Problem with Outlook 2010 Formular editor

Question

Hello,

i discovered the following problem with the formular designer of outlook 2010 (Beta and release version)

1. load a formular created with outlook 2007 via developer tools function

2. open the script editor

3. add a line of code like:     Msgbox "enter item_beforechecknames"

4. execute formular

results in a "script error"

sometimes the message is "excepted 'then' Line: xxx", sometimes "execepted 'end' Line yyy"

cause of error is always a missing character !!!

sometimes a space, sometimes a '>' or 'n' from the word 'Function'

the only way for me to edit formular code is to use Outlook 2007... :-(

did anyone else discover this issue?

 

Timm

 

 

 

Answer 1

Hi Timm,

Yes, we've seen this issue just recently. The missing character actually occurs on a page boundary. Copy all the code from the editor (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C) and then paste it into a binary editor and note the location of the missing character. Is it 0x1000 bytes (or a multiple thereof) in?

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Answer 2

Hi Timm,

This is a known problem that we just discovered where the Script Editor in Outlook 2010 drops a character at every 4K of script text. Hopefully this will be fixed in the near future. The only workaround I can see is pretty ugly: First, only use Outlook 2007 to edit the form, and then ensure that the characters that get dropped fall with a comment region within the form's code. Given that, the form should then work in Outlook 2010, even with the missing characters.

Also, just so you know, Outlook has another feature called "formulas" with it's own "formula editor." You can set these by going into the properties of the control on a form. It uses the same Office-wide "expression service" that Excel and Access use. This is a completely separate feature from the Script Editor, so I would suggest keeping those terms separate to help make things more clear.

Bill Jacob

Microsoft Enterprise Business Applications – Messaging Developer Support

Answer 3

Hi Bill,

 

If you do the form code only in OL12 or earlier, does the OL14 problem surface anyway? Or is it just a problem if you do any form code editing in OL14? Thanks.

--
Ken Slovak
[MVP - Outlook]
http://www.slovaktech.com
Author: Professional Programming Outlook 2007.
Reminder Manager, Extended Reminders, Attachment Options.
http://www.slovaktech.com/products.htm

 

 

"billja-ms" <=?utf-8?B?YmlsbGphLW1z?=> wrote in message news:0e4f28ab-47d3-45a8-a911-bce14178723e...

Hi Timm,

This is a known problem that we just discovered where the Script Editor in Outlook 2010 drops a character at every 4K of script text. Hopefully this will be fixed in the near future. The only workaround I can see is pretty ugly: First, only use Outlook 2007 to edit the form, and then ensure that the characters that get dropped fall with a comment region within the form's code. Given that, the form should then work in Outlook 2010, even with the missing characters.

Also, just so you know, Outlook has another feature called "formulas" with it's own "formula editor." You can set these by going into the properties of the control on a form. It uses the same Office-wide "expression service" that Excel and Access use. This is a completely separate feature from the Script Editor, so I would suggest keeping those terms separate to help make things more clear.

Bill Jacob

Microsoft Enterprise Business Applications – Messaging Developer Support

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Ken Slovak MVP - Outlook

Answer 4

Ken, today I verified that it affects forms that were never modified with Outlook 2010. So apparently the characters are lost when the form is opened.

Bill Jacob
Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) – Messaging Developer

Answer 5

Thanks Bill.

 

Opened in the forms editor, or just opened in OL14?

 

Oooh, that's a real ugly one if it affects any custom form with code opened in OL14.

--
Ken Slovak
[MVP - Outlook]
http://www.slovaktech.com
Author: Professional Programming Outlook 2007.
Reminder Manager, Extended Reminders, Attachment Options.
http://www.slovaktech.com/products.htm

 

 

"billja-ms" <=?utf-8?B?YmlsbGphLW1z?=> wrote in message news:4a33405d-dc0d-4719-8f9c-58a7be79c53d...

Ken, today I verified that it affects forms that were never modified with Outlook 2010. So apparently the characters are lost when the form is opened.

Bill Jacob
Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) – Messaging Developer

---

Ken Slovak MVP - Outlook

Answer 6

Hi Ken,

This happens with Outlook 2010 even if you open a form that was only touched with a previous version. It will also drops characters if you re-publish the form with Outlook 2010. So from the Outlook perspective, it happens on both read and write.

Bill Jacob
Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) – Messaging Developer

Answer 7

Hi Bill,

 

OK, here's a scenario.

 

A custom form developed in Outlook 2003 is saved as an OFT and is published using code in a COM addin running in Outlook 2010. The COM addin uses ContactItem.FormDescription.PublishForm(olPersonalRegistry) to publish the OFT.

 

The form code shouldn't be corrupted, correct? As long as the form code isn't opened for editing in OL14 things would be OK?

 

Thanks.

--
Ken Slovak
[MVP - Outlook]
http://www.slovaktech.com
Author: Professional Programming Outlook 2007.
Reminder Manager, Extended Reminders, Attachment Options.
http://www.slovaktech.com/products.htm

 

 

"billja-ms" <=?utf-8?B?YmlsbGphLW1z?=> wrote in message news:13b6333e-e250-4e19-a6d6-654becddee13...

Hi Ken,

This happens with Outlook 2010 even if you open a form that was only touched with a previous version. It will also drops characters if you re-publish the form with Outlook 2010. So from the Outlook perspective, it happens on both read and write.

Bill Jacob
Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) – Messaging Developer

---

Ken Slovak MVP - Outlook

Answer 8

Hi Ken,

I would make an educated guess and say that should work OK, but I didn't test that scenario.

Bill Jacob

Answer 9

OK, thanks, Bill.

I'll ping you if I start getting reports of that sort of corruption on just opening the custom items :)

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Ken Slovak MVP - Outlook

Answer 10

Hi,

Just closing the loop on this. The October 2010 Cumulative Update for Outlook is out and fixes this issue. Here is the KB for this (the link to download the fix is at the top):

Description of the Outlook 2010 hotfix package (outlook-x-none.msp): October 26, 2010
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2405793

Bill Jacob
Microsoft Customer Service and Support - Messaging Developer