I built a form with all user-defined fields and when sending it only my
signature was showing multiple times. When I finally noticed the read page
tab (which was not mentioned in the tutorial) I saw my signature repeated
multiple times.
What the heck am I missing? What do these two tabs actually mean?
Outlook forms have the capability of having both a compose page, which you see
when you create a new data item, and a read page, which becomes visible only
when the item is sent. The two pages do not have to be the same. Most people
do not want or need this feature in their forms. The great, all powerful
management decreed that, for Outlook 2003, the a new form would initialize in
split mode. This removes the need for all those question from poor souls who
want a compose/read split form. Unfortunately, it then creates a lot of
messages for others who do not want the feature, such as your self, and who
hadn't noticed that it was set from the get-go, and then wonder what is
screwing up their design and how to turn it off. Needless to say, those of us
who have been down this road before feel your pane.
When you open a custom form in design mode, click the forms menu and uncheck
the option for a separate read form. It will give you a warning saying that
you will lose the contents of the read page, but since you haven't put
anything there, you won't really lose anything. Accept the caution and
proceed, knowing that, if all goes well, what you or your recipient sees when
they open a sent form is the same as what you saw when you composed the custom
form.
There are tricks to be employed when designing split forms, so if you ever
need to do that, ask about them then.
