MailItem.CreationTime is 01/01/4501??!

[Clive Elsworth]

I am adding Outlook 2003 integration to my VB6 app.

So far I'm pleased with how easy it has been, however I need some way to be
able to find Outlook emails from details stored in my app. My thinking is
that a good component of any unique key is going to be a date.

However anything useful looking like CreationTime and SentOn just give
01/01/4501 every time. This is what the value is at the time of the
MailItem_Send event.

It doesn't *have* to be a date to search on. I'd use ConversationIndex but
this isn't searchable by the Find method.

Do I have to create a user defined field?

Or have I not installed Outlook properly? I'm using it to send direct to my
ISP's SMTP server, not via an Exchange server. The mail arrives OK the
other end but could the lack of Exchange server be the reason why no dates
are getting assigned?

Thanks in advance for help.

Clive

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Outlook returns 1/1/4501 when the user sees "None." In your scenario, the item has no date because it has not yet been saved. If you want to use a date to build a key, just use the Now() function to fill either a custom property or a built-in property like BillingInformation or Mileage.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx

Post by Clive Elsworth
I am adding Outlook 2003 integration to my VB6 app.
So far I'm pleased with how easy it has been, however I need some way to be
able to find Outlook emails from details stored in my app. My thinking is
that a good component of any unique key is going to be a date.
However anything useful looking like CreationTime and SentOn just give
01/01/4501 every time. This is what the value is at the time of the
MailItem_Send event.
It doesn't *have* to be a date to search on. I'd use ConversationIndex but
this isn't searchable by the Find method.
Do I have to create a user defined field?