How to get Reading/preview pane's location property(Right,Bottom,Off)

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How to get Reading/preview pane's location property(Right,Bottom,Off)
programmatically get the reading pane user option Right/bottom/off 
Anshul Dutt




Posts: 68
 Joined: 2007-10-24
Hi,

I pretty new to Add-in express. I am using Add-in express for VSTO. I am trying to programmatically figure out where the reading pane is located in outlook(2003).
If its at the right or bottom or if its turned off. Is there a way to figure this out programmatically?

following is as close as I got:

OutlookApp.ActiveExplorer.CommandBars("View").Controls("Reading Pane")