Basics of working with MS Outlook 2007
Having successfully studied the material, you will know:
general information about the purpose and capabilities of MS Outlook;
installation and configuration procedure for MS Outlook;
assignment of toolbar elements of the MS Outlook working window;
principles of creating an electronic message;
the purpose and functionality of various folders, principles of working with them.
After studying this topic you will be able to:
install and configure MS Outlook settings;
create and edit a user account;
navigate the functions of various MS Outlook components.
After studying the material you you will have the skills:
installation and configuration of MS Outlook parameters;
setting parameters and type of email;
creating an item in the Contacts folder;
creating, editing and deleting a Calendar folder item.
Basic concepts for topic 10
Information service
Personal folders
Spam
General information about Microsoft Outlook 2007
MS Outlook- a powerful tool for working with email, diary, notes, etc. It allows you to organize:
exchanging email messages, storing and searching for necessary messages in special folders that can be located on a mail server or on the hard drive of your computer, printing messages;
transferring files created in other applications, such as Excel workbooks or PowerPoint presentations and accompanying notes or messages;
maintaining an electronic calendar that allows you to plan things and present the necessary data in the most convenient form - a diary, weekly or monthly planner;
maintaining a contact list that allows you to store addresses, phone numbers and other information about the people you need;
journaling, which automatically records the Microsoft Office documents you worked with in chronological order, which allows you to search for documents not by their location on the disk, title or content, but simply by the time you worked with the document;
create notes that can be used in much the same way as regular note paper or the now popular sticky notes with a sticky strip on the back.
Like other Microsoft Office applications, Outlook can be used both on a separate computer and on a computer included in a local or global computer network. It should be noted that the main purpose of MS Outlook is to organize electronic communications, so this program is essentially a network application. In order to use all the features of MS Outlook, it must be installed on a computer connected to a computer network. Only then will you be able to use email to transfer files, coordinate and schedule appointments or conferences with other Outlook users, etc. The format for storing Outlook items is fixed, but the location where they are stored can be arbitrary: personal folders, a mailbox on a server, a hard drive, etc. Therefore, the item store (for example, when opening an item or searching for it) is not accessed by Outlook directly, but through a specific information service included in the Outlook configuration.
Folders are commonly used to organize files on your hard drive, and this is also true for Outlook items, with the caveat that the item store and its access service must support the ability to create folders. Folders, like items, have a set of properties. One of the properties is the type of items that the folder is intended to store. This property is used by Outlook when creating an item in a form call folder, and to determine the set of views that is most appropriate for items of that type. For some elements, it is convenient to use some other method (view) rather than a list or table, such as a calendar grid or timeline.
MS Outlook Panels and Tools
Outlook consists of six subsections.
When you start Outlook, a folder from the section of the same name opens.
At the top of the window there is a menu bar and a toolbar. On the left is a panel for switching between sections. The panel contains three already existing groups: Outlook Shortcuts, My Shortcuts and "Other shortcuts". Each of these groups contains shortcuts that you can use to open the desired folders in your mailbox or file system folders. When you click the button, the corresponding list of additional shortcuts opens. The folders themselves are not displayed by default, but displaying them is not at all difficult. To do this, select an item in the “View” menu.
When a folder is open, a table appears on the right side of the Outlook window describing the messages in that folder. The columns of this table are message fields. Typically the following fields are displayed: "From", "Subject", "Received", as well as fields for special notes (about the high or low importance of the letter, about the message being read, about the presence of attached files). You can add or remove fields from this table. To do this, in the “View” menu, select "Current view" and select from the drop-down menu. Click on the field button and a dialog box will open where you can add or remove columns. The viewing area for the current message is displayed at the bottom of the window. The command enables or disables this mode "Viewport" from the View menu.
The new message icon looks like a closed envelope, the read message icon looks like an open envelope.
When you click on the “Create” button, a dialog box appears for creating a section-specific element. For example, for a section, a dialog box appears for creating a new letter.
You can get a list of all objects available for creation by expanding the drop-down list to the right of the “Create” button.
Working with email
Email, in fact, differs little from the email you are used to on Yandex portals. ru and mail. ru.
Work with e-mail is carried out using the section. In this mode, the My Shortcuts panel by default contains following shortcuts.
Drafts - navigates to the folder with unfinished messages.
Outbox - indicates a folder with messages ready to be sent.
Sent - the folder stores messages that have already been sent.
Deleted items - goes to the folder where the deleted messages are located.
Points to the folder containing received messages.
Spam- a folder with “suspicious” messages.
To remove a shortcut, select "Remove from Outlook panel" in the context menu of this shortcut.
You can add a shortcut by selecting "Shortcut to Outlook Panel" and indicating in the window that appears the folder for which it should be created.
