如何在MS Access中使用外部VBA源代码？

Question

I am writing a VBA script to import data from an Access database to a remote database server. (It happens to be PostgreSQL, but I don't think that's very relevant.) At the moment, my scripts are embedded inside an Access database. However, I would like to version my scripts like I do my other source code: as plain text so SVN can give me good change tracking.

I would also prefer not to have to deliver the source files to the client for them to use the script. In other words, I would like to deliver the import tool already compiled into the Access database. Is it possible to do so?

Or am I chasing the wrong rabbit? Is there a way I can use the Access libraries without embedding any code into the Access database? My searching suggests not, but I'm open to the possibility. This is the first thing I've ever done with VBA, so there's a ton I don't know, I'm sure.

Answer 1

I think I was going down the wrong rabbit hole (and I think I was using a non-existent idiom). Turns out that there are some .NET interop DLLs for Office. My machine seems to have the .NET interop DLLs already installed with Office, so all I had to do was add a reference to the Microsoft.Office.Interop.Access DLL and create an application object:

var app = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Access.Application();

I think a .NET app is going to be more suited to my needs. I'm not going to be doing a lot of Access specific things. This will allow me to have my source under version control as usual. The only downside is that any development machine (and build server, if I automate the build) will need Access installed, but that was going to happen with a VBA script, anyway.

Answer 2

If you don't want to do it within Access, you may want to tag this differently.

You can deliver your database to the client as an MDE file, which is a compiled and stand-alone Access database. The client will not be able to see the modules or other VBA code in this format, if that is your main concern.