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  1. #1
    TerraEarth is offline Advanced Beginner
    Windows 10 Access 2016
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
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    86

    PDF or Excel file for import/export? Critique/recommendations of thought process?

    EDIT: I'll also be dealing with saving and preserving signatures on forms, so I'll have to keep a archived copy somewhere.



    A little background, I have a external form (pdf or xlsm i.e. excel sheet - see bottom of post) that I want to populate from my access database. I'll have a button on my access form that allows me to populate the external form, attach it to a Outlook email and then disperse it to a specified recipient on the form. That recipient will fill out some fields, send it back and I'll read it back into my database somehow. The reason why I'm asking about the format is due to maintaining integrity of the data. I would prefer if the users only change certain fields on the form, though I (believe) can set up the import to only update certain fields and remedy the issue that way.

    I have two questions, first: I have the form in a specific ordered format (.PDF) that I want to populate. I have a copy of that exact form but with lines added via excel (.xlsm). My question is, if I want to populate specific entries in these forms with Access through Vba given the above considerations, do you guys think it's better to do it with the .PDF or the .xlsm?

    Second: Is there a better way to do this that I'm not aware of? Is what I'm envisioning in my head even feasible? Just wanted a second opinion on this.

    If you guys have any useful references that would be helpful too.

    The form will look/have a similar format to something like this, i.e. a random application form of sorts:



    I'm thinking of a 4 step process to accomplish this:

    1) User clicks button on eligible forms (read-only form populated via query to select eligible records?)
    2) Make a copy of the default, empty form and name it using unique identifiers from the record.
    Optional? : Ensure that all fields on the default form are empty, and if not then clear them
    3) Map relevant fields from access form onto the sheet copy
    4) Run through a Outlook email procedure
    -Extract email from db to populate recipient field
    -send and finish
    Last edited by TerraEarth; 03-16-2018 at 02:55 PM.

  2. #2
    ranman256's Avatar
    ranman256 is offline VIP
    Windows Vista Access 2010 32bit
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Kentucky
    Posts
    9,521
    I'd recreate the form in Access reports and have full control over it.
    then you can print to pdf.

    if you want to fill out the form, use Access or excel forms to populate the tables.

  3. #3
    TerraEarth is offline Advanced Beginner
    Windows 10 Access 2016
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    86
    Quote Originally Posted by ranman256 View Post
    I'd recreate the form in Access reports and have full control over it.
    then you can print to pdf.
    The only thing is, the form is an "official" form and i don't believe it is allowed for the form to be different from the exact format when I send it out. So if I were to print out the report and it wasn't a exact copy that might be an issue. I do have exact copies in pdf and excel (.xlsm) formats though. If I could somehow feed that into access and have that be the form I print off of that could work. Is that possible though?

Please reply to this thread with any new information or opinions.

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