OL97: ListBox Bound to Keywords Field Unexpectedly Changes

• Microsoft Outlook 97

SYMPTOMS

When using a custom form containing a ListBox control, Outlook unexpectedly adds a new possible value to the control.

CAUSE

This behavior is due to the storage limitation of Keywords fields. If the control is bound to a field of type Keywords and you select a number of possible values in the control, the field may exceed its 255-character maximum length. This causes the last value to be truncated. Because the custom Keywords field now contains a new value that is not one of the options in the control, Outlook adds this new value to the list of possible choices in the control.

RESOLUTION

Use any of the following methods:

• Shorten the length of the possible values in the control so that a user cannot select more than 255 total characters.



• If possible, use more than one Keywords field to store the possible values.



• Redesign the form to avoid the use of the Keywords fields. For example, use multiple check boxes on the form instead.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

If you bind a ListBox control to a Keywords field, check boxes appear next to each of the possible values in the control. When using the form, a user can select multiple values by clicking the check boxes in the control.

REFERENCES

For more information about creating solutions with Microsoft Outlook 97, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q166368 OL97: How to Get Help Programming with Outlook

Q170783 OL97: Q&A: Questions About Customizing or Programming Outlook

Additional query words: OutSol OutSol97 vbscript

Keywords          : kbdta OffVBS 
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb 

Last Reviewed: April 4, 1999