Before I go on and reveal the method behind the madness let me make a few things crystal clear!

This is 100% advised against for anything other than in-house work e.g. Intranets as it is not a secure method.

So anyway here’s the code to achieve it. (line wraps marked »)

var conn = new ActiveXObject("ADODB.Connection");
var rs = new ActiveXObject("ADODB.Recordset");
conn.ConnectionTimeout = 15;
conn.CommandTimeout = 15;
var connStrng = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; »
Data Source=database.mdb; »
Persist Security Info=False"; // remember to escape \ if needed.
conn.open(connStrng);
rs.open("SQL Statement", conn);
var fields=new Array();
var i=0; while(!rs.eof) {
   var  = fields[i]=rs.fields("Field Name").value;
   i++; rs.moveNext();
};
rs.close();
conn.close();

Hope it helps.

Here’s what I have to offer on the subject;

Asking doesn’t mean giving

Just because a colleague asked for a specific “something” doesn’t mean giving it to them, you have to consider a few facts with the most important being will it be used? If it’s not going to be used you will have wasted your time and to a company time is money. You also have to ask yourself does it solve a problem or are you simply re-inventing the wheel?

Money, Money, Money

I wholeheartedly agree with Paul regarding managements perception that the intranet is simply a money pit, they just don’t seem to get the fact that it does generate a ROI in regards to huge productivity gains

It’s more than just communication

Another management perception is that the intranet is just another communication tool. How wrong could they be? The intranet is able to keep colleagues updated a lot easier than most communication tools, but it’s uses don’t stop there. Colleagues are able to search for that needed contact, they can give direct feedback and for the ability to find certain forms or procedures.

Simple to use

I can’t stress this point enough. The intranet must be quicker, better and overall less painful than the older way otherwise the older way will simply be too easy to fall back on.