Hyperlinking applications - identifying invoking app.

[RCPD700]

We have several user departments which have their own set of Access applications which reside in department specific folders on the server. There is another folder for shared applications. Users work from an "index" application which serves as a menu from which they can select an application to run. When they select an app to run, that app is started by a FollowHyperlink routine. The hyperlinked app returns control to the invoking app by hyperlinking to it. This works just fine when the app is one of the department specific apps.

The problem is with the shared applications. Since any one of the departments can run those apps, the hyperlink back to the invoking index app does not work because it is unknown which index app to return to.

The question: Is it possible to hyperlink to an app and pass a parameter to that linked app? I would prefer to avoid having to write a file to the user's desktop to keep track of this activity.

 

[RCPD700]

I was able to find a good solution quite some time ago, and figured I'd post it here in case anyone else happens to run into a similar situation.

The user community for the applications in question fall into three major groups and we added a fourth group called "shared" since there are some apps which all 3 groups share.

I consolidated everything into a single "index" application and placed it in the "shared" folder. All users have a desktop icon pointing to the index application which displays an application menu based on the user's departmental affiliation (including shared applications). The user selects the app. they want to run from the menu and it is invoked using code to hyperlink it. When the selected app is exited, it closes and returns to the single index application and the user is then free to select another applicaiton to run. This structure eliminated the need for an index application for each user department along as well as the problem of figuring out which index app to return to (since there is now only one).

If any questions, feel free to contact me. I'd be happy to share details as well as the framework under all this.

Jim

When the going gets tough, the tough get going