So I am looking to open an access database on a daily basis using task scheduler. I want this script to open the .aacdb and then open a specific form. The problem is, this database has an auto executable that opens a different form that will close the program when exiting out of it. I need to somehow bypass this executable. I've been trying to write a .vbs script that will use the hold down shift key (to bypass the auto executable) > open database > release shift key > open form > close database. After days of searching, I can't seem to find any answers on whether this is possible. Here is what I have so far (it opens the database but doesn't bypass the auto executable). The aim of this script is to hold down the shift key for 10 seconds while opening the database.
b = DateAdd("s", 10, Time)
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set appAccess = CreateObject("Access.Application")
appAccess.Visible = True
strDBNameAndPath = "C:\FileFolder\file.aacdb"
Do While (Time < b)
WshShell.SendKeys "+"
Loop
appAccess.OpenCurrentDatabase strDBNameAndPath
Set WshShell = Nothing
I can't mess with the actual database (the macros), this has to happen by somehow bypassing the actual auto executable upon opening a database. Is this possible in .vbs? .vba? .vb? vb.net? any language?? I'm only familiar with .vbs. But any insight would be helpful. Thanks!!!
Related
Scenario
I have an excel file that contains data. There are multiple users accessing the file at the same time.
Problem
There will be problem if multiple users tried to input data to that excel file at the same time due to only one user is allowed to open the file at one time
Question
Is there any way whereby I can update the excel file (Eg: add a value to a cell, delete a value from a cell, find a particular cell etc) without opening it so that multiple users can update it at the same time using excel VBA?
I went to the direction of using shared files. But later found out to be excel shared files are very buggy. If use shared file, excel/macro can be very slow, intermittent crashes and sometime the whole file may get corrupted and could not be opened or repaired afterwards. Also depends on how many users use the file, the file size can grow quite big. So it is best not to use shared workbook. Totally not worth trying. Instead if need multiple users to update data simultaneously, it is better to use some database such as MSAccess, MSSql (Update MSSQL from Excel) etc with excel. For my situation since number of users are less, I didn't use any database, instead put a prompt for the user to wait until the other user close that file. Please see the codes below to check if a file is opened and if so, to prompt user. I got this code from stack overflow itself and I modified to suit my needs.
Call the module TestFileOpened as below.
Sub fileCheck()
Call TestFileOpened(plannerFilePathTemp)
If fileInUse = True Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
Exit Sub
End If
End Sub
Here plannerFilePathTemp is the temporary file location of your original file. Whenever an excel file opened, a temp file will be created. For example, your original file location is as below
plannerFilePath = "C:\TEMP\XXX\xxx.xlsx"
Thus your temporary file location will be
plannerFilePathTemp = "C:\TEMP\XXX\~$xxx.xlsx"
or in other words, temporary file name will be ~$xxx.xlsx
The following codes will be called upon Call TestFileOpened(plannerFilePathTemp)
Public fileInUse As Boolean
Sub TestFileOpened(fileOpenedOrNot As String)
Dim Folder As String
Dim FName As String
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
If objFSO.FileExists(fileOpenedOrNot) Then
fileInUse = True
MsgBox "Database is opened and using by " & GetFileOwner(fileOpenedOrNot) & ". Please wait a few second and click again", vbInformation, "Database in Use"
Else
fileInUse = False
End If
End Sub
Function GetFileOwner(strFileName)
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:")
Set objFileSecuritySettings = _
objWMIService.Get("Win32_LogicalFileSecuritySetting='" & strFileName & "'")
intRetVal = objFileSecuritySettings.GetSecurityDescriptor(objSD)
If intRetVal = 0 Then
GetFileOwner = objSD.Owner.Name
Else
GetFileOwner = "Unknown"
End If
End Function
I encountered Out of memory issues also when used shared files. So during the process, I figured out the following methods to minimize memory consumption
Some tips to clear memory
Prior to being asked to migrate to SharePoint, I was using a collection of .xlsm files to set project teams up to manage projects. My Project Manager file included a macro that would go to a designated folder and create hyperlinks for all current project files. I've saved the collection of .xlsm files on SharePoint, but when I run the macro below (which I found here - Thank you!), I receive an error related to the "Set xFolder = xFSO.GetFolder(xPath)" line. Any help would be great. I've read several posting that may have the answer and tried several adjustments to the code, with no luck.
