DDE connection from Access

[rosemeyer]

I have been given an assignment that consists of pulling data from a third-party application into an Access 2003 database.
The third-party software is WonderWare and it does not have an historian table that I can link to using ODBC. (It is a SCADA HMI program)
The ONLY connection that Wonderware will allow is a DDE connection. I can accomplish a DDE connection using Excel. However, the quantity of data I need to collect will work much better in Access tables than a flat-file Excel spreadsheet.
A typical DDE call in Excel is: \\24364DEFS\VIEW|TAGNAME!PD_VOL543232

Breakdown of string

PC Name: \\24364DEFS
Application: \VIEW
Separator: |
Topic: TAGNAME
Separator: !
Item: PD_VOL54323


Item Breakdown

Tag PD_VOL
Meter Number: 54323


Tag Names I need to collect into an Access table

C_FR Current Flow Rate
C_AP Current Absolute (Static) Pressure
C_DP Current Differential Pressure
C_T Current Gas Temperature
PD_VOL Previous Day's Volume

I've attempted to make the control source of an unbound field the same as the call from Excel. But Access does not like the | separator. Am I going to have to use VB to accomplish this? If so, does anyone have a sample piece of code that might point me in the right direction? ALL HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

 

[SydneyGeek]

Hi Rose,

I have never had to use DDE so I have no nuggets up my sleeve, but this link could give you some pointers. Different software, but the techniques may be similar...

Denis

 

[rosemeyer]

At first glance it appears just what I need to get started. Many thanks!