test if Word document is already open in VB (Word 2000)

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I am using automation to manipulate Word from an Access database. The database has a function that will generate routine correspondence by merging information from the record into a template. The process takes a couple of seconds, during which time the letter is merged to a new document and then original template is closed and the new document is saved and its location and filename written back to the database.

The document template is shared and resides on the server, and the problem comes when two people try to access the template at the same time (during that 5-8 second window while the template is open) and the “This document is locked for editing by another user…” dialogue appears. Is there a way for me to check whether or not the document is already open in the VB code and hence side-step this?

thanks,
Karl

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I had an issue like this recently where we were creating invoices from data and using a shared .Dot template.

In your code somewhere, you must have a line which points to the template on your network.
Can’t you give each user their own template in a local drive instead ?
A few extra lines of code could check to see if they have the latest version if it changes.

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yeah, I’ve considered local copies as an option, but I really want there to be a cleaner solution with all of the templates in a single place. (as if wanting ever solved anything…)

You say “a few extra lines of code could check to see if they have the latest version if it changes.”

Thinking this through, I would still keep a “master” copy on the network drive, and I would check the “modified” dates of the local and network copies… is this what you mean? If the copy wasn’t current, could I automatically pull an updated version to the local drive? If so how?

thanks,
K

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A template can be shared if all users access it using Documents.Add rather than Documents.Open — at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. You also could immediately detach the template from the new document if its use is purely stylistic and you don’t need any further access to AutoText entries or macros in the template. Simply change AttachedTemplate to Normal.dot (I think the NormalTemplate object is the easiest way to make sure the path is correct but I haven’t tested in forever).

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I think the problem is that they are actually changing the template.

One thought is to Open the template directly, instead of a document based on the template

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This function will return True if a file is open. It’s up to you to check for other file errors.

Function FileIsOpen(sFileName As String) As Boolean

On Error GoTo FileError
Open sFileName For Input Lock Read As 1
On Error GoTo 0
Close #1
FileIsOpen = False

Exit Function

FileError:
FileIsOpen = True

End Function

Regards,
Kevin Bell

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Thanks to all of you for your help. I now have enough info to solve the problem. Kevin’s code is exactly what I was looking for. This work with automation is relatively new for me, so all assistance is greatly appreciated.
best,
Karl

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Sorry I did’nt come back to you on this, we’ve had a server change and lost some E:Mails.

The code I use to copy a file from a network folder to a local folder looks something like below:
Microsoft Scripting Runtime must be selected from project references.

    On Error GoTo errHandler
    Dim fso As New FileSystemObject

    Dim LocFile As String
    Dim SerFile As String

    LocFile = "C:DestinationFolderFileOrTemplate.dot"
    SerFile = "L:MMPDFEC-UpdateFileOrTemplate.dot"


    fso.DeleteFile LocFile
    fso.CopyFile SerFile, LocFile

    Set fso = Nothing
    Shell LocFile, vbNormalFocus
    Unload Me

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Checkout Randy Birch Win32 website. It has far faster code for copying files.

Pete

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Pete

Do you have a link to his site ??

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Here it is: VBNet.

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Cheers Hans

There’s some good stuff on there, I feel another update coming on !!

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don’t be lazy….try

Randy Birch in Google – the very first match is him !

http://vbnet.mvps.org/

Pete

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whether the template is on a server or not should not matter. if you start a document from a (server)template with set mydoc=documents.add(“myserverdocsmytemplate.dot”), you should not receive the error. still, if you’re using the open method instead, you can include additional parameters that will prevent the warning from appearing.

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