help: Why does MS Outlook delete the new views that I create?

[John Smith]

I have re-created new "Task" views repeatedly - I always create them to be
"visible in all folders". The views work great but invariably after a
couple days the views no longer appear in the list of "Current Views" even
when I pull-up the "define" views dialog box.

What is happending? Where are my custom views going? I have tried "backing
them up" by creating copies of the views but those views get deleted or
lost.

I"m using MS Outlook 2002 (10.4219...) SP-2 on Win 2000 (5.00.2195) SP-3.
Of course, I synchronize Outlook with my iPAQ 3850 using MS ActiveSynch
3.7.1 (and also with a Nokia 6800) but that *should* not effect the views at
all.

-Dan.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Do you have a large number of views? Can you walk through the exact steps
that you're following so we can try to reproduce the problem?

 

[John Smith]

Do you have a large number of views?
No, just one or two that I created in addition to the default views...

Can you walk through the exact steps
that you're following so we can try to reproduce the problem?

I assume the problems are aggravated by the user-defined field that I've
added or some kind of conflict when I synch my PDA.

The user-defined field that I have added to my tasks and the tasks view is
an Integer field with a number that I assign from 0 to 100 (corresponding
with the priority that I consider it).

I then "copy" the default view (Active Tasks?) and modify it; first adding
my user-defined field, and then sorting on that field.

In detail:
(From the Server copy of my "Tasks" folder)
(1) View->Current View->Define Views
(2) "Copy" and rename a view (making sure that "All Task folders" is
selected under "Can be used on".)

(3) "Modify" the new, renamed view: "Add" and "Sort" on the "user-defined"
field, nPriority".

After a few days that newly created view seems to get deleted. If you go to
a "Calendar" folder and view (such as "Work Week) that has the TaskPad it is
even less stable. If you right-click the Task Pad and "Customize Current
View" - it seems to loose those view settings withhin a day or so.

Outlook help refers to this file for "Views" but I see that it hasn't been
modified since 2002:
....Documents and Settings\...\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\VIEWS.DAT

Any idea how to back up views, where the views are actually stored, or why
Outlook would "lose" my new views?

Thanks!
-Dan.


views

 

[John Smith]

Well, this is frustrating:

For the 5th time, my new "view" disappeared from the "views" defined for my
Tasks folder.

However, I did find 4 different copies of the task "view" in my Offline
folders file (.ost). Apparently, Outlook has been moving (or copying?)
those views to my offline folders file (.ost). Does that make sense?

Question: I added a user-defined (integer) field to my tasks/folder and my
new views filter and sort on this new field. Could the user-defined field
be causing the views to get deleted? (the views work fine for a day or so
but invariably disappear).

-Dan.

 

[John Faughnan]

Ahh, now THAT's the great mystery!

If you google on usenet for "custom view" or "custom views" and
"disappear", you will find a fair number of postings over the years.
It's been a problem for me since at least Outlook 2000.

I suspect it's a fairly fundamental bug in Outlook, but that it's
infrequent unless one's employer has a rather outdated Exchange
server. There are a number of things (categories being most infamous)
that Outlook doesn't store in the logical "place".

In the past I used to use the Outlook "repair tool" (it's installed in
the outlook folder now, you don't have to download it) to restore my
lost views, but now that I use Outlook 20003's superior
synchronization method that doesn't work any more.

Custom Views are VERY useful. I end up recreating mine every few days,
though understandably I use them less than I otherwise would.

It's a very annoying bug, but there are only a few postings on it
every few months. I'm certain Microsoft knows about the problem, but
it must be hard to fix. With such a low level of complaint, and a
problem that's hard to fix, it must be low priority.

I'm mostly looking for someone to write a mini-app that would export
and import custom views. Then I could build mine, export them, and
restore them. The ideal tool would do a one click backup and restore
of all views.

I'd gladly pay $10 for a shareware tool like that. Actually I'd pay
more, but I don't want to say that too loudly.

john
(e-mail address removed)

meta: Outlook, custom views, customized view, custom view, disappear,
delete, vanish, lose lost, exchange, filter, jfaughnan, jgfaughnan

 

[John Faughnan]

I came to the same point in my research. Earlier versions of outlook
stored custom views in views.dat. I suspect it somehow synchronized
them with a repository on the Exchange server, and that was the cause
of Custom Views loss in older versions of Outlook.

Now it keeps them somewhere else that works even LESS well.

