Read messages in MS Access

[sefide]

Hi, I've exported Yahoo messages to a ygrpack.mdb file. When I open the mdb file in MS Access, all I see is a table with sender, subject, date etc. What do I do to be able to see/read the messages? I have Access 2000 but I've never used it before, this is the first time I open it so I'm not at all familiar with it.

Thanks a lot in advance, Sefide

[Wilson Logan]

Hi,

PG Offline is not just a tool to download messages, you can read the messages with it also.

Double click on any message in the list to see it in a full size window. Highlight a range of messages, right click them and choose 'View as Digest'. Thats how I like to read my messages.

Sometimes I sort by subject before highlighting a range so I read all messages in a thread, one after the other.

Try it out. I think you'll like it.

Cheers,

Wilson.

[sefide]

Hi Wilson,

you seem to have totally misunderstood my question. I'm not asking how to read the messages in PG Offline. Like I said, I have exported the messages from PG Offline to MS Access, and what I'm asking is how to read the messages in ***MS Access***.

I have moved a group from Yahoo to another server and we want to keep our old Yahoo messages. I can't expect hundreds of people to download, install and buy PG Offline to be able to read the old messages. But everybody already has MS Office. Since the export of messages to MS Access is a function within PG Offline, surely one must be able to read the messages in MS Access also. How?

Sefide

[Wilson Logan]

Hi Sefide,

There is no good way to read MS Access databases of messages. I have done this deliberately. PGO with a text export facility would, for some people, become an ideal tool to rip group content wholesale.

I assume you're a group owner? Would you like the idea that anyone could just rip your entire group to a text file? Think about that for 2 minutes.

Yes, its unfortunate that this facility cannot be offered but that's the world we live in.

Cheers,

Wilson.

[sefide]

Hi Wilson and thanks for info, although it was very disappointing. I don't quite understand why PG Offline has an export function for messages if it doesn't work, that seems pointless to me. I also don't understand how "anyone" could rip my group's messages, since they would need my Yahoo password for that.

Sefide

[Wilson Logan]

Hi Sefide,

The group Export facilty allows members of the same group to share compressed archives of messages. Only group members can open a groups message archive (unless its a public group). This means that I can offer to host group's archives for them so that new members can download all messages in minutes rather than hours, or days.

http://www.pgoffline.com/downloads.htm

For particularily sensitive groups I have set up archives in password protected folders. The password is distributed by the group owner directly to the members. The group name is not listed in the Downloads page at all.

In order to rip all the messages from a group one only requires to be a member. Unless of course, the archives are only open to the group owner but that is unusual.

Cheers,

Wilson.

[frokeefe]

As a group founder, it is of value to members to have a group of messages converted to a Word document. There is a need for some of us to compile selected messages and edit them as a single text file. Do you know of any programs similar to yours that have that feature? Otherwise, I think PG does a great job. As to Access, being completely lost in it, I am assuming that the only data left out of the files are the message text, right?

Cordially,
O'Keefe

[Wilson Logan]

Please contact me at

wilson (dot) logan (at) ntlworld (dot) com

Cheers,

Wilson.