Distributing Microsoft Access Databases with Total Access Emailer to Other Users

Just follow these three simple steps to give your users the power to run email blasts at the touch of a button:

1. Define and test your email blast using the interactive Wizard interface.
2. Add a reference to the Total Access Emailer library from your database. This depends on your Access version and your database format.
3. Add the Total Access Emailer function and reference the email ID you created in step 1.

For instance, all you need to add to your program to run email blast number 25 is this function call:

TotalAccessEmailer(25, False, "", "", True, True)

The function returns a blank string if successful or an error string if a problem was encountered.

For more information on the details of the procedure call, visit Sending Microsoft Access Email Blasts Programmatically using VBA.

To use the Total Access Emailer function, add the Total Access Emailer runtime file as a library reference from your VBA Tools, Reference menu:

VBA Library Reference to Total Access Emailer Runtime Library

The Total Access Emailer runtime library is TAEmailR.accde or TAEmailR.mde depending on whether your database is ACCDE or MDB/ADP format. There is also a 64-bit runtime library, TAEmail_64.accde, for the 64-bit versions of Microsoft Access 2010 or later.

Note: If other users are going to run your database, the location of the library matters since they can't see your C: drive. You need to copy the library database to your user's machine or the network depending on how you deploy your solution. See Step 2 below.

The Professional Version of Total Access Emailer includes runtime distribution rights, so you can distribute your Microsoft Access application using Total Access Emailer royalty-free to non-owners of Total Access Emailer.

Your users can run different versions of Access provided they are compatible with your Access version and database. For instance, the latest version of Total Access Emailer includes a 64-bit runtime library (ACCDE) to distribute with your database to users running the 64-bit version of Access 2010 and later. The 32-bit ACCDE runtime library is compatible with 32-bit Access 2010 and later. An MDE runtime library for MDB databases is compatible with Access 2003 and later.

For older versions, Total Access Emailer 2003 includes a runtime library that supports Access 2003, 2002 and 2000.

---

Step 1: Run the Distribution EXE File

Each PC that runs your database needs a one-time installation of Total Access Emailer files on its machine.

Located in the installation folder, the TAERun.exe file installs the 32 and 64-bit ActiveX controls. Copy it to a shared folder if you want to run it on multiple PCs across your network.

Just run the EXE once on each user's machine to prepare it to use the runtime library. The executable distributes the necessary runtime files to your user's systems and configures their computers to use Total Access Emailer in runtime mode.

---

Step 2: Locating and/or Deploying the Runtime Library File

Where the Total Access Emailer library file (TAEmailR.accde, TAEmailR.mde, or TAEmail_64.accde) is located depends on how you deploy your database:

Database is Located in One Place and Run Over the Network

If your database is used by one person at a time and located on the network, you can simply have your database reference the library file located in the same network folder. Just make sure the library reference is correct and not pointing to your library file located on your PC.

Split Database Architecture Across a Network

In a split database architecture with a front-end database installed on each user's PC and a shared back-end data database, you'll need to make sure your front-end "application" database properly points to the referenced Total Access Emailer library file. You don't need to copy the runtime library to each user's machine. Just store it on your network and set your reference to the file. To simplify and centrally manage the deployment and launching of your Microsoft Access database to each PC, consider our Total Access Startup program which comes with Total Access Emailer in the Total Access Ultimate Suite.

Deploying Your Database and the Total Access Emailer Library to a Disconnected PC

If your database goes somewhere else, referencing the runtime library on your network won't work. In this case, when you distribute your database, you also need to distribute the library file. Save the library file in the same folder as your database. This works no matter what folder name it's installed in. Microsoft Access automatically searches for the library references in the same folder if the original reference cannot be found.