Greetings! Welcome to Vol. 3, No. 6, of Exchange Messaging Outlook, an occasional newsletter about Microsoft Exchange, Windows Messaging and Microsoft Outlook, both for users of Windows 95 and NT 4.0 and for organizations using Microsoft Exchange Server.
Today's highlights:
Microsoft announced last week that Outlook 2000 will join the other Office applications in supporting Visual Basic for Applications. I, like many other people, assumed that this means you'll be able to use VBA instead of VBScript to construct code for Outlook forms. It turns out that's not the case. For the real meaning of this announcement, EMO turned to my fellow MVP Randy Byrne for the full story. Here's what Randy had to say:
Developers should be aware that Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is supported only within the context of the running Outlook Application. The development environment for Outlook 2000 custom forms programming remains VBScript. Outlook custom forms cannot contain VBA code. VBScript behind forms still provides a simple yet powerful way to enable Form-level automation and have that automation travel from recipient to recipient. Think of Outlook VBA on the other hand as a personal development tool. VBA provides an integrated, high-end design environment for creating solutions at the Application level. VBA solutions can include all the new Outlook 2000 events as well as existing Outlook 97/98 events at the form level. A single VBA project can also be digitally signed and distributed to users within a corporation.
The greatest impact of Microsoft's Outlook VBA announcement is that programmers will be able to begin COM Add-In development using VBA and then use a converter in the Office 2000 Developer Edition to convert VBA code to a compiled Visual Basic COM Add-In. COM Add-Ins greatly extend the power and functionality of Outlook 2000 by taking advantage of over 30 new events in the Outlook 2000 object model. Supported events include NewMail, Startup, Quit, SendMail, NewInspector, FolderSwitch, ViewSwitch, and SelectionChange just to name a few. Microsoft intends for COM Add-Ins to replace difficult to write and install Exchange Client Extensions that require C++ as the development language. Developed using any COM compliant development tool, COM Add-Ins can be digitally signed with X.509 certificates for security authentication and can be deployed to the enterprise with the Outlook 2000 Custom Installation Wizard. Possible COM Add-In scenarios include custom Rules that fire when new mail arrives, vertical market applications that control the Outlook user interface to provide unique functionality, and integration of Outlook with corporate databases.
Randy Byrne, President, Micro Eye, Inc., http://www.microeye.com
Author of "Building Applications with Microsoft Outlook 2000" by Microsoft
Press, scheduled for publication Q1 1999.
The case of the missing Office SR-2 patch
A month ago, EMO announced the availability of Microsoft Office Service Release 2. Enough people had problems with the patch to update SR-1 to SR-2 that Microsoft withdrew the patch until the installation problems could be resolved. When it returns to microsoft.com, it should be accompanied by a utility to check whether your system is ready to install the patch.
In the meantime, you can still get SR-2 -- the full version on CD, not the patch. This is the version you'll want anyway, just in case you ever need to reinstall Office. Two important things to know about the full version:
You need to remove Office, then reinstall from the full SR-2 CD.
If you have Outlook 98, make sure that you use the Custom installation option, not Typical, so that you can avoid installing Outlook 97 on top of your copy of Outlook 98.
See our Outlook 8.04 page at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/ol804.htm for more information on SR-2, what it fixes and how to get it.
Office ValuPack -- not just for SR-2
Among the items on the Office SR-2 CD (both the full version and the patch, when it becomes available again) is a ValuPack folder with updates to the many of the Microsoft utilities for Outlook, as well as the other Office programs.
This new ValuPack is compatible with earlier versions of Outlook. You don't need SR-2 installed to use these updated versions of the import/export converters, Timex Data Link Watch wizard, and so on. Unfortunately, we don't yet know exactly what's new in each utility. I wouldn't expect any major improvements, but you might pick up the occasional performance tweak or bug fix.
Many of the utilities should also work with Outlook 98. (One exception would be the Rules Wizard, since Outlook 98 has its own version.)
The ValuPack is also available as a 17mb download from http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloadDetails/off97vpk.htm. You'll need to register at the Office Update site, if you haven't already.
If you're eager to find out more about Outlook 2000 -- and you live in the right city in the United States -- you can get a free preview, a box of popcorn and a copy of the Office 2000 beta (at least for "a limited number of attendees," whatever that means). Microsoft is holding a live Office 2000 preview Saturday, November 14, in selected theatres in these cities:
AZ -- Scottsdale
CA -- Brea, Citrus Heights, Los Angeles, San Diego, Woodland Hills
CO -- Englewood
FL -- Orlando, Pembroke Pines
GA -- Atlanta
IL -- Chicago
IN -- Indianapolis
LA -- Baton Rouge
MA -- Boston
MI -- Farmington Hills
MN -- Roseville
MO -- St. Louis
NJ -- Paramus
NV -- Las Vegas
NY -- New York City, Syracuse
OK -- Tulsa
PA -- Philadelphia
TX -- Dallas, Houston
VA -- Fairfax, Richmond
WA -- Seattle, Bellevue
See http://www.microsoft.com/extreme/main.htm to register.
Looking for a fax alternative for Outlook? Take a look at the newest page at the Slipstick Systems Exchange Center, on WinFax PRO 9, at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/winfax9.htm. Many thanks to MVP Ken Slovak for compiling all this installation and troubleshooting information on how to get maximum integration between WinFax and Outlook, even with Outlook 98 in IMO mode.
