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MS Office Forum / Outlook / Contacts / October 2006Linking a custom form field to an Excel or SharePoint List
Is there any way to create a lookup field within Outlook that uses for its content an Excel spreadsheat or SharePoint list? I have a SharePoint list that contains a "Client Account Field" to which many of the contacts within Outlook are associated. It would be much easier for the user to have lookup field from which they can select the proper Client Account. This could be built as a choice field but that would have to be updated each time a new client account is added or amended. A link would be a much better solution if that is possible.  SignatureDougD I forgot to mention I have Outlook 2003 SP2 Professional Edition. SignatureDougD > Is there any way to create a lookup field within Outlook that uses for its > content an Excel spreadsheat or SharePoint list? I have a SharePoint list [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > but that would have to be updated each time a new client account is added or > amended. A link would be a much better solution if that is possible. Yes, by writing code behind a custom form or in an Outlook add-in to read the information from the data source and use it to populate a list or combo box that offers choices. The user would, of course, have to be able to connect to the data source. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003 http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Is there any way to create a lookup field within Outlook that uses for its > content an Excel spreadsheat or SharePoint list? I have a SharePoint list [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > but that would have to be updated each time a new client account is added or > amended. A link would be a much better solution if that is possible. Can you provide any guidance on how to do this or references/examples I can use to get me started? SignatureDougD > Yes, by writing code behind a custom form or in an Outlook add-in to read the information from the data source and use it to populate a list or combo box that offers choices. The user would, of course, have to be able to connect to the data source. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > but that would have to be updated each time a new client account is added or > > amended. A link would be a much better solution if that is possible. The basics of filling a list on a custom form are covered at http://www.outlookcode.com/d/formcontrols.htm#listcombo . Getting data from Excel is a simple matter of opening the worksheet and iterating the right rows; some of the import samples at http://www.outlookcode.com/d/customimport.htm should give you those basics. Retrieving data from SharePoint is something I don't have a good VBScript sample for, but I'm sure Google can turn up one for you. BTW, Microsoft InfoPath does a lot of this out of the box and is definitely the future of intra-organization forms. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003 http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Can you provide any guidance on how to do this or references/examples I can > use to get me started? [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> > but that would have to be updated each time a new client account is added or >> > amended. A link would be a much better solution if that is possible. Thanks much Sue. That provides me with a wealth of information. However, unless I missed it, it seems like these references are all talking about importing data into (or exporting data out of) Outlook from (or to) an Excel spreadsheet. That isn't exactly what I'm interested in. I want to permanently link an Outlook custom form field to a specific column in an existing spreadsheet and create a lookup field (drop down menu) in Outlook that uses the values from that spreadsheet column. Is that included here and I just missed it? What custom form field type would be the basis to create the drop down menu? SignatureDougD > The basics of filling a list on a custom form are covered at http://www.outlookcode.com/d/formcontrols.htm#listcombo . Getting data from Excel is a simple matter of opening the worksheet and iterating the right rows; some of the import samples at http://www.outlookcode.com/d/customimport.htm should give you those basics. > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > >> > but that would have to be updated each time a new client account is added or > >> > amended. A link would be a much better solution if that is possible. You missed it: The only way to have such a permanent link is to build in that functionality with your own custom code. I suggested the Excel samples as a way of getting you up to speed on writing Excel code in case you hadn't done that before. Nowhere did I suggest that export/import itself would be part of your solution. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003 http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Thanks much Sue. That provides me with a wealth of information. > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >> >> BTW, Microsoft InfoPath does a lot of this out of the box and is definitely the future of intra-organization forms. >> >> > Can you provide any guidance on how to do this or references/examples I can [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >> >> > but that would have to be updated each time a new client account is added or >> >> > amended. A link would be a much better solution if that is possible. Ok, thanks again, I'm with you now. As a relative novice to writing code, this seems a bit overwhelming. I'm stuggling with where to start. SignatureDougD > You missed it: The only way to have such a permanent link is to build in that functionality with your own custom code. > [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > >> >> > but that would have to be updated each time a new client account is added or > >> >> > amended. A link would be a much better solution if that is possible. |
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