User defined field filter issue

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

I have defined a Yes/No user-defined field in the top-level contacts folder.
I have another level of folders beneath it. When I defined the field, I
defined it to apply to all subfolders beneath, and indeed I can add and view
those fields in all folders.

But I can't seem to filter. To add a filter, I have to refine the view in
the top-level Contacts folder, where I defined the fields. Only there are the
new fields visible in the pick-list for defining the filter criteria. The
filter works in this folder. But it doesn't work in the subfolders. When I
look at the view definition in them, rather than a simple definition of the
criteria, there's a strange cryptic reference to the schema somewhere. And
the picklist for fields doesn't recognize the user fields, even though they
are displayed in the view.

Am I doing something wrong here or does this just not work as expected?

Thanks,
BnB
 
I have no idea what you might have done to define the field on subfolders. I
know of no Outlook technique to do that. I'd suggest that you make sure the
field is explicitly defined in each subfolder.
 
Ugh... even more frustrating now, since I can't recreate what I did. I KNOW I
did it, because it worked, up to a point (clearly). But the whole thing isn't
very intuitive, so I think it was hard to figure out the first time, and now
I am stumped. It's incredibly inefficient to have to define the fields
individually per folder. Talk about a maintenance nightmare. (Every time a
new folder is created, you have to remember which fields to add.) So... maybe
instead of a field I'll use categories.

I'm trying to work around the many limitations on folders as they affect a
mail merge. If I use categories instead of a field, then I can only span
multiple folders using "Search" instead of a view, as far as I can tell (it
doesn't seem like a view can collect subfolder contents). Can I use search
results for a mail merge?

BnB
 
No, you can't use search results for a mail merge. You might very well be
better off keeping data in a single folder and using categories to
distinguish different types of items.
 
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