Accessing information submitted using custom form?

[Paul D]

Hi there everyone!
I'm going to ask a silly question now, so please forgive me in advance!

I have created a Custom Form, and published it in a Public Folder. I have
made it the default template for that particular Public Folder, so now when
any user clicks the "New" button whilst they have this folder selected, my
form opens ready for them to input their data.

The form collects a lot of information that is unique to our situation.
However, I cannot work out where this information is stored, or how I can
access it.
As the custom form was based on a "post" template form, it only shows the
reminent fields that I left, such as the Subject, but no user-defined
fields.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to browse through the posts and see
non-editable form-like emails with the inputted information showing. Can
anyone shed some light on this for me, and tell me my options, please?


I have another, related, question, although it is not as important as the
one above...

The Public Folder's initial view is "By conversation". I'd like the first
post in a conversation to be created using my custom form, but all those
that follow in the conversation to be standard "Post" emails. I'd also like
view for those people looking through the folder to reflect this. Does
anyone know if this is possible?

I know everyone says this, but it's true!..I will really appreciate any
helpful advice! ;-)

Kindest regards
Paul

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

The information is stored on the Exchange server, in the items in that
folder. User-defined fields that are present on the form (and thus on the
individual items) will show in the folder view only if the fields are also
defined for the folder. You can add any needed fields through the New button
on the folder's Field Chooser.

You could, of course, also modify the custom form to display the
user-defined field information in a custom read layout.

As for the conversation, the default for the Reply to Folder action on the
(Actions) tab is to use the plain vanilla Post form. Are you seeing
different behavior?

FYI, there is a newsgroup specifically for Outlook forms issues "down the
hall" at microsoft.public.outlook.program_forms or, via web interface, at
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...spx?dg=microsoft.public.outlook.program_forms

 

[Paul D]

Thank you very much Sue - that's extremely useful!

Is it OK to ask you a couple more questions, or shall I switch groups?

I didn't know about using the Field Chooser to show the fields. This is
interesting, but not practical in the long term, as no slide bar appears in
Outlook as fields are added. Hence, it's difficult to see all the fields
when more than a few are added.

Could you explain a bit more about creating a custom form to display the
user-defined field information? Also, when this has been created, how is it
made the default view?

Regarding the conversations, maybe I am jumping the gun. I'm glad that you
seem to be confirming that the default behaviour is the one I need!! ;-)
However, how could I change the default "reply to folder" form for a
specific folder if need be?

Do you know if there are any tutorials on these subjects? I found it
impossible to find what I was looking for using search engines.

"Noted" about the forms newsgroup - I shall definitely use these in future.


Thank you ever so much for your help - I was truely stuck before!

Take care
Paul

 

[Paul D]

I'd like to withdraw my posts from this newsgroup, as they are off topic.
Please refer to my new thread at microsoft.public.outlook.program_forms.

Thank you!!
Paul

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Answers inline.

I didn't know about using the Field Chooser to show the fields. This is
interesting, but not practical in the long term, as no slide bar appears in
Outlook as fields are added. Hence, it's difficult to see all the fields
when more than a few are added.

No problem. Choose View | (Arrange By) | Current View | Customize Current
View | Other Settings and clear the box for Automatic Column Sizing.

Could you explain a bit more about creating a custom form to display the
user-defined field information? Also, when this has been created, how is it
made the default view?

See http://www.outlookcode.com/d/forms.htm for info on creating custom forms
and http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm for how to make a
published custom form the default.

Regarding the conversations, maybe I am jumping the gun. I'm glad that you
seem to be confirming that the default behaviour is the one I need!! ;-)
However, how could I change the default "reply to folder" form for a
specific folder if need be?

There's no such thing as a "reply to folder" form for a folder. That's an
option that's set at the form level, on the (Actions) tab in design mode,
not at the folder level.

Do you know if there are any tutorials on these subjects? I found it
impossible to find what I was looking for using search engines.

The forms.htm page referenced above has links to tutorial material.