Is my OFT corrupted ?

[PapaVicky]

I built a complex OFT file which uses a lot of custom fields, vba script,
etc...

Works Flawlessly except for the following bizarre occurence.

I developped the OFT using Outlook 2003 SP3 English.

I sent it to my client who uses Outlook 2003 SP3 French.

It appears that something gets corrupted when the user publishes my OFT on
her Outlook 2003 SP3 French machine because from that point on, when I do a
print preview of the appointment.. The Start and End print twice (once in
french on top) once in english alphabetically amongst the custom variables.

Also, i do not see anymore my custom variables when i try to choose Variable.

Before the OFT is opened by a French Outlook, no problems seeing all my
custom variables, but after that, even if i get back the OFT file from my
client which has been modified by her Outlook, I have the same problems,
where I dont see the variables and now i get double start and end date
printed, in English up top and alphabetically in French.

What is going on ? Is there a tool to see the hidden component of the OFT
files, a tool to repair it ? Anything....

Thanks

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

I don't recall hearing of a similar case and don't have a way to try to
duplicate this, but I do have some questions: Do you get the same result if
you use an .fdm file instead of an .oft to transfer the form between
computers? What type of form is this -- message, contact, etc.?

I assume that by "variable" you really mean custom properties, right?

 

[PapaVicky]

I have tried using a FDM file... with the same results.

The type of form is an appointment with a lot of custom properties, i.e
salesrep, phonenumber, type of appointment, 100s of those.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

If you literally have 100s of properties -- as in more than 200 -- then your
form very likely is corrupt. There is a limit on the number of properties,
but it's not a fixed number. I would be very nervous with more than 200
properties.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[PapaVicky]

Let me give you an actual count.... 217 visible textboxes, comboboxes,
checkboxes
and approximately another 100 invisible textboxes that are only used when
printing

So it there a tool to repair it.

thanks

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

That certainly could be too many. There is no repair capability. If this is
indeed the cause, you'd have to revert to an earlier version with fewer
fields. A good test might be to send a similar but very similar form to your
colleague and see if it comes back with the same problem. That should help
narrow down the issue to form corruption or an issue with the two language
versions.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[PapaVicky]

I am thinking of porting it to Outlook 2007 using Visual Studio Tools for
Office. I am an experienced .NET programmer but I have never used the VSTO.

Are the tools for Office simply for Add-Ins or would i be able to build a
..net form which could replace the current corrupted OFT.

Could i use the same .net form in Office 2003 ?

Thanks

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

There is no tool for converting a custom form to an Outlook 2007 form region,
but I would strongly endorse the idea of using form regions rather than a
published custom form for such a complex project. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/news.aspx?id=22 for form region basics.

Form regions are for Outlook 2007 only, however. Building a Windows form
with the same functionality that could function within an add-in in both
versions would be a complex task that I would not recommend.

 

[PapaVicky]

We are talking with the customer this morning to decide what he wants.

So far we are looking at one of the following 4 options (1 is more likely, 4
less likely)

1) Stay as is. He could live with the double date being printed. The
problem would obviously be that if the form is corrupted, is there a chance
more serious problems could show up in the future.

2) In Office 2003, build an addin in VB.NET to Replace the custom
appointment including.

3) Build a standalone windows application to take the appointment, print
it, etc..

4) In Office 2007, build an addin in VB.NET to Replace the custom
appointment including, in this case, using form regions sounds like a great
idea. The bottleneck here is that the customer has 40 users all on Office
2003, therefore it's unlikely he will want to spend that much $$$ to upgrade.

I have never built an add-in so while its easy for me to build an app to
mimic the custom appointment, i have no clue how to attach it to Outlook so
it can be called from a toolbar.

I really appreciate your help.

Fred

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

There are many available add-in samples. The Microsoft samples for Outlook
2007 are particularly good for demonstrating all the features you'd be using.

If you have to stick with OUtlook 2003, you might want to look at the Add-in
Express toolkit from http://www.add-in-express.com/add-in-net/ .