Troubleshooting

My Date Keeps Changing

I created a custom field for use on my form. I named the field CreatedOn and set the data type as a Date/Time. In the Initial Value text box for the property of my field, I entered Now() and chose Calculate This Formula When I Compose a New Form. Every time I forward or reply to the item, my date changes to the time I actually forwarded the item, not the creation date of the original item. Can I change that?

If you want the forwarded or replied-to item to retain the original creation date of the item, you cannot use an Initial Value formula. That formula triggers whenever a new item is created. Forwarding or replying to an item always creates a new instance of the item. In this case, use VBScript code to copy the creation date of the original form into the creation date field of the forwarded item.

My Form Isn't Updating

I have several custom forms published in several different forms libraries. When I update one of these forms, some users cannot access the updated version of the form. They still see an older version of the form. How can I fix this?

There are a few things you can try to resolve this problem. If only a few users are having a problem, check to see whether they have a form of the same name published in their Personal Forms Library. Outlook will open that form instead of your form in the organizational forms library or public folder forms library.

If that isn't the case, there are still a few options that you can try. You can clear the forms cache on the user's machine. The forms cache is a file named frmcache.dat, and it contains cached form information. Deleting this file can sometimes force a reload of your updated custom form.

You can also go to the Properties tab of the custom form and change the version number of the form. This can also force the forms cache to load a new version of your custom form.

The Custom Form Could Not Be Opened

I published my form to the organizational forms library. When my users try to open the form, they receive the following message:

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 The custom form could not be opened. Outlook will use an Outlook form instead. Contact  your administrator. 

I've rebooted their machines and tried to publish the form again. What else can I do?

One of the most common problems with Outlook forms is form cache corruption. Every Outlook installation has a file called frmcache.dat the forms cache file. This file is used to prevent multiple versions of the form from being opened at the same time. When a user attempts to open a form, Outlook checks the cache to determine whether there's already a form of that name in the cache. If so, Outlook uses the cached copy of the form definition to load the form. If the form isn't currently in the cache, Outlook loads the form's definition into the cache and then loads the form.

Publishing a form while your users are currently running Outlook can cause forms cache corruption. Publishing a form while a user has an older version of the form open almost always causes forms cache corruption. If you receive the error message mentioned earlier, the easiest resolution is to clear the forms cache. To clear the cache, exit Outlook, find the frmcache.dat file, and delete it. In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the file is typically located at C:\Documents and Settings\<profile name>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\FORMS. After you delete the file, restart Outlook. Your users should now be able to open the custom form.