Is it Possible to Make a Custom "To-Do Bar"-Like Pane?

  • Thread starter TmljayBLb21vc2luc2tp
  • Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TmljayBLb21vc2luc2tp

I've recently been browsing various forums and websites looking to see what

others have and could accomplish with the To-Do Bar pane. I've stumbled upon

many topics, and concluded the following information (please correct anything

if I am misinformed):

•To-Do Bar is not extensible.

•Add-in Express is able to add an adjoining form region to the To-Do Bar

through some complex manipulation of Windows API.

•It is not possible to mimic the collapsing feature of To-Do Bar with a

Custom Task Pane. [Custom Task Panes and To-Do Bar Pane are of different

types (msocommandbar and NetUIHWND, respectively)]

Since I am unable to directly modify, adjoin, or replace the To-Do Bar pane,

I am looking to create my own. From what I have been able to research it also

seems that I am not able to directly mimic the complete functionality of the

pane. But, I did run into a post where someone used a custom task pane that

contained a button that would slide out a form

(http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vsto/thread/df4fe74d-381b-4a9b-8c31-67b2e8400267/).

This method is greatly less eye-appealing, and doesn't exactly mimic the

To-Do Bar that well. Is there a better method of attempting to "clone" what

the To-Do bar looks like and can do? If there is not, and this would be the

only currently available method to get this done, I have a few more questions

that I would like addressed.

In Outlook, if the Navigation Pane is collapsed one can drag a task, mail

item, contact, et cetera overtop of the "Navigation Pane" section and the

pane will then slide out, and then it is possible to drop that item into the

slide out. If I am limited to the situation described in the last paragraph,

would it be possible to mimic the drag, slide, drop functionality that the

navigation pane is able to do? I have attempted to search to see if anyone

else has tried to do this, and received no luck in my results. I am not quite

sure how limited I am by having to use a combination of a custom task pane,

user control, and form to attempt to make a To-Do bar.

When creating the custom task pane, by default it has the drop down menu

that has the Move, Size, and Close options. Would it be possible to disable

this drop down completely? I first attempted to turn this off by setting the

appropriate sections to false in the properties of the User Control, once I

saw no results I then realized it is the custom task pane that these settings

need to be set false on. I was unsure how to set any of the properties (such

as move, size, et cetera) of the custom task pane, and was wondering if first

is it possible to disable these, second how can this be accomplished, and

lastly would it be possible to chance the functionality of the drop down (or

add a new button) to that section that would act as the draw in and out

button for the pane? I did recently find a tutorial on creating a custom

panel (http://www.codeproject.com/KB/office/additional_panel_Outlook.aspx)

which would solve the move/size issue, but it creates new issues of making

the window, and how it effects displaying the to-do bar. I am not sure if the

custom task pane, this additional custom panel, or some other method would be

the best approach.

Lastly, this is kind of a side question that I have been pondering, but is

it possible to force close the To-Do Bar, or take over the region where the

To-Do bar is? I know it's not possible to modify the To-Do Bar, but I wasn't

sure if it was possible to take it over or just stop it from being visible.

I realize there are a lot of questions here, and in some parts I am

attempting to explain how I want it to work, so if there is any discrepancy

in my descriptions please let me know and I will address that as soon as

possible. Thank you in advance.
 
You can't modify, open or close the ToDo Bar using code. To close it you'd

need to get its window handle and send it a WM_CLOSE message using Win32 API

calls.

Mimicking the ToDo bar using an alternative approach will always have to

allow for some differences in how things work, I don't know of a way to

exactly mimic that without a lot of work and reverse engineering and tons of

Win32 API work. There are 3rd party controls available such as one that

mimic the Navigation Pane, but you have to license them and they may or may

not work the way you want or be able to be used where you want to use them.

That you'd have to learn about and experiment with.

