Match entries in a list to entries typed by users

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

Match entries in a list to entries typed by users

  1. In design mode, drag the ListBox or ComboBox control from the Control Toolbox to the form .

  2. Right-click the list box or combo box, and then click Advanced Properties on the shortcut menu.

  3. To set the MatchEntry property, click the property and enter a value in the Apply box.
    Set the MatchEntry property to To
    No matching Provide no matching
    First letter Compare the most recently typed letter to the first letter of each entry in the list (the first match in the list is selected)
    Complete Compare the user's entry and an exact match in an entry from the list

Notes

  • The matching feature resets after 2 seconds (6 seconds in the East Asian version). For example, if you have a list of the 50 United States and you type "CO" quickly, you will find "Colorado." But if you type "CO" in longer than 2 seconds, you will find "Ohio" because the auto-complete search resets between letters.

  • If you select Complete matching, it is a good idea to sort the list entries alphabetically (you can use the TextColumn property to do this). If the list is not sorted alphabetically, matching may not work correctly. For example, if the list includes Alabama, Louisiana, and Alaska, respectively, then "Alabama" is considered a complete match if the user types "ala." In fact, this result is not complete because there are two entries in the list that could match what the user entered. Sorting alphabetically eliminates this.