Using a Webcam in access

[virtualpsm]

Hi. I am a newbie to programming microsoft databases, but have done quite a bit with SQL. I am wondering if anyone has any experience in using webcams/imaging devices in access. I want to create an application that can gather data about a person and also take their picture as part of the record. Is this even possible?

Thanks,
VirtualPSM

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

I have not seen this done, but I can see what you are getting at, you want to take a picture from within MS access and store that picture in access.

The first thing to bear in mind is that it is not considered good practice to store pictures within access databases as this can cause database bloating. There are numerous posts on this and on the ways to avoid this bloating issue.

If I had to undertake this task, I would search through the many VB6 forums to see if there was any code I could adapt. VB6 and VBA are not exactly the same, but they are similar enough that with some tweaking you can make VB6 work within access. You are more likely to find code to do what you want on the VB6 websites.

 

[biggierob]

Did you ever figure it ouT? I posted a similar question, then i found yours

 

[DES]

Sure

However I think you are not breaking the thought down enough.

First of all the images themselves should not be stored in Access as this will bloat your database bigtime.

So you are going to want the webcam or othter device to take the picture and save the file on a hard drive someplace. Now you could shell out to the software that comes with the webcam or other device for actually capturing the picture or just have the other application running so the picture can be taken.

Once the picture has been taken you would then use access to store the location of the file in a table. I just posted a sample of this procedure in the sample database section, though it is best utilized for getting multiple files it can be modified to get a single file.

Anyway once you have the files location in a table then as you cycle through the records on a form you have an image box that is updated with the path to the files location.

Now in theory it should be possible to access any activeX control that comes with your webcam for capturing images directly from within Access. This can be a bit cumbersome though for somebody just starting and will cause problems if you plan on distributing this database to other computer which may or may not have the control on them.

Anyway this sounds like an interesting little project to play with and I don't mind giving whoever a hand. Either contact me through the email link or you can find me on MSN messenger - technoweenie@sympatico.ca