Deleting custom fields from Folder - how?

[Misterbates]

All,

My first post - apologies for improper netiquette.

A little while ago I designed and was using a form region on my Tasks to validate that each and every task had a category assigned. I was implementing a "Getting Things Done" methodology and didn't want any task saved without a category. The implementation added a custom field bound to the Categories field with field validation that the custom field was not blank on save.

Then I installed the GTD add-in and saw no further need for my form region, so I uninstalled it (by deleting the registry key).

Recently I upgraded to OL2010 under Win7 (64-bit) and found that the GTD add-in didn't support that setup, so switched to ClearContext. CC doesn't enforce that each task have a category set, so I re-implemented my previous setup, but using a re-developed form region since meanwhile I had deleted my old implementation.

While testing this, I started getting messages from my previous implementation, as if the form region was still active/loaded.

I've checked the registry, and there is no entry for my previous form region. I also checked .ofs and .xml files - they no longer exist (at least not where I had them stored previously). But looking into the individual TaskItems in my Tasks folder, I can see that they all have the fields that were implemented in the previous form region.

I tried deleting them from an individual item by using the developer tab, choosing "design this form" then using the All Fields tab to highlight and delete. I was then able to save the TaskItem ... but as soon as I saved, the fields were re-added and when I reopened the TaskItem, modified the body and saved again I got the validation messages from my previous implementation.

So, I suspect that somehow these fields are associated with the task folder and that Outlook is adding them to every item saved into the folder. Which is a problem, as without the form region, the data validation is preventing me from saving any task unless I use the developer/design this form workaround.

How can I see if the fields are associated with the folder. better still, how can I remove them so that they are no longer added to every TaskItem?

Advice much appreciated.

 

[Misterbates]

UPDATE: I've found a better "workaround" than having to go into the developer tab to delete the unneeded custom fields, but it means that I cannot use form regions with my Tasks.

The workaround is that I've created a customized version of the standard task form with some script added to check that the categories field is not blank on save (item_write event). Not ideal, but at least it allows me to create/save new tasks, and the use of the custom form is supported by outlook (default form for posting to tasks folder) and ClearContext.

In parallel, after doing some reasearch, I found out about the hidden item that Outlook uses to store custom fields for a folder and using Outlook Spy I deleted the item from my Tasks folder (knowing this would delete all custom fields for the Tasks folder), but no luck. Still when I have my new region in use I get the messages from the old region.

Any thoughts/guidance appreciated.