Customizing Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is a very powerful program even without any customizations. Many users and organizations never need anything more than what Outlook offers right out of the box. However, if you need more from Outlook, consider extending its functionality through custom programming.

Most people who use Office are aware that they can extend the functionality of Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint with programming. But few people realize that even with the new security features implemented after the Melissa and I Love You viruses, Outlook offers a rich programming environment. There are, of course, a few cautions and limitations to be aware of, but you can develop an enterprisewide system using nothing but Outlook and Exchange Server.

Adding a few custom fields and controls to a contact form, for example, can enable you to track, sort, and filter on information specific to your company. A consulting firm might need to track the method their clients typically use to pay their bills. An accountant might need to make a note of her client's fiscal year end date. Storing company- or industry-specific information with a contact item can make Outlook work for you.

NOTE

A field is a container for a piece of data. A control is where that data is displayed. For example, on a standard contact form, a control is the box where you enter the full name. The field, however, is FullName a property of the contact item. You don't actually see fields; you see the controls that display the data within those fields.

It's relatively easy to create and publish a custom form. You can customize an existing form, such as your default contact form, or create a new form based on any existing Outlook item type. You can add additional pages, controls, and code to enhance your form. You can even program Outlook forms to interact with other Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and Access.

Chapters 32 34 give you the building blocks to create entire applications using only Outlook and Exchange Server. These chapters assume some very basic familiarity with programming. If you've never programmed before, you can probably still take the information here and design a basic Outlook form. However, to go further, you'll probably want to invest in a book on VBScript or VBA.