Designing Forms with Microsoft Outlook (SAP Library

Designing Forms with Microsoft Outlook

Use

To use SAPforms Forms, you require a development environment for these forms in addition to SAPforms.

Microsoft Outlook is one such development environment.

It is also possible to create forms in Microsoft Visual Basic.

In this documentation, it is assumed that you are using Microsoft Visual Basic. This applies to the application examples in particular.

Prerequisites

You need Microsoft Outlook 97 or higher.

You need the VBScript Engine 2.0 or higher.

You must install SAPforms.

You need to be familiar with the basic functions in Microsoft Outlook, particularly with regard to designing forms.

Features

General

SAPforms largely consist of ActiveX components. If you are using the SAPforms Designer, these components are addressed directly when the form is generated.

Unlike Microsoft Visual Basic, you cannot call the SAPforms Designer as an add-in from Microsoft Outlook. You must use the Submit Control instead.

Form template

To display work items, the form template WORKITEM.OFT is available as a standard template and is found in directory ...\SAPforms\Forms . This template is then always started when you want to display a work item in your Microsoft Outlook inbox (using SAPMAPI).

Double-click on the file and publish the form under the name SAP.WORKITEM in any folder.

To execute each work item the form maintained in the workflow definition is started. This can be a Microsoft Outlook form or also a Microsoft Visual Basic form.

Example

You can find examples of such forms in the directory ...\SAPforms\Forms.

The template WFAPPROV2.OFT allows the user to display and execute work items without the standard template being started (WORKITEM.OFT). You can use this form template as a template for your own forms.

When you publish the form, you must enter the following message class:

SAP.WORKITEM.DIALOG.<Task identifier>

Starting workflows with attachments

A Microsoft Outlook form, which should have a workflow started with it, can have an attachment inserted in the usual way. The attachment is then automatically included in the attachment list when the workflow is started.

Activities

For example, you can design a form by choosing Tools ® Design Outlook Form on the Untitled Message screen.

If you want to want to display or fill multiple-line elements from the SAP System, use the SAP Table View Control or the MS FlexGrid Control.

To insert the Submit control in your form, activate the Control Toolbox. If the Submit control is not in the toolbox, you can add it by choosing Custom Controls... (SAPforms Submit Control) from the context menu.

Choose Save.

Choose the Properties entry in the context menu of the control. Choose the property (user-defined) in the following dialog box. The Properties dialog box is displayed. Choose SAPforms-Designer on the General tab page.

Edit and generate the form.

Exit the SAPforms Designer.

Publish the complete form in the requested folder.

If you want to modify the form later using the stand-alone version of the designer, remember to store the form in *.OFT format first. You can then load the form in the SAPforms Designer with Open Form.