OL97: Additional Control Properties Available for Programming (173598)

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NOTE: The ItemProperty and LayoutFlags properties are documented in the Outlook Forms Help file. Use the Find tab of the Help file to search for the property names.

For more information about obtaining the Outlook Forms Help file, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

PossibleValues Property

You can use the PossibleValues property to programmatically set multiple values in a control, typically a list box or combo box control. The following VBScript example fills a list box with the values Test1, Test2, and Test3 when you open the form:

   Sub Item_Open()

      ' Sets the name of page on the form, in this case, the
      ' Message page on a MailItem form.
      Set FormPage = Item.GetInspector.ModifiedFormPages("Message")

      ' Sets Control to a list box called ListBox1.
      Set Control = FormPage.Controls("ListBox1")

      ' Assign the values to the control.
      Control.PossibleValues = "Test1;Test2;Test3"

   End Sub
				

NOTE: You can also use the AddItem method of the control to populate list boxes and combo boxes one line at a time. This is a typical approach used in Visual Basic solutions.

ItemProperty Property

The ItemProperty property can be used in VBScript to bind a control to a MAPI field in the Outlook item. The following VBScript example binds a list box control to the Mileage property:

   Sub Item_Open()

      ' Sets the name of page on the form, in this case, the
      ' Message page on a MailItem form.
      Set FormPage = Item.GetInspector.ModifiedFormPages("Message")

      ' Sets Control to a list box called ListBox1.
      Set Control = FormPage.Controls("ListBox1")

      ' Bind the control to the Mileage field in the item.
      Control.ItemProperty = "Mileage"

   End Sub
				

LayoutFlags Property

When working with a control in design mode, you can view the properties of a control by right-clicking on a control and choosing Properties on the shortcut menu. The Display tab of the Properties dialog box contains an option for Resize with Form, which may be on or off by default depending on the type of control. If this property is turned on, then the control will horizontally resize when the form itself is being horizontally resized.

In the Properties dialog box, you cannot set the control to vertically resize, but you can write VBScript code to change both the vertical and horizontal Resize with Form setting.

   Sub Item_Open()

      ' Sets the name of page on the form, in this case, the
      ' Message page on a MailItem form.
      Set FormPage = Item.GetInspector.ModifiedFormPages("Message")

      ' Sets Control to a text box called TextBox1.
      Set Control = FormPage.Controls("Textbox1")

      ' Use one of the following lines to achieve the noted effect.
      Control.LayoutFlags = 1   ' Do not resize.
      Control.LayoutFlags = 4   ' Resize horizontally.
      Control.LayoutFlags = 65  ' Resize vertically.
      Control.LayoutFlags = 68  ' Resize horizontally and vertically.

   End Sub