ACC97: Save As/Export Does Not Allow Saving to an FTP Address

• Microsoft Access 97

SYMPTOMS

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

Microsoft Access "Building Applications with Microsoft Access 97," Chapter 21, "Developing Applications for the Internet and the World Wide Web," page 620 states:

   You can export any Microsoft Access-compatible external data file to an
   FTP server.

   You can export a database object to an FTP server.

RESOLUTION

If you want to export database objects to an FTP server, you must export them to a location on your local hard drive or to a network server, and then copy the exported files to the FTP server using a utility such as the Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard.

MORE INFORMATION

When you try to export a database object to an FTP server, you receive the following message when you click Export in the Save As dialog:

   You cannot use an Internet address here. Enter a path that points to a
   location on your computer or on the network.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

The following example demonstrates the behavior by exporting a Microsoft Excel file to an FTP server. The same results occur with any type of file.

1. Start Microsoft Access and open the sample database Northwind.mdb.

2. Select the Customers table in the Database window, and then on the File menu, click Save As/Export.

3. In the Save As dialog box, click "To an External File or Database," and then click OK.

4. In the "Save Table 'Customers' In" dialog box, select Microsoft Excel 5-7 (*.xls) in the Save As Type box, and then type a valid FTP address and file name in the File Name box, for example:

         ftp://servername/customers.xls
   

5. Click Export and note that the error message appears.

REFERENCES

For more information about WebPost, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q168636
   TITLE     : Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard Version 1.5 Available