Sub Create_Hyperlinks_for_all_Current_Projects()
Range("B8:D38").Clear
MsgBox "Once you click OK, an explorer box will appear. Select the folder
containing all the CSTPs and then click OK again. HINT: The folder
containing all the CSTPs should be in the same folder this document was in
and should be called ''CSTPs''. Links to all CSTPs will then appear in the
white box on the Manager Menu."
Dim xFSO As Object
Dim xFolder As Object
Dim xFile As Object
Dim xFiDialog As FileDialog
Dim xPath As String
Dim I As Integer
Set xFiDialog = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
With xFiDialog
.InitialFileName = ThisWorkbook.Path
End With
If xFiDialog.Show = -1 Then
xPath = xFiDialog.SelectedItems(1)
End If
Set xFiDialog = Nothing
If xPath = "" Then Exit Sub
Set xFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set xFolder = xFSO.GetFolder(xPath)
For Each xFile In xFolder.Files
I = I + 2
ActiveSheet.Hyperlinks.Add Cells(I + 6, 2), xFile.Path, , , xFile.Name
Next
End Sub
I hope you find the following notes helpful.
They summarize the outcomes from several weeks of frustration.
If you are using SP365,
then the filesystemobject
no longer works very well, if at all.
I had hundreds of macros dependent on the FSO.
These have all worked great up until my organization migrated to SP365 :o(
Now they only work if I manually click
the Open Explorer button, in SP, first.
Opening Explorer provides Win Explorer with the required permissions to access SP.
This in turn provides the FSO with the required permissions to access SP.
But...in my case...FSO only works for a while.
For my first work around...
I rolled out a prototype app, which used a macro to automate
opening IE, opening Win Explorer and initializing permissions for the FSO
All worked great on my machine, for about an hour,
then some kind of timeout took me back to square one.
Colleagues on other machines experienced a range of FSO behaviours.
From all working ok. To having to rerun the connection macro every 30 seconds.
To nothing working at all.
I then invested time trying to update macros to connect to SP as a network drive.
Again, this is a process that I have used for years, up until migration to SP365.
Again, success connecting to SP365 seems to be very machine dependent.
In the end...with respect to my own requirements...
My work around was to create an SP view that lists all files.
Then use the Export to Excel option in SP to create an Excel data query.
Then copy the query into an Excel file that I refer to as Config.xlsx.
Then use Excel RefreshAll to update the list of files, each time a list is required.
Its not very elegant...but, it works ;o)
As I say....I hope this helps you / someone.
Feel free to connect on LinkedIn if you require any followup advice.
Peter,
LinkedIn name DrPeterEHSmee
So I am using this code in excel to read environment parameters on startup:
Dim ExcelArgs As String
Dim arg As String
ExcelArgs = Environ("ExcelArgs")
MsgBox ExcelArgs
If InStr(UCase(ExcelArgs), "CREO") >= 0 Then
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
If Len(ExcelArgs) > Len("CREO") Then
arg = Split(ExcelArgs, ",")(1)
Call Creo.addNewPartToPartslist(arg)
End If
Application.DisplayAlerts = True
End If
and this line in my batch script:
echo "Launch excel"
Set "ExcelArgs=CREO,DXFWITHOUTDRW
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\OFFICE16\Excel.exe" /r "%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART\PERSONAL.XLSB"
exit 0
The problem is that if i run the batch file once, keep excel open change the excelargs to CREO,wqhatever in batch file and rerun batch file the excelargs, dos not get updated!!!
So my theory is that excel either caches out the environment variable or that if it is being used by one instance the batch script can not set it
link with some info about passing arguments to excel:
https://superuser.com/questions/640359/bat-file-to-open-excel-with-parameters-spaces
Usually excel sees if there is a previous instance running and let this instance handle the file opening.
Is this important? Yes, in your case both requests to open the file are handled by the same excel process.
How does it make a difference? Environment variables are not shared. Each process has it own environment block that is initialized when the process is created (can be a customized block or a copy of the environment of the parent process) and once the environment is created for a process, only this process can change its environment.
In your case, when you start excel the new process gets a copy of the environment block of the cmd process. Later, when you change the cmd environment, the already running excel instance sees no changes in environment and, as the new request to open excel is converted to a request to the previous process, there is not a new process with a new copy of the cmd environment with the changes.
The only way I see to make it work is to force excel to start a new process (that will inherit the changes in the cmd instance) instead of reusing the previous one.
But this depends on the excel version. As far as I know, the 2013 version includes an /x switch to force separate process usage. For previous versions, maybe this question, or this one could help you.
Excel is open
Then i start the batch script:
The it does not open it as read only by default, but prompt me instead, not a big issue but a bit annoying, and it also make it impossible to loop through to run the batch several times for different input parameters.
A bit unsure how I should post this, couldnt paste images in comments, and to edit the the original question, which was how to start excel with enviroment variable in new instance (/x did the trick), but now /r does not work, Should I post as new question and refer to this one or can I leave it as an answer?
I am trying to kill all open powerpoint processes but the code I wrote kills only one open process.
'-- get a collection of processes running
Dim foo() As System.Diagnostics.Process = System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcesses
'-- go through each one looking for the internet explorer name
For Each temp As Diagnostics.Process In foo
'For Word Files opened in Office
If temp.ProcessName = "POWERPNT" Then
temp.Kill() '-- if I find it, kill it.
' Exit For '-- exit the for loop
End If
Try
Dim foo() as process = Process.GetProcessByName("POWERPNT")
For Each temp As Process In foo
temp.Kill()
Next
You are only going to find the single instance of the POWERPNT.exe, because
Multiple instances of Word (Winword.exe), Excel (Excel.exe), and Microsoft Access (MSAccess.exe) can run simultaneously. Therefore, these servers are defined as Single Use (Multiple Instances) servers. Only one instance of PowerPoint (Powerpnt.exe) can run at any given time. Therefore, PowerPoint is a Multiuse (Single Instance) server.
Read How to use Visual C# to automate a running instance of an Office program for complete documentation.
I'm having issues with a ms access 2007 accdb, using Windows Server 2008 task scheduler for scheduled tasks. The problem is the file that's being opened by the task scheduler is opening/closing properly, but the 'lock' file (.laccdb) remains visible after the database is closed, which is an indicator that the access db thinks it's still open. Each time a new task runs, a new instance of access is being opened. I opened the Schema to show roster of all users in the database and it's showing 3 duplicates of the server name/Admin account. Below is an example of the immediate window in access:
COMPUTER_NAME LOGIN_NAME CONNECTED SUSPECT_STATE
SERVER Admin True Null
SERVER Admin True Null
SERVER Admin True Null
I'm hoping someone else has had this problem and knows 1) How to easily close all the open instances of access and 2) how to prevent this from occuring when running a task. I have "Do not start a new instance" set under the task's 'settings' tab, but this is irrelevant b/c none of the tasks were running simultaneously. Thanks in advance for any assistance.
To close all open Access instances (you can't run this from Access because you can't guarantee that the running instance will be the last reference you retrieve):
Sub CloseAllAccessInstances()
Dim acc As Access.Application
Do
Set acc = GetObject(, "Access.Application")
If IsNull(acc) Then Exit Do
acc.Quit
Loop
End Sub
After you run the above, check the task manager. If you see msaccess.exe, then you most likely have a circular object reference. This will prevent Access from closing. For more information, have a look at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa716190(VS.60).aspx.