Digital signature's changing form

[Karl Knighton]

I have created a form in Outlook 2003, but when I digitally sign the form it
is received as a blank email with my signature block. I am new at this forms
design element, and any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Karl Knighton

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Custom forms and email digital signatures simply don't mix. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279106.

For other limitations and prerequisites for message forms, see http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=61

 

[Karl Knighton]

Thanks Sue, this may be the first that you have answered from officially but
there have been many more un-official answers reaped from this forum.

Without taking the time yet to read through the two shortcuts you posted, is
it possible to add a macro that would take the digital signature and add it
into the form?

Thanks again, and I look forward to pestering you with more questions about
these forms.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No, Outlook has no programmatic methods for applying a digital signature to a message. The best you might be able to do is use CommandBars to display the related dialog for signing.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[Karl Knighton]

Hi Sue, I'm back. My office is now upgrading to 2007 and I was wondering,
with the update, will I have the ability to include digital signatures?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Nothing has changed in that area.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[Karl Knighton]

Just for my understanding, what is it in the custom forms that does not play
nice with digital signatures? Being that a regular email message is a form
and I can digitally sign those, what happens when I customize the form that
takes that property away? As I understand it, all that Outlook is doing is
sending the certificates from my CAC card along with the form to be verified

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

A message using the standard message form, however, does not have customization information to carry with it. Microsoft simply didn't design the two to work together. (You might notice that a signed message has a special value for MessageClass; that would seem to leave little room for it also have a MessageClass pointing to a published custom form.) In fact, message forms in general are difficult to implement -- impossible in many organizations. They're a dead-end technology.

 

[Karl Knighton]

Would a digital signature work on a template? Would I also be able to print
off a template just like a regular e-mail?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

By template, do you mean an .oft file? If it has no custom fields (which is the only scenario in which an .oft file is viable these days), I would expect it to work. But you're in a better position to find out by trying it yourself.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[Karl Knighton]

I'm sorry Sue, this sure seems like I am beating a dead horse. I just
couldn't give into the fact of this form not working. Well, yesterday while
I was playing around with it, I sent my self a digitally signed, customized
form. To include data in the form. Now that I have accomplished the
"impossible", I cannot duplicate. I get an error stating, "A required
component is missing: outform.dat. Please install Microsoft Office Outlook
again". What does this mean?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

I have no idea. I've seen a few references to Outform.dat and that particular error message, but no information on what it means.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54