Outlook 2010 and the hierarchy table sort ordering.

Paul-Jan Pauptit

unread,

Nov 27, 2009, 4:38:01 AM11/27/09

to

Our MAPI message store has three subfolders of the IPM_SUBTREE folder which
need a very specific ordering, i.e. non-alphabetical. This used to work fine,
but as of the latest Outlook 2010 beta we cannot get this to work.

A short overview
- Outlook does a IMAPITable.sortTable( PR_DISPLAY_NAME ) on the hierarchy
table of our IPM_SUBTREE folder.
- We return S_OK (if we return MAPI_E_TOO_COMPLEX or MAPI_E_NO_SUPPORT
Outlook displays the according error to the user, and does not allow the tree
to unfold)
- Outlook 2000-2007 are now satistifed, and simply query our rows and
displays the folders in the order our table provides them in.
- However, Outlook 2010 displays the folders sorted by display name,
ignoring the order our hierarchy table provides them in.

As a sidenote, this behaviour only showed up in the recent beta, the Outlook
2010 technical preview had old-fashioned folder tree rendering, and did not
show this new behaviour.

Any thoughts on how we can force Outlook 2010 to respect our fixed sort
order?

And if this isn't possible, any suggestions on how to circumvent this
problem elegantly?

Paul-Jan Pauptit

unread,

Nov 30, 2009, 3:46:01 AM11/30/09

to

I only just noticed that Outlook 2010's own subtree folder does exactly what
I want, i.e. it shows a non-alphabetical order for

Inbox
Drafts
Sent Items
etc.

Outlook Spy shows that the hierarchy table is still in the classical
"Deleted Items, Inbox, Outbox" order. How does Outlook determine that it
should display the folders in this partical order? Does it sort them on some
property that isn't part of the default getPropList columns?

Dmitry Streblechenko

unread,

Nov 30, 2009, 9:03:03 PM11/30/09

to

AFAIK is shows the default folders that (it thinks) are used most.
I personally hate that.. I wish there was a way to turn that feature off...

--
Dmitry Streblechenko (MVP)
http://www.dimastr.com/
OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
and MAPI Developer Tool
-
"Paul-Jan Pauptit" <spr...@please.do.not.spam.me.zonnet.nl> wrote in message
news:1F6F8065-3900-4A90...@microsoft.com...

Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]

unread,

Dec 1, 2009, 1:34:58 PM12/1/09

to

Yeah, or a way to just sort the folders there alphabetically. I hate that
new Nav Pane arrangement, I can't find a damned thing there now.

--
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

"Dmitry Streblechenko" <dmi...@dimastr.com> wrote in message
news:u7r64ri...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

Paul-Jan Pauptit

unread,

Dec 7, 2009, 4:50:01 AM12/7/09

to

Any idea where it stores the "most used" information? It doesn't seem to be
part of the hierarchy table columns. Could it be Outlook handles this
completely outside the MAPI subsystem?

If I could simply fake the #uses (or whatever it uses to sort on) I could
still enforce my desired sort order.

Dmitry Streblechenko

unread,

Dec 7, 2009, 4:03:01 PM12/7/09

to

I havwe no idea, sorry. I would imagine it is hardcoded.

--
Dmitry Streblechenko (MVP)
http://www.dimastr.com/
OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
and MAPI Developer Tool
-
"Paul-Jan Pauptit" <spr...@please.do.not.spam.me.zonnet.nl> wrote in message

news:CB6CE4E6-BD45-4898...@microsoft.com...