Outlook 2013 corrupting custom forms?

[astro46]

I have had a problem using a custom form in outlook 2013, email, address, phone fields do not display with correct field names. i posted about this in the microsoft social forum, originally thinking that it was only a problem with seeing email "display name" field, but have since found that the problem is more fundamental than that. the only reply that i have received there was from a user indicating the same problem with a custom email form. since posting there i have come up with more information:

as an experiment I rolled system back to just after uninstalling Office 2010, then deleted whatever office files and folders i could find in appdata, except for some of the templates (though i deleted any outlook templates), changed the mail>data file location . and opened outlook.

when i created a new contact, of course it gave me the native contact form. it is titled 'untitled- contact (design)' ok. then i opened developer>design a form and picked the contact form from standard library. (picking it from 'contact' gives the same result). a form opened that looked very much like my custom form. apparently design always change to this format, since i saw the same change in ol10. the notes field is across bottom of form, and no business card field. BUT, in OL13 design mode fields are misnamed. the top phone field is called 'email3'. email field is called 'other'. similar to how it is messed up in my custom contact form.

clicking 'run this form' , if no changes were made to the initial design form, takes you back to the native contact form format, with notes on right, with business card. fields correctly named. changing fields from drop down boxes, gives the fields picked.

however if anything is changed on the design form, and then click 'run this form' the format stays like the design form format (not the native form), fields stay incorrectly named, picking a field from drop down list gives a different field from one picked. notes field remains along bottom, no business card.

so, 'design a form' is basically the custom form design that i use with a few fields added or resized. but ol13 screws up the field names in the design form, and retains those mistakes if any change is made to the native form. and seems to force this corruption on a customized form in normal use.

this should be easily reproducible .

 

[Diane Poremsky]

The look is how it behaves - when you edit the first page of a contact form in any version, you loose the pretty parts and it reverts to the old look. The Forms Designer is also looks like the old form. (Designing Custom Outlook Forms - Slipstick Systems - bottom of page)

Are the field names incorrectly labeled or is it just the ugly Outlook 2002 look?

 

[astro46]

The look is how it behaves - when you edit the first page of a contact form in any version, you loose the pretty parts and it reverts to the old look. The Forms Designer is also looks like the old form. (Designing Custom Outlook Forms - Slipstick Systems - bottom of page)

Are the field names incorrectly labeled or is it just the ugly Outlook 2002 look?

it isn't how it looks that i am questioning. i only mentioned that to indicate that my "custom" form apparenlty is basically the OL design a form, wiith a few modifications. i like having notes at bottom of screen and not having the the business card on the screen.

the corruption is the incorrect naming of fields, and when a new field is picked from a drop down, it isn't the field that appears. this happens when "running" a form during the design process, and OL13 makes these same errors when using a published custom form. try it and you will see what i mean.

jeffrey

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I have new ones I created in outlook 2013 and old ones, most created in outlook 2010. They look fine. Can you post a screenshot so i can see the corruption?

 

[astro46]

the first ol10, should be a correct form. the second, ol13, notice the telephone field names are different, and the bits of text below the address label. what i can't show in pics is how if i use a drop down box to get a different phone number, for example, and pick "call back", instead "home fax" label appears, similar problem with email dropdown box and address drop down. if i were to use these corrupt forms to enter a new contact, who knows what field the info is winding up in.

currently i am trying office 2013 on laptop and still have office 2010 on desktop. the files, including .pst, get synced between them. as i mentioned in post, this problem was found immediately after installing office 2013 on laptop. the desktop, even after syncing back and forth numerous times, still works correctly.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Thanks. I'll see what i can find out.

 

[astro46]

Diane, any luck with this? are you seeing the same changes that i am, when designing form in ol13? if not, i wonder,why not? (i had tried reinstalling office 2013, no difference.)

jeffrey

 

[Diane Poremsky]

It's something relating to customizing the first page - just going into design this form will show the behavior, even before you edit it. I hadn't noticed it before because i avoid editing the first page - i like the pretty contact.

I'm waiting to hear from the guys about it.

 

[astro46]

It's something relating to customizing the first page - just going into design this form will show the behavior, even before you edit it. I hadn't noticed it before because i avoid editing the first page - i like the pretty contact.