A new message
Creation email messages occurs using the “Create” button on the toolbar. A window for entering a new letter appears. In this window, you should specify the recipient's address in the "To" field. You can enter the address of another recipient in the “Copy” field. The "Subject" field must contain the subject of the message, which will be displayed to the recipient in the header of the letter.
When you click on the “To” button, the address book will open.
To add a recipient to the “To” field, select it from the list and click on the “To->” button in the “To” field “Copy” - “Copy->” and the “BK->” button to add a hidden copy (hidden copy means that others, having received the message, will not see this recipient). After adding all the required recipients, click OK.
Address books can contain dozens of names, especially if the network is large enough, there are many different post offices, or mail is routed to the Internet. In this case, in order to quickly find the name you need in the address book, you just need to enter the first few characters of the name you are looking for. For smaller lists, you can also use the scroll bar on the right side of the list, or move through the list by pressing the arrow keys on your keyboard.
The body of the message can be one of following formats:
plain text - the message contains only text;
RTF format - in addition to text, it can contain information about fonts and formatting;
HTML format - can contain information about fonts, formatting, as well as background and regular images.
Switching between these formats is done using the buttons in the Format section of the Parameters tab (Fig. 10.1 
).
In the Settings section of the tab (Fig. 10.2 
) the following buttons are located.
Importance - determines the importance of the message and can take the following values: normal, low, high (when selecting the “low” or “high” items on the toolbar, press the corresponding button).
The Options dialog box contains the following fields.
Flag - indicates the category of the letter. The letter can be: regular, personal, private and DSP (for official use).
Submit replies- allows you to specify the address to which the response will be sent.
Do not deliver until- sets the date the message was sent.
Not valid after- sets the date after which the message will not be sent.
Send a message to- allows you to select a mail server.
After the addressee has been specified, the necessary parameters have been set and the text of the letter is ready, it should be sent using the “Send” button. When you click this button, the message is sent, and the message itself, unless otherwise specified, is moved to the “Sent” folder.
If you often have to send messages to the same groups of recipients, it makes sense to define mailing lists. You can create as many distribution lists as you need, while including some recipients in several different groups at the same time. Mailing lists are marked in different colors and have custom names.
call the New button list and then the command;
in the Name field, enter a name;
on the tab click Select participants;
in the Address Book list, select the address book containing the email addresses that you want to include in the distribution list;
In the Search field, enter the name of the contact you want to include. In the list below, highlight a name and click the Members button. Complete these steps for each person you add to your distribution list, and then click OK.
In the future, you can use the name of the created distribution list in the same way as the name of an individual recipient, entering it from the keyboard or selecting it from the address book - the message sent in this way will be sent to all members of the group. If necessary, the composition of the group can be changed. You can add new group members or remove those who have dropped out at any time.
Sending, receiving and viewing mail. Reply and forward messages
If your computer is connected to the Internet via a local network (using a persistent connection), incoming messages automatically go to the folder. If the connection is not permanent, for example, using a modem, then after the connection is established, you can pick up mail using the button "Send/Receive". This button sends designated mail, as well as delivers incoming mail.
If the mode is enabled "Viewport", then to view a message you should select its title in the upper window, and its text will appear in the lower window.
To view a message in another way, simply double-click on the line of this message or select the desired line and press the key
To reply to the selected letter, click the “Reply” button on the toolbar: .
Sending a copy of a letter to another recipient is done using the “Forward” button: 
.
If the letter contains several recipients, then to send a reply to all its recipients, use the “Reply all” button: 
.
View and save attachments
Files attached to the message are displayed directly in the text of the message in the form of an icon for the corresponding application with a signature representing the file name. If the application with which this file was created is installed on your computer, you can open the attached file directly from the message form by double-clicking on the corresponding icon. You can also save the attached file separately from the message, as a regular file in any folder in the file system.
To save attachments of the selected email, select the command "Save attachments" in the "File" menu. In the dialog box for saving attached files that opens, specify the path to the save location on disk (the file name can be changed when saving).
Displaying a list of folders and working with them
To store and sort received mail, you can create additional mailbox folders, or you can save particularly important messages as separate files on disk, although the latter is used less frequently.
To create a new folder, select “Folder” from the “File” menu and select “Create Folder” from the drop-down menu. The Create New Folder dialog box opens.
Enter a name for the new folder in the Folder Name field, in the next field select the type of items that will be stored in this folder, and in the "Place folder" select the path to the folder to be created.
To move the selected message to another folder, use the command "Move to folder" from the “File” menu or the corresponding button on the message toolbar: .
You can change the sort order of messages in an open folder: messages can be sorted by any of the existing fields, even if the field is not currently visible in any of the table columns. You can also sort by multiple fields.
