ADT: How to Use DDE to Communicate with a Run-Time Application

MORE INFORMATION

1. Start Microsoft Access and open the sample database NWIND.MDB.
2. Choose the Macro button and select the Sample Autoexec macro.
3. From the File menu, choose Rename. In the Macro Name box, type "Autoexec" (without the quotation marks), and then press ENTER.
4. Quit Microsoft Access.
5. From the File menu in Program Manager, choose Run.
6. Type "c:\access\msarn110.exe nwind.mdb" (without the quotation marks), and then press ENTER.
7. Start Microsoft Access, and create or open a database other than NWIND.MDB.
8. Create or open a module and add the following Access Basic function:

         Option Explicit
   
            Function DDEWithNWIND ()
                Dim chan
                chan = DDEInitiate("NWIND", "NWIND;TABLE Employees")
                MsgBox DDERequest(chan, "FirstRow")
                DDETerminate chan
            End Function
   						

   Note that the first argument specified in the DDEInitiate command, the application name, is "NWIND", which is the name of the .MDB file, and not "MSACCESS."
9. From the View menu, choose Immediate Window. Type the following line, and then press ENTER:

   ? DDEWithNWIND()
   						

   Note that a message box displays the first record from the Employees table in the NWIND.MDB database.