"Nick Komosinski" <Nick Komosinski> wrote in

message news:7060A394-5752-448F-B3BA-CCEF96A801F2@microsoft.com...
> I've recently been browsing various forums and websites looking to see
> what
> others have and could accomplish with the To-Do Bar pane. I've stumbled
> upon
> many topics, and concluded the following information (please correct
> anything
> if I am misinformed):

> •To-Do Bar is not extensible.
> •Add-in Express is able to add an adjoining form region to the To-Do Bar
> through some complex manipulation of Windows API.
> •It is not possible to mimic the collapsing feature of To-Do Bar with a
> Custom Task Pane. [Custom Task Panes and To-Do Bar Pane are of different
> types (msocommandbar and NetUIHWND, respectively)]

> Since I am unable to directly modify, adjoin, or replace the To-Do Bar
> pane,
> I am looking to create my own. From what I have been able to research it
> also
> seems that I am not able to directly mimic the complete functionality of
> the
> pane. But, I did run into a post where someone used a custom task pane
> that
> contained a button that would slide out a form
> (http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vsto/thread/df4fe74d-381b-4a9b-8c31-67b2e8400267/).
> This method is greatly less eye-appealing, and doesn't exactly mimic the
> To-Do Bar that well. Is there a better method of attempting to "clone"
> what
> the To-Do bar looks like and can do? If there is not, and this would be
> the
> only currently available method to get this done, I have a few more
> questions
> that I would like addressed.

> In Outlook, if the Navigation Pane is collapsed one can drag a task, mail
> item, contact, et cetera overtop of the "Navigation Pane" section and the
> pane will then slide out, and then it is possible to drop that item into
> the
> slide out. If I am limited to the situation described in the last
> paragraph,
> would it be possible to mimic the drag, slide, drop functionality that the
> navigation pane is able to do? I have attempted to search to see if anyone
> else has tried to do this, and received no luck in my results. I am not
> quite
> sure how limited I am by having to use a combination of a custom task
> pane,
> user control, and form to attempt to make a To-Do bar.

> When creating the custom task pane, by default it has the drop down menu
> that has the Move, Size, and Close options. Would it be possible to
> disable
> this drop down completely? I first attempted to turn this off by setting
> the
> appropriate sections to false in the properties of the User Control, once
> I
> saw no results I then realized it is the custom task pane that these
> settings
> need to be set false on. I was unsure how to set any of the properties
> (such
> as move, size, et cetera) of the custom task pane, and was wondering if
> first
> is it possible to disable these, second how can this be accomplished, and
> lastly would it be possible to chance the functionality of the drop down
> (or
> add a new button) to that section that would act as the draw in and out
> button for the pane? I did recently find a tutorial on creating a custom
> panel (http://www.codeproject.com/KB/office/additional_panel_Outlook.aspx)
> which would solve the move/size issue, but it creates new issues of making
> the window, and how it effects displaying the to-do bar. I am not sure if
> the
> custom task pane, this additional custom panel, or some other method would
> be
> the best approach.

> Lastly, this is kind of a side question that I have been pondering, but is
> it possible to force close the To-Do Bar, or take over the region where
> the
> To-Do bar is? I know it's not possible to modify the To-Do Bar, but I
> wasn't
> sure if it was possible to take it over or just stop it from being
> visible.

> I realize there are a lot of questions here, and in some parts I am
> attempting to explain how I want it to work, so if there is any
> discrepancy
> in my descriptions please let me know and I will address that as soon as
> possible. Thank you in advance.
 
Hello Nick,

We describe Add-in Express regions on our blog (see

http://www.add-in-express.com/creating-addins-blog/2009/04/15/outlook-forms-regions/).

In version 2009, we made the regions collapsing similar to the To-Do Bar.

Also, the regions themselves are now drag-and-droppable. :)

In your add-in, you can close the To-Do Bar programmatically by "clicking"

on the corresponding menu item. I published the code that manipulates the

Preview Pane in this way at

http://www.add-in-express.com/forum/read.php?FID=5&TID=5227&MID=26019#message26019.

To make it work with the To-Do Bar, you'll need to know the ID of the

command bar popup control named "To-Do Bar" (menu View | To Do Bar). The ID

must be used when calling FindControl in my code. You can find that ID using

our free Built-in Control Scanner -

http://www.add-in-express.com/products/commandbars-controls-ids.php.

