Microsoft Outlook Disruption

[rberq]

I may be typing along rapidly in a Microsoft Word document, when Outlook pops up a box saying "New mail has arrived. Would you like to read it now?" At that point, most of my typing is ignored because focus is now on the pop-up. If I happen to type a letter Y or N, the pop-up accepts it and either brings up the email (Y) or closes the pop-up (N).

 

I have a similar situation with ME. A macro is busily tabbing from field to field and typing data into a form, when up pops the Outlook box and steals focus and steals all the keystrokes until either Y or N happens to occur, and then if it is Y the email is displayed. In any case, the macro application is totally disrupted.

 

Short of disabling the Outlook feature, can anyone suggest a way around this?

[johnboy691]

Just an FYI, my company uses Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 (11.8206.8202) SP3. I have the popups that show new mail, etc. but don't have a problem with them interfering with macros or typing. Perhaps it is a setup issue? I couldn't find anything in a quick search of options available to me as a end user. Maybe the way options set upon setup?

 

Good Luck, John

[rberq]

Thanks, John. I'll take another look. I can turn "notify" on and off within Outlook. I will look closer and see if there is an on-top vs. not-on-top option.

[rberq]

The Outlook pop-up seems to stay in the background if I use the command "Set Window Order: Set "xxxx" to always be on top" in my macro. So far it's working....

[Cory]

I'm not sure in Outlook but in some cases I've been able to disable program features with the registry at the beginning of my macro and re-enable at the end. But in some cases the registry item is difficult to find or requires the application to reload. So in that case you can have your macro open OL if running, go into the options and disable the feature, then when done open OL again an re-enable.

 

Another thing I sometimes do is in my macros I always reactivate my target window before typing. But of course if you're spending a lot of dwell time typing this is no solution.

 

In older versions of OL the box does pop up on top but in 2003 and later you get an unobtrusive ghost pop-up that doesn't steal focus.

 

But I like the idea of setting the window to always be on top. I'll have to try that next time.

[rberq]

Thanks for the ideas, Cory. I also have found it helps to Activate the window just before typing, even though the macro itself was activated by the appearance of the window. Activate Window wasn't quite enough, so following the Activate Window I added Wait for Window Title. And when even THAT wasn't quite enough, following the Activate and the Wait for Title, I added Set Always On Top. I hope that will finally do it, because there's nothing more to add!

[kevin]

You may have noticed that the Activate Window command takes a second or more. I use the following to avoid the extra delay when it is not needed (if the window already has focus):

If Not Window Title "Outlook" on top
 Activate Window: "Outlook"
End If

In some macros I will put this logic in front of each Text Type command.

If Not Window Title "Outlook" on top
 Activate Window: "Outlook"
End If
Text Type: Dear Macro Express Customer:

<other macro commands>

If Not Window Title "Outlook" on top
 Activate Window: "Outlook"
End If
Text Type: Insight Software Solutions, Inc.

[rberq]

"If Not Window Title "Outlook" on top"

 

Thanks, Kevin. I will try adding that ahead of my Activate / Wait sequence. Anything to speed things up!

[rberq]

Wow! My macros flip back and forth among 8 screens, and I was doing a just-in-case Activate Window before typing into each one. Checking whether the window is already on top, and skipping the Activate where it is, makes the overall process significantly faster.

[Cory]

If not window on top. Why didn't I think of that??? THanks for the trick!