Custom Form Won't Keep Formatting After Saving

[Eric]

I have a created an extensive new contact custom form. In design mode and
when creating a new contact all the fields are in the proper location and the
drop down has the correct items. However, after saving the form, upon
re-opening, the form is not the same. It is the only form in this contact
public folder and was published directly to that folder. What gives? Why
does my form change after saving a contact?

Thanks!
Eric

 

[Hollis D. Paul]

It is the only form in this contact
public folder and was published directly to that folder. What gives? Why
does my form change after saving a contact?

A form run from a public folder does not have the same processing that a form
has when it is run from a personal mailbox. So, if you really need all
goodies you get from a personal mailbox, then create a dummy user and use
that user to simulate a public folder; that is, give owner permissions to
everyone, ...

Hollis D. Paul [MVP - Outlook]
(e-mail address removed)
Mukilteo, WA USA

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Can you give us a few details of what's not the same?

 

[Eric]

The contact form has 7 tabs and will be used to track information for outside
nurses and the laptops and schedules that are assigned to them. Even though
I design, save it and publish it each time with a new name, the second tab
never keeps the position of three of the text labels or drop down controls
and it pulls ghost data that I haven't input into any contact.

If I design the form, save it, publish it and then create a new contact
based on that form, I see all the proper fields and controls. Once the
contact is saved and I then re-pen that contact, a few of the fields and
controls change to the layout that I had in a previous version.

I have checked the field information for the text fields in question, and it
appears to never keep the proper field name either. This is probably why it
keeps pulling in 'ghost' data for that field, however, I've deleted all
previous versions of the form and I still keep having this problem. It's
either a bug or a very simple problem that I'm overlooking.

Thanks!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Is it possible that you created separate compose and read layouts? That's not the usual procedure for a contact form, but it might explain the symptoms you'e seeing.

How complex is the form? How many fields, how much data, etc.? You might have exceeded the limit for a stable form.

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

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