Programming MicrosoftВ® OutlookВ® and Microsoft Exchange 2003, Third Edition (Pro-Developer)

Before we look at the types of applications you can develop and when to customize certain forms in the Outlook environment, you need to know what the form types are and how they can be extended.

Message Forms

You use the Message form for applications in which users have to send information to other users, to a folder, or to another application for processing. You inherit all built-in capabilities of the form, such as automatic name resolution and nickname support, and you can customize any fields on the form. Figure 4-1 shows an example of a Message form in design mode. You can display different pages of the form by clicking on the appropriate tab.

Figure 4-1: The Message form in design mode

Post Forms

The Post form is best used in applications that post or retrieve messages in an Outlook folder. When you customize a Post form, Outlook automatically assigns the currently open Outlook folder to the In Folder field. For example, if you customize a Post form in a helpdesk public folder, Outlook automatically assigns the helpdesk public folder to the In Folder field. This automatic assignment means that even though the user can install, or publish, the Post form in any folder, any items the user creates with the form will be posted to the helpdesk public folder. Figure 4-2 shows the Post form.

Figure 4-2: The Post form in design mode

Contact Forms

Use the Contact form in applications that track address or customer information. You can customize the first page of the Contact form; you thereby inherit the form's journaling, mapping, Microsoft NetMeeting, and address resolution capabilities. The other default pages in the form are not customizable but can be hidden. Figure 4-3 shows the Contact form.

Figure 4-3: The Contact form in design mode

Office Document Forms

Outlook supports embedding Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents directly into a form, so you can send these documents to a user or post them to a folder. These types of forms are best used when you want the advanced replication and forms library support of Outlook but you also want the functionality of other Office applications. Outlook places a wrapper around the Office application you use to design the form, so you cannot add custom tabs to the form. You can, however, customize the application by using the built-in capabilities and tools provided by the specific Office application. For example, you can use VBA to customize an Outlook Office document form. Figure 4-4 shows an Excel Office document form.

Figure 4-4: An Excel Office document form in design mode