Retrieving the DisplayFormat for a UserProperty using VB

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leslie.mcgann@gmail.com

Hello,

I'm trying to write some VB code that pulls all of the control and

field information out of an .oft file. The issue I'm having is that I

would like to get at the DisplayFormat property of a field

(UserProperty) that belongs to the item represented by the .oft (i.e.,

MailItem, PostItem).

The .oft was created by someone at a different organization, so when

my code calls CreateItemFromTemplate, I am unable to create the item

in the folder where the UserDefinedProperties (folder fields) context

would be available. I noticed that you can access the DisplayFormat

via the UserDefinedProperty interface for a field that has been added

to a folder, *BUT* it does not appear to be possible to get the

DisplayFormat for a field (UserProperty) that only has the context of

the item.

I did a test where I created a field in the Outlook 2007 form

designer, chose a type of numeric and a display format, and bound it

to a control on a form. Then I deleted the field from the folder

fields so that it was only stored in the item. I ran the form and the

display format was still applied, even though the field now only

resides within the item. So, it seems that the DisplayFormat info

must still be stored somewhere at the item level, even though the

field has been deleted from the folder level (UserDefinedProperties).

The question is, is there a way to access the DisplayFormat info for

an item field (UserProperty) programmatically?

Thanks,

Leslie McGann-Sturgeon
 
Have you tried publishing that form to an appropriate folder and seeing if

the properties you want are there?

<leslie.mcgann@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:1845fa2f-231b-468e-9f1d-6d8878f9f8f5@v28g2000vbb.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,

> I'm trying to write some VB code that pulls all of the control and
> field information out of an .oft file. The issue I'm having is that I
> would like to get at the DisplayFormat property of a field
> (UserProperty) that belongs to the item represented by the .oft (i.e.,
> MailItem, PostItem).

> The .oft was created by someone at a different organization, so when
> my code calls CreateItemFromTemplate, I am unable to create the item
> in the folder where the UserDefinedProperties (folder fields) context
> would be available. I noticed that you can access the DisplayFormat
> via the UserDefinedProperty interface for a field that has been added
> to a folder, *BUT* it does not appear to be possible to get the
> DisplayFormat for a field (UserProperty) that only has the context of
> the item.

> I did a test where I created a field in the Outlook 2007 form
> designer, chose a type of numeric and a display format, and bound it
> to a control on a form. Then I deleted the field from the folder
> fields so that it was only stored in the item. I ran the form and the
> display format was still applied, even though the field now only
> resides within the item. So, it seems that the DisplayFormat info
> must still be stored somewhere at the item level, even though the
> field has been deleted from the folder level (UserDefinedProperties).
> The question is, is there a way to access the DisplayFormat info for
> an item field (UserProperty) programmatically?

> Thanks,
> Leslie McGann-Sturgeon
 
Hi Ken,

Thanks for your response. I just tried publishing a test .oft file to

a folder, and none of the fields from the oft appeared at the folder

level after publishing. I'm new to Outlook, so I'm not sure what you

mean by publishing it to an "appropriate" folder. Also, if I were to

receive a batch of several hundred .oft files created at another

organization, how would I know what "appropriate" folder to publish

them to? Could each one have a different "appropriate" folder?

At any rate, I would like to be able to get all of the information out

of the .oft files programmatically, without having to perform any

manual steps using the Outlook UI. It is too bad that there doesn't

seem to be any way to get at several pieces of information associated

with fields contained in an .oft file by using the API:

- DisplayFormat

- Whether the field is required to be filled in

- Whether the field should be included for printing

If you know of any way that I can get this info programmatically, I

would be grateful if you could let me know.

On Mar 30, 9:55 am, "
<kenslo...@mvps.org> wrote:
> Have you tried publishing that form to an appropriate folder and seeing if
> the properties you want are there?

> >

> http://www.slovaktech.com

> <leslie.mcg...@gmail.com> wrote in message

> news:1845fa2f-231b-468e-9f1d-6d8878f9f8f5@v28g2000vbb.googlegroups.com...

>
> > Hello,

>
> > I'm trying to write some VB code that pulls all of the control and
> > field information out of an .oft file.  The issue I'm having is that I
> > would like to get at the DisplayFormat property of a field
> > (UserProperty) that belongs to the item represented by the .oft (i.e.,
> > MailItem, PostItem).

>
> > The .oft was created by someone at a different organization, so when
> > my code calls CreateItemFromTemplate, I am unable to create the item
> > in the folder where the UserDefinedProperties (folder fields) context
> > would be available.  I noticed that you can access the DisplayFormat
> > via the UserDefinedProperty interface for a field that has been added
> > to a folder, *BUT* it does not appear to be possible to get the
> > DisplayFormat for a field (UserProperty) that only has the context of
> > the item.

>
> > I did a test where I created a field in the Outlook 2007 form
> > designer, chose a type of numeric and a display format, and bound it
> > to a control on a form.  Then I deleted the field from the folder
> > fields so that it was only stored in the item.  I ran the form and the
> > display format was still applied, even though the field now only
> > resides within the item.  So, it seems that the DisplayFormat info
> > must still be stored somewhere at the item level, even though the
> > field has been deleted from the folder level (UserDefinedProperties).
> > The question is, is there a way to access the DisplayFormat info for
> > an item field (UserProperty) programmatically?

>
> > Thanks,
> > Leslie McGann-Sturgeon-


 
You at minimum have to create an item from an OFT to access it and any

available properties. An appropriate folder is one that holds that type of

item, i.e a Contacts folder for contact items, Mail folder for email items,

Tasks folder for task items, etc.

Other than what you've tried and UserProperties in an item and any

FormDescription properties for it there is no other way to access the

properties of the item in the Outlook object model. You can get additional

information using a lower level API such as Extended MAPI (C++ or Delphi

only), or you can examine an item using a MAPI viewer such as MFCMAPI from

MS or OutlookSpy (www.dimastr.com), but in many cases any such additional

information is in undocumented binary properties so won't make much sense.

If you are actually hiring people to create custom forms for you they should

be supplying documentation and/or publishing the forms to a folder in a PST

file so you have access to any folder as well as item properties.

If you create an item from an OFT you can examine the properties of every

control on the item to see what validations, etc. are applied.

<leslie.mcgann@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:6b563a6a-193a-4d49-a7cd-9362ad7fe64e@r36g2000vbr.googlegroups.com...

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your response. I just tried publishing a test .oft file to

a folder, and none of the fields from the oft appeared at the folder

level after publishing. I'm new to Outlook, so I'm not sure what you

mean by publishing it to an "appropriate" folder. Also, if I were to

receive a batch of several hundred .oft files created at another

organization, how would I know what "appropriate" folder to publish

them to? Could each one have a different "appropriate" folder?

At any rate, I would like to be able to get all of the information out

of the .oft files programmatically, without having to perform any

manual steps using the Outlook UI. It is too bad that there doesn't

seem to be any way to get at several pieces of information associated

with fields contained in an .oft file by using the API:

- DisplayFormat

- Whether the field is required to be filled in

- Whether the field should be included for printing

If you know of any way that I can get this info programmatically, I

would be grateful if you could let me know.
 
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