OL2002: Hyperlink Returns an Error Message When You Use the Outlook Protocol (296071)

SYMPTOMS

When you use a hyperlink to open a message from a public folder by using the outlook:// protocol, you may receive the following error message:

Unable to display the selected folder or item.

This same hyperlink opens in Microsoft Outlook 2000.

CAUSE

Extensions on the hyperlink target are removed internally when you specifiy a hyperlink to use the outlook:// protocol in Outlook 2000. If the hyperlink target does not start with the tilde character (~), one is added as shown in the following examples:

Original hyperlink:

outlook://Public%20Folders/All%20Public%20Folders/Mytest/Mytest.EML

How the hyperlink is treated internally:

outlook://Public%20Folders/All%20Public%20Folders/Mytest/~Mytest

To accommodate some potential Unicode changes, this internal change to the URL does not happen in Outlook 2002. The outlook:// protocol expects a tilde character to specify the subject of the target message, and without the tilde character, the message does not open successfully.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, manually truncate the file extension and add the tilde (~) character to the beginning of the message. The following is an example of how you can change the syntax for the hyperlink:

Change the following hyperlink syntax

outlook://Public%20Folders/All%20Public%20Folders/Mytest/Mytest.EML

to the following hyperlink syntax:

outlook://Public%20Folders/All%20Public%20Folders/Mytest/~Mytest

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Exchange 2000 provides a native storage of messages as .eml files in public folders. Because of this, you may want to create an outlook:// protocol link to the .eml files. However, the outlook:// protocol is designed to point to a message or a folder, not a specific file, so the manual workaround previously listed is necessary.