Thanks for the info, but maybe I wasn't completely clear. What I want to do
is change MessageClass when an item is opened and change it back when it's
closed. I don't care about the Preview Pane, except that when it's open it
appears to "lock" the item in some way and prevent the custom form from being
used. If I close the Preview Pane my code works as expected, but it should
work whether or not the Preview Pane is open.

Given this, is trapping SelectionChange() still the answer or is there
another way to "unlock" the item being opened?

Thanks again,

Dave James

"Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:

NewInspector() won't help you at all for the preview pane, that's for items
that are being opened, not previewed. You need to handle
Explorer.SelectionChange() for the ActiveExplorer to know what is now
selected and in the preview pane. You would work with the Selection
collection.

Previewing custom forms in the preview pane won't work though, they are
blocked from previewing. You could change the MessageClass and save the item
to preserve the change, but for a custom form you'd just end up with the
preview pane showing the "can't show this message" warning.

--
Ken Slovak
[MVP - Outlook]
http://www.slovaktech.com
Author: Professional Programming Outlook 2007.
Reminder Manager, Extended Reminders, Attachment Options.
http://www.slovaktech.com/products.htm


"dmjames" wrote in message
...
Forgot to mention, OL2003 SP3.

"dmjames" wrote:

I'm trying to change MessageClass when an item is opened so as to open a
custom form. My code works fine when the Preview Pane is closed; it
doesn't
work when the pane is open. I've tried changing the form, clearing forms
cache, etc.; I'm sure it's not a form problem. I've tested and tried it
many
times -- the behavior is that it works when Preview Pane is closed, and
opens
the default IPM.Note when the Preview Pane is open. (If anyone is
curious,
my ultimate goal is to provide a preview tab where all text in the
message is
changed to an easy-to-read font, but not change the message permanently.)

Here's my code:

'CONNECTION CODE

Option Explicit

Dim WithEvents objInsps As Outlook.Inspectors

Private Sub AddinInstance_OnConnection(ByVal Application As Object, ByVal
ConnectMode As AddInDesignerObjects.ext_ConnectMode, ByVal AddInInst As
Object, custom() As Variant)
Set objInsps = Application.Inspectors
AddInInst.object = Me
End Sub

Private Sub AddinInstance_OnDisconnection(ByVal RemoveMode As
AddInDesignerObjects.ext_DisconnectMode, custom() As Variant)
Set objInsps = Nothing
End Sub


Private Sub objInsps_NewInspector(ByVal currInsp As Inspector)
Dim ci As New clsInspectors
If currInsp.CurrentItem.Class = olMail Then
If currInsp.CurrentItem.MessageClass = "IPM.Note" Or
currInsp.CurrentItem.MessageClass = "IPM.Note.Preview" Then
If currInsp.CurrentItem.EntryID vbNullString Then 'Sent
Set ci = InspColl.Add(currInsp,
currInsp.CurrentItem.entryid) 'collection of clsInspectors
ci.IID = currInsp.CurrentItem.EntryID
ci.FirstActivation = True
End If
End If
End If
End Sub

'CLSINSPECTORS

Option Explicit

Public WithEvents currInsp As Inspector
Public IID As String
Public FirstActivation As Boolean

Private Sub currInsp_Activate()
If FirstActivation Then
currInsp.CurrentItem.MessageClass = "IPM.Note.Preview"
currInsp.CurrentItem.Save
'The custom form contains a preview control on a tab called
Preview,
which I populate here
'If the preview pane of the explorer from which I opened the item
is
visible, currInsp.ModifiedFormPages("Preview") returns Nothing
FirstActivation = False
End If
End Sub

Private Sub currInsp_Close()
currInsp.CurrentItem.MessageClass = "IPM.Note"
currInsp.CurrentItem.Save
InspColl.Remove IID
End Sub

Thanks,

Dave James