Resources for custom forms and programming in Outlook 98 (180826)

MORE INFORMATION

There are many resources available for more information about how to develop custom Outlook forms or program with Outlook.

Important Many of the resources in this article contain information about Microsoft Outlook 2000 that may not apply to Outlook 98. Outlook 2000 supports Visual Basic for Applications and COM add-ins, which provide an application-level programming environment. This type of programming is not possible in Outlook 98; you must create an Exchange Client Extension in the C/C++ programming language to create application-level code in Outlook 98. However, most of the Outlook 2000 documentation about custom Outlook forms does apply to Outlook 98 because custom forms have changed little between Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000.

Frequently asked questions

For more information about frequently asked questions about Outlook custom forms and programming, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

182349 Questions about custom forms and Outlook solutions

Outlook forms and Visual Basic Help files

Outlook provides two related Help files, the Olform.hlp file and the Vbaoutl.hlp file. To install these files, you must first install Outlook and run Setup to install the additional development tools. For more information about how to install these help files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

183220 How to install Visual Basic Help

To access these Help files after they are installed, click Contents And Index on the Help menu. The Help files are towards the bottom of the Contents page as "Outlook Customization and Forms" and "Microsoft Outlook Visual Basic Reference."

If you use these files frequently, consider creating a shortcut to the Olform.hlp file on your desktop or Start menu. When you directly open the Olform.hlp file, the Contents page includes the Visual Basic Reference topics.

Microsoft Developer Network Online

Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) provides a wide variety of documentation that is related to developing solutions with Outlook. Because Outlook is both a Microsoft Exchange Server client and a part of Microsoft Office, documentation is provided in both of these areas on MSDN. Primary Office documentation is provided in the top-level Office Developer Documentation folder. Primary Exchange Server information is provided in the Platform SDK folder, under Messaging and Collaboration Services. Be sure to browse other top-level folders, such as the Technical Articles and Backgrounders folders. For more information, view the following Microsoft Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp

The following MSDN Office Developer Web site provides a wide variety of information about how to build solutions that are based on Office:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/office

The following Microsoft Exchange Server Developer Center Web site provides a wide variety of information about how to build solutions on the Exchange platform:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/exchange

The following Microsoft Scripting Web site provides frequently asked questions, sample code, language documentation, and free files to download for people who use VBScript:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting

Microsoft Knowledge Base

Consult the Microsoft Knowledge Base for up-to-date information about issues that are related to creating Outlook solutions. Many how-to articles are also included in the Knowledge Base. To find articles more easily, most articles that are related to custom Outlook solutions contain the query term "OutSol98" (without quotation marks). For more information, view the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/search/

Third-party Web sites

The following third-party Web sites provide information about how to create Outlook solutions:

Outlook and Exchange Developer Resource Center
http://www.OutlookExchange.com

-and-

Outlook and Exchange Solutions Center (Slipstick Systems)
http://www.slipstick.com

Books

Building Applications with Microsoft Outlook Version 2002
by Randy Byrne, Microsoft Press (ISBN 0-7356-1273-0)
Microsoft Press Online

Programming Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange 2003, Third Edition
by Thomas Rizzo, Microsoft Press (ISBN 0-7356-1464-4)
Microsoft Press Online

Teach Yourself Outlook 2000 Programming in 24 Hours
by Sue Mosher, Sams Press (ISBN 0-672-31651-X)

Developing Applications using Outlook 2000, CDO, Exchange, and Visual Basic
by Raffaele Piemonte and Scott Jamison, Addison-Wesley Pub Co. (ISBN: 0-201-61575-4)

Programming Microsoft Outlook 2000
by Gordon Padwick and Ken Slovak, Sams Press (ISBN: 0-672-31549-1)

Outlook 2000 VBA Programmers Reference
by Dwayne Gifford, Worx Press (ISBN: 1-861-00253-X)

Professional Outlook 2000 Programming
by Ken Slovack, Chris Burnham, and Dwayne Gifford, Worx Press (ISBN: 1-861-00331-5)

For other books about developing messaging-related solutions, see the following SlipStick Systems Web site:

http://www.slipstick.com/books/dev.htm

Note For general information about offerings by Microsoft Press, call Microsoft Press at (800)MSPRESS, or view the following Microsoft Press Web site:

http://mspress.microsoft.com

Magazines

Exchange & Outlook
by The Development Exchange (Fawcette Technical Publications)

http://www.fawcette.com/special/exchange/

Microsoft Outlook & Exchange
by Advisor Media, Inc.

http://exchangeadvisor.com

Internet newsgroups

Peer-to-peer newsgroups are available to help you interact with other Outlook users. You can use any newsreader software to access these newsgroups. The Microsoft news server name is msnews.microsoft.com. The primary newsgroup that is related to Outlook custom form solutions is program_forms, but there are also a variety of other newsgroups available that relate to Outlook solutions. Information about all Microsoft newsgroups is available on the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx

Microsoft Product Support Services

Microsoft provides a complete range of support options for Outlook customers. For more information about the type of support Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) can provide, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

234322 Getting support for Microsoft Office solutions

Solution providers

For information about solution providers in your local area, contact the Microsoft Solution Provider Sales and Information line at (800)765-7768 in the US or (800)563-9048 in Canada. For information about support in other locations, contact a local Microsoft subsidiary.

Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.