New Field Column not Sorting or Working Correctly ??

[BP]

I create a new field, either using the yes/no icon option or basic text
field, and then display it in my task list columns. So far so good. I begin
to review my tasks and either click on the new field yes/no checkbox column
or add text in the new field text column. Again so far so good. My problem
begins when I want to un-check the yes/no checkbox, the checkmark goes away,
but the small box stays, which sorts with the other checked boxes as if it
were checked. The same problem exists with the new text field. When I add a
few letters or a word in the text field, and later I delete the text, the
text field appears blank, but when you try to sort on that field, the deleted
blank field sorts and stays with the other text fields which have text. This
appears to be a bug. How can I fix this ?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

This is normal behavior, not a bug, even if it is a little unexpected. What's happening is that you really have three different sets of values for that field:

-- non-blank values
-- blank values
-- items where the field does not exist at all on the item

You may want to use the grouping technique described at http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/searchreplacecompany.htm to update all the items that don't currently have that field so that they have that field with a blank value. Sorting should work as expected after that.

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

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