ActiveX add-in hosted in form

[Tim Radford]

I need to be able to add a tab (form) to the appointment details and run my
own application code in it. This should work from Outlook 2000 up. There's
plenty on the web to suggest that this is possible but I've not found any
tips on how to do it. My program will need access to the appointment
details, including attendee list, and needs to be invoked even if the actual
page hosting it is not selected when an appointment is altered.

If someone can just tell me where to look...

Thanks
Tim

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

You can host an ActiveX control on your form, although it may not work
correctly or fire all of your events. That would have to be empirically
determined. Otherwise all forms code is VBScript code behind the form.

The first tab of an appointment form cannot be customized at all. You can
customize any of the normally hidden tabs (P.2 to P.6).

A good starting place to look is at http://www.outlookcode.com/d/forms.htm

 

[Tim Radford]

Is there a better way of achieving what I want that will work correctly? It
doesn't seem to me that my requirement is that advanced.

I had already looked for an answer in this website but I just seem to follow
link after link without finding what I need.

Tim

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

I have no idea of exactly what you want to accomplish, so it's hard to say.
The details in your original post didn't explain very much.

Do you actually need a custom form? Does your ActiveX object present a UI
that the form needs?

What I normally do is avoid custom forms at all costs if I can. The
technology is older, not very robust and subject to all sorts of problems. I
usually where I can and don't need a custom UI integrated right into the
form is use a COM addin for everything. I can add buttons, toolbars (or
ribbon tabs/controls) to bring up forms, and I can handle every event on an
item from an addin. I can run code that does all sorts of processing and not
get involved with custom forms at all.

 

[Tim Radford]

Thanks for your reply Ken.

I need to embed a customised drag & drop chart and I don't think this can be
achieved without a custom form. I'd also like to embed a web page, but it
must be in an appointment tab. I might be able to use an add-in but it would
look so much neater as a tab.

I've not done anything with Outlook before (or COM for that matter) but I
gather that an add-in could be embedded in a sub-pane of the appointment
detail. I was wondering whether I could achieve the required affect by
hiding the add-in unless a particular tab had been selected. Would I have
access to the tab-selection event?

Your advice is appreciated.
Tim

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

YOu might want to look at the developer toolkit at http://www.add-in-express.com/outlook-extension/. It may be better suited to your needs.

There is no tab-selection event in versions before Outlook 2007.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

Thanks for your reply Ken.

I need to embed a customised drag & drop chart and I don't think this can be
achieved without a custom form. I'd also like to embed a web page, but it
must be in an appointment tab. I might be able to use an add-in but it would
look so much neater as a tab.

I've not done anything with Outlook before (or COM for that matter) but I
gather that an add-in could be embedded in a sub-pane of the appointment
detail. I was wondering whether I could achieve the required affect by
hiding the add-in unless a particular tab had been selected. Would I have
access to the tab-selection event?

Your advice is appreciated.
Tim

I have no idea of exactly what you want to accomplish, so it's hard to say.
The details in your original post didn't explain very much.

Do you actually need a custom form? Does your ActiveX object present a UI
that the form needs?

What I normally do is avoid custom forms at all costs if I can. The
technology is older, not very robust and subject to all sorts of problems. I
usually where I can and don't need a custom UI integrated right into the
form is use a COM addin for everything. I can add buttons, toolbars (or
ribbon tabs/controls) to bring up forms, and I can handle every event on an
item from an addin. I can run code that does all sorts of processing and not
get involved with custom forms at all.

--
Ken Slovak
[MVP - Outlook]
http://www.slovaktech.com
Author: Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
Reminder Manager, Extended Reminders, Attachment Options
http://www.slovaktech.com/products.htm

Is there a better way of achieving what I want that will work correctly?
It
doesn't seem to me that my requirement is that advanced.

I had already looked for an answer in this website but I just seem to
follow
link after link without finding what I need.

Tim

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

To add to what Sue said, you can't add anything to any of the built-in tabs
that you see in an appointment item. You have to add any modifications to
one of the normally hidden P.2 to P.6 tabs and you cannot add additional
tabs to those that exist already.

You don't add "addins" to a form, you can add ActiveX controls. That might
just be your using a different terminology, but it's an important
distinction. Even with a tested ActiveX control that say fires all of its
events in a VBA UserForm or Windows form or VB form or whatever, those
events may not fire when the control is placed on an Outlook form. That
you'd have to determine empirically, there's no way to predict that.

Some ActiveX controls that work perfectly in other forms may also crash an
Outlook form or even crash Outlook when placed on an Outlook form and
accessed. Again, that has to be determined empirically.

 

[Tim Radford]

Thank you both

I've had a look at ADX Extension and it looks as though it may be the way
forward. It sounds as though the Outlook/ActiveX combination is too buggy
to risk.

After the holidays...

Thanks again and Merry Xmas
Tim