I'm waiting to hear from the guys about it.

just hearing that you are also seeing this problem is a step forward. at least i know that it isn't just me. it is surprising that no one has reported it before. i can't be the only person using customized forms. of course, there is also the person that posted in reply to my post on the social.answers forum, who claims to have the same problem with a customized email form. perhaps the guys would like to know about that, as well. another clue to help them figure out the solution.

 

[astro46]

Diane, occurs to me that if this is in microsoft's hands, a solution, if it comes, could be months away.

do you think that there is any way to deal with the problem, short of waiting for an ms fix?

likelihood , similar to journal, that custom forms are something that ms wants to do awaywith, and that no solution will be coming?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Yeah, i expect it will be months before it's fixed. I don't think custom forms are something they want to get rid of, but they prefer developing with forms regions.

The only way i know to deal with it is by not editing page1.

 

[astro46]

Yeah, i expect it will be months before it's fixed. I don't think custom forms are something they want to get rid of, but they prefer developing with forms regions.

The only way i know to deal with it is by not editing page1.

what are forms regions?

"not editing page1" isn't an option when i already have a custom form. and page 1 is the only page i cared about. i use only a couple of fields on the other pages. the only changes that i want for page one is to get rid of the business card (I don't see the point of it) and move the notes field to bottom where it can be larger. but, this causes the problem.

perhaps posting about this on some other forums will encourage them to fix it.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

forms regions lay over the page and support more features than a standard form. Creating Outlook Form Regions they are pretty neat - i started writing an article but got side tracked. I guess i need to finish it.

I doubt you can pressure them to fix it - i went straight to the dev team. Haven't heard back, but that is not unusual and just means i haven't heard back. It would be better to open a support case - since its a bug you won't be charged. That gets an engineer looking at it for sure and it goes into the bug data base - they are currently considering big fixes for sp1.

 

[astro46]

It would be better to open a support case - since its a bug you won't be charged. That gets an engineer looking at it for sure and it goes into the bug data base - they are currently considering big fixes for sp1.

i would think that posting about the problem on microsoft's own support forum would have gotten the attention of an engineer, but apparently microsoft engineers aren't interested in problems that people are having with their software. no one other than the person having a similar problem has responded to that post.

when i have some time i will call to open a support case. my past experience indicates that it will be long time on phone to do so. unless there is a way to do it online?

 

[astro46]

i wonder if OL13's handling of custom forms is also the source of the missing properties. perhaps you remember the thread on social.answers site about "display name" being missing; not being able to access "properties" when right clicking on a email address.

all part of the same issue?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

The "engineers" in most of the support forums are not Microsoft engineers - they are hired guns who have no practical experience with outlook and have no contact with the product group. The real MS employees doing support and dev work don't have time to have out in the forums - but they do come around occasionally and have MSFT tags. (Not everyone with msft is in outlook support or dev though.) Plus, the forums are for peer to peer support - if you want help directly from MS, it costs money.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

i wonder if OL13's handling of custom forms is also the source of the missing properties. perhaps you remember the thread on social.answers site about "display name" being missing; not being able to access "properties" when right clicking on a email address.

all part of the same issue?

I don't recall the thread, but it's a possibility. I'll see if i can repro.

 

[astro46]

I don't recall the thread, but it's a possibility. I'll see if i can repro.

here is a link to the thread: Ol13, change email display name - Microsoft Community

the important part is to have a custom form and see if properties are available by right clicking on an icon in the pop that occurs when hovering over the email address. i should note that since writing the previous post i did look at a contact in my OL13 that for some reason was using the native outlook contact form, hovering/right clicked on the email address and properties was not available. though, it was irrelevant since "display as" is shown on the native contact form.

do you happen to know if one phone number is better than another for getting a bug report started? or, is there a way to do it online?

thanks

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Oh that thread. I'll review it and refresh my memory. As long as it's a support # for Microsoft, it will get you there. There is an online form but i don't know if they cover all apps. Microsoft Support

 

[astro46]

i called ms support. the agent at first insisted that he couldn't file a bug report without an activation code. since office 2013 doesn't work so well for me i wasn't about to buy it. then tried to get to wonder around on the web site. eventually he said he would transfer me to a tech support, then , apparently, disconnected me. so much for a bug report.