How can I find and reuse add-ins bound to a profile

[cjg.groups]

Can profiles link Outlook to 3rd-party DLLs? Can a 3rd-party-generated
profile give extra functionality to its custom account type, while that
functionality isn't available if I add that account type to an existing
Outlook-generated profile? What places custom tabs in Outlook folder
properties?

I installed a MAPI "connector" in Outlook 2003 to view shared
calendar/contacts/folders on a Sun Java Communications Express server.
The installer created a new profile containing a MAPI account whose
Navigation Pane links to items on the server, and has three Mail&Post
folders which display the shared items. The properties on these three
folders have a Subscribe tab, for viewing additional shared items.

When I add the new "Sun Communication Server" MAPI account type to my
existing profile, the main items (Inbox, Calendar, etc) are linked to
the server, but the three shared folders are not. Also, the three
folders no longer have a Subscribe tab. They seem to have lost some
functionality that they had in the custom profile.

The COM Add-Ins window shows nothing extra. The Add-In Manager shows
one item which provides additional Tools menu items and additional tabs
for these folder properties, but not the Subscribe tab. Might there be
an add-in that's not being shown?

Could the custom profile contain code which gives these folders the
Subscribe tab? Can I copy that code into the default profile which has
the MAPI connector as an account? Thank you in advance.


For reference, the connector is "Sun Java Connector for Microsoft
Outlook 7.1.222.4 2005Q4" in Outlook 2003 SP2 on Windows XP SP2
connecting to Sun Java Communications Express 6 (I think) server. And
the "Shared Folders" folder actually shows shared subfolders, but not
their contents, and I can't subscribe/unsubscribe.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Can profiles link Outlook to 3rd-party DLLs?

No, Outlook mail profiles only store information about accounts, data stores and address books, not about add-ins that might be installed.

Can a 3rd-party-generated
profile give extra functionality to its custom account type, while that
functionality isn't available if I add that account type to an existing
Outlook-generated profile?

Custom account types are MAPI components. If you don't have all the ..dlls for that particular account type installed on the machine, it won't function correctly.

What places custom tabs in Outlook folder
properties?

Usually COM add-ins, but possibly also Exchange client extensions or custom MAPI stores.

I installed a MAPI "connector" in Outlook 2003 to view shared
calendar/contacts/folders on a Sun Java Communications Express server.
The installer created a new profile containing a MAPI account whose
Navigation Pane links to items on the server, and has three Mail&Post
folders which display the shared items. The properties on these three
folders have a Subscribe tab, for viewing additional shared items.

When I add the new "Sun Communication Server" MAPI account type to my
existing profile, the main items (Inbox, Calendar, etc) are linked to
the server, but the three shared folders are not. Also, the three
folders no longer have a Subscribe tab. They seem to have lost some
functionality that they had in the custom profile.

The COM Add-Ins window shows nothing extra. The Add-In Manager shows
one item which provides additional Tools menu items and additional tabs
for these folder properties, but not the Subscribe tab. Might there be
an add-in that's not being shown?

Yes, that's possible. Add-ins in HKLM won't show in the Outlook UI. See http://www.outlookcode.com/codedetail.aspx?id=376 for code to report on all your add-ins.

Could the custom profile contain code which gives these folders the
Subscribe tab? Can I copy that code into the default profile which has
the MAPI connector as an account? Thank you in advance.

Outlook stores mail profile settings for the current user in the Windows registy under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles. You could compare the settings for one profile with that of another. (HINT: Export each profile's key as a .reg file, then use a text file comparison tool -- or even Word -- to compare files.)

For reference, the connector is "Sun Java Connector for Microsoft
Outlook 7.1.222.4 2005Q4" in Outlook 2003 SP2 on Windows XP SP2
connecting to Sun Java Communications Express 6 (I think) server. And
the "Shared Folders" folder actually shows shared subfolders, but not
their contents, and I can't subscribe/unsubscribe.

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

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

 

[cjg.groups]

Sue, thank you for the reply. I think I found the DLL that is the
hidden COM Add-In, but I can't add it to Outlook. If the installer
added it, is it added for all profiles? When I try to add it, I get no
confirmation or error (while non-add-in DLLs will give an error). Can
I manually add it or force it to enable through the registry?

After digging through the registry and logging RegMon while accessing
the functionality in question, I found the following suspect keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\SJUI32.Application
HKCR\SJUI32.* references each tab.

These led me to sjui32.dll (Sun Java User Interface?). I couldn't add
it as a COM Add-In (see above) so maybe it's already there. Time for
an expensive call to Sun tech support.

I couldn't make sense of the Profiles HKCU registry key, so maybe the
answer is in there. I will also try the add-in finding code.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

If it's in that key in HKLM, it's an add-in available for all users. I presume this add-in provides functionality related to Sun's messaging or calendar server, but you'll have to ask them for details.

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

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