Transferring from an old form to a new form?

[Blue Max]

Once we have designed a new contact form, how do we transfer the data from
the old contact form to the new contact form? Or how do we assign the new
contact form as a default form for displaying and editing the contact data?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

There's no need to transfer data, as a form is just a code/UI template. All the data stays where it is, and you change the value of the MessageClass property to point to the new published form, e.g. IPM.Contact.MyNewForm. The page at http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=39 has links to scripts and tools to do this.

 

[Blue Max]

Thank you very much, Sue, this is somewhat as we suspected. However, what
we didn't suspect was that we would have to program the change using code.
We had simply hoped there was a standard Outlook 2007 option for making this
substitution. It would have been nice, given the ability we have to design
forms, if there had been an easy way to substitute our custom forms for the
defaults or for existing forms (including all their current associations).
All this leads to two more questions, if we may?

FIRST, As you indicated, the data is stored separate from the display form.
Therefore, if we add new information fields to a form, how do the new fields
get added to the database?

SECOND, it appears, from the link you emailed, that forms can replace the
default or else be assigned to specific folders, is that correct? If so,
are we better off assigning the new form to separate folders or as the
default?

Thanks,

Richard

****************
There's no need to transfer data, as a form is just a code/UI template. All
the data stays where it is, and you change the value of the MessageClass
property to point to the new published form, e.g. IPM.Contact.MyNewForm. The
page at http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=39 has links to scripts
and tools to do this.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Comments inline.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

Thank you very much, Sue, this is somewhat as we suspected. However, what
we didn't suspect was that we would have to program the change using code.
We had simply hoped there was a standard Outlook 2007 option for making this
substitution. It would have been nice, given the ability we have to design
forms, if there had been an easy way to substitute our custom forms for the
defaults or for existing forms (including all their current associations).

For an existing custom form, if you want to substitute a new form, all you have to do is publish the new form with the same Message Class as the old one. Of course, you'd want to make a backup of the old one first and use a higher version number on the new form.

All this leads to two more questions, if we may?

FIRST, As you indicated, the data is stored separate from the display form.
Therefore, if we add new information fields to a form, how do the new fields
get added to the database?

Each item gets the new field as the user enters data into it, using the layout on the latest version of the form.

SECOND, it appears, from the link you emailed, that forms can replace the
default or else be assigned to specific folders, is that correct?

Yes, that's correct.

If so, are we better off assigning the new form to separate folders or as the
default?

I would steer clear of the default substitution approach unless you really do want to change the default form everywhere. Definitely do not use it for custom message forms.

 

[Blue Max]

Thank you for the reply, all this has been very helpful. One more
clarification below:

Each item gets the new field as the user enters data into it, using the
layout on the latest version of the form.

So, are you saying that the Outlook Data Store is transparently modified to
include this new field of information along with all the other contact data?

Is there a way we can preview a Data Store and see what information it
includes and what the field name associations are?

Will the new data fields be preserved when moving the .PST file from
location to location? Though this new information may not be visible unless
the new location includes the custom form designed to show the new fields of
information, correct?

Thanks,

Richard

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Is there a way we can preview a Data Store and see what information it

includes and what the field name associations are?

Sorry, but I don't know what you mean by "field name associations." The Outlook Spy and MFCMAPI.exe tools are highly recommended for digging deep into Outlook's data.

So, are you saying that the Outlook Data Store is transparently modified to
include this new field of information along with all the other contact data?

None of this happens at the store level. Custom properties are defined at the folder and item levels.

Will the new data fields be preserved when moving the .PST file from
location to location?

Yes.

Though this new information may not be visible unless
the new location includes the custom form designed to show the new fields of
information, correct?

Correct. Outlook would need to be able to find the custom form associated with the items' MessageClass.

 

[Blue Max]

Hello Sue,

Thank you for the explanations. I apologize for my inadequate descriptions,
but we are obviously discussing features outside my area of experience.
Perhaps, I can illustrate this by way of a simple example. Let's say that I
want to modify the contact form to help keep track of family members. For
example, let's say I want to add a field to the form for a 'Maiden Name' and
a family 'Relationship' (such as child, grandchild, great-grandchild, etc.).

I assume that there are two aspects associated with this task. FIRST,
adding these fields to the custom form. SECOND, creating a place to save
the data that will be input into these fields.

I can visualize how to accomplish the first item (simply edit a form), but I
apparently don't understand how the underlying data, input using the custom
form, is saved. My reference to 'field name associations' was because I
labored under the assumption that the field on the custom form would have to
address a proper field name in the associated database records where the
data was stored.

In other words, we assumed the form was simply acting as an interface tool
to extract and display information from the underlying database. Then
again, perhaps I am way off base. Does Outlook 2007 not store the data in a
database format while using forms to simply access and display the desired
information?

Thanks again!

***********************

Is there a way we can preview a Data Store and see what information it
includes and what the field name associations are?

Sorry, but I don't know what you mean by "field name associations." The
Outlook Spy and MFCMAPI.exe tools are highly recommended for digging deep
into Outlook's data.

So, are you saying that the Outlook Data Store is transparently modified
to
include this new field of information along with all the other contact
data?

None of this happens at the store level. Custom properties are defined at
the folder and item levels.

Will the new data fields be preserved when moving the .PST file from
location to location?
Yes.

Though this new information may not be visible unless
the new location includes the custom form designed to show the new fields
of
information, correct?

Correct. Outlook would need to be able to find the custom form associated
with the items' MessageClass.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

It's actually simpler than that. Adding a field to a custom form automatically creates the place for the data to be stored. See http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=29 for best practices to make sure the field is defined both in the form and in the folder. If you want to see what fields are already defined, look on the All Fields page in form design view.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[Blue Max]

Thank you, Sue, for sticking with me to the end. I will access the link you
included to be sure we are properly customizing the form.

Thanks,

Richard

***********************
It's actually simpler than that. Adding a field to a custom form
automatically creates the place for the data to be stored. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=29 for best practices to make
sure the field is defined both in the form and in the folder. If you want to
see what fields are already defined, look on the All Fields page in form
design view.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54