To specify the sort order, select "Current view" in the "View" menu. Select the item from the drop-down menu "Change current view". In the window that opens "View Details" Click on the "Sort" button. A dialog box will open. Select the mail sorting options that are convenient for you and save the changes by clicking the "OK" button.
Outlook also provides the ability to group by field. To do this, right-click on the field name and select “Group” by this field in the context menu.
Contacts folder in MS Outlook 2007
To work with contacts, go to the “Contacts” section. In this folder you can store regular addresses and telephone numbers, email addresses, personal web page URLs, information about your position, birthdays, and in general any information about people you are interested in.
Create a new contact. Contact form
To add a new contact, use the “Create” button. A dialog box will open in which you must enter the required information.
For each contact, you can specify one or more categories to which it belongs. This is done by clicking the “Categories” button and selecting the required categories.
On the Details tab, you can enter additional information.
The Actions tab contains all emails, tasks, and other information associated with a given person.
The “Certificates” tab is used to store the digital signatures of a given person. A digital signature in an email is similar to a signature in a regular letter. It is intended to confirm that this particular person created this letter. A personal digital signature can be obtained from a specialized organization.
The All Fields tab contains all the fields on the Contact form. To view the field of interest, select it in the drop-down list.
Working with tasks
A folder is another way to plan your work. Information about tasks and projects that require a long time and do not fit into one working day is placed here. To work with tasks, go to the section of the same name. When you open the “Tasks” folder, you will see a graphical worksheet that lists existing tasks.
New task. Setting parameters, assigning a task
Adding a task is done by clicking on the inscription "Clicking will add an element".
A form will open for entering information about a new task with two tabs “Tasks” and “Details”, with which you can enter a description of the new task or make changes to the data about an existing task, reflecting the progress of work on it.
You can also use task scheduling for your colleagues and subordinates and, in turn, receive tasks from your colleagues or superiors, provided that the task folders are located on the Microsoft Exchange server. To submit a task, click the button "Assign a task" on the toolbar of the created task window. In this case, email is used to send a message about the assigned task. In addition, the folder can be used by other applications besides Outlook.
Types of presentation of tasks in a folder. Actions with a task
The most convenient form for presenting tasks is timeline. To go to this task view, use the drop-down list "Current view" select value "Timeline".
Updating a task's status is done by double-clicking on the required task and setting a new value.
You can cancel the completion of a task in several ways.
How are MS Outlook folders different from Windows Explorer folders?
Where is a message written but not sent saved?
What is stored in the folder?
Is it possible to group letters in a folder? If yes, then according to what parameters?
How do you think spam should be screened?
What mailing lists would you create for your email, and who would you include there?
How to quickly send a message to all recipients of a specific list?
Can you create tasks, for example, for your younger sister? Are there any restrictions to this process?
You wrote an essay last month, but don't remember how you saved it. What MS Outlook tool can help you find a file with an abstract?
How can you group notes? For what purposes would you use the “Color” parameter?
Select view "Simple List" and check the box next to the corresponding task to indicate completion of the task.
"Day" .
The left side of the window looks like a piece of paper in a regular diary, divided into half-hour intervals. On this sheet you can plan the main events of your working day, noting the time occupied by any activities.
The right side of the window is divided into two panels: at the top there is a calendar, with which you can go to any date in the diary; to do this, just click on the desired day. The calendar usually displays the current month, but you can scroll to any month you want using the arrow buttons located in its header. At the bottom is the taskbar window.
It is also possible to display an hourly calendar for the working week. To do this, use the “Work Week” button.
Purpose and functionality of the “Diary” folder
The main function of the folder is to save information about the Microsoft Office documents you have worked with. The information recorded in the diary is displayed in chronological order and has a clear graphical presentation.
Having a detailed diary allows you to quickly find the desired document not by its location on the disk, title or content, but simply by the date of work with this document.
Create, edit, view, use, and delete notes
The section works with notes. The elements of this folder can be used as regular paper for notes, for creating and storing short notes - any ideas, questions that arise, etc.
Adding a new note is done by clicking on the “Create” button or by double-clicking the mouse in an empty area of the work area.
When you close a note, it is automatically recorded. The first paragraph of its content is displayed below the icon of the created note. Therefore, to make it easier to find the note you need, it makes sense to enter the title or brief description of the note as the first paragraph, and the main text in the following paragraphs.
To view a note, double-click on it.
Notes can also be grouped according to the following parameters: Modified, Categories, Contacts, Created, and Color. To set grouping conditions, enter the dialog box "Changes to the current view" and click on the "Group" button.
You can delete a note by selecting “Delete” in its context or system menu.
