Calculating a file's MD5 hash/checksum in VBA?

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Hi,
I would like to calculate a file’s MD5 hash/checksum using a VBA procedure in MS Access without needing a DLL or other library (which I would have to distribute with the database, and I would like to keep it as simple for the users as possible)…
Is this possible?
Hasse

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Does MD5 for Visual Basic (VB) do what you want?

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Does MD5 for Visual Basic (VB) do what you want?

Thanks Hans! Yes it does .

Now… next problem: unfortunately it’s too slow for large files, yields an error with a ‘regular’ file,…

So (before spending time figuring out workarounds & debugging) I tried using the Shell function & a small freeware MD5 generator of DiamondCS (page includes screenshot).
I put this generator in the same folder along with my database… and ‘run’ it with these lines (in order to yield the hash for a file called plan.htm which resides in the same folder too):

Code:

Private Sub MD5_Click()
Dim str As String
str = Shell(CurrentProject.Path & "md5.exe " & CurrentProject.Path & "plan.htm")
MsgBox str
end Sub

The MgsBox returns a (every time different) number instead of the hash string.
Is my Shell command wrong? Or is there something else wrong here? (Or should I contact the creator of this tool?)
I feel pretty much like a greeny…
Hasse

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The result of Shell is not the return value of the application that you start, but its TaskID, i.e. the number that Windows uses to identify it.
You could write the return value to a text file, then open the text file. The following is air code:

Dim f As Integer
Dim strLine As String
Shell “cmd /c ” & Chr(34) & CurrentProject.Path & “md5.exe ” & _
CurrentProject.Path & “plan.htm > ” & CurrentProject.Path& “temp.txt” & Chr(34)
f = FreeFile
Open CurrentProject.Path& “temp.txt” For Input As #f
Line Input #f, strLine
Close #f
Kill CurrentProject.Path& “temp.txt”
‘ strLine should now contain the MD5 value

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Thanks Hans. I tried it but the ‘open’ line yielded an error 53 (can’t find file), also when I for example created such a file myself before running the procedure. I’ll ask a collegue at work if he can fix it and let you know.

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