View PDF in Report

[lmjconvey89]

Hi All,

Looking to insert a "screenshot" of a PDF in a Report that can then be printed.

We're a design company, the designer will export their drawing as a PDF, then complete the spec on Access. The PDF will only ever be one page, so don't need to tackle the scenario of seeing the second page.

I have a field of where the PDF is located. It works a treat with images however the software exports the drawings with a black background, the PDF is exported with a white background and much easier to see.

Obviously I can't go down the insert Image route as it doesn't recognise PDFs (to the best of my knowledge).

I think (un)bound object frame may work but I have never used it and have no idea how to set it up.



Any help would be appreciated. The PDF just needs to be view, not interactive.

[Micron]

If you're storing the pdf in a table attachment field, it's not advised as you will likely soon exceed the db limit of 2GB. Storing the path to the file is the preferred method. For attachment field, what I think you want is a bound object control, not image control. For files retrieved from the network via stored path, IIRC you want to use an unbound object control.

[Gicu]

Have a look at this older app I made quite a few years ago, don't worry about the title, it can handle PDFs too and if you look at the code you should get what you need.

Cheers,

[ranman256]

do not put pdf's in reports. you loose quality.
but you can open it (like Micron said) WITH a report if needed.

paste this code into a module, then make a button to open the path.

whatever path is in the textbox will open in its native application
OpenNativeApp txtBox

#If Win64 Then      'Public Dclare PtrSafe Function
Private Declare PtrSafe 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 PtrSafe Function GetDesktopWindow Lib "user32" () As Long
#else
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
#End If
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

[lmjconvey89]

Thanks all for your quick responses. Just to be clear I haven't inserted the PDF in to my tables just the path. Also I don't want to open the PDF, I just want to create a "window" to see what's in the PDF and for this to be printed on the Report.

Attached is what I have done so far, it all works perfectly fine with the images updating per record using the path that is stored. My problem is it needs to be a PDF as the JPGs become unviewable.

[CJ_London]

there is an active X control called Adobe PDF reader which might work for you on reports, you will have to experiment. Found this link which may be of assistance http://msaccess.erpmakers.com/Articl...%20control.php

Regret don't have time to experiment with it

[Gicu]

@lmjconvey89:
Did you have a look at my sample file? It uses a bound OLE Object Frame control to display the file selected in a listbox. The code can easily be adapted to use your saved path.

Cheers,