Some things I do that might contribute to the bug:

1. I sync Outlook with my Palm (used various methods over past 3
years).
2. I moved my Outlook data files out of the core Outlook directory to
somewhere that works better with my backup routine.

Anyway, Outlook 2003 doesn't use views.dat any longer to store custom
views. So what does it use?!

Great thread!

john
(e-mail address removed)

meta: jfaughnan, jgfaughnan, outlook, custom views, location, storage

 

[John Faughnan]

Ok, I'm sorry for the multiple posts from this am, but I hope you'll
agree that in sum they're useful. I'm thrilled someone else is working
to track this down.

I may have a workaround for the bug. Others can test this out. I think
it only works with Outlook 2003 and exchange server.

First -- what we know & speculate:

1. This is an old bug. Custom views have been disappearing since
Outlook 98.
2. It doesn't happen to everyone! It probably requires Exchange server
problems or some other oddity. I use multiple PST files, for example.
3. Custom views USED to be stored in views.dat. So pre-2003 users of
Outlook can happily back up views.dat and be fine. Lucky dogs!
4. The problem MAY be related to synchronization between the multiple
locations of custom views, including PST files, OST files, Exchange
server etc.
5. If custom views have "folder scope", rather than being "PST scope"
or "All folder scope", I wonder if they're less likely to vanish?

Now the new thing.

Outlook 2003 has a new feature -- one can "copy" folder design. The
help file text for this is incoherent. I don't know if it really
works. This is what I'm testing to backup and restore my custom views.
I'm trying to create the views only with "folder scope".

1. Create a new PST file called "ViewsBackup" and create empty folders
in it for Calendar, Tasks, etc.
2. Click on my empty Calendar folder. Then chose File:Folder:Copy
Folder Design. Select the SOURCE folder for the Views. In theory this
should copy Views to the "ViewsBackup" folder. Repeat for each of the
main folders (Calendar, etc)
3. Exit Outlook and backup (I zipped it) the "ViewsBackup.pst" file.

Next time I lose my custom views, I'll try restoring them from either
ViewsBackup.pst or ViewsBackup.zip (whichever works).

john
(e-mail address removed)

meta: outlook, bug, defect, exchange, synchronization, data loss,
custom views, custom view, filter, disappear, vanish, lose,
disappearing, outlook 2003, gone, jfaughnan, jgfaughnan

 

[John Faughnan]

I'm learning enough that I've moved my notes to a blog posting. I'll
update that one from this thread and my other research:

http://googlefaughnan.blogspot.com/2004_05_01_googlefaughnan_archive.html#108420096870609803

I've found a few scattered articles on this, and some fairly
impressive Outlook 2003 bugs. (At one point my list of available views
was fluctuating in a fairly impressive manner.)

john
(e-mail address removed)

meta: outlook, bug, defect, exchange, synchronization, data loss,
custom views, custom view, filter, disappear, vanish, lose,
disappearing, outlook 2003, gone, jfaughnan, jgfaughnan

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Views.dat stores customizations of Windows folders that you have viewed in
Outlook. It does not store information about Outlook folder views, nor has
it ever done so. Instead, Outlook stores each customized view in a hidden
item in either the folder to which it applies or a hidden folder at the
top-level of the user's default information store (PST or mailbox).

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Copy Folder Design is not a new feature. It's been around in all versions,
but in the more recent versions, it applies only to Exchange Server folders.
However, you don't need it to make a backup of your views. Here's a link to
an article I wrote on how to manage this:

http://www.exchangeadmin.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=8650

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

I can't imagine a reason why adding a user-defined field to a folder would
cause views that sort or filter on that field to disappear. When you do a
PDA sync, it doesn't copy any views, just data. And many PDA sync tools
can't handle user-defined fields.

See my response to John F.'s posts for information on where views are stored
and how to back them up.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[John Faughnan]

Copy Folder Design is not a new feature. It's been around in all versions,
but in the more recent versions, it applies only to Exchange Server folders.
However, you don't need it to make a backup of your views. Here's a link to
an article I wrote on how to manage this:

http://www.exchangeadmin.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=8650

Thanks Susan, I had located your article earlier via Google and added
it to the blog posting I'm putting notes on this topic in [1]. There
are VERY few usenet or web postings on this topic, thanks for putting
your notes out.

Your approach turns out to be very similar to what I've done. I create
my views in an empty folder in a separate PST file that I also backup
separately. These views are always "all users, this folder only",
where folder is Calendar, Tasks, etc.

I then use the copy folder design command to copy from these reference
folder views to any folder I want to apply views too. Done this way
they seem to persist & I have a backup. I think the problem may be our
corporations very old Exchange server.

The copy folder design behavior is unclear to me. It doesn't simply
replace all views. When a source view name is new, it adds the source
view. When a destination view doesn't exist in the reference set it is
not deleted. I THINK when the view names match the source wins, but I
can't tell. Have you researched this behavior? There is virtually no
documentation on this feature, so it's pretty much trial and error to
figure it out.

thanks,
john
(e-mail address removed)

meta: jfaughnan, jgfaughnan, outlook, copy folder design, exchange,
folder views


[1] http://googlefaughnan.blogspot.com/2004_05_01_googlefaughnan_archive.html#108420096870609803

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No, I haven't. Since it's no longer available in all Outlook environments
but is limited to Exchange only, it's less interesting to me. If you find
out more, let us know.

BTW, it's Sue, not Susan.

 

[John Faughnan]

F/U to this thread:

I'm increasingly confident that the View deletion bug is triggered by
a combination of:

1. a modern version of outlook
2. an older version of exchange server
3. sync with a PalmOS PDA

john

Copy Folder Design is not a new feature. It's been around in all versions,
but in the more recent versions, it applies only to Exchange Server folders.
However, you don't need it to make a backup of your views. Here's a link to
an article I wrote on how to manage this:

http://www.exchangeadmin.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=8650

Thanks Susan, I had located your article earlier via Google and added
it to the blog posting I'm putting notes on this topic in [1]. There
are VERY few usenet or web postings on this topic, thanks for putting
your notes out.

Your approach turns out to be very similar to what I've done. I create
my views in an empty folder in a separate PST file that I also backup
separately. These views are always "all users, this folder only",
where folder is Calendar, Tasks, etc.

I then use the copy folder design command to copy from these reference
folder views to any folder I want to apply views too. Done this way
they seem to persist & I have a backup. I think the problem may be our
corporations very old Exchange server.

The copy folder design behavior is unclear to me. It doesn't simply
replace all views. When a source view name is new, it adds the source
view. When a destination view doesn't exist in the reference set it is
not deleted. I THINK when the view names match the source wins, but I
can't tell. Have you researched this behavior? There is virtually no
documentation on this feature, so it's pretty much trial and error to
figure it out.

thanks,
john
(e-mail address removed)

meta: jfaughnan, jgfaughnan, outlook, copy folder design, exchange,
folder views


[1] http://googlefaughnan.blogspot.com/2004_05_01_googlefaughnan_archive.html#108420096870609803

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

If you have a solid repro case, let us know so we can test it.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

F/U to this thread:

I'm increasingly confident that the View deletion bug is triggered by
a combination of:

1. a modern version of outlook
2. an older version of exchange server
3. sync with a PalmOS PDA

john

(e-mail address removed) (John Faughnan) wrote in message

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" <[email protected]> wrote in message

Copy Folder Design is not a new feature. It's been around in all versions,
but in the more recent versions, it applies only to Exchange Server folders.
However, you don't need it to make a backup of your views. Here's a link to
an article I wrote on how to manage this:

http://www.exchangeadmin.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=8650

Thanks Susan, I had located your article earlier via Google and added
it to the blog posting I'm putting notes on this topic in [1]. There
are VERY few usenet or web postings on this topic, thanks for putting
your notes out.

Your approach turns out to be very similar to what I've done. I create
my views in an empty folder in a separate PST file that I also backup
separately. These views are always "all users, this folder only",
where folder is Calendar, Tasks, etc.

I then use the copy folder design command to copy from these reference
folder views to any folder I want to apply views too. Done this way
they seem to persist & I have a backup. I think the problem may be our
corporations very old Exchange server.

The copy folder design behavior is unclear to me. It doesn't simply
replace all views. When a source view name is new, it adds the source
view. When a destination view doesn't exist in the reference set it is
not deleted. I THINK when the view names match the source wins, but I
can't tell. Have you researched this behavior? There is virtually no
documentation on this feature, so it's pretty much trial and error to
figure it out.

thanks,
john
(e-mail address removed)

meta: jfaughnan, jgfaughnan, outlook, copy folder design, exchange,
folder views


[1]

http://googlefaughnan.blogspot.com/2004_05_01_googlefaughnan_archive.html#108420096870609803