Microsoft Access is one of the most awesome prototyping tools anyone in software development could ever use, however there are also some really serious downsides as well. I know the software purists will be rolling over in their graves with my comments but after 20 plus years of commercial software development for some of the worlds largest companies I stand by my comments.
Microsoft Access makes it very easy and very cost effective to develop a database application and then roll it out onto the desktop. One of the downsides to this application is that it has always been incredibly difficult to export reports from Microsoft Access to another format. Most Microsoft Access developers that I know who build these systems use third party applications to export reports like Crystal Reports or Microsoft Word. The downside to using Microsoft Word is that you cannot export OLE Objects, using the merge process, you actually have to use VBA Code in Microsoft Word to call the ole object via ADO. Well that is one technique anyway. Now, with Adobe Acrobat Writer Version 7 we now have a new more effective method.
The exporting of OLE Objects has always been a major downside to Microsoft Access and Microsoft Word, but I was recently working with Adobe Acrobat writer Version 7 and I found that this version of the software now installs itself in all major Microsoft Office Applications. This is a fantastic step forward for Microsoft Access developers as this mean you can develop a report exclusively in Microsoft Access and then print the report straight to a PDF Format, rather than first going to Microsoft Word document then converting it into a Adobe Acrobat PDF File. The other key advantage is that if you are using a OLE Object Datatype in a Report, the Adobe PDF file will accept that data type and show a picture if that is what you are looking for. Alot of my clients have wanted to use Microsoft Access to develop reports that include photos and distribute them using Microsoft Word but up until now that has been able to be done easily. (Without using extensive VBA Code) Adobe Acrobat 7 allows us to create a pdf file from a report with OLE Objects and include them as photos etc within the PDF File. This means organisations that want to distribute staff files or product descriptions can create them using Microsoft Access. First of all they create the descriptions as a report and then convert them to PDF Format using Adobe Acrobat Writer.
Adobe has provided two ways to generate your PDF report. First off it installs an Adobe Drop Down Menu into the Microsoft Access main menu bar and from this drop down menu you can then choose to create the report as an ADOBE PDF. Note you must open the report first. You can even use this menu function to create the report and then email it direct to a third party. I think this feature alone is worth the $700AUD you pay for Adobe Acrobat Writer.
The second method is to open your report and then choose the File menu and then Print. The Print dialog box will open and then you choose Adobe Acrobat writer as the Printer and then choose the OK button which will then start Adobe Acrobat and generate your PDF.
With this new method to build a PDF file, you can even use Visual Basic for Access to automate the print process and then email the file using MAPI or CDO. If you are one of those people who like to use macro’s over using VBA there is no way that I can find where you can achieve this. If you could find someone who could create a module for you that automates this process you could use a macro then by calling the Function in the module from the macro window. All this of course is dependent on finding the write person to write that function. I have not done this directly, because I have been using a form with VBA Code to automate the creation of the PDF and then email it via CDO.
One of the questions I get asked a lot, especially by people from GLobal Organisations who need to write monthly reports,”Would it be possible to automate this process and have the reports email themselves once a month”. The answer to this is, ABSOLUTELY YES! The catch though is you would need to leave Microsoft Access open on a machine and then have a developer to write some code that acts like a timer and then once the computer clock ticks over the Form could simply create the associated reports and email them via MAPI. This seems complex all in all but for a competent VBA programmer, there should not be any problems doing this.
When Microsoft Office 2007 is released in 2007(hopefully), Microsoft has said that they will be including the functionality for producing PDF files from within Microsoft Office 2007, hopefully this functionality will be included for Microsoft Access 2007, which means in the next version, MACRO developers maybe able to export direct to PDF Format and then email direct to clients. If Microsoft does offer this in their new version, this to me would be the major reason I would recommend all companies upgrade to this new version. I wait in hope that this will be the case.
Chris Le Roy is a veteran of the software development having worked in the field for over 20 years and has been developing systems using Visual Basic 6, VB.Net, Microsoft Access and SQL Server, ASP, VB Script and Java Script. He currently runs a specialist Computer Training Centre in Townsville Australia, where people from all over the world, train to learn advanced techniques in programming in these applications. Many of his clients specifically focus on Microsoft Access development training. Chris has written a number of training programs, including Microsoft Access and they are available from his website at http://www.1-on-1.biz
Tags: access, ADO, ADOBE Acrobat, API, CDO, MACRO, MAPI, Microsoft Access, OLE OBJECTSaccess, ADO, ADOBE Acrobat, API, CDO, MACRO, MAPI, Microsoft Access, OLE OBJECTSShare This
The advantages of selling information through ebooks should be quite obvious. There are no production costs, no inventory costs and no shipping costs. And information products sell very well on the internet. If you have the solution to their problem, people are very willing to buy immediately and pay a premium.
But how do you write and market an ebook? Well, the focus of this article is more on the actual creation of an ebook, but let me give you a quick run down on how to write a best selling ebook in one month. First, you need to choose a niche and does some keyword research in that niche.
