Hello Sue,

Thank you for the explanations. I apologize for my inadequate descriptions,
but we are obviously discussing features outside my area of experience.
Perhaps, I can illustrate this by way of a simple example. Let's say that I
want to modify the contact form to help keep track of family members. For
example, let's say I want to add a field to the form for a 'Maiden Name' and
a family 'Relationship' (such as child, grandchild, great-grandchild, etc.).

I assume that there are two aspects associated with this task. FIRST,
adding these fields to the custom form. SECOND, creating a place to save
the data that will be input into these fields.

I can visualize how to accomplish the first item (simply edit a form), but I
apparently don't understand how the underlying data, input using the custom
form, is saved. My reference to 'field name associations' was because I
labored under the assumption that the field on the custom form would have to
address a proper field name in the associated database records where the
data was stored.

In other words, we assumed the form was simply acting as an interface tool
to extract and display information from the underlying database. Then
again, perhaps I am way off base. Does Outlook 2007 not store the data in a
database format while using forms to simply access and display the desired
information?

Thanks again!

***********************
"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote in message
...
Is there a way we can preview a Data Store and see what information it
includes and what the field name associations are?

Sorry, but I don't know what you mean by "field name associations." The
Outlook Spy and MFCMAPI.exe tools are highly recommended for digging deep
into Outlook's data.

So, are you saying that the Outlook Data Store is transparently modified
to
include this new field of information along with all the other contact
data?


None of this happens at the store level. Custom properties are defined at
the folder and item levels.

Will the new data fields be preserved when moving the .PST file from
location to location?

Yes.

Though this new information may not be visible unless
the new location includes the custom form designed to show the new fields
of
information, correct?

Correct. Outlook would need to be able to find the custom form associated
with the items' MessageClass.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Microsoft Outlook 2007 Programming:
Jumpstart for Power Users and Administrators
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54


"Blue Max" wrote in message
...
Thank you for the reply, all this has been very helpful. One more
clarification below:

FIRST, As you indicated, the data is stored separate from the display
form.
Therefore, if we add new information fields to a form, how do the new
fields
get added to the database?

Each item gets the new field as the user enters data into it, using the
layout on the latest version of the form.