Creating a macro... I think

  • Thread starter Thread starter Casey
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C

Casey

Greetings - This is my first post to this group. I have never dealt at
all with customizing Outlook... always been an ASP and ASP.NET (VB.NET)
developer for web based applications.

But, I have a client who wants to simplfy a process in Outlook 2003.
Outlook let's you customize the calendar events that you view. Here's
what they are doing:

View > Arrange By > Current View > Customize View

Then, in the dialog box:

Filter > Advanced > Field > All Appointment Fields > Category

Then, in the form, enter the desired value by with they want to filter
their view.

As you can see, it's a long process. They have asked me to come up
with a way to shorten it. Even if I could could create a keystroke
that would bring them right to the final screen/form, that would help a
ton. But ideally, I would like to provide a form field on the tool
bar, and when populated, would filter the view accordingly.

Please keep in mind that I currently know NOTHING about building
macro's in Outlook. Any help, hints, and points to tutorials would be
fantastic.

Thanks,

Casey
 
Is this for a public folder? A folder in each user's mailbox?

The simplest approach is probably to use a folder home page (web page) with a control for the user's search string and the Outlook View Control (see http://www.outlookcode.com/d/ovc.htm) to show the folder contents.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

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

Thank you so much for responding. However, please understand that you
are talking to a kindergartner in regards to Outlook. What, exactly,
is a public folder? What is a public folder home page? What is the
Outlook View Control? I went to the link you provided (which I had
already found with Google) and I have no idea what any of it is talking
about.

Maybe let's start here... I'm an experienced web-based aplication
developer in ASP and .NET, but I know NOTHING about Outlook other then
how to use it to send emails and calendar events. The client only
wants to be billed an hour or two at the most for this project. I need
to report back to them either A) Yes, I can do it in a couple of hours,
or B) It can be done, but it will take more like x hours, or C) What
you are asking for is not possible.

Givin how everything you said below is like Greek to me, but also given
that I am an experienced web-based aplication developer in ASP and .NET
(not VB or VBA), I"m wondering which option, A,B, or C you would tell
this client if you were me. For this little project, I simply can't
take the time to go buy a book and spend hours reading and learning.

What I'm really hoping for is just the ability to assign a key-stroke
to drill them down to the exact location that currntly takes 9 menu
selections.

Thanks for your help.

Casey
 
What, exactly, is a public folder?

A public folder is a folder in the Public Folders\All Public Folders hierarchy on Exchange Server. You can see part of the folder hierarchy only in the Folder List navigation pane.

I asked about this because it was not clear from your post exactly what folder you were talking about.
What is a public folder home page?
Click to expand...

A folder home page is a web page associated with an Outlook folder in such a way that when the user navigates to that folder, they see that web page rather than the normal list of items in the folder. This association is made on the Properties dialog for the folder, on the Home Page tab. Outlook Today is a built-in example of a folder home page.
What is the Outlook View Control?
Click to expand...

The OVC is an ActiveX control that you can use on any web page to display the data from an Outlook folder. Its Folder property controls the folder displayed, while the Restriction property allows you to filter the view to show only items that meet specific criteria. Restriction uses the same very simple syntax as the Items.Find and Restrict methods in Outlook VBA, which you can look up in Outlook VBA help or on MSDN.
I went to the link you provided (which I had
already found with Google) and I have no idea what any of it is talking
about.
Click to expand...

Ah, but what did you see? Did you follow the link to the OVC Demo page at http://www.outlookcode.com/d/OVCViewDemo.htm? If you had, you would have seen what the OVC looks like in action and would have had some HTML code to start programming with.
Maybe let's start here... I'm an experienced web-based aplication
developer in ASP and .NET, but I know NOTHING about Outlook other then
how to use it to send emails and calendar events.
Click to expand...

That's why I suggested that a folder home page might be a useful approach that would use your existing web developer skills and not require you to invest several weeks learning Outlook in general (and CommandBars and View.XML in particular) to accomplish what you describe with a toolbar button.
I need
to report back to them either A) Yes, I can do it in a couple of hours,
or B) It can be done, but it will take more like x hours, or C) What
you are asking for is not possible.
Click to expand...

You probably can do it in about 15 minutes with a folder home page. The minimum that the page needs is three controls:

1) an OVC to display the desired folder
2) a text box to enter the category to filter by
3) a command button to run a little VBScript code to set the Restriction property on the OVC using the value in the text box. If OVC1 is the name of the control, then this statement filters the current view on the "Red" category:

OVC1.Restriction = "[Categories] = " & Chr(34) & "Red" & Chr(34)

The main unknown at this point is whether this can be a web page stored locally on the user's machine or whether it needs to be on their intranet. That's why my questions about the folder were relevant.
What I'm really hoping for is just the ability to assign a key-stroke
to drill them down to the exact location that currently takes 9 menu
selections.
Click to expand...

That's not possible. The closest you could get is a macro to bring up the Filter dialog and, frankly, the client can do that themselves just by customizing the toolbar to add the Filter command to it.

Also, it's not clear whether "client" is an individual or a company with hundreds of individuals. A VBA macro would be an appropriate solution only for the former.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

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

You are being more helpful then I could have hoped for. Thank you!
That's not possible. The closest you could get is a macro to bring up the Filter dialog and, frankly, the client can do that themselves just by customizing the toolbar to add the Filter command to it.
Click to expand...

This sounds like EXACTLY the kind of solution we are looking for!! You
have already done so much, but if you could offer, or point me to some
instructions on how to do this, I think all will be well.
Also, it's not clear whether "client" is an individual or a company with hundreds of individuals. A VBA macro would be an appropriate solution only for the former.
Click to expand...

They have 4 or 5 users, so creating the macro at each work station is
very doable.

Thanks,

Casey
 
A macro is overkill for this. Tell the user to follow these steps:

1) View | Toolbars | Customize

2) On the Commands tab, from the View category, drag the Filter command to the desired toolbar.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
One other note, I'm not at all sure that "folders" is what I'm after.
Just so that we are on the same page, when I navigate to View > Arrange
By > Current View > Customize View - a diolog box pops up. On that
dialog box is a button labled "Filter", which if cicked, bring up
another dialog box. In the Filter dialog box is a tab called Advanced.
On this tab is a drop down option called "Fields". One of the options
in that dropdown is "All Appointment Fields" with a sub option of
"Categories".

Best possible solution: We create a macro which, when executed, brings
up the Filter dialog box with the Advanced tab pre-selected, and
"Categories" pre-populated in the Fields form.

Is this do-able?

Thank you!!!

Casey
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A macro is overkill for this. Tell the user to follow these steps:

1) View | Toolbars | Customize


2) On the Commands tab, from the View category, drag the Filter command
to the desired toolbar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sent the last reply before I saw this. I'll suggest this to the
client and see if it makes them happy.

Thank you,

Casey
 
No, as I said that's not doable, unless you're inclined to try a SendKeys kludge that tries to send the right keystrokes to duplicate what the user would type. (I'd never offer that kind of solution to a client myself; it's just not reliable enough.) The best you can do directly is just to bring up the Filter dialog -- and the user can do that much for themselves simply by customizing the toolbar as I suggested.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

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