Building Applications With Microsoft Outlook 2000 Technical Reference (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Building Applications with Microsoft Outlook 2000 shows you how to customize the Microsoft e-mail and scheduling application. The book provides an abundance of tutorial and reference material with which to experiment to create your own projects. In addition to providing technical information, the book plants the seeds of ideas in reader's minds for improving their own enterprises with Outlook.

Byrne gives an introduction to Outlook's design tools and a straightforward walkthrough of essential Outlook development techniques (creating a comment-tracking tool for beta software and a discussion forum in the process). He also describes the elements needed for producing more elaborate applications--including forms, controls, events, and actions. He pays particular attention to Outlook's relationship to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and VBScript before describing how to extend Outlook with Visual Basic Component Object Model (COM) components in environments that include Exchange Server.

Building Applications with Microsoft Outlook 2000 includes plenty of code and fortifies it with informative commentary, supplementary data and--most valuable--ideas about how you can put Outlook's customization capabilities to use in real life. A typical chapter includes instructions for achieving specific programming goals, along with reference material. --David Wall

Product Description

Custom solution builders at all levels-from end users and administrators to programmers-will find the strategies and tutelage they need to develop productivity-enhancing applications with Outlook 2000. This results-oriented book offers direct-from-Microsoft tips for creating applications that take full advantage of Outlook's built-in mail client, scheduling and organizing capabilities, and seamless integration with each of its Microsoft Office suite-mates. The companion CD contains all the source code and files used in the book to fuel rapid productivity.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 692 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Pr (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735605815
• ISBN-13: 978-0735605817
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,670,613 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost Exhaustive, July 6, 2000

By	Steven A. Bell "Even Keel" (Kemp, Texas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a must have reference if you plan on doing any amount of Outlook programming. The book is edited by Sue Mosher (of MS Outlook 2000 Programming in 24 Hours fame). Byrne (the author) does a good job of laying out the "world" starting with brief (30 pages) introduction of Outlook, some examples of what you can create, and the various design tools. Next comes a quick guide to building applications followed with a full blown example (which BTW works). Other sections cover building forms (controls, fields, properties, actions, folders, events, outlook and command bars, the assistant), VBA and VBScript (this BTW is where you will spend most of your time wearing the book out), and how to distribute (and maintain) applications. Byrne then goes on to advanced topics like COM Add-ins, Home Pages, Data Access, ActiveX, MTS, and Exchange Server scripting objects. To top it off a CD with complete code examples is included. The book literally paid for itself shortly after coming in my door. The only thing I wish it had examples of is Javascript for which there are nil, but this is Outlook afterall!

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required for Outlook development - won't sit on the shelf, June 29, 1999

By A Customer

This is not the typical cut-paste, how-to technical book that is so typical these days. Byrne's focus is on educating the reader with a full understanding of not just what to do, but how and why.

This is definitely not for the casual reader or someone not serious about the subject. Outlook development is more than just "spinning some code," it requires an understanding of a multitude of technologies on both the client and server. Byrne found a good balance between the Outlook and Exchange sides. He has also brought along the depth and attention to detail that have made him one of the, if not the, most popular MVPs out there.

After reading so many books (many later donated to bird cage duty) that claimed to teach a subject, this was a refreshing read. Kudos

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great one time desk reference., September 6, 1999

By	[e-mail] "jklander" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This book shows a great number of possibilities for Outlook that a lot of client users did not know were possible. However, the book uses a bit more VB Script than I was looking for. I like Outlook 2000 from Wrox Publishing for an explanation on how to get past the VBScripting sections of the book. (Indirectly of course, you can't have everything spelled out for you.) With both of these books you should have all the reference you need for Outlook 2000.