Can I send custom 2003 forms to previous version out Outlook?

[James Alexander]

I’m trying to send a custom customer request form from 2003 to a 2000 client
(with definition attached) but when replying the 2000 client says “the form
you selected could not be displayedâ€.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

On the (Actions) page of the custom form, is a custom form set for the Reply
action ?

 

[James Alexander]

I've disabled the standard reply since it just sends back a blank message and
I don't get the customer form data back. I've created a new reply (Reply to
ESG) where I've tried several things. I've had the action create one of the
same custom forms and I've had it create a different custom (hidden) form.
The result is the same for both cases.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

That will work only if the recipient has access to the IPM.Note.Reply to ESG
form, which is highly unlikely if they're outside3 your organization.

An alternative approach would be to send the customers an .oft template file
as an attachment, with instructions to run it, fill in the information, and
send it back.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[James Alexander]

I was hoping to stream line the process on my end as well. Is there any way
to attach an .oft template to a custom form which gets opened automatically

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No, you can't make any code run automatically on the customer end, including
code to run an attachment. Think how dangerous that would be!

As for linking to a database, that would require either a separate
application or code behind the custom form (which won't run if you're
including the form definition in the item). See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/database.htm and
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/customimport.htm

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[James Alexander]

I'll email you a Christmas card which automatically plays an attached wave
file. I thought maybe you could do something similar with an .oft template.

Is there any way to create shared company Outlook folders and contacts on a
file server without having to use Exchange server?

Do you know of any sample Outlook forms (or 3rd party small business forms)
for creating in-house work orders, purchase orders, invoices, sales quotes,
help desk which can all be linked into a shared .pst, .xls or .mdb file?
Something I could start with and customize!

Thanks for the Outlook code link, there is a lot of good information there!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

I'll email you a Christmas card which automatically plays an attached wave

file. I thought maybe you could do something similar with an .oft
template.

Please don't. That will just force me to waste more time writing a macro to
delete all incoming items with .wave files attached.

That said, I believe the procedure for embedding a .wav file would be just
as complicated as embedding a .gif. See
http://www.slipstick.com/mail1/html.htm for ideas on HTML source editing.

Is there any way to create shared company Outlook folders and contacts on
a
file server without having to use Exchange server?

Outlook can't share its files directly. See
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011477571033.aspx for an
article by Outlook MVP Eric Legault on various ways to share Outlook data.
YOu'll also find a list of third-party sharing tools and other information
at http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/share.htm.

Do you know of any sample Outlook forms (or 3rd party small business
forms)
for creating in-house work orders, purchase orders, invoices, sales
quotes,
help desk which can all be linked into a shared .pst, .xls or .mdb file?
Something I could start with and customize!

See http://www.outlookcode.com/d/database.htm#samples and
http://www.slipstick.com/addins/mssampleapps.htm

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers