. When I first opened the application, the IMBTHUMB.OCX was missing. When double clicking on the bound object, a dialog would open saying it could not find the image file and gave a path from the old server. All the images (.JPG) are in a directory.
All the users want to know is if the JPG file exists for each record. Because the database column is of datype OLE Object, and the ObjectPackager was used, I can't extract the filename.
What I want to do is -> write code in Access that I can launch from a button that will get the JPG object from the database and somehow extract the filename or pathname. I can then store this name in the database in a String column, and modify the form to show the JPG using Microsoft Picture Viewer (outside of Access). I might be able to programmatically use the ObjectPackager, but I don't know what library I need to include, or if it even has an API.
Thanks!
Brad
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Good links, Nelson (your link library is impressive), but this doesn't address the real problem: the Object Packager...
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ASKER
The ExtractInventoryOLE.zip has *EXACTLY* what I needed - I can't believe it! I post a question at 5 PM on a Friday night and get multiple answers in 15 minutes, one of which also had a working program that dumped exactly what I want into a table!
Most Excellent - I wish I had selected the highest point number - Thanks harfang!
Brad
Most Excellent - I wish I had selected the highest point number - Thanks harfang!
Brad
Wow. Does this actually extract the files from the package? This is great news!
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You're welcome. Glad to help and thank you very much for the points with "A" grade!
Happy Computing!
Nelson
harfang,
Yep, Steve proved his genius again.
Happy Computing!
Nelson
harfang,
Yep, Steve proved his genius again.
I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news. I did an extensive search a while back about the object packager and I couldn't find any way to manipulate the packages programatically, neither at Micro$osf, nor anywhere else on the Internet. The more I learned about this #### piece of ####, the more I hated it, to tell the truth.
Best bet: hire a student who will open each package manually, save the file and store the path in the table. You can create a form to help him/her do the last part, but that it.
Of course, do a search again. Someone might have hit a database so big that it was worth the trouble to write an extraction tool.
Good luck!
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