Attachment Fields (1 Viewer)

Hello !

I have been trying to figure out a best way to attach files to specific records. Up until this point have been using Hyperlink to link files that have been stored in shared folders. This seemed to be a very good option for quiet sometime; but some users wish to play god ! Since I have to give them RWX permission on the folder; they go into the Shared folder and either rename the file or move it around or worse, DELETE the file permanently. Thus messing up the hyperlink.

Now I am planning to use the wretched Attachment data type in Access. I know it will bloat the DB, but this seems to be a safer option. As I can control DELETES/EDITS. So I was thinking to use a stand alone DB, just used for Attachment tables. As these records will not be accessed everytime.

My problem is, I remember vaguely using two linked backend DB files, put a lot of strain on the front end. Thus making the connection very slow. Sometime even upto 10 seconds to simply load the login form.

My idea is to establish a persistent connection to the two DB files on front end opening. Thus the connection is always there so it might not be that slow !

Or is there something I could look into to manage the Files/Attachments more efficiently, other than Hypelinking? Cheers for any ideas.

Sounds like you need a greater control over the naming conventions the users use and their access to the shared folder.

Why not have a table which defines the file name uniquely using a naming system plus another field for it's original name. Then save the file with its uniquely defined name.

In a listbox or whatever, the user will see the the original name but open a differently named file. They can then edit the 'original' file name in the table if required.

You can hide the shared folder - and perhaps put it in a folder the user can't navigate to e.g.

C:\UserSharedFiles\AdminOnlyAccess\UserSharedDocs

Give users access to the first and last folder but not the middle one - they can still get there if they know the path but makes it more difficult. You should also be able to deny users delete permissions

Rather than using hyperlink, consider using shellexecute

Found these links which may be helpful

http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/prevent-file-deletion-and-file-renaming-in-windows/

http://infoworks.tv/prevent-user-fr...ut-enabling-them-to-write-files-there-within/

That is quiet a different trick there ! I will have to look into using the First and last folder only scenario. Will look over the links and let you know how I get along. Thanks CJ.

There's also another trick that Network Admins use to hide the full path to shared folders, and the path they create will normally have a dollar sign "$" post fixed to the name. So instead of "\\...MyNetworkShare" it would be "SecretNetworkShare$". And not only does it hide the name it hides it on the Network Share too.

You might want to ask your network admins for some advice on this.

don't forget shellexecute - the benefit is the that the command can be set to the click or double click event and unlike hyperlink,when hovering over the control, does not display the path.

I typically use a listbox or subform to display the files and by having a proper file naming convention I can easily search for documents by type, content, date etc