pdf database

[Eyal]

Hi im new to this and wanted to know if anyone has created a database to inventory pdf files (and content )
i work for a building department and we are working on scanning old building permits from the 40's and 50's
also i would like to inventory blueprints
any help is greatly appriciated

 

[Pat Hartman]

Welcome aboard
Access is useful for tracking data and can be used to store the location of the documents but it isn't useful for actually storing the documents (the database bloats disproportionally to the image file size) or gathering information directly out of the documents. You would need to name the documents appropriately. Access could read directories and log all the files found there but you would need to go in manually and add descriptions for each if you wanted to keep that info.

There are several document management systems on the market and they have many capabilities including actually reading content from the stored documents but they are all pretty expensive.

Access will work fine if all you want to do is to store the location of the files. You can add code to a double-click event that will allow folks to open documents. I use the FollowHyperlink method for this because it doesn't require me to know ahead of time what type of document I am opening and works fine for word, excel, power point, pdf, txt, etc - any file type that is registered with windows so that Windows knows what program to open when you double-click on a file name. FollowHyperlink will also open web pages and email clients. It is quite versatile. I don't use the hyperlink data type since it is not compatible with SQL Server. I use a two part approach for storing addresses in the applications where I implement this functionality. For example, one app performs audits and the audit has a definition. In that definition, I store the path to the directory where the audit documents will be stored. Then for each document, I only store the actual file name. This makes moving documents to different directories quite easy. I just change the path for the audit and don't have to update potentially thousand of document records.

 

[Eyal]

Hi Pat thanks for your answer
i lost you when you started to talk about follow hyperlink
i created the basic info i need but im stuck on the file name and location
would you help me if i send you what i have so far ?
thanks
Eyal

 

[Pat Hartman]

This is the click event of a text field on my switchboard form. It opens the application documentation. The form field - txtViewAuditDoc contains the full path and name of the documentation file. I tested this code with .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .pdf, .txt, and also URLs for web pages and it works.

Private Sub txtViewAuditDoc_Click()

On Error GoTo Proc_Err
    If Me.txtViewAuditDoc & "" = "" Then
        MsgBox "There is no document link.  Please add one on the Audit Parms form.", vbOKOnly + vbInformation
    Else
        Application.FollowHyperlink Me.txtViewAuditDoc, , True
    End If
Proc_Exit:
    Exit Sub
Proc_Err:
    Select Case Err.Number
        Case 7971
            Resume Proc_Exit
        Case Else
            MsgBox Err.Number & "--" & Err.Description, vbCritical
            Resume Proc_Exit
    End Select
End Sub

 

[Eyal]

Pat
i think i need to explain myself better
i know how to start a table create a form set some parameters (using some loosely)
i just learned how to put VB code in
so with that said
i have a table with field name called "File name" the data type is text
and same as form i have the same field
how do i make the connection between the text field and what you posted

i understand it may be complex
thanks for your time
Eyal