My favorite tool for this is Wordtracker. Wordtracker will give you the number of times a keyword or search term has been searched in the major search engines for the past 120 days. It will then give you the number of competing web sites for that search term. Find a niche that has lots of search terms with high demand and a low number of competing pages, and you will have a great ebook on your hands! Wordtracker is like a free e-book coach.
Your keyword research will tell some of the major topics for your new ebook, but you can also use a survey to fine tune the topics and create an outline for your ebook. Survey monkey is a great way to send a survey to your niche and it is free.
Now that you have a rough outline of your ebook based upon what your niche is telling you, it is time to create your ebook. Your ebook needs to be in a format that EVERYONE can read. Most people do not need professional e-book reader software. They already have the acrobat reader on their computer. So, you need a quick e-book creator that creates PDF files that all computers can read.
There are many PDF programs out there that make for simple e-book creation and fast e-book publishing. Just do a search at TuCows or Download.net. I suggest you get one that allows you to create clickable hyper-links in your PDF so that your readers will click on the resources and come back to your site. The free PDF programs do not allow this.
Now, a word to the wise. To overcome the perception that your ebook is just a PDF file, you need to create a cover for it. This is the 3-D image you will put on your web page to add pizzazz and increase perceived value. There are many e-book cover creator programs and even some freeware. But spend a little money and get one that works well. Heck, you may even want to use this software to start an affordable ebook cover design business!
Of course, the real question is, “How do I set up a page to download ebooks from?” There are a variety of ways including setting the adobe e-books security function so that your readers need a password to read your ebooks. Of course one of the main problems is that that someone might download your e-book and email it to 100 of their best friends.
If you put your e-book in html form and kept it on the server, then you could control who viewed your e-book (only paying customers) through a registration system and for how long they could view it (that way he doesn’t give the access code to 100 of his best friends so they get your book for free!). Meaning, only paying customers could view this book and because it does not download to their hard drive, they can not pass it alongthey can only print it out. You could even disable someone’s access to your e-book if you needed to.
Another way is to use a product like lockmyproduct.com ebook where you control who downloads your ebook, who reads it and for how long through a password connected to their ip address.
Now, all you need is a way to automatically give people access to your e-book when they pay for it. Meaning, one of the huge reasons people buy e-books is to get the information now! Even if it is 2 am. You can either use a clearing house like Clickbank to accept the money for you or you can use a shopping cart that is tied to an automatic payment gateway.
So when your customer pays, they are immediately sent an email with a registration code that gives them access to your e-book. You can conceivably sell an e-book, take the payment and deliver the e-book while you are skiing with your family in Colorado! Now that is a business idea worth pursuing!
Stephen Beck is an expert on teaching non-techies how to start a business on the internet. He has created an electrifying report, How to Find the Right Products to Sell on the Internet. For a FREE copy, visit:
http://www.familyebiz.com/
Tags: acrobat e books security, e book reader professional software, fast e book publis, free e book coachacrobat e books security, e book reader professional software, fast e book publis, free e book coachShare This
Jump Britain…
Dumb boys acting like monkeys jumping around could be one point of view taken from this new outdoor activity ‘Free Running‘ recently broadcast by channel four. I prefer to take the opinion of graceful street acrobat, performing incredulous feats of the physical only possible by control of the mental.
In this programme the athletes (the respectable title they deserve) perform acts that can only be described my mind over matter, heart stopping stunts such as jumping over the gap in the roof of the millennium stadium, a 150ft drop, no ropes, no safety, nothing to rest the mind from those ‘what if’s’ we human too often struggle with.
This activity rewinds back to more primitive times, the way in which the free runners leap over objects with very little sense of danger is reminiscent of the way monkeys and tarzan leap from vine to vine through the jungle. It is an instinct not necessarily understood in logical or practical means but it is the same instinct that possesses a child to climb a tree and jump off the highest branch possible or see how many stairs they can jump down to the bottom.
As the programme goes on it becomes almost impossible to blink as the performers take risk after risk, scaling multi-storey car parks, bridges, roof tops, castles and skyscrapers. The adrenaline is palatable even from the safe comfort of the living room. It doesn’t take long to realise this sport could be loved by a lot of people, those people that stand at the train station wondering if they could jump from the platform to the other side of the tracks.
The only negative factor of this programme was the obvious lack of women participating in free running, as in too many extreme sports it’s as if the pursuit of freedom through risk taking is tightly restricted to the Y chromosome.
The truth about free running is that anybody can do it. It isn’t like surfing where it takes months of practice to be able to even stand up on the thing, anyone can jump from one object to another, it just takes a bit of mental practice (and maybe pumping a bit of iron at the gym) when it comes to the more riskier stunts.
There will no doubt be a massive political correctness backlash with tons of stupid kids jumping off buildings with no prior practise or training, but this is true of every extreme sport which has come out of the underground in the past 15 years. Eventually it will make its way into the acceptable mainstream, only in a matter of lawsuits and years.
Channel 4 programme ‘Jump Britain’.
Tags: acrobat, adrenaline, britain, extreme, fad, fashion, free, height, jump, phase, risk, running, sport, takingacrobat, adrenaline, britain, extreme, fad, fashion, free, height, jump, phase, risk, running, sport, takingShare This