Main conclusions
Control questions
Outlook is the most "office-like" of all Microsoft Office applications. Even its simplest functions allow you to solve a number of different office tasks, but in general its possibilities are almost inexhaustible. But not all users and not always use them to the fullest. Ordinary employees most often perform the following actions when working with Microsoft Outlook:
- deal with e-mail: create, send, receive and print messages, work with mail folders, sign messages, set rules for processing messages;
- plan their working time: create entries about meetings and events in the calendar, set up alerts, view the calendar;
- maintain contacts: add and view records;
- work with tasks: create tasks and track their completion;
- use notes: create, edit, design and delete them.
Compared to the other core Microsoft Office 2007 applications, Outlook 2007 is the least visually different from its previous versions. However, it introduced new opportunities, new teams, and... new problems.
Let's look at the capabilities of Outlook for solving typical office tasks using the example of the second beta version of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. According to the developer, it contains all the functionality of the regular release, but is not the final product.
General work issues
Installation and Compatibility
Installing Outlook as part of Microsoft Office 2007 does not pose any difficulties. The system requirements of Microsoft Office 2007 are described in detail in the article “The New Word is Coming,” published in ComputerPress No. 10’2006.
When you install Microsoft Office 2007 as an upgrade from Microsoft Office 2003, all user templates and settings, correspondence, contacts, calendar entries and other items, and email accounts are retained and available.
Interface
The interface of the main window of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 is not much different from previous versions (Fig. 1). It retains the familiar menu bar and toolbars. Their content has not changed in general, although new commands have appeared in some menus.
Rice. 1. Appearance of the Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 window
(Mail area)
One of the significant innovations in the main window is the panel To-Do Bar at its right border. It appears by default when working in any area of Outlook. If for some reason the panel is missing, a submenu is used to display it and configure parameters To-Do Bar from the menu View. This panel displays the closest scheduled meeting and the task closest to the set date. When you click on any area of the panel, it expands (Fig. 2), displaying the calendar for the current month, a list of upcoming meetings (usually three meetings) and available tasks.
Rice. 2. Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 window (Mail area)
with expanded To-Do Bar
Panel To-Do Bar should be considered one of the advantages of the new version of Outlook. To view your upcoming meeting(s) and current tasks, you no longer need to constantly switch to the appropriate areas Calendar And Tasks.
If we analyze the changes in the Outlook interface by area, we can draw the following conclusions.
In area Mail There are no significant changes in the interface. As in Outlook 2003, the reading pane is on the right by default, but users traditionally place it at the bottom of the window.
In the regions Tasks And Notes There are also few changes in the interface. The design of the area has changed slightly Contacts, but this is unprincipled.
The interface of the area has undergone the greatest changes Calendar, however, not all users will agree with the statement that this has made working more convenient. This area will be discussed in more detail in the corresponding section.
Of course, the Outlook 2007 interface also includes the main innovation of Microsoft Office 2007 - tabs and ribbons. However, these elements appear only when solving specific tasks - creating a message, making a calendar entry, etc. The tabs and controls in them will be described in more detail in the relevant sections.
As with other applications, shortcut menus and the way you use them remain virtually unchanged in Outlook 2007.
In general, the interface should be considered very convenient. For a novice user who has not worked in previous versions of Microsoft Outlook, mastering it will not be difficult. For experienced users, the transition to the new interface will take no more than two to three days.
Search
In Outlook 2007, the capabilities of the search system have been expanded and the interface has been changed. The new search feature replaces both the regular search in previous versions of Outlook, which had very limited capabilities, and the advanced search, which few people used due to its non-obviousness.
To go to search in any area, expand Query Builder. The search bar is displayed at the top of the window (Figure 3).
Rice. 3. Search bar
The search panel has a standard set of fields for each area. To add fields that can be searched, just click on the button Add criteria and select the field name from the list provided. To remove a field from the search bar, click on the field name and select the command in the menu that appears Remove.
The search is performed instantly. It is enough to enter at least one character into any field, and the records are immediately selected. As other characters are entered, a new selection is made. In the selected list of records, found query elements are highlighted with a yellow background (you can change the background color if desired).
The search is in the current area. To find all the items from different areas of Outlook, you'll need to use advanced search.
When working with email messages, the search is performed in the current mail folder. If desired, you can search all mail folders.
To return to the normal display of records, it is not enough to collapse the search area - you must also click on the button Clear Search in the request field (Fig. 4).
Rice. 4. Search results in the Mail area
The search function is effective and very easy to use.
Categories
In previous versions, categories were used to assign any Outlook item (messages, calendar entries, notes, etc.) to specific groups ( Important contacts, Important clients, Personal data and so on.). The names of the groups were conventional and few people used them in this form. Additionally, in previous versions, some elements had color changes. For example, you could set a color label for calendar entries: Important- Red color, Official- blue color, etc. For notes, there was a choice of one of five colors.
