Worth learning Access in addition to Word for storing/retrieving data?

[Sydney]

In VBA, am putting together a little rolodex-type project that reads
lists of names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. (about 20 small pieces
of such data per row) from a Word table, using a straightforward
array. The tables typically consist of 25 rows or so, with 20 columns
each.

VBA opens up the Word doc containing the table, reads it and closes
it. Works just fine for small lists, but I'm afraid that with 100 or
200 rows to read, the process might take too long.

Two basic questions here:

1. To read the data do I have to physically open the Word docs
containing the tables – or can the tables be read without being
opened? And what code will do that?

2. Is it worth learning Access to store the data, read it and bring
it up in Word? What about converting existing Word tables to Access
records – is that simple? Will Access give me data that appears
instantly in a Word format? In other words, are Access's benefits so
spectacular that they justify the learning curve?

Your expertise in projects like this is eagerly sought and will be
much appreciated ! ! !

Sydney

 

[Jezebel]

Word is not a great choice for storing data, but with so little data to
manage, processing speed unlikely to be a major issue. 100-200 rows
shouldn't be a problem (try it!).

Yes, you have to open the document to retrieve its contents. You can do that
without making the document visible, so it's a hidden background event as
far as the user is concerned.

Access probably isn't worth the trouble. It will certainly do what you want
(apart from the 'instantly in Word format'), but it's a fair learning curve
for, in this case, not much pay-off. Excel is another option, either as an
alternative data source, or indeed as an alternative to Word.

 

[Sydney]

Thanks so much for your input, Jezebel. Matter of fact, I
did try to read 100-200 row tables. Costs a few more
seconds, which always feels like an eternity when you're
waiting, but the extra time is not truly outrageous.

My instinct all along was that for this project, at least,
the Access learning curve does not justify its potential
benefits, and I'm glad you agree.

Tell me, Jezebel, is there no way at all to read data from
a Word document -- in any form at all -- without
physically opening the document?

Often experts disagree on these threads. Are there others
with experience in these small scale, rolodex-type VBA
projects with a differing opinion? I welcome the
input ! ! ! And thanks again, Jezebel. -
Sydney

 

[Jezebel]

Tell me, Jezebel, is there no way at all to read data from

a Word document -- in any form at all -- without
physically opening the document?

There's a free app from Microsoft (can't remember the name) that extracts
the properties from an Office document without opening it. Apart from that,
no. In programming terms, 'opening a document' means precisely: read (or
write) the contents.

If your objective is to manage names and addresses and you're comfortable
with VBA, why not use Outlook as your storage medium? Most of the work is
already done for you.

 

[Jonathan West]

Thanks so much for your input, Jezebel. Matter of fact, I
did try to read 100-200 row tables. Costs a few more
seconds, which always feels like an eternity when you're
waiting, but the extra time is not truly outrageous.

My instinct all along was that for this project, at least,
the Access learning curve does not justify its potential
benefits, and I'm glad you agree.

Tell me, Jezebel, is there no way at all to read data from
a Word document -- in any form at all -- without
physically opening the document?

Getting access to the Document Properties of a Word file
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/MacrosVBA/DSOFile.htm


--
Regards
Jonathan West - Word MVP
MultiLinker - Automated generation of hyperlinks in Word
Conversion to PDF & HTML
http://www.multilinker.com

 

[Word Heretic]

G'day (e-mail address removed) (Sydney),

Unfortunately Jez is an ignorant beginner hack whose words demonstrate
he is talking out of his hat.

I have an existing app that has been downloaded and used by countless
folk that utilises a table of data in excess of a thousand rows. The
app processes that on a PIII in a second or so. I'm sure you'll agree
it is more than adequate to the task at hand, contrary to what our
disagreeable friend Jez, who is merely attempting to muddle as many
waters as he can with his ignorance.


(e-mail address removed) (Sydney) was spinning this yarn:

In VBA, am putting together a little rolodex-type project that reads
lists of names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. (about 20 small pieces
of such data per row) from a Word table, using a straightforward
array. The tables typically consist of 25 rows or so, with 20 columns
each.

VBA opens up the Word doc containing the table, reads it and closes
it. Works just fine for small lists, but I'm afraid that with 100 or
200 rows to read, the process might take too long.

Two basic questions here:

1. To read the data do I have to physically open the Word docs
containing the tables – or can the tables be read without being
opened? And what code will do that?

2. Is it worth learning Access to store the data, read it and bring
it up in Word? What about converting existing Word tables to Access
records – is that simple? Will Access give me data that appears
instantly in a Word format? In other words, are Access's benefits so
spectacular that they justify the learning curve?

Your expertise in projects like this is eagerly sought and will be
much appreciated ! ! !

Sydney

Steve Hudson

Word Heretic, Sydney, Australia
Tricky stuff with Word or words for you.
Email (e-mail address removed)
Products http://www.geocities.com/word_heretic/products.html

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[Sydney]

Thanks so much,I appreciate the input from *all* of you!

Steve, your app with a thousand-row table that takes 1-2
seconds to bring up is amazing but far exceeds my simple
requirements (at the moment.) It does, however, make me
jealous of your skill.

Jonathan, appreciate the referral to your MVP article.
Theoretically, using that method, I could use a table into
which to put data, read the table and convert the cell
data into arrays of DocumentProperties -- which could then
be read without physically opening the document on the
editing screen, right? (Max: 2,000-3,000 small pieces
of data per doc). Wouldn't that result in almost
instantaneous transferral of names into a list box?

Jezebel, your suggestion concerning the use of Outlook is
interesting and I'm sure worth exploring. Here's the
thing, though: 95% of the work being performed in my
project is document-creation in Word such as fax sheets,
memos, etc., and all the data is in array form. When you
mention Outlook, does that involve using *merge* fields?
If so, that would mean changing a whole lot of work that's
already done and works just fine as is. But then again,
if there are benefits not spelled out here that outweigh
the vast amounts of work involved in changing the project,
I'd love to hear them. You seem to have a talent for
cost/benefit analysis, which is a major necessity for me.

Again, thanks so much for taking the trouble to share your
expertise with me. I'll try and keep my questions focused
and logical, which can sometimes be difficult when there
is so much to learn.
Every so thankful
Sydney