2007 Form Design loads 2003 Form

[JoeRob]

I tried to update a custom form in Outlook 2007. When I click Tools –Forms –
Design A Form and then click Contact – Open the form that opens is not the
current version of the Contact form that appears in the Contacts Folder. The
Contacts in the Contact folder use the new Outlook 2007 Contact Form
(identified by a blue background and notes on right side). When I select the
form Contact for design; the form that appears in design mode is the one used
in Outlook 2000 (the one with a green background and notes at the bottom).
All pages are not the old form; The General Page, P2 and some others are the
Outlook 2000 design. Some of the later pages are blue indicateing a 2007
form. So, what have I done now and how do I fix It?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

There's nothing to fix. What you've described is the normal appearance of
the contact form's design surface. Depending on your scenario, you may want
to customize P.2-P.5, not the General page, or you may want to take a look
at the new form region feature in Outlook 2007. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=21 for other contact form quirks.

 

[JoeRob]

Sue
Thanks for your response, I think. I read several items in help about form
regions. I even followed and example, until the example starting writing
code to the registry. At that point, I'm lost. I didn't think what I was
trying to do was that involved. All I want to do is open a form for design
and add a couple of user defined fields. But were is the Contact form that
is being used by the Contacts Folder?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

But w(h)ere is the Contact form that

is being used by the Contacts Folder?

You're looking at it. The layout of the built-in form isn't available to
customize, however, except with form regions.

You know, right, that you don't need a custom form to work with custom
fields? If you've created the new field definitions in the folder, they'll
be available on the All Fields page.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[JoeRob]

Sue,
Thanks again for your response. Frankly at this point I'm not sure what I
know and don't know. Previously, I added 3 textbox and 3 labels to the
General Page and 1 textbox and 1 label to P2. I was going to do that again,
but with the 2007 version of Contact form. Is there a way to do that? Or,
how do I add these items to the folder and have those items visible on my
custom (new) form? Is there an article I can read (I read the article you
suggested) to get better acquainted with form regions?
Thanks for your patients
JoeRob

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

The custom form design process for Outlook 2007 is exactly the same as for
previous version. But if you've already done it, why are you doing it again?
Why not use the form you already have? It's not going to look any different
if you redo it in Outlook 2007.

Sorry, but I don't understand your quesion about "add these items to the
folder."

Form regions are covered in a chapter in my book that should be available on
Google Books, and in many articles both on microsoft.com and elsewhere. A
little searching should turn up all the information you need.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

Sue,
Thanks again for your response. Frankly at this point I'm not sure what I
know and don't know. Previously, I added 3 textbox and 3 labels to the
General Page and 1 textbox and 1 label to P2. I was going to do that
again,
but with the 2007 version of Contact form. Is there a way to do that?
Or,
how do I add these items to the folder and have those items visible on my
custom (new) form? Is there an article I can read (I read the article you
suggested) to get better acquainted with form regions?

 

[JoeRob]

Sue,
Can I go back to ground zero. When I open a Contact from the Contact Folder
in 2007 the background is blue and the notes are at the left of the form.
When I open a Contact from the Contact Folder in 2000 the background is green
and the notes are at the bottom. I set out to undate my custom form to look
like the 2007 form. I thought this would be easy. Open contact for design
and add my textboxes. Done - save as my custom form. But when I open a
Contact form for design, I get the 2000 Contact Form. Why? How do I proceed
to get the 2007 Contact Form for design?
PS I'll look into your book. Who knows I might get smarter.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

I've already answered this for you, more than once. Bottom line: You are
expecting something from Outlook that it doesn't do. You cannot update your
custom form to look like the Outlook 2007 form unless you switch completely
to form regions.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[JoeRob]

Sue
I know I'm being a pest, but I'm just trying to understant (learn). You
convinced me I have to switch completely to form regions. OK, I'm I
switched. I found a copy of Chapter 5 from your book on the internet and
after reading the chapter I tried to follow the example. I got as far as
changing the registry. Your example calls for
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\FormRegions ". On my
computer there is no folder "FormRegions" in "Outlook". See Fig 5.5. The
first folder that you show in Fig 5.5 "Addin" is there. When I look at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and expand the folder, I find
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\FormRegions" and the
contents of folder Outlook look like your Fig 5.5. Can I place the example
in this folder. Will this work? How should I proceed?
PS: You mention chapter 4 in chapter 5. Is this chapter also on the internet?
JoRob

 

[JoeRob]

Sue,
I just reread Chapter 5 and see where I missed the option to use
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. So I add key per instructions and re-booted. After
re-booting, I open a contact and don't see form region. How do I open First
Contact to edit "debug" form and registry?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

I have no idea what you mean by First Contact. We can't help much with form
regions, unless you provide complete details -- the registry entry, the XML
file, and the location of the .ops file.

The registry has no folders. It has keys. If the one you want isn't there
already, add it. This is Registry 101:. Make a backup before you mess with
it. You should be able to use either the HKCU or HKLM hive.

I have no control over what material from my book is available through
Google Books.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[JoeRob]

Sue
You have been most patient with me and I thank you for your time. With your
patents and Chapter 5 of your book (authorized or not) I completed the
example in Chapter 5. Eventually I will understand what I did, or at least
have some glimmer of the truth. Thanks you for your help
PS: Just out of curiosity, since the first page of the Contact form is not
the form we see when opening a Contact, how does outlook load that the
correct form region? Or is that a dumb as my other questions.
JoRob

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

I'm glad to hear you got through the example!

I don't understand your question, though. Outlook determines what form
region(s) to load based on (a) the value of the MessageClass property of the
item, (b) the values associated with form region registrations in the
Windows registry, and (c) the XML manifest(s) for those regions.