Sending a custom form ( .oft file) to others

[Susan]

Hello,

I have created a custom form that I would like others to use. I've
published the form to my Personal Form Library and also saved it as a .oft
file. The check box "Send form definition with item" *is* checked. Is it
possible to simply send the .oft file as an e-mail attachment and have my
recipients simply double-click to open the file and use (without first having
to save the file off to their personal forms library)? Besides the "send
form definition with item" check box, are there any other things I need
insure in order for this approach to work?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No, that's not going to work in Outlook 2003 SP2 or later. Beginning with Outlook 2003 SP2, users can work with most .oft form templates files only by opening the template from the Tools | Forms | Choose Form dialog, browsing for User Templates in File System. This means that if the .oft file is sent as a message attachment, the user must save it to the local hard drive first.

The article at http://support.microsoft.com/?id=907985 explains this change in more detail, suggests best practices, and provides registry keys that can return Outlook 2003 to the older, less secure behavior.

And you should never, ever check the "send form definition with item" box.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

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