In addition, Add-in Express enables you to know the current state of the

To-Do bar and to be informed if the state changes. But currently there's no

way to "slide out" an Add-in Express custom pane. We will have to think this

over.

Regards from Belarus (GMT+2),

Andrei Smolin

Add-in Express Team Leader

www.add-in-express.com

"Nick Komosinski" <Nick Komosinski> wrote in

message news:7060A394-5752-448F-B3BA-CCEF96A801F2@microsoft.com...
> I've recently been browsing various forums and websites looking to see
> what
> others have and could accomplish with the To-Do Bar pane. I've stumbled
> upon
> many topics, and concluded the following information (please correct
> anything
> if I am misinformed):

> •To-Do Bar is not extensible.
> •Add-in Express is able to add an adjoining form region to the To-Do Bar
> through some complex manipulation of Windows API.
> •It is not possible to mimic the collapsing feature of To-Do Bar with a
> Custom Task Pane. [Custom Task Panes and To-Do Bar Pane are of different
> types (msocommandbar and NetUIHWND, respectively)]

> Since I am unable to directly modify, adjoin, or replace the To-Do Bar
> pane,
> I am looking to create my own. From what I have been able to research it
> also
> seems that I am not able to directly mimic the complete functionality of
> the
> pane. But, I did run into a post where someone used a custom task pane
> that
> contained a button that would slide out a form
> (http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vsto/thread/df4fe74d-381b-4a9b-8c31-67b2e8400267/).
> This method is greatly less eye-appealing, and doesn't exactly mimic the
> To-Do Bar that well. Is there a better method of attempting to "clone"
> what
> the To-Do bar looks like and can do? If there is not, and this would be
> the
> only currently available method to get this done, I have a few more
> questions
> that I would like addressed.

> In Outlook, if the Navigation Pane is collapsed one can drag a task, mail
> item, contact, et cetera overtop of the "Navigation Pane" section and the
> pane will then slide out, and then it is possible to drop that item into
> the
> slide out. If I am limited to the situation described in the last
> paragraph,
> would it be possible to mimic the drag, slide, drop functionality that the
> navigation pane is able to do? I have attempted to search to see if anyone
> else has tried to do this, and received no luck in my results. I am not
> quite
> sure how limited I am by having to use a combination of a custom task
> pane,
> user control, and form to attempt to make a To-Do bar.

> When creating the custom task pane, by default it has the drop down menu
> that has the Move, Size, and Close options. Would it be possible to
> disable
> this drop down completely? I first attempted to turn this off by setting
> the
> appropriate sections to false in the properties of the User Control, once
> I
> saw no results I then realized it is the custom task pane that these
> settings
> need to be set false on. I was unsure how to set any of the properties
> (such
> as move, size, et cetera) of the custom task pane, and was wondering if
> first
> is it possible to disable these, second how can this be accomplished, and
> lastly would it be possible to chance the functionality of the drop down
> (or
> add a new button) to that section that would act as the draw in and out
> button for the pane? I did recently find a tutorial on creating a custom
> panel (http://www.codeproject.com/KB/office/additional_panel_Outlook.aspx)
> which would solve the move/size issue, but it creates new issues of making
> the window, and how it effects displaying the to-do bar. I am not sure if
> the
> custom task pane, this additional custom panel, or some other method would
> be
> the best approach.

> Lastly, this is kind of a side question that I have been pondering, but is
> it possible to force close the To-Do Bar, or take over the region where
> the
> To-Do bar is? I know it's not possible to modify the To-Do Bar, but I
> wasn't
> sure if it was possible to take it over or just stop it from being
> visible.

