no, not a lot of work at all.
i have a form with a field that stores the path to the document.
dbl-click event opens the file explorer for the user to pick a file.
the file path is stored.
the user can click a View button that opens the file.
Paste this code into a module, and it will open ANY file in its native application.
In a form put the field and a button to open it.
if the file is myFile.pdf, will open it in acrobat
if the file is myFile.doc, it will open the doc in Word
if its just a file path, it will open in file explorer.
etc..
Code:
'Attribute VB_Name = "modNativeApp"
'Option Compare Database
Option Explicit
Private Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal lpszOp As String, ByVal lpszFile As String, ByVal lpszParams As String, ByVal lpszDir As String, ByVal FsShowCmd As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GetDesktopWindow Lib "user32" () As Long
Const SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1
Const SE_ERR_FNF = 2&
Const SE_ERR_PNF = 3&
Const SE_ERR_ACCESSDENIED = 5&
Const SE_ERR_OOM = 8&
Const SE_ERR_DLLNOTFOUND = 32&
Const SE_ERR_SHARE = 26&
Const SE_ERR_ASSOCINCOMPLETE = 27&
Const SE_ERR_DDETIMEOUT = 28&
Const SE_ERR_DDEFAIL = 29&
Const SE_ERR_DDEBUSY = 30&
Const SE_ERR_NOASSOC = 31&
Const ERROR_BAD_FORMAT = 11&
Public Sub OpenNativeApp(ByVal psDocName As String)
Dim r As Long, msg As String
r = StartDoc(psDocName)
If r <= 32 Then
'There was an error
Select Case r
Case SE_ERR_FNF
msg = "File not found"
Case SE_ERR_PNF
msg = "Path not found"
Case SE_ERR_ACCESSDENIED
msg = "Access denied"
Case SE_ERR_OOM
msg = "Out of memory"
Case SE_ERR_DLLNOTFOUND
msg = "DLL not found"
Case SE_ERR_SHARE
msg = "A sharing violation occurred"
Case SE_ERR_ASSOCINCOMPLETE
msg = "Incomplete or invalid file association"
Case SE_ERR_DDETIMEOUT
msg = "DDE Time out"
Case SE_ERR_DDEFAIL
msg = "DDE transaction failed"
Case SE_ERR_DDEBUSY
msg = "DDE busy"
Case SE_ERR_NOASSOC
msg = "No association for file extension"
Case ERROR_BAD_FORMAT
msg = "Invalid EXE file or error in EXE image"
Case Else
msg = "Unknown error"
End Select
' MsgBox msg
End If
End Sub
Private Function StartDoc(psDocName As String) As Long
Dim Scr_hDC As Long
Scr_hDC = GetDesktopWindow()
StartDoc = ShellExecute(Scr_hDC, "Open", psDocName, "", "C:\", SW_SHOWNORMAL)
End Function
usage:
Code:
sub btnOpenFile_click()
OpenNativeApp ME.txtBox
end sub
put this code into a MODULE for user to pick the file
usage:
txtFile = UserPick1File("c:\folder")
Code:
Public Function UserPick1File(Optional pvPath)
Dim strTable As String
Dim strFilePath As String
Dim sDialog As String, sDecr As String, sExt As String
'===================
'YOU MUST ADD REFERENCE : Microsoft Office xx.0 Object Library, in vbe menu, TOOLS, REFERENCES
'===================
With Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFilePicker) 'msoFileDialogSaveAs
.AllowMultiSelect = False
.Title = "Locate a file to Import"
.ButtonName = "Import"
.Filters.Clear
'.Filters.Add "CSV Files", "*.csv"
'.Filters.Add "Excel Files", "*.xls;*.xlsx"
.Filters.Add "All Files", "*.*"
.InitialFileName = pvPath
.InitialView = msoFileDialogViewList 'msoFileDialogViewThumbnail
If .Show = 0 Then
'There is a problem
Exit Function
End If
'Save the first file selected
UserPick1File = Trim(.SelectedItems(1))
End With
End Function