Outlook form cache problem

[Frohut]

In the company where I work, we use custom forms without code.

The custom forms are used as a forced form when a new appointment or meeting
request is made in a resource calendar (in a public folder).

When an existing appointment is opened, most of the time the form is showed.
However several times a week there is a problem with the form cache and the
default appointment form is displayed instead of the custom form.

The problems occur when the user has opened multiple appointments in the
same resource calendar. The custom forms in other resource calendars are
still available for this user.


The Outlook form cache of the user looks something like this:
Local Settings
Application Data
Microsoft
Forms
IPM.Appointment.room1
IPM.Appointment.room10
IPM.Appointment.room100
IPM.Appointment.room1000
IPM.Appointment.room10000
IPM.Appointment.room100000
IPM.Appointment.room2
IPM.Appointment.room20
IPM.Appointment.room200
IPM.Appointment.room2000
IPM.Appointment.room20000
IPM.Appointment.room200000
IPM.Appointment.room3
IPM.Appointment.room4
IPM.Appointment.room40
IPM.Appointment.room400
IPM.Appointment.room4000


There are several knowledge articles and information on the internet about
Outlook form cache problems and till now I try to resolve the problem with
the following solutions:

- Republish the forms
- Raise the form cache to 4096
- Change a form to an one-off form
- Add the ForceFormReload key in the register

None of these solutions above have solved the problem.

The problem can be solved by clearing the form cache in Outlook or deleting
the directory Form in the user profile.

The user works with thin client in a TS (Citrix) environment with mandatory
profile.

Any suggestions to resolve this cache problem?

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Which version of Outlook are you using?
As a workaround, you can use the following script to clear it on regular
interval (via Windows scheduled tasks) and/or at Windows logon/logoff.

 

[Frohut]

Thank you for your reply. We use Outlook 2003.
As a workaround, the user can clear the Outlook cache in Outlook when the
problem occurs but I'm looking for a solution.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Sorry, forgot to link to the script;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/downloads/clearformscache.htm

Make sure the form is only published in the Organization library and not
also in the Personal library.

Do you have Service Pack 3 installed for Office 2003? Outlook 2003 has/had
several forms issues that got fixed with updates over the years.
Also see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/839804

 

[Frohut]

I'm familiar with KB839804 but I didn't found the solution in that KB
article.

The Outlook forms are not published in the Organization Library but in
public folders. The company is a nation company with about 50.000 users in
almost 30 different departments. Each department has their own set of
Outlook forms.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

In that case you might want to check with the developers in;
outlook.program_forms

Good luck!