> I realize there are a lot of questions here, and in some parts I am
> attempting to explain how I want it to work, so if there is any
> discrepancy
> in my descriptions please let me know and I will address that as soon as
> possible. Thank you in advance.
>
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
A Possible to hide ribbon with custom appointment form? Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 3
F Possible to restore/reinstall "special" buttons on custom form? Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 1
C New pc, new outlook, is it possible to import auto-complete emailaddress Using Outlook 4
e_a_g_l_e_p_i Is it possible to have a reminder in Outlook 2021 for every 90 days Using Outlook 3
W Outlook 2016 MSI - Possible to make work with O365 modern Auth & Win7? Using Outlook 4
O Outlook - How to embed font ? (If at all possible) Using Outlook 2
S Outlook 365 Can I change the possible range of highlighting colours when writing an Outlook email? Using Outlook 1
T Outlook 2013 Possible interference by Telstra ISP with Hotmail Password Using Outlook.com accounts in Outlook 4
e_a_g_l_e_p_i Is it possible to transfer things from one calendar to another Using Outlook 2
V Is it possible to collect statistics from Outlook forms? Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 1
e_a_g_l_e_p_i Is it possible it set the fonts used to read incoming mail Using Outlook 25
S Is it possible to cusstomise selectable Options in Kalander. Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 1
J Is it no longer possible to suppress Outlook 2019 Invalid Certificate name mismatch security alert via Registry? Using Outlook 1
BretAB Is it possible to add a lookup field to a Message form? Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 4
M possible to search Outlook for multiple email addresses at once? Using Outlook 1
semnaitik Is it possible to recover content from a 0KB PST file? Using Outlook 3
J Is this possible to do with a macro? Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 17
D Is it possible to automatically send an email when it is moved to a folder? Exchange Server Administration 1
T Exchange setup not possible with outlook.de username Using Outlook.com accounts in Outlook 0
H Is it possible to create a view that only show the first task in a list? Using Outlook 1
H Is It Possible to See Who Has Viewed My Calendar in Exchange? Using Outlook 2
P Is it possible to convert address book to "Auto-Complete List" (NK2)? Using Outlook 5
C in outlook 2007-Contact Group-One name have 3 mail id-its possible? Using Outlook 3
J convert .pst to .eml, how is it possible? Using Outlook 1
S Is it possible to recover a permanently deleted email from my .OST file? Using Outlook 0
M Is it possible to restore deleted webmail to server? Using Outlook 3
P Is it possible to write a macro to email to all addresses of selected contacts? Using Outlook 1
D is it possible to have both a POP and IMAP account in Outlook 2013? Using Outlook 5
C Is it possible to have contacts sync real-time between Outlook and iCloud? Using Outlook 1
P Is it possible to sort emails by COUNT of "From" field? Using Outlook 2
Justo Horrillo It's possible to modify the behaviour of the conversation option? Using Outlook 2
S Possible to link to ics file without importing? Using Outlook 4
P Outlook 2003 - possible to recreate corrupt account? Using Outlook 3
FirefIy Marking message read only if replied to the message or Ctrl+Q. Possible? Using Outlook 1
O Script to move emails to a folder based on various possible keywords Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 11
A Is it possible to remove the word Categories: from task list views? Using Outlook 2
B Is it possible with Outlook form Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 5
Steve Jacobs Possible to configure TNEF options based on *sender*? Exchange Server Administration 3
S Is it possible to backup Outlook.com/Outlook 2013 Email & Calendar info? Using Outlook.com accounts in Outlook 3
O Is it possible to go from BCM Office 13 back to BCM Office 2010? BCM (Business Contact Manager) 1
E Show field from account on contact form - possible? BCM (Business Contact Manager) 1
A Possible to modify people preview window? Using Outlook 1
T OL BCM 2007 - Possible to migrate SQL Server Express 2012 ? BCM (Business Contact Manager) 2
V Name of attachment in replies (HTML) - possible?? Using Outlook 12
C Is it possible: List of URL fields BCM (Business Contact Manager) 0
D Frequently used response short cut possible macro Using Outlook 1
mrje1 Assigned Categories keep getting deleted in mail, bug? How to fix if possible? Using Outlook 5
Commodore Exporting all contacts to VCF files possible? Using Outlook 4
M I'd like to alter the appointment balloons. Possible? Using Outlook 6
J Is it possible to highlight a folder in Outlook 2007? Using Outlook 2

Similar threads

Back
Top