SendToOutlook™

SendToOutlook is a Windows program that allows the creating of any type of Microsoft Outlook item, such as an email, meeting, appointment, contact, etc. through the use of a standard URL link inside a web page, as a desktop shortcut, or anywhere a URL link can be specified.

SendToOutlook allows the creation of any type of Outlook item, and any Outlook field can be set via the link. There's even an option to save or send the item without ever showing the Outlook window.

How Does It Work

You might be familiar with the syntax of a standard web page link which begins with http: followed by the web page address, such as http://www.google.com. That's called a URL protocol. SendToOutlook is similar in that it also uses the standard URL protocol approach. However, instead of beginning with http:, it begins with SendToOutlook: (with no //) along with a command of action to take, parameters indicating the type of Outlook item to create, and values for fields.

For example,
SendToOutlook:New?ItemType=Meeting&Subject=Pricing

SendToOutlook URL Syntax

SendToOutlook:cmd?param1=value1...&paramN=valueN

Where cmd can be one of:

• New
• Open (not available yet)

SendToOutlook New Command   (Show me examples!)

Below is the general syntax of the New command. It is shown across multiple lines, but like all URL's, it must be a single line in actual use.

Syntax of URL for New Command:

SendToOutlook:New?ItemType=type
&Show=False
&ContinueOnError=True
&STQBMappingRecordID=recordId
&OutlookFieldName1=value1
&OutlookFieldName2=value2
.
.
.
&OutlookFieldNameN=valueN

Click here to see examples using the New Command.

ItemType Parameter (Required)

The ItemType must be one of these values:

• Appointment
• Contact
• Email
• Meeting
• Note
• Post
• Task

Show Parameter (Optional)

If the Show parameter is False, then the Outlook item is not displayed, but instead is automatically saved in Outlook. If the Show parameter is not specified, or any value besides False, then the new Outlook item is displayed.

In the case of an Email Message, if it is not shown, it will be sent.

ContinueOnError Parameter (Optional)

If the ContinueOnError parameter is True, then if an error occurs while trying to set the value of a specified Outlook field, it is skipped, and no message is displayed. Most common cause for an error is a data type mismatch. For example, trying to set a value for a date or numeric that isn't valid. If the ContinueOnError parameter is not specified, or any value besides True, then a message is displayed and the item is not created.

STQBMappingRecordID Parameter (Optional)

This parameter is only relevent when SendToOutlook is used in conjunction with SendToQuickBase. The recordId value is the Record ID# of a record within the SendToQuickBase Mapping Library Application. This indicates that this mapping should be used, if found within the user's available SendToQuickBase mappings, if SendToQuickBase is used to save the Outlook item into QuickBase. This prevents prompting for the mapping to be used at time of saving into QuickBase in the event the user has more than one mapping that saves that type of Outlook item. at time of saving into QuickBase in the event the user has more than one mapping that saves that type of Outlook item. For example, in the event there are two mappings that both save Meetings, one associated with a Lead record, and another with a Contact record, using this parameter you can specify which mapping to be used, and the prompting is avoided.

OutlookFieldName Parameters (Optional)

OutlookFieldName is one of the many Outlook fields and value is any legal value for that field.

The name shown in Outlook is the OutlookFieldName, just with the spaces removed. For example, on a Contact the field for "Job title" is "JobTitle". However, there is at least one exception. The field displayed as "Priority" on a Task is actually the "Importance" field. Refer to the complete list of Outlook fields for details.

OutlookFieldName is not case sensitive. For example, &Subject=Pricing is the same as &SUBJECT=Pricing, or any combination.

Multiple pairs of OutlookFieldName=value may be included in the link, for example: &Subject=Discuss Pricing&Location=Phone Call.

If a value contains an ampersand, it must be URL encoded as %26. For example, if the Subject is "Review & Approve" it must be specified as "&Subject=Review %26 Approve".

Notes on Setting Email Addressess

To set the email addresses on an Email message, Meeting or assignment of a Task, use the Outlook fields named To, CC and BCC. For example:
&To=joe@example.com

These three fields accept multiple email addresses separated by a comma or semicolon. For example:
&To=joe@example.com;mary@example.com

Notes on Setting Attachments

To attach files to an email, task, contact, meeting, appointment, or post, use the Outlook field named Attachments. (Notice that's plural, with an s, even when specifying a single file.)

The file specified can be one of three types:

• local files on your hard drive (i.e. "c:\docs\report.doc")
• any URL (i.e. http://docs.abc.com/report.doc)
• QuickBase file attachment fields (see notes below)

No matter which type of file used above, or combinations as well, multiple files can be specified separated by commas, for example:

Attachments=c:\docs\report.doc,http://docs.abc.com/report.doc

QuickBase File Attachments

The QuickBase file attachment must use the the Intuit QuickBase documented syntax:

  https://www.quickbase.com/up/DBID/a/rRID/eFID/vVID

where DBID is the table ID, RID is the Record ID in decimal of the record containing the file attachment, FID is the field identifier in decimal of the field containing the file attachment, and VID is the version identifier in decimal. Version 0 will always return the most recent version.

For example, to attach from table id bd5ghmxj5, Record ID 76, Field ID 36, the latest Version, the URL would be:
https://www.quickbase.com/up/bd5ghmxj5/a/r76/e36/v0.

Here is a sample QuickBase Formual URL that attaches the latest version ("v0") of the QuickBase field with FID 36 ("e36") and sends the email message without showing it to the user ("Show=False"):

"SendToOutlook:New?ItemType=Email" &
"&Show=False" &
"&To=" & URLEncode([To]) &
"&Subject=" URLEncode([Subject]) &
"&Body=" & URLEndcode([Body]) &
"&Attachments=" & URLEncode("https://www.quickbase.com/up/" & Dbid() & "/a/r" & [Record ID#] & "/e36/v0;Project Report.doc")

The last part of that Attachments string ";Project Report.doc" is optional and allows specifying a meaningful name for the file attachment. Simply use a semicolon followed by a descriptive name.

Note that the first time a link is clicked that contains a QuickBase file attachment, the user will be prompted to enter their QuickBase user name and password. This will only happen once as that information is stored encrypted in the Windows registry.