Item edits doesn't always sync

[MikeNight]

I have system in Outlook set up for keeping track of my tasks and projects. It works like this:

I have three folders for sorting tasks: (the noun task, not IPM.Task)

Inbox
-Doing
-Do it
Done

I have some Quick Steps set up for managing my tasks, below are the three most relevant:

Do it
Clear Categories
Categorize message: Do it
Move to: Do it
Flag message: Follow up

Doing
Clear Categories
Categorize message: Doing
Move to: Doing
Flag message: Follow up

Done
Clear Categories
Categorize message: Done
Move to: Done
Mark complete

When I create a new "task" (not IPM.Task) I add an IPM.Post in my inbox which is using a template with tables etc. I then fill in the information about the task or project and then click "Post" and run the Quick Step "Do it".
When I start working on a project I select it in the Do it-folder or in the To-Do Bar and run the Quick Step "Doing".

During the project, I need to edit the post item by adding or removing text etc. I do this by opening the post item, click Actions>Edit Message, do my edits and click save.

We use an Exchange server and I have two workstations with Win 10 64 + Outlook 2016 64 and Win 7 Pro 64 + Outlook 2010 64.

Now to the problem:
When a post item resides in the Doing-folder, the edits made to it doesn't sync between the two workstations. But if edits are made to an post item residing in the Do it-folder, the edits are synced between the workstations.
I don't see any difference between these two folders except for the naming, what could be causing this?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I can't imagine its the folder name - i would start with clearing the offline folder and see if that helps. If not, try renaming the folder to "Doing it".

To clear the folder, right click on it and choose properties then Clear offline items.

 

[MikeNight]

I can't imagine its the folder name - i would start with clearing the offline folder and see if that helps. If not, try renaming the folder to "Doing it".

To clear the folder, right click on it and choose properties then Clear offline items.

Thank you Diane, I will try it.
Will the folder resync everything afterwards?

BTW, I messed up in my original post and it's too late to edit. I meant IPM.Note, not IPM.Post. I always have a hard time keeping track of which is which, not so thought through naming imo.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

BTW, I messed up in my original post and it's too late to edit. I meant IPM.Note, not IPM.Post. I always have a hard time keeping track of which is which, not so thought through naming imo.

You are using draft messages or sending it to yourself? It actually makes more sense to use post for this - messages-that-aren't-mailable with the yellow pinned note icon.

 

[MikeNight]

You are using draft messages or sending it to yourself? It actually makes more sense to use post for this - messages-that-aren't-mailable with the yellow pinned note icon.

I'm using New Items>More Items>Post in This Folder, so I'm not emailing myself.

I've cleared the offline files in the Doing-folder from both of my workstations and then updated the folders but the item edits still doesn't sync.
I've renamed the folder and it was reflected to the other workstation but still no syncing.

However, the folder is downloading the latest items after I've cleared and updated the folder. Any edits after this doesn't sync, I need to clear and update again to have the folder in sync. It doesn't matter if I do the edits in Outlook 2013 or 2016, it works the same both ways.

When I updated the folder in Outlook 2010, all items on the server were downloaded. When I updated the folder in Outlook 2016, only some of the items where downloaded, the same amount as before I cleared the folder though. Not that I think it could have anything to do with it but I don't know.

Any other tricks up your sleeve?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I'm using New Items>More Items>Post in This Folder, so I'm not emailing myself.

You were right the first time - it's IPM.Post.

When I updated the folder in Outlook 2010, all items on the server were downloaded. When I updated the folder in Outlook 2016, only some of the items where downloaded, the same amount as before I cleared the folder though. Not that I think it could have anything to do with it but I don't know.

Has it always failed in Outlook 2016 or it this a new bug?

I'll see if i can repro.

 

[MikeNight]

You were right the first time - it's IPM.Post.

Haha, oh gosh, sorry for the confusion.


Has it always failed in Outlook 2016 or it this a new bug?

I'll see if i can repro.

I don't know if this is new, I haven't noticed it before. But it has been there for some weeks as far as I know.


Just noticed that some items do sync both ways and others don't. Could these be compared in depth somehow?
The Quick Steps are always reflected btw, it's just some edits that aren't syncing.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Is there anything noticeably different between the two? Do you know if they were both created or edited on the same computer?

You can use MFCMAPI to look at the form's properties. I'm not sure it will tell you much though.

 

[MikeNight]

Is there anything noticeably different between the two? Do you know if they were both created or edited on the same computer?

You can use MFCMAPI to look at the form's properties. I'm not sure it will tell you much though.

Sorry for the late reply, it has been some hectic days at work.

I've tried to investigate and I compared two items using MFCMAPI. I only looked for differences in available properties in the items, if the two items had the same properties or not. I didn't compare the values as it were too cumbersome to compare them all. It would had been easier if it was possible to export the data to Excel but I didn't put enough energy to find a way to do so.

Below are the properties of two items which either had an error or existed in only one of the two items. The properties with the red dots are from one item and with blue dots from the other. I don't know if the errors could be the cause of the syncing problem? As you can see, there are some properties in the red item which doesn't exist in the blue item. The red item is the one which I believe has been syncing correctly so far.

After moving around the blue item to different folders and then back to the Doing-folder using my Quick Steps, some properties were added:
0x300F0102
PR_CREATOR_NAME
PR_NON_RECIEPT_NOTIFICATION
PR_NORMALIZED_SUBJECT

The blue item still doesn't sync correctly though.

I don't believe this is of much use as you said but I'm posting my findings anyway.

I don't remember if both items where created in the same way or on the same computer and I can't see any differences between them except for the above. The items are both edited multiple times on different computers, the same different computers.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

one thing i don't think i asked - if you move items manually, do they all sync? Trying to figure out if its the quick steps doing something different that affects it or just something goofy with all posts.

 

[MikeNight]

one thing i don't think i asked - if you move items manually, do they all sync? Trying to figure out if its the quick steps doing something different that affects it or just something goofy with all posts.

I manually moved the item from "Do It" to "Doing", the move syncs but not edits. I created a new folder which I moved the item to, the move synced and the previous edit now synced. I edited the item in the new folder and it synced as well.

I noticed that I have three users in the permissions for the "Do It" and "doing" folder under the Inbox. Default-None, My User-Owner & Anonymous-None. In the permissions for the newly created folder, "My User" is missing. I can't recall if I have added the permissions to the two folders, should they be there?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

i created a subfolder to test - you should definitely have a Default permission. I don't have Anonymous with my Office 365 Exchange account (i thought it was standard for older versions though) and have the two accounts with explicit permission settings on the parent folder (the inbox in my case) listed with the same permission ('none').

As the mailbox owner, you don't need permissions set.