Database Applications Screens: Webmaster's File Mover

The Webmaster's File Mover made it easier for routine copying of files from directories on a development server (or local workstation) to directories on a production web server. This database application was produced in MS-Access 97, September 1999, at PG&E Energy Trading.

Each record in the database represented a single copy job. Fields in each record identified the source directory (the "From Path") and the target directory (the "To Path") for copying a file. The directories were automatically accessed in common dialog (screens) during the file copying process.

With the Webmaster's File Mover, the manual process of using Windows Explorer to drill down and search through various directory levels was eliminated. Also, the Webmaster's File Mover served as a checklist for the Webmaster to verify all required, daily file transfers were accomplished.

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	Screens for pre-configuring a copy job, listing and activating copy jobs, selecting files on-the-fly, and listing the completed jobs

Common dialog screens displayed by the Webmaster's File Mover application enabled the user to verify or ensure that file copying proceeded from the correct source directory to the correct target directory, even if pre-configuration was wrong, or things had been 'moved' from their expected locations since the last copy job. Also, return values from the common dialog screens enabled reconfiguring a copy job on-the-fly, based on the user's navigation to a different directory.

The msaccess.exe executable provided a method for opening an MS-Office common dialog screen for file or directory selection. In their excellent book, Access 97 Developer's Handbook, Paul Litwin, Ken Getz, and Mike Gilbert described how to call this method from VBA code. I successfully borrowed their technique (with necessary modifications) and used it in this and many other applications.

TECH NOTE: Using SHFileOperation for copying files that are 'in-use'

In the Webmaster's File Mover application, I needed to solve a problem that occurred sporadically. The problem occurred when copying files from a developer server to a production server, and a message would be displayed saying the file was 'in use' (when it really wasn't) and, therefore, the file could not be copied.

To solve the problem, I produced a code module aptly named mdlTurboCopy, for it copied files in the face of adversity. It included a modification (in VBA) of Romke Soldaat's code for calling SHFileOperation, from shell32.dll. SHFileOperation enabled backing up a file while the file was open or in use. Romke Soldaat described how to call and use this function in his article, "BUWYW: Back Up While You Work", Microsoft Office & Visual Basic Developer, June 1999.


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