Troubleshooting forms

The form may be visible only for message responses. To trigger the response form, create a form, such as a new message form, and then send it to yourself. Open the response form, click the (Properties) page, and then clear the Use form only for responses check box.
The form may not have been saved, or it may not have been saved to a forms library.
Based on the item type used, switching to a table view may make it easier to see the form.

You probably used the Control Toolbox to add controls to a form. When you add controls from the Control Toolbox, if the control will be used to store data, you should bind the control to a field. Data is stored in fields, not controls. If a control is not bound to a field, the data will be lost when the item is saved or sent.

Note If you drag a field from the Field Chooser, the control that is created will automatically be bound to the field.

If Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) in a form changes the form itself, Microsoft Outlook may save the form definition with the item, creating a one-off item.

You cannot set a custom form as the default form for the Inbox. All incoming e-mail uses the default mail form or a form specified by the sender.

However, you can change the default mail message form that Microsoft Outlook will use in all folders. For more information, see Help.

You need to set the default form for the folder to your custom form.

You need to change the Message Class field of all the older items in the folder.

E-mail messages and post forms can be viewed in either Compose or Read mode. You can disable this capability so that there is only one mode for the form, or you can modify the Read and Compose pages separately. These options are on the Form menu when in design time.

You probably published this form to more than one forms library. Make sure that the form is published in only one place.

The Message or Notes field on a form is referred to as the Body property in the Microsoft Outlook object model.

Remember that the password is case-sensitive.

If a form has been password-protected and the password is no longer known, Microsoft cannot help you circumvent the password protection.

Check whether controls on the form have field validation enabled in the Properties dialog box of the control.

If the error still appears, you must delete any unused custom fields that exist in the item, regardless of whether they appear on the form.

Microsoft Exchange Client does not recognize Microsoft Outlook forms. A Microsoft Exchange Client user who opens an Outlook form sees only the standard message form properties; that is, all custom fields are not visible. However, Outlook can open forms designed with the Microsoft Exchange Forms Designer.

If you are using Microsoft Word as your e-mail editor, the form's design environment isn't available. Turn off Word as your e-mail editor, and then reopen the form.

In the main Microsoft Outlook window, on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
Clear the Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages check box.

Use the following troubleshooting tips to help troubleshoot problems if your forms or programming solution works on some computers, but not others.

Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) version If your solution involves forms that use VBScript, you may need to make sure that all computers are using the same version of VBScript that is being used on your development computer. VBScript is a shared component. Installing other software, such as a newer version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, may result in newer versions of VBScript being installed. For the latest information about VBScript versions, go to http://www.microsoft.com/scripting.

Controls If your solution uses any nonstandard controls, check to see if the controls are properly installed on all of the user's computers. If you are using any control other than one of the Forms 2.0 controls that are installed by Microsoft Office, you should provide your users with a Setup program to ensure that all of your controls are installed correctly.

Permissions or user rights Make sure that any user experiencing problems has proper permissions or rights to use any public folders or other resources that your solution uses.

Mail forms If your solution sends forms from one user's computer to another, did you select the Send form definition with item check box on the form's Properties page when in design mode? If not, you or the users must properly install the form so that it is available for users. Also, make sure that the computers are configured with the same type of mail accounts. Sometimes the type of message format (Microsoft Rich Text, HTML, or plain text) can play a role, as well as whether or not Microsoft Word is the e-mail editor. When the message is received, is the type of message format the same as when it was sent? Is it possible the format was converted during the send process?

For security reasons, Outlook does not run Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) in a form if the form is a one-off form. Ideally, you should avoid one-off forms and publish forms to a form library instead. If you are using Microsoft Exchange, you can implement custom security settings in the Microsoft Outlook Security Settings folder to re-enable VBScript in one-off forms.

There is Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) code in the item. To prevent this message from appearing, the VBScript code should be located in a published form. Published forms are considered safe, and therefore the macro virus warning is not displayed if the code exists in the published form.

If you published the form but still receive the warning message, this usually means one of two things: the Send form definition with item check box is selected on the form's Properties page; or the item has become a one-off form and the form definition, including VBScript code, has become part of the item itself.