In the new version, the ability to assign categories and highlight colors to elements is combined. At the same time, the categories became nameless, or rather, by default they began to be named only by their inherent color ( Blue Category, Red Category etc.). A category (or several), and therefore a color, can be assigned to any Outlook element. To assign a category, click on the button Categorize in the panel Standard and select the desired color from the list. The category can be used as a criterion for searching items and/or sorting and grouping.
If desired, categories can be given meaningful names. In addition, you can create new categories yourself. To do this, click on the button Categorize in the panel Standard and choose All Categories. In the window Color Categories(Fig. 5) to change the category name, click the button Rename and on the list Name change name. To create a new category, click the button New, in the window Add New Category Enter the name of the category to be created and select its color.
Rice. 5. Create a new category
Working with email
Working with messages in an area Mail has not undergone significant changes. Sending and receiving messages, viewing a list of messages, grouping and sorting them, working with mail folders, going to create a reply or forward a message - all this is inherited from previous versions of Microsoft Outlook.
The innovations affected three main points: working in message windows, setting up an email account, and previewing attached files.
Working in message windows
The appearance of the window has been changed both when creating a new message (Fig. 6) and when viewing an incoming one (Fig. 7).
Rice. 6. New message window
These windows are designed in the style of Microsoft Office 2007, that is, they contain tabs that display the most important controls for each area.
Rice. 7. Received message window
The new message window contains four main tabs: Message, Insert, Options And Format Text.
Tab Message(see Fig. 6) contains the elements necessary to create and format the text of the message, as well as to set the basic parameters of the message. To display the usual message options window ( Message Options Options. It is now possible to quickly insert contacts, calendar elements and signatures into the text of a message (group Include), which is very convenient. In this case, contacts and calendar are also attached to the message as objects. In the same tab there is a button for attaching files to the message (there is no need to go to the tab Insert, which is very convenient).
Tab Insert In many ways it resembles the same tab in Word 2007, only in a slightly shortened version. To create business messages, most of the features of this tab will most likely not be in demand.
Tab Options(Fig. 8) contains elements for setting message parameters. In particular, here you select the format of the message text (group Format), a message delivery and reading notification is set (group Tracking) etc. To display the usual message parameters window ( Message Options) you can click on the group button Tracking or More Options.
Rice. 8. Elements of the Options tab in the new message window
Tab Format Text in its capabilities and use it partially resembles a tab Home in Word 2007 and is designed for text design, including using styles, searching and replacing text.
Some inconvenience is that the message can only be sent when working in the tab Message. However, since it can be assumed that the user will mainly work in this tab, it is not so significant.
In the received message window there is only one important tab for work - Message(see Fig. 7). Tab Report Rendering Problem contains one single element - a button for creating a message to be sent to: [email protected] about problems when working with this message.
Setting up email accounts
To configure account settings in the area Mail on the menu Tools you should select a team Account Setting. Setting up and managing email accounts is done in the window Account Setting(Fig. 9).
Rice. 9. Setting up email accounts in the Account Setting window
To add a new account in the tab Email you should click on the button New. In the window Add New Email Account(Fig. 10) you need to enter your name, email address, password and press the button Further. Outlook is expected to automatically configure server names, ports, and other specifications for incoming and outgoing mail. However, with accounts POP3 this could not be done. According to user reviews, this function currently only works with accounts Exchange Server.
Rice. 10. Add an email account automatically
In practice, to create a new account in the window Add New Email Account(see Fig. 10) you can not specify anything, but check the box Manually configure server setting and press the button Further. In the next window, you can make settings in the usual way for previous versions (Fig. 11).
Rice. 11. Adding an account
manual email
Working with attached files
Outlook 2007 has a new feature that allows you to view certain file types attached to a message directly in the message reading pane. To do this, just click on the attached file icon - and the picture or text file will be displayed in the message reading area (Fig. 12).
Rice. 12. Preview of attached file
When you try to view potentially dangerous files in the reading area, a corresponding message appears (Fig. 13).
Rice. 13. Warning about the danger of opening an attached file
If the user is confident that the attachment is safe, they can click Preview File and view it (Fig. 14).
Rice. 14. Preview of attached file
To exit preview mode, click on the button Message(see Fig. 12 and 14).
In practice, the convenience provided by the ability to preview attached files is not that great. There is a danger that the user will uncheck the checkbox Always warm before previewing this type of file(see Fig. 13), which will increase the risk of computer infection.
Working time planning
Appearance of the calendar area ( Calendar) has undergone the greatest changes in Outlook 2007 (Fig. 15).