Note that Symantec already has a LiveUpdate available for WinFax PRO 9. Be sure to connect and download this update to get the latest bug fixes.
Also, this version of WinFax includes networked faxing for TCP/IP networks built in. For previous versions, you had to buy a separate network fax server product. I think this makes it worth taking a second look at WinFax if you've considered it in the past, but stuck with Microsoft Fax because of it's networking capability. (FYI, for other Outlook-compatible network fax products, see http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/client2.htm#groupfax.)
Outlook most needed feature survey
For a few months, the Outlook 98 Opinion pages at the Slipstick Systems Exchange Center have invited you to express your opinion on what feature Outlook 98 needs most. Hundreds of people have sent in their ideas -- some obvious, some not so common. It's very clear that no two people use Outlook in exactly the same way.
I had every good intention of publishing the list a few weeks ago, but got caught up in the endless round of finding and fixing broken links to the essential pages at microsoft.com.
But never fear, the "needed feature" list will be out -- probably in November, after the Office 2000 preview event described above. Why wait? Once the Office 2000 betas are distributed as part of that event, the cat is out of the bag on many Outlook 2000 features we can't talk about yet. But once they're made public, we can give you a list of the features you think Outlook needs and tell you whether they're going to be included in Office 2000.
So far, I can say that prospects are good for many of the features you want. See http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/ol2000.htm for links to both Microsoft's documents and our own feature list from the last issue of EMO. You'll also find new links to the slide presentations from September's Microsoft Exchange Conference. These give you a very good idea of some of the most exciting Outlook 2000 features.
Meanwhile, feel free to voice your opinion of Outlook's most needed feature by sending a message to mailto:opinion@slipstick.com.
Veteran Slipstick Systems visitors know that my site specializes in the client issues for Microsoft Exchange, Windows Messaging and Microsoft Outlook. Many of you have asked whether we could add the same level of coverage for Microsoft Exchange Server. Frankly, the resources just aren't there at this time, though I'll occasionally add some links for a particularly hot issue. For example, check out the Outlook Web Access resources listed at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/server1.htm#owa or all the different ways you can give users control over part of their entries in the GAL (http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/client4.htm#exsupdate).
Most of the time, though, I send seekers of Exchange Server information to the newsgroups on msnews.microsoft.com or to the archives of the msexchange mailing list at the Microsoft Exchange Forum at http://www.msexchange.org. If you're an Exchange administrator, you really need this discussion list. If you don't have time to read it every day, subscribe a public folder to it.
The latest exciting news from the Exchange Forum is that Peter Bowyer, creator of the forum and the mailing list, has indexed some 50,000 Internet web pages related to Exchange and Outlook (including all of those at http://www.slipstick.com, of course) and made them available for searching. The next time you're trying to track down the solution to a tricky Exchange or Outlook problem, client or server, try Peter's search page at http://www.msexchange.org/exchlist/search/search.asp. Definitely a page worth bookmarking.
New and updated utilities
Field Mapping Patch
Microsoft patch for Outlook 98, essential if you want to control which fields in Outlook are used to store data from your source file when importing or exporting. http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloadDetails/field98.htmUniversal Information Client Replacement
MAPI client that can work with any collection of MAPI storage, address and transport services. Includes support for X.400, LDAP lookup and iCalendar scheduling.
http://www.net-tel.com/uic/MAPI Desktop Enabler
Combined MAPI storage, address and transport provider for X.400.
http://www.net-tel.com/desktop/Exchange Hook
Generic mechanism for adding Exchange/Outlook client extensions that perform actions when you open or close messages, based on a particular e-mail address in the From field. Strictly for developers.
http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/gallery.htm#exchangehookMicrosoft Office 97 Service Release 2 ValuPack
Includes updated versions of import/export converters for Outlook, Export Wizard for Timex Data Link Watch, Rules Wizard and Lotus cc:Mail support.
http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloadDetails/off97vpk.htmMy Outlook Calendar
Update to fix a few bugs in this Word template that enhances Outlook calendar printing with color-coding and other features.
http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/gallery.htm#myolcalWinFax PRO (ver 9.0)
Latest version of this popular fax program includes fax modem sharing for TCP/IP networks. http://www.symantec.com/winfax/index.html
http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/winfax9.htmAlcom LanFax (ver 5.5)
Latest version of this fax server with Exchange/Outlook MAPI component includes fax rendering of documents on the server, so you can send faxes without tying up your desktop machine.
http://www.alcom.com/ActiveView (ver 1.7)
This utility for maintaining a freeform database related to Outlook Contacts has been updated to add letter printing, move notes between contacts, set different colors for highlighting, set time stamp preferences and perform enhanced envelope printing. [No longer available as of 9/2002]
http://www.nextword.com/AVprod.htmMailAgent (ver 1.1)
Outlook 97/98 utility to refile messages from the Inbox (after they have been read) or from Sent Items. Can run in the System Tray. Update introduces new filing options, more accurate filing statistics and easier selection of target folders. [No longer available as of 9/2002]
http://www.nextword.com/MailAgentprod.htmChilton Preview (ver 1.03) Updated version of this very popular preview pane for Outlook 97/98, adding the ability to get rid of popup message that appears when you switch to a different item while an attachment is open. Bug fixes, too.
http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/gallery.htm#preview
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