There are a number of ways you can reference existing items in a folder using Microsoft Visual Basic. This topic provides information about:
- Using a For … Next or For Each … Next loop
- Using the Items collection
- Using the Find method
- Using the Restrict method
Using a For…Next or For Each...Next Loop
Typically these statements are used to loop through all of the items in a folder. The Items collection contains all the items in a particular folder, and you can specify which item to reference by using an index with the Items collection. This is typically used with the For I = 1 to n programming construct.
You can use For Each...Next to loop through the items in the collection without specifying an index. Both approaches achieve the same result.
The following examples use For…Next to loop through all the contacts in the Contacts folder and display the Full Name field in a dialog box.
' Visual Basic/Visual Basic for Applications code example.
Set ol = New Outlook.Application
Set olns = ol.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
' Set MyFolder to the default contacts folder.
Set MyFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts)
' Get the number of items in the folder.
NumItems = MyFolder.Items.Count
' Set MyItem to the collection of items in the folder.
Set myItems = myFolder.Items.Restrict("[MessageClass] = 'IPM.Contact'")
' Loop through all of the items in the folder.
For I = 1 to NumItems
MsgBox MyItems(I).FullName
Next
' VBScript code example.
Set olns = Item.Application.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
' Set MyFolder to the default contacts folder.
Set MyFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(10)
' Get the number of items in the folder.
NumItems = MyFolder.Items.Count
' Set MyItem to the collection of items in the folder.
Set myItems = myFolder.Items.Restrict("[MessageClass] = 'IPM.Contact'")
' Loop through all of the items in the folder.
For I = 1 to NumItems
MsgBox MyItems(I).FullName
Next
The following examples use For Each...Next to achieve the same result as the preceding examples:
' Visual Basic/Visual Basic for Applications code example.
Set ol = New Outlook.Application
Set olns = ol.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
' Set MyFolder to the default contacts folder.
Set MyFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts)
' Set MyItems to the collection of items in the folder.
Set myItems = myFolder.Items.Restrict("[MessageClass] = 'IPM.Contact'")
For Each SpecificItem in MyItems
MsgBox SpecificItem.FullName
Next
' VBScript code example.
Set olns = Item.Application.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
' Set MyFolder to the default contacts folder.
Set MyFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(10)
' Set MyItem to the collection of items in the folder.
Set myItems = myFolder.Items.Restrict("[MessageClass] = 'IPM.Contact'")
For Each SpecificItem in MyItems
MsgBox SpecificItem.FullName
Next
Using the Items Collection
You can also use the Items collection and specify a text string that matches the Subject field of an item. The following examples display an item in the Inbox whose subject contains "Please help on Friday!"
' Visual Basic/Visual Basic for Applications code example.
Set ol = New Outlook.Application
Set olns = ol.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
' Set MyFolder to the default Inbox.
Set MyFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)
Set MyItem = MyFolder.Items("Please help on Friday!")
MyItem.Display
' VBScript code example.
Set olns = Item.Application.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
' Set MyFolder to the default Inbox.
Set MyFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(6)
Set MyItem = MyFolder.Items("Please help on Friday!")
MyItem.Display
Using the Find Method
Use the Find method to search for an item in a folder based on the value of one of its fields. If the search is successful, you can then use the FindNext method to check for additional items that meet the same search criteria.
The following examples search to see if you have any high priority tasks.
' Visual Basic/Visual Basic for Applications code example.
Set ol = New Outlook.Application
Set olns = ol.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Set myFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderTasks)
Set MyTasks = myFolder.Items
' Importance corresponds to Priority on the task form.
Set MyTask = MyTasks.Find("[Importance] = ""High""")
If MyTask Is Nothing Then ' the Find failed
MsgBox "Nothing important. Go party!"
Else
MsgBox "You have something important to do!"
End If
' VBScript code example.
Set olns = Item.Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Set myFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(13)
Set MyTasks = myFolder.Items
' Importance corresponds to Priority on the task form.
Set MyTask = MyTasks.Find("[Importance] = ""High""")
If MyTask Is Nothing Then ' the Find failed
MsgBox "Nothing important. Go party!"
Else
MsgBox "You have something important to do!"
End If
Using the Restrict Method
The Restrict method is similar to the Find method, but instead of returning a single item, it returns a collection of items that meet the search criteria. For example, you could use this method to find all contacts that work at the same company.
The following examples display all of the contacts that work atProseWare Corporation:
' Automation code example.
Set ol = New Outlook.Application
Set olns = ol.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
Set MyFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts)
Set myItems = myFolder.Items.Restrict("[MessageClass] = 'IPM.Contact'")
MyClause = "[CompanyName] = ""ProseWare"""
Set MyPWItems = MyItems.Restrict(MyClause)
For Each MyItem in MyPWItems
MyItem.Display
Next
' VBScript code example.
Set olns = Item.Application.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
Set MyFolder = olns.GetDefaultFolder(10)
Set myItems = myFolder.Items.Restrict("[MessageClass] = 'IPM.Contact'")
MyClause = "[CompanyName] = ""ProseWare"""
Set MyPWItems = MyItems.Restrict(MyClause)
For Each MyItem in MyPWItems
MyItem.Display
Next