Rice. 15. Calendar area window Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
An area has appeared at the bottom of the window for viewing tasks with due dates corresponding to the displayed calendar date. For those who work with tasks, this is probably convenient, but for most users it is not very convenient, since this area occupies part of the window. In addition, tasks are displayed in the panel To-Do Bar, which would be quite enough. However, the task area in the calendar can be minimized.
As a result of this and other changes, the window now displays entries for a shorter period of time than in previous versions. This is somewhat inconvenient, however, as before, you can change the pitch of the calendar ruler.
Despite external changes, there are no significant innovations when working with the calendar.
Creating records of meetings and events is done in the same ways as before. The difference lies in the appearance of the new entry window (Fig. 16), made in the style of Microsoft Office 2007.
Rice. 16. New calendar entry window
The window contains three main tabs: Appointment (Event- to record an event), Insert And Format Text.
Tab Appointment (Event) (see Fig. 16) contains almost all the elements necessary to create a new record or edit an existing one.
Tab Insert is in many ways reminiscent of a similar tab in Word 2007 and is intended for inserting various objects into a record: pictures, tables, diagrams, etc. In the same tab, Outlook files and elements are attached to the entry. Tab Format Text in its capabilities and use it partially corresponds to the tab Home in Word 2007 and is intended for text design, including using styles. To create business records, most of the capabilities of these tabs, with the exception of inserting files, most likely will not be in demand.
As before, when creating a calendar entry, the default alert is set: for meetings - 15 minutes before the start, for events - 18 hours. If desired, you can select a different time interval for notification. Some inconvenience is that the calendar does not show the presence or absence of an alert for an entry (see Fig. 15).
Maintaining contacts
Appearance of the contact area window ( Contacts) in Outlook 2007 has undergone some changes (Fig. 17).
Rice. 17. Contacts area window Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
There are several new modes for viewing your contact list, for example Business Card(Fig. 18).
Rice. 18. Contacts area window in Business Card mode
Otherwise, there are few differences from previous versions. Adding contacts is the same as in previous versions of Outlook. The contact window is designed in the Office 2007 style (Fig. 19) and contains three main tabs: Contact, Insert And Format Text. In the tab Contact(see Fig. 19) there are all the elements necessary to create a new contact or edit an existing one. Instead of previous contact window tabs, you can use different tab display modes to add information Contact Show(see Fig. 19): General, Details and etc.
Rice. 19. Contact window
Tabs Insert And Format Text In most cases, they will not be in demand for creating business contacts.
Another useful innovation will be useful to the user when a duplicate contact is detected. In previous versions, this simply involved merging data and replacing old data with new ones. Outlook 2007 has a comparison window that shows matching data items and highlights the differences (Figure 20).
Rice. 20. Merging data when adding a duplicate contact
Working with tasks
Few ordinary office employees work with tasks: there are few who want to create a record of a task, and then regularly open the corresponding area of Outlook and scrupulously mark its completion. Apparently, taking this into account, in the new version the list of tasks is displayed both in the calendar and in the panel To-Do Bar. Perhaps this will increase users' interest in using tasks to plan and organize work.
There were no fundamental changes in working with tasks. Area Window Tasks practically did not change (Fig. 21).
Rice. 21. Tasks area window Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
But the task window is designed in the style of Office 2007 (Fig. 22).
Rice. 22. Task window
It contains three main tabs: Task, Insert And Format Text. In the tab Task(see Figure 22) contains all the elements necessary to create and track the completion of tasks. Instead of task window tabs of previous versions, you can use different tab display modes Task, selected by section buttons Show(see Fig. 22): Task And Details.
From tab elements Insert When creating tasks, you'll probably most often use Outlook's ability to attach files and records. Other elements, as well as tab options Format Text for working with tasks, in most cases they will not be in demand.
Working with notes
Working with notes has probably changed the least. Notes Pane Window Notes(Fig. 23) and the notes window itself have remained virtually unchanged.
Rice. 23. Notes area window Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
Conclusion
The main, most popular features of Outlook 2007 have been reviewed and tested. As a result, we can conclude that Outlook 2007 is superior to previous versions in most respects.
However, you should not expect a quick and centralized transition of all companies to using Outlook 2007, as well as other applications in the Microsoft Office 2007 suite. General problems and difficulties associated with the transition to Microsoft Office 2007 are described in the article “The New Word is Coming” that we already mentioned. .
Additionally, adoption of Outlook 2007 in small offices and home environments will be hampered by uncertain developer policies. Microsoft did not include Outlook 2007 in the 2007 Office Home and Student edition (Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007). Instead of Outlook, this version will include OneNote 2007 (along with Word, Excel and PowerPoint). It's true that Outlook is included in Microsoft Office Basic 2007, but it doesn't include PowerPoint, which is often used by students, teachers, and office workers. Thus, for small offices and home use, the Microsoft Office Standard 2007 edition, which includes four traditional components: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, may be optimal.
