Dear Access experts,

I have been cracking my head for some time over this problem but I am
only an Access newbie. Is it possible to make Access send back certain
data back to an online website for authentication? This is to check
that the database is not distributed indiscriminately around the
internet.

Thank you very much in advance.

On Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:23:58 -0700 (PDT), LLY <lightaiyee (AT) gmail (DOT) com>
wrote:

That's really much more complicated than what could be expected of a
rookie.
But say that you got that part done: WHAT would you use to determine
legitimate use or not. It's not that easy.

-Tom.
Microsoft Access MVP

You could run a web service on your web server and have your Access
application send parameters to the webservice. The web service could
return other parameters. If these other parameters are consistent with
your Access application (similar to userID, password, ...) then you
would allow the Access application to run. You could run code like this
in a secured code module in Access - where you run Access security and
only secure the code module that contacts the web service. You would
not distribute the mdw file (the access security database - when you use
Access security). There IS a certain amount of programming expertise
required to do this, but this is kind of how you could accomplish such a
task.

Rich

*** Sent via Developersdex http://www.developersdex.com ***

The feature you describe is not included as part of Access, but almost
anything is possible with programming and communication with additional
software. As Tom said, it's a job for a professional (and, I'd qualify that
as "advanced professional"); also, as he mentioned, there's more to "calling
home" to validate legitimate use than just sending a message.

Larry Linson, Microsoft Office Access MVP
Co-author: "Microsoft Access Small Business Solutions", published by Wiley
Access newsgroup support is alive and well in USENET
comp.databases.ms-access

On Jun 15, 9:29*am, "Access Developer" <accde... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Thank you everyone for all your replies.

Is it possible to implement this communication with Access macros? If
not, what sort of platform should I consider using?

"LLY" <lightaiyee (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

I doubt you can accomplish what you want with Access Macros.

To do this from Access, I suspect you will use Visual Basic for Applications
(VBA) code, COM (Component Object Model) Automation to a compatible
application to do the web communication, and/or Windows API (Application
Programming Interface) calls.

I'm not expert in this area, but would suspect that sending simple data to a
defined interface at a website would require the developer be adept in at
least two of the disciplines I listed in the preceding paragraph. But to
someone who _is _familiar with it, it may not be a vast or massive project.

--
Larry Linson, Microsoft Office Access MVP
Co-author: "Microsoft Access Small Business Solutions", published by Wiley
Access newsgroup support is alive and well in USENET
comp.databases.ms-access

Access Developer wrote:

bob

"Bob Alston" <bobalston9 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

How do you use those from within Microsoft Access, Bob? It wasn't clear
from a quick Google and scan of the first screen that they could be used
that way.

Larry Linson, Microsoft Office Access MVP

On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:24:11 -0700 (PDT), LLY <lightaiyee (AT) gmail (DOT) com>
wrote:

Absolutely not. It will require a strong Access VBA programmer. Here
are a few links (if you want to use web services):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...ice.10%29.aspx

You can also "POST" data to a web page, for example using the XMLHTTP
object. Again, requiring more than average programming skills and
knowledge about this specific domain.

-Tom.
Microsoft Access MVP

Access Developer wrote:
iMacros from Access vba and it results in a downloaded fild. I then
process that via vba.

There is a version that provides more integration with VB. The
scripting version has these capabilities. However it has been a long
time since I looked at those details as I didn't need them.

bob