Outlook for dummies or beginners

K

Karen

I am trying for the first time to dabble in the design form feature of
Outlook 2003.

Previously I've worked extensively with Access and find now that I was
really spoiled by the forms design interface.

I added a combobox to an Appointment form on the second page and tried to
select Contacts>>FullName as the value. I get the following error message
'The property does not exist. The field you want to modify is not valid for
this type of item'. If I can't even figure out how to add a combobox and
put values in it then I can't imagine to customize some of the Outlook
forms.

I could do it with VBA but, quite frankly, I don't know what to query--what
is the Outlook database called?
 
S

Sue Mosher [MVP]

Forget everything you learned about forms in Access. Virtually none of it
applies to Outlook, except the concept that the layout and data record are
separate (most of the time).

In general, you cannot add a field from one type of item to the form for
another type of item. Doing so results in the error you are experiencing.

To add a combo box, use the control toolbox. After you add the control,
right-click it, choose Properties, switch to the Value tab and use Choose
Field or New to bind the control to an existing or new custom property.
After you bind the control, you can populate the choices by using the
Possible Values text box on the Value tab, separating values with
semicolons.

See http://www.slipstick.com/dev/forms.htm for more Outlook forms resources.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers



I am trying for the first time to dabble in the design form feature of
Outlook 2003.

Previously I've worked extensively with Access and find now that I was
really spoiled by the forms design interface.

I added a combobox to an Appointment form on the second page and tried to
select Contacts>>FullName as the value. I get the following error message
'The property does not exist. The field you want to modify is not valid for
this type of item'. If I can't even figure out how to add a combobox and
put values in it then I can't imagine to customize some of the Outlook
forms.

I could do it with VBA but, quite frankly, I don't know what to query--what
is the Outlook database called?
 
K

Karen

Thanks Sue,

Is it possible to populate comboboxes dynamically? What if I wanted a combo
box to populate the names of people whose record shows a Company of Company
A.

cbocombo.value = FullName where Company.value is "CompanyA"

That kind of thing. I have found slipstick so I'm trying to digest this new
material.

Karen
 
S

Sue Mosher [MVP]

Yes, you can populate combo boxes dynamically using either the List or
Column property or the AddItem method -- in other words by writing script
that, most likely, runs in the Item_Open event hander or in an event that
fires when the user makes a selection from another control. It can't be done
with a simple formula or query.
 
K

Karen

Sue,

Got it, thanks a lot.

Karen

Sue Mosher said:
Yes, you can populate combo boxes dynamically using either the List or
Column property or the AddItem method -- in other words by writing script
that, most likely, runs in the Item_Open event hander or in an event that
fires when the user makes a selection from another control. It can't be done
with a simple formula or query.

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

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top