Question Is there a way to paste a MSWord Table into a field in Access?

[wchelly]

I'm not sure where this question belongs but I need to give users the ability to create a small table in MSWord or another program, and then paste the table into a data field. An image of the table would be fine. But it needs to be user friendly.

If that's not possible they could just create a Rich Text document with text formatted in a table form with out gridlines. I would need about a 2000 character limit. Not sure if this is reasonable or not??

 

[vbaInet]

You should be able to copy and paste the table from word into tables in Access or better still paste into a form in Datasheet view. Your users should not have access to Tables. It will also be much cleaner copying from Excel to Access.

Why don't they do whatever they're doing directly in the database?

 

[ersocia]

Why don't they do whatever they're doing directly in the database?

agreed.. doing it directly in access would be much easier than having to manually create a table in word and then paste it over.. in access, the table already exists and you just need to plug in the data.

what's the reasoning for doing it the way you're describing?

 

[wchelly]

I know it is counter intuitive to make a table outside of access, but the data is just a bunch of text that needs to be printed onto one form. It is really not data that needs to be stored by us. Not only that but it is a lot of data to be entered for a relatively small return.

This data is already in table form in another database which we cannot link to for security reasons. We can print it, however into word or excel. And while I agree that it would be easier to import into a table in Access, my users are not that savvy with Access and I am not always going to be available when then need help importing. This is something that they could need to use at a moments notice. And this is the reason I was hoping that they could print the table into excel or word, and then just cut it and paste it into a field...or link directly to the saved excel spreadsheet if it's possible to link to an external document an put it into a section of a form.

 

[vbaInet]

So like I mentioned before, Excel will be your best option. Yes they can copy and paste into Access as long as the data types of the fields in the database correspond to the data types of the columns in Excel.

 

[wchelly]

I found the following instructions...and was able to do this as an excel spreadsheet OR a word document. And as a bonus...I can edit the document inside the form. That's awesome!

Open the table your form is based on and create a new field - define it as an OLE Object. Enter Datasheet view mode and tab to your new field. Right-click on it and select Insert Object. You can either have a brand new worksheet created or you can browse to an existing one and use it. If you want the data in the spreadsheet to update, then click the Link option - otherwise don't. You will need to do this for every record if you want unique worksheets. Save your table and then add the new OLE field to your form in design view - and if you don't make it "tall" enough, you won't see your sheet tabs - will have to play with it a bit to get it right. In form view, you will need to double-click the worksheet to use it. You'll notice your toolbar then changes to give you Excel tools.

 

[vbaInet]

Linked objects are not the best tools to use. Use with caution.