Making static files avaliable in a database based on auto.gen. paths

[C.D]

Hello,
I'm trying to find ways to use my DB as a mainframe for my anime, and other media. Being able to load imagepaths and filepaths automatically, based on table info.

Let's say I have four different 'roots' where I store my anime;
Root1: "F:\Data\Anime\",
Root2: "\\mediaserver\anime\" and
Root3: "H:\Anime\".

All images for each individual anime, will be located at <RootName>\<AnimeName>\Images.
I want Access to automatically generate image paths based on an concatenation of 'root' and 'AnimeTitle'. For example: I have already registered 60 different series in my database. All the animes will be loaded into the different 'root' locations randomly, so I must be able to effectively set the 'root' for each individual anime, and also be able to change it at any time.
All the image files will be stored in "<rootname>\<AnimeName>\Images". For instance, the anime called "Cowboy Bebop" set to "Root3" will effectively generate the path "H:\Anime\Cowboy Bebop\Images\". The images will have static names.

Further on, is it possible to search for files, based on keywords? For instance, if I have this info in my database: "Fullmetal Alchemist - Episode 01" and the file title is actually "Fullmetal_Alchemist_01.DVD(AAC)[KAA][1B1F6A6B].avi" - given that the folder is already specified, is it possible to open the file based on that info alone?

What I'm trying to do, is to make a mobile database, where I simply put the root directory, and the images and other static files related to an anime would pop in automatically (given that the files are stored at the specified location), without the need of browsing for each file individually - and also being able to change the location of where the files are located, without too much work.


Thanks in advance for whatever help i get

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I'll help in a round-about way. In versions of Access AFTER AC97, you have a thing called a File System Object (FSO) that lets you interact with the file system. You can look up this object in Access Help. The topic includes ways to search folders give templates of the names to be searched. You would not have to browse by hand - but your computer would have to browse mechanically. This is where your VBA code would really come into play. But that's OK. Another hint: When you search for files using FSO methods, you get back a COLLECTION of matching files based on your template. So read up Access help on traversing a collection. It's a lot easier than it sounds.

To do the merging of strings via your "Root" and "computed path" technique, you want to read up the Help Files on STRING data types and string concatenation.

 

[C.D]

I'll help in a round-about way. In versions of Access AFTER AC97, you have a thing called a File System Object (FSO) that lets you interact with the file system. You can look up this object in Access Help. The topic includes ways to search folders give templates of the names to be searched. You would not have to browse by hand - but your computer would have to browse mechanically. This is where your VBA code would really come into play. But that's OK. Another hint: When you search for files using FSO methods, you get back a COLLECTION of matching files based on your template. So read up Access help on traversing a collection. It's a lot easier than it sounds.

To do the merging of strings via your "Root" and "computed path" technique, you want to read up the Help Files on STRING data types and string concatenation.

Thanks alot!
I've managed to get the =[column1] & [column2] thing to work, by using queries - great!
I haven't managed to find any solid info regarding IFO - I'll return to the thread later.