Access™ 2007 Bible

Chapter 22. Integrating Access with Other Applications

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Using Automation to integrate with other applications

• Adding Automation references

• Creating an instance of an Automation object

• Getting an existing object instance

• Closing an instance of an Automation object

• Using Microsoft Word to create an Automation example

• Using Word's Macro Recorder

• Collecting data with Outlook 2007

As companies standardize their computer practices and software selections, it is becoming more and more important to develop total solutions: in other words, solutions that integrate the many procedures of an organization. Usually, various procedures are accomplished by using different software packages, such as Word for letter writing, Exchange and Outlook for mailing and faxing, PowerPoint for presentations, and Excel for financial functions. If the organization for which you are developing has standardized on the Microsoft Office suite, you can leverage your knowledge of Visual Basic for Applications to program for all of these products.

Note

Automation, formerly called OLE Automation, is a means by which an application can expose objects, each with its own methods and properties that other applications can create instances of and control through code. Not all commercial applications support Automation, but more and more applications are adopting Automation to replace the outdated DDE interface. Consult with a specific application's vendor to find out whether it supports or plans to support Automation ...