Will Microsoft Outlook 2007 add problems and difficulties or, conversely, will it speed up the implementation of the entire package? With caution, but one can assume that it will speed up. In terms of its basic capabilities, Outlook 2007 is significantly closer to the average user. Working in it has become much easier and clearer, including at the level of user intuition.
Working with folder items (mail messages, contacts, items calendar etc.) is usually the most important part of programs that use the Outlook object model. It is with them that various operations are performed.
Folder items are most often accessed through the Items property of the folder object, which returns an Items collection. This collection contains all the items in a given folder. However, there is no single object for Outlook items. Instead, you have 16 separate objects for each type of item in Outlook:
- AppointmentItem- what is called on the graphical interface of Russian Outlook Meeting. This item is usually found in the folder Calendar.
- ContactItem- this is, of course, contact. It is necessary to create new contacts programmatically very often.
- DistList is another item that is usually found in a folder Contacts. It represents the mailing list.
- DocumentItem- this is the name in Outlook for any file that is placed inside the Outlook storage and does not match in format with any other Outlook element. A DocumentItem object can be, for example, a Word document, an Excel workbook, a ZIP archive, an Acrobat Reader PDF file, an EXE executable file, etc. - in general, any operating system file. However, you shouldn’t get carried away with storing files in Outlook storage (PST files and Exchange Server mailboxes and public folders). This will slow down access to regular Outlook items. This feature was originally provided so that, for example, in a shared Outlook folder for a project, various files related to it could be stored along with correspondence about the project.
- JournalItem- This is a diary entry.
- MailItem- the most familiar element to many. Represents an email message.
- MeetingItem- invitation to a meeting, a special type of electronic message. Typically found in the same place as regular email messages, such as in a folder Inbox. It is impossible to create this element programmatically - it is created only automatically when a corresponding message is received (you can send it using the object Meeting V Calendar).
- NoteItem- note object (from folder Notes). It differs from all other elements in the minimum number of properties and methods.
- PostItem- another special type of mail message. This is a message that is sent to a public folder. From a normal object MailItem differs in that:
- found only in shared folders;
- To send it, the Post() method is used instead of the Send() method.
- RemoteItem- also a very special type of postal message. These objects are mail messages with a minimum number of properties filled in (only the information about the recipient, sender, date of receipt and size is actually filled in) and the message text, which contains 256 characters of real text. These objects are created automatically in situations where Outlook connects to a mailbox on an Exchange Server through a dial-up connection (usually a dial-up connection). If the message is in an OST file (that is, downloaded from the same Exchange Server via MAPI or received via POP3/IMAP4), then this object is never created for it.
- ReportItem- a very special mail message, which is a specially generated service letter: usually a message about the impossibility of delivery (non-delivery report) created by your mail server, a delay in the transmission of a message, or another error. These objects also cannot be created programmatically: they are only created automatically when a message of a certain type is received.
- TaskItem- this is a task or assignment from a folder Tasks.
- TaskRequestAcceptItem, TaskRequestDeclineItem, TaskRequestItem, TaskRequestUpdateItem- these are all special email messages that relate to correspondence regarding the delegation of tasks. These objects also cannot be created programmatically.
It must be said that in the vast majority of cases you will only be interested in MailItem, ContactItem and sometimes DocumentItem objects. We will focus on considering them.
Another very important point. As already mentioned, special restrictions are built into the Outlook object model that are designed to prevent viruses from using the capabilities of this object model to their advantage. As a rule, these are the most important properties, which contain information about email addresses, sender name, text of letters, etc. These restrictions are built into the following objects: AppointmentItem, ContactItem, MailItem, and TaskItem - simply put, all the core Outlook item objects. Restrictions are also placed on some actions that can be performed with these objects, for example, sending letters. For example, creating and sending an email using Outlook looks very simple:
Dim oOutlook As New Outlook.Application
Dim oMessage As Outlook.MailItem
"Create a message object
Set oMessage = oOutlook.CreateItem(olMailItem)
" To whom
oMessage.To = " [email protected]"
"Message subject
oMessage.Subject = "Hello from VBA"
"Message body. Using the Body property means we are sending a message
"plain text. You can also send the message in HTML or RTF
oMessage.Body = "Message text"
"Add an attachment
oMessage.Attachments.Add("C:\installlog.txt")
"Sending a message
oMessage.Send
However, to make life more difficult for viruses, instead of sending a message, a window similar to the one shown in Fig. 13.3. Moreover, to achieve final victory over viruses, there is also a button Yes will be unavailable for a few seconds.
