ID: Q182387
The information in this article applies to:
This article describes how to programmatically access the contents of both standard and custom keywords fields in Microsoft Outlook 98 using Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript). Concepts in this article may also apply to solutions in which Outlook is automated using Microsoft Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications.
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Outlook 98 provides three standard keywords fields that can be modified.
Field name Forms available in:
---------- ------------------------------------------
Categories All
Companies Contact, Task, Task Request, Journal Entry
Children Contact
When accessing these standard keywords fields through the Outlook object model, they are treated like a standard text field. For example, if the Categories selected for a contact are Personal, Phone Calls, and Waiting, the following line of VBScript code will set the MyCategories variable equal to the entire list of categories:
MyCategories = Item.Categories
' Chr(44) is the ANSI value of a comma.
' Chr(32) is the ANSI value of a space.
' Together, this is the delimiter for a keywords field.
MyArray = Split(Item.Categories, Chr(44) & Chr(32))
MsgBox MyArray(0)
MsgBox MyArray(1)
MsgBox MyArray(2)
It is not possible to directly modify the contents of a user-defined keyword field using VBScript. Outlook uses a different variation of array data type than that supported by VBScript, and therefore a "Type mismatch" error message will appear if you try to display the text of the field in a message box (MsgBox), assign the field to an array variable, or perform any string-related function on it.
For example, if you create a keywords field called MyKeywords, the following two lines of code will both generate a "Type mismatch" error message:
MsgBox Item.UserProperties.Find("MyKeywords").Value
Item.UserProperties.Find("MyKeywords").Value = "New Text"
Accessing the Text Via a Control:
You can work around this limitation by "filtering" the text through a control. For example, you can place a text box (Textbox1) on a form page (P.2) and bind this text box to a user-defined keywords field (MyKeywords). The following steps create sample code that adds the word "New" to the beginning of the MyKeywords field.
NOTE: If you do not want to display the text box used to gain access to the keywords text, you can right-click the text box, click Properties, and clear the Visible property on the Display tab of the Properties window.
1. Open a new, standard mail message.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Forms and then click Design This Form.
3. Click the message area of the form to select the message control, then
drag the top of the control down to make room for additional controls.
4. In the Field Chooser, click New.
5. In the New Field window, type "MyKeywords" (without the quotation
marks) in the Name box, click Keywords in the Type list, and then click
OK.
6. Drag the MyKeywords field from the Field Chooser to the blank area
above the message control.
7. From the Toolbox, drag a command button (CommandButton) to the form.
8. On the Form menu, click View Code.
9. Type the following code into the Script Editor, then close the editor:
Sub Commandbutton1_Click()
Set MyPage = Item.GetInspector.ModifiedFormPages("Message")
Set MyControl = MyPage.Controls("TextBox1")
MyControl.Value = Now() & ", " & MyControl.Value
MsgBox MyControl.Value
End Sub
11. Click the command button to run the VBScript code. A new date will be
added to the keywords field every time the command button is clicked.
Note that Outlook will automatically remove the extra comma at the end
of the field when the focus is moved off of the field or when the item
is saved.
If one of the standard keywords fields is not being used and it is available based on the type of form you are using (see the Standard Keywords Fields table earlier in this article), you can use that field to gain access to the text in the field. You can temporarily assign the value of your custom keywords field to the standard field, modify the text while it is in the standard field, assign the standard field back to your custom keywords field, and then delete the contents of the standard field you temporarily used. The following sample code provides an overview of this process:
' Assign the custom keywords field (MyKeywords) to Categories.
Item.Categories = Item.UserProperties.Find("MyKeywords")
' Modify the field.
Item.Categories = "New " & Item.Categories
' Display the modified field.
MsgBox Item.Categories
' Replace the modified field.
Item.UserProperties.Find("MyKeywords") = Item.Categories
' Reset the Categories field.
Item.Categories = ""
For more information about using fields and controls with VBScript, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
ARTICLE-ID: Q182362
TITLE : OL98: How to Use Fields and Controls with VBScript
ARTICLE-ID: Q180826
TITLE : OL98: Resources for Custom Forms and Programming
ARTICLE-ID: Q182349
TITLE : OL98: Questions About Custom Forms and Outlook Solutions
Keywords : kbprg kbdta kbdtacode OffVBA
Version : WINDOWS:98
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowtoLast Reviewed: May 17, 1999