Capture text being entered in another application

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nicholas Scarpinato
  • Start date Start date
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Nicholas Scarpinato

Hello. I have an interesting question about something that probably can't be
done the way I've been asked to do it. What I've been asked to do is try to
figure out a way to capture data that is being scanned into our retail system
from the products in the warehouse into an Access database as it's being
scanned into the retail system. In other words, rather than having to scan
everything twice, they'll only scan the items once and Access will grab
whatever is being scanned and copy that into itself behind the scenes. The
only way I know of to do this is to get a keystroke logger and capture the
data into a file and import it into Access on a daily basis, but if somebody
forgets to do the import we would have the potential to lose an entire day's
worth of data. Is there a way to do this via a Windows API function or
something?
 
Nicholas

It sounds like you are saying you want to end up with two copies of the same
information.

Could you set up Access to link to the retail system's data instead of
"re-entering" the data (either manually or automated)?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP
 
There are three things that come to mind, but neither is a tested solution,
only ideas to pursue.
First, is it possible the retail application can export what is or has been
scanned over a period? If so, you could import that file.
Second, is there a way your retail system could receive the scan from Access
and do the scan directly into Access rather than the retail system, like
polling for a text file?
Third, if you did get a keystroke logger, you could use a small Access app
that would run from the Windows Scheduler and have it periodically grab the
data. That way, no one would forget.
 
Jeff and Dave, thank you both for the quick responses. I must correct my
previous statement, however. The information is not being scanned into the
retail system, but into an automated assembly line control program that takes
the item through each stage of processing. It's still done on a PC, but
there's definately no export function from this program, and I doubt that
this program has any sort of linking capabilities that I can use to grab the
data and copy it over to Access. It looks like keylogging and timed imports
are the only way I'll be able to do this.

Again, thanks for the quick replies. :)
 
Nicholas

Even if your processing program has no "linking" feature, MS Access does!

My question concerned whether it would be possible for your Access
application to "see" the data in its native format ... and you haven't
described that other program yet...<g>

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP
 
TBH, I have no idea if the data would be accessable to an outside
application. The program that runs the assembly line is a proprietary system
called CASI, and I have no information about how it works or if it has ODBC
capabilities.
 
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