Rice. 13.3 Warning window in Outlook
What to do in such a situation?
Options may vary:
- first option - send a message from a macro that is located in the VBA module of Outlook itself(without opening Outlook programmatically). In this case, such a window will not appear. But, of course, such a solution is usually not very convenient, especially from the point of view of transferring this program code to run on different computers;
- second option - use special Outlook object placeholders, which do not issue such messages and allow developers to send messages from VBA without any problems. The most common and recommended tool of this kind is the free Outlook Redemption. You can get information about it and download it from the website http://www.dimastr.com/redemption. This option is quite convenient if you are sending email from one server, but installing it on all computers is, of course, troublesome;
- third option - programmatically detect confirmation windows and programmatically press the necessary buttons in them. However, Microsoft developers made sure that this was impossible to do from VBA or VBScript code. In principle, such operations can be performed using the low-level Windows API (another option is to access these capabilities using special tools in a special API for working with MAPI messages). However, you will have to use other programming languages (C++ or Delphi) instead of VBA, since VBA does not support all the necessary data types to work with the API. In addition, working confidently with APIs requires specialized knowledge in systems programming. Additional information about using such techniques when working with Outlook can be obtained from the article http://www.mapilab.com/ru/support/articles/vb_outlook_security_1.html (in Russian);
- and finally, the fourth option, from my point of view the most convenient: to use the CDO object library, which is available on any computer running Windows 2000, XP and 2003, for sending and programmatically processing incoming letters. More details about the use of this library are described in section 13.8.
Now about the Outlook element objects themselves. These objects have a lot of properties and methods (for example, the ContactItem object has almost 100 properties), and it would take a lot of space to consider them all. At the same time, most of the properties of these objects are obvious and no problems should arise when using them. Typically the only question that may arise is which software property corresponds to a particular element attribute.
Unfortunately, there is no macro recorder in Outlook, but you can understand the name of this or that property using the window Locals. An application of it might look like this: Let's imagine that you need to understand what programmatic property of a ContactItem object a field can correspond to Short name.
The first thing we need to do is create a contact in which this property would be filled in (see Fig. 13.4).
Rice. 13.4 Create a contact
The next thing to do is to write program code in which the object of this element would be created. For example, if this contact is in the folder Contacts, then the code (from the macro in Outlook) could be like this:
Dim oNamespace As NameSpace
Dim oFolder As MAPIFolder
Dim oContactItem As ContactItem
Set oNamespace = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Set oFolder = oNamespace.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts)
Set oContactItem = oFolder.Items("Contact1")
The Stop command here is intended to stop at the desired location.
Then we need to run our code and, when it stops at the Stop line, open it (using the menu View) window Locals.
In our case, you will see four objects in it (see Fig. 13.5).
Rice. 13.5 Window Locals with the object of contact
Of course, we need to expand the oContactItem object node and look for its property that is set to Short name. To our surprise, we may find that this property is called EMail1DisplayName (see Figure 13.6).
Rice. 13.6 We find the property with the value we filled in in the window Locals
In the same way, you can find the necessary properties for other Item objects.
Basic search in Outlook
You can use the search box in the toolbar to search the current folder or view.
Once you've finished viewing the search results, on the tab Search click the button Close Search.
Notes:
Go to the folder or view you want to search in, such as Mail, Calendar, or People view.
In the search box at the top right of the Outlook window, type the word or phrase you're looking for.
The search results will be displayed on the tab Search.
Note: To perform a full search everyone Outlook files (regardless of folder or view), select all elements. This option is available in all views. Please note that each time you switch views, you will need to re-enter your search words. 
If you're an Office Insider and using build number 16.18.181008 and later versions, your search has been refined and improved. When you select the search field, you will see short suggestions based on your most recent search history. Choose any option for quick results.
Select where the search function should be performed. The options available will depend on what folder or view you're working in.
Search within an element
You know you have an email message, but you just can't find it in Outlook. Don't worry, with many search options in Outlook for Mac, you can find the information you need by combining different search criteria.
Search criteria | Description |
|---|---|
|
Additionally |
Text that appears anywhere in an element. |
|
Sender of the message. |
|
|
Subject |
Text in the subject of the message. |
|
The attachment |
The presence of an attachment for the item or the size of the attached file. |
|
To whom |
Recipients of the message. |
|
Received |
Date the message was received. |
|
departure date |
Date the message was sent. |
|
Important |
Message priority level. |
|
Unread |
Message read status. |
|
Tagged |
The "For execution" status of the message. |
Note: Some search criteria require you to enter additional information.
To change your search by adding or removing criteria, do one of the following:
