view current and maximum mailbox size in a bar chart ?

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Hello,

I got a feature request from our recently migrated Notes users.
In Notes, they always knew their quota because at the top of their
folders they had a bar indicating their current usage and their
maximum quota.

Now we are all on Outlook 2003 + Exchange 2003.
To check your quota usage using Outlook 2003, select Tools | Mailbox
Cleanup and then click on the View Mailbox Size button.
I don't know how to visualize the maximum quota.


How can I emplement some kind of "progress bar" in Outlook that shows
me current and maximum mailbox size, like in Notes?

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Hello,

I got a feature request from our recently migrated Notes users.
In Notes, they always knew their quota because at the top of their
folders they had a bar indicating their current usage and their
maximum quota.

Now we are all on Outlook 2003 + Exchange 2003.
To check your quota usage using Outlook 2003, select Tools | Mailbox
Cleanup and then click on the View Mailbox Size button.
I don't know how to visualize the maximum quota.

How can I emplement some kind of "progress bar" in Outlook that shows
me current and maximum mailbox size, like in Notes?

I want to give some more info.
I'm not looking for a way to show the current usage.
I'm looking for a way to show the current usage AND the max usage.

I Googled a lot and only this came up, someone else who seems to ask
exactly the same thing but doesn't get an answer:
http://www.petri.co.il/forums/showthread.php?t=21453
My situation is exactly the same as in that forum topic.

I also found a Thunderbird extension:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/881
Look at the screenshot: it is exactly something like this that I am
looking for, but for Outlook 2003.
In worst case scenario a third-party to pay software would also be ok.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

AFAIK, Exchange doesn't expose the mailbox quota limit to the end-user in
any way other than when receiving a warning or over quota message.

Some ways to do this programmatically;
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320071

and also;
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa144767.aspx

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

AFAIK, Exchange doesn't expose the mailbox quota limit to the end-user in
any way other than when receiving a warning or over quota message.

Some ways to do this programmatically;http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320071

and also;http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa144767.aspx

This seems interesting - for someone who knows how to program.
But isn't there something ready made?
It's hard to believe that nobody has asked for this feature before,
and that there isn't a smart software developer somewhere who wants to
make some $$$ or EUROEUROEURO with this...

 

[Roady [MVP]]

I'd turn it around; keep your mailbox as clean as possible without looking
at the limit.

If your users would receive an irrelevant email but see that they are only
using 3% of their mailbox quota they are much more likely to keep it than to
delete it and thus are polluting their mailbox and using more storage. I'm
not saying that it wouldn't be a nice to have feature, but in this case the
feature could have the reverse effect.

Don't keep more just because you can.

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

I'd turn it around; keep your mailbox as clean as possible without looking
at the limit.

In theory, I agree.
In the real world, *I* keep *my* mailbox clean, and I am considered a
curiosum.
In practice, we spend a lot of time (= EUROEUROEURO) on training the users.
It's always the same users who "forget" the trainings.
And don't let me mention the VIP users (top floor in the main
building). I think I don't need to explain...

If your users would receive an irrelevant email but see that they are only
using 3% of their mailbox quota they are much more likely to keep it than to
delete it and thus are polluting their mailbox and using more storage. I'm
not saying that it wouldn't be a nice to have feature, but in this case the
feature could have the reverse effect.

I think I didn't explain it good.
The users previously had this feature, they had it for more than a
decade, and now they lost it.
It's hard not to complain when you loose a feature you had so long.

Anyway, I didn't come here to discuss if this is a good or a bad
feature.
I came here because I got a well defined task from my boss, because I
didn't know the answer myself, and because all my searches on the web
were in vain.
I really appreciate your comments, but you are preaching to the wrong
audience. I am already a member of your church.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Always good to meet like-minded people ;-)

Good luck with the top-floor!

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Hello,

I got a feature request from our recently migrated Notes users.
In Notes, they always knew their quota because at the top of their
folders they had a bar indicating their current usage and their
maximum quota.

Now we are all on Outlook 2003 + Exchange 2003.
To check your quota usage using Outlook 2003, select Tools | Mailbox
Cleanup and then click on the View Mailbox Size button.
I don't know how to visualize the maximum quota.

How can I emplement some kind of "progress bar" in Outlook that shows
me current and maximum mailbox size, like in Notes?

Hi,

My boss asked me to look for an already existing addin that shows a
realtime quota indicator, just like someone else asked in
http://www.outlookcode.com/threads.aspx?forumid=4&messageid=13187

I already found a solution for OWA: http://www.leederbyshire.com/info.asp
and http://www.mmmug.co.uk/forums/thread/531.aspx
I only need to find something for Outlook 2003.

If such a beast does not yet exist, how can the code from the links
Sue Mosher posted on her site be used to create my own outlook addin?
I need to provide this information to an actual developer who will
then write it according to specs.

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

I want to give some examples of what I am looking for:

http://www.bizzybee.be/2008/01/18/notes-mail-database-size-indicator-graphic-version/
http://www.bizzybee.be/2008/01/11/a-notes-mail-database-size-indicator/
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/05/keeping-your-gmail-inbox-size-under.html