You can package the data, do data validation on the form, and then send the transaction to the other database, without being linked to the other database.
Need to know the type of the other database, and preferred method of talking with it, and some sample info that needs to be sent.
Data can also be retrieved.
I have a similar situation, and after the user enters their credentials, a connection is tested, then data is moved from the second database to local tables in the first, for reading, and then a form is opened where the user can do work. Then when they submit the changed record, the data is validated, and the transaction is sent using an ADO provider connection.
Does that sound like the sort of thing you are after?
mmcdonal
Look it up at:
http://wrox.books24x7.com