ACC2000: Report May Lose Formatting When Output to HTML

This article applies to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb) and to a Microsoft Access project (.adp).

When you save a Microsoft Access report to HTML format, the following problems may occur:

• Column headers and fields may not be aligned in the same manner as in the original report.
• OLE Objects (such as images) and lines are not present in the output.

Column alignment of the output can be affected by the interaction of a number of factors, including the following:

• The TextAlign property of the text boxes in the detail section and those in the header section of the report.
• The CanGrow and CanShrink properties of the text boxes and the detail section of the report.
• The WindowState property of the browser.

When you save a report to HTML format, the following report controls do not appear in the resulting file:

• Lines
• Rectangles
• OLE objects
• Subforms

Save the report as a snapshot, and embed the Microsoft Snapshot Viewer ActiveX control in a Web page to display the report.

The following steps demonstrate how to save a report as a snapshot and then use the Microsoft Snapshot Viewer ActiveX control to display it on a Web page. Note that the browser in which you open the Web page must support the display of ActiveX controls.

NOTE: Microsoft Technical Support does support modification of HTML files created by Microsoft Access, Microsoft FrontPage, or any other application that generates HTML.

For more information about writing HTML, please visit Microsoft's Web site at: WARNING: ANY USE BY YOU OF THE HTML PROVIDED IN THIS ARTICLE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. Microsoft provides this example "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

1. In the Database window, select the report that you want to save to HTML format, and then on the File menu, click Export.
2. In the Export Report <'report name'> To dialog box, select Snapshot Format (*.snp) in the Save as type box.
3. Save the Snapshot to a location on the Web server.
4. Locate the Snapshot Viewer Control file, Snapview.ocx, in the \Program Files\Common Files\System folder.
5. Copy Snapview.ocx to a folder on the Web server.
6. Open the Web page in an HTML editor. To embed the Snapshot Viewer control on the Web page by using the HTML Object tag, insert the following code:

   <object CLASSID="CLSID:F0E42D60-368C-11D0-AD81-00A0C90DC8D9"
         width="100%" height="100%"
      CODEBASE="http://WEBSITE/LOCALCONTROLS/snapview.ocx">
      <param name="_ExtentX" value="16722">
      <param name="_ExtentY" value="11774">
      <param name="_Version" value="65536">
      <param name="SnapshotPath"
         value="http://WEBSITE/REPORTS/REPORTNAME.snp">
      <param name="Zoom" value="0">
      <param name="AllowContextMenu" value="-1">
      <param name="ShowNavigationButtons" value="-1">
   </object>
   						

   You can also embed the Snapshot Viewer control by using Microsoft ActiveX Control Pad, and you can use the ActiveX Control Editor to set the control's parameters.
   
   For more information about the ActiveX Control Pad and developing Web pages with ActiveX controls, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:
   http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms968493.aspx
   
7. In the code in step 6, change

   http://WEBSITE/REPORTS/REPORTNAME.snp
   						

   to the URL for the location of the snapshot file that you saved in step 3. For example, if you saved your report in a folder called Test in the WWWRoot folder of your Web Server, this URL is:

   http://<ServerName>/Test/ReportName.snp
   					

8. In the code in step 6, change

   http://WEBSITE/LOCALCONTROLS/snapview.ocx
   						

   to the URL for the location to which you copied Snapview.ocx in step 5.
9. Save the changes that you have made to the Web page.
   
   Note that when you open the Web page in a browser, the formatting and controls that existed in the original report appear as expected.

For additional information about the Snapshot Viewer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: