Save Outlook attachment in MS Access using VBA - vba

Question

I am running MS Access 2010. Using VBA I am trying to pull attachments out of MS Exchange 2013 and insert them into the Access table "TBL_APPT_ATTACHMENT".
The table "TBL_APPT_ATTACHMENT" looks like this:
Attachment_title Memo
Attachment_filename Memo
Attachment_blob OLE Object
Everything seems to work correctly except I can not figure out how to save the actual file into the column ATTACHMENT_BLOB. Here is my VBA function that I am calling (See question marks below).
Private Function createRecord(fItem As Outlook.AppointmentItem)
Set rsAtt = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset("TBL_APPT_ATTACHMENT")
rsAtt.OpenRecordset
For Each Attachment In fItem.Attachments
Call MsgBox("FileName: " & Attachment.FileName, vbOKOnly, "Error")
Call MsgBox("DisplayName: " & Attachment.DisplayName, vbOKOnly, "Error")
Call MsgBox("Index: " & Attachment.Index, vbOKOnly, "Error")
rsAtt.AddNew
rsAtt!APPT_ITEM_ID = aID
rsAtt!APPT_FIELD_id = rsOl!ID
rsAtt!ATTACHMENT_TITLE = Attachment.DisplayName
rsAtt!ATTACHMENT_FILENAME = Attachment.FileName
rsAttID = rsAtt!ID
rsAtt.Update
'Save file to harddrive.
filePath = "c:\temp\" + Attachment.FileName
Attachment.SaveAsFile (filePath)
Set rsParent = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset("SELECT ID, ATTACHMENT_BLOB FROM TBL_APPT_ATTACHMENT WHERE ID = " & rsAttID)
rsParent.OpenRecordset
Do While Not rsParent.EOF
rsParent.Edit
'Load file into Database.
'??? This next statement gives me a "Type Mismatch" error. Why?????
Set rsChild = rsParent.Fields("ATTACHMENT_BLOB").Value
rsChild.AddNew
rsChild.Fields("FileData").LoadFromFile (filePath)
rsChild.Update
rsParent.Update
rsParent.MoveNext
Loop
Next
End Function
Thanks!!

Answer 1

Remember that the attachment is really a file (whether its an OLE object or not). While it may be possible to perform a copy-paste of the object from Outlook into Access, my recommendation is to save the attachment as a file:
dim filepath as String
dim filename as String
filepath = "C:\appropriatefolder\"
filename = Attachment.FileName
Attachment.SaveAsFile filepath & filename
Now you're in a position to save the attachment in Access, but I seriously don't recommend using the Attachment field type. It can be rather tricky to use. So my solution to the same problem was to create a field of type Hyperlink. Then your statement in your macro will simply be:
rsAtt!ATTACHMENT_LINK = filename & "#" & filepath & filename
The hyperlink definition is important and uses the format:
displayString # fullPathToFile [ # optionalPositionInsideFile ]
EDIT: Using the Attachment Field Type in Access
The Attachment field type in an Access table can be understood if you consider it an embedded recordset within that single record. Therefore, every time you add a new record (or read an existing record), you have to handle the Attachment field a bit differently. In fact, the .Value of the Attachment field is the recordset itself.
Option Compare Database
Option Explicit
Sub test()
AddAttachment "C:\Temp\DepTree.txt"
End Sub
Sub AddAttachment(filename As String)
Dim tblAppointments As DAO.Recordset
Dim attachmentField As DAO.Recordset
Dim tblField As Field
Set tblAppointments = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset("TBL_APPT_ATTACHMENT", dbOpenDynaset)
tblAppointments.AddNew
tblAppointments![APPT_ITEM_ID] = "new item id"
tblAppointments![APPT_FIELD_ID] = "new field id"
tblAppointments![ATTACHMENT_TITLE] = "new attachment"
tblAppointments![ATTACHMENT_FILENAME] = filename
'--- the attachment field itself is a recordset, because you can add multiple
' attachments to this single record. so connect to the recordset using the
' .Value of the parent record field, then use it like a recordset
Set attachmentField = tblAppointments![ATTACHMENT_BLOB].Value
attachmentField.AddNew
attachmentField.Fields("FileData").LoadFromFile filename
attachmentField.Update
tblAppointments.Update
tblAppointments.Close
Set tblAppointments = Nothing
End Sub

Answer 2

Here is what I ended up doing.
Private Function createRecord(fItem As Outlook.AppointmentItem)
Set rsAtt = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset("TBL_APPT_ATTACHMENT")
rsAtt.OpenRecordset
For Each Attachment In fItem.Attachments
'Save file to harddrive.
filePath = "c:\temp\" + Attachment.FileName
Attachment.SaveAsFile (filePath)
rsAtt.AddNew
rsAtt!APPT_ITEM_ID = aID
rsAtt!APPT_FIELD_id = rsOl!ID
rsAtt!ATTACHMENT_TITLE = Attachment.DisplayName
rsAtt!ATTACHMENT_FILENAME = Attachment.FileName
Call FileToBlob(filePath, rsAtt!ATTACHMENT_BLOB)
rsAttID = rsAtt!ID
rsAtt.Update
Next
End Function
Public Function FileToBlob(strFile As String, ByRef Field As Object)
On Error GoTo FileToBlobError
If Len(Dir(strFile)) > 0 Then
Dim nFileNum As Integer
Dim byteData() As Byte
nFileNum = FreeFile()
Open strFile For Binary Access Read As nFileNum
If LOF(nFileNum) > 0 Then
ReDim byteData(1 To LOF(nFileNum))
Get #nFileNum, , byteData
Field = byteData
End If
Else
MsgBox "Error: File not found", vbCritical, _
"Error reading file in FileToBlob"
End If
FileToBlobExit:
If nFileNum > 0 Then Close nFileNum
Exit Function
FileToBlobError:
MsgBox "Error " & Err.Number & ": " & Err.Description, vbCritical, _
"Error reading file in FileToBlob"
Resume FileToBlobExit
End Function