ACC: How to Fax from Microsoft Access Using SendObject Command

• Microsoft Access versions 7.0, 97

SUMMARY

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

This article describes a technique to use Microsoft Fax to fax reports from Microsoft Access using a macro or Visual Basic code. The examples assume that you have Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Fax, and a fax modem installed and functioning.

This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.

NOTE: This article explains a technique demonstrated in the sample files, RptSampl.exe (for Microsoft Access for Windows 95 version 7.0) and RptSmp97.exe (for Microsoft Access 97). For information about how to obtain these sample files, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q145777
   TITLE     : ACC95: Microsoft Access Sample Reports Available on MSL

   ARTICLE-ID: Q175072
   TITLE     : ACC97: Microsoft Access 97 Sample Reports Available on MSL

MORE INFORMATION

The following examples use the sample database Northwind.mdb to show you how to create a macro and a Visual Basic procedure to fax a report using Microsoft Fax.

CAUTION: Following the steps in this example will modify the sample database Northwind.mdb. You may want to back up the Northwind.mdb file and perform these steps on a copy of the database.

Creating a Macro

This example faxes the Catalog report to a single fax number using the SendObject action.

1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.

2. Open the Catalog report in Design view.

3. On the File menu, click Page Setup.

4. In the Page Setup box, click the Page tab.

5. In the Printer for Catalog box, click Use Specific Printer, and then click the Printer button.

6. In the Name box, select Microsoft Fax, and then click OK.

7. In the Page Setup box, click OK.

8. Save the Catalog report and close it.

9. Create the following macro named SendFax:

          Macro Name   Action
          ------------------------
          SendFax      SendObject
   
          SendFax Actions
          ---------------------------------------------------------
          SendObject
             Type         : Report
             Object Name  : Catalog
             Output Format: Rich Text Format
             To:          : [Fax: ###-####] (where ###-#### is the fax number)
   
   

10. Run the macro to fax the report.

Creating a Visual Basic Procedure

This example shows how to fax the Invoice report to each customer in the Customers table.

1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.

2. Open the Invoice report in Design view.

3. On the File menu, click Page Setup.

4. In the Page Setup Box, click the Page tab.

5. In the Printer for Invoice box, click Use Specific Printer, and then click the Printer button.

6. In the Name box, select Microsoft Fax, and then click OK.

7. In the Page Setup box, click OK.

8. Set the report's OnOpen property to the following event procedure:

   Me.Filter = strInvoiceWhere

9. Save the report and close it.

10. In the Database Window, click the Modules tab, and then click New.

11. Type or paste the following code into the module:

    Option Explicit Public strInvoiceWhere As String

    ' **************************************************************** ' This function will walk through the Customers table and fax the ' Invoice report which is filtered by the CustomerID field using ' MS Fax through the MS Access SendObject. ' This function assumes the Invoice report has the default ' printer set to MS Fax and the MS Fax driver is installed ' correctly. ' **************************************************************** Function FaxInvoices()

    Dim dbsNorthwind As DATABASE Dim rstCustomers As Recordset

    Set dbsNorthwind = CurrentDb() Set _ rstCustomers = dbsNorthwind.OpenRecordset("Customers",dbOpenDynaset)

    If MsgBox("Do you want to fax invoices" & Chr(13) & _

              "to all customers using Microsoft Fax?", 4) = 6 Then
              With rstCustomers
              Do Until .EOF
                 ' Create the Invoice report Filter used by the Report_Open
                 ' event.
                 strInvoiceWhere = "[CustomerID] = '" & ![CustomerID] & "'"
                  DoCmd.SendObject acReport,"Invoice",acFormatRTF, _
                     "[fax: " & ![fax] & "]", , , , , False
                  .MoveNext
              Loop
              End With
           End If
           rstCustomers.Close
           End Function
    
    

12. To test this function, type the following line in the Debug window, and then press ENTER.

    ? FaxInvoices()

To change the association for .rtf documents to WordPad, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button, and then click Run.

2. In the Open box, type winfile, and then click OK.

3. In File Manager, on the File menu, click Associate.

4. In the Associate box, under File With Extension, type rtf.

5. Click Browse.

6. Locate WordPad.Exe in C:\Program Files\Accessories, and then click OK.

7. Quit File Manager.

1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Mail and Fax icon.

3. In "The following information services are set up in this profile" box, select Microsoft Fax, and then click Properties.

4. In the Time To Send box, select Specific Time, type a time in the Time box, and then click OK.

5. Close the Mail and Fax box.

REFERENCES

For more information about SendObject, search the Help Index for "SendObject Action."

For more information about OutputTo, search the Help Index for "OutputTo."

For more information about FindFirst, search the Help Index for "FindFirst Method."

Keywords          : kbprg IntpOle
Version           : 7.0 97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Hardware          : x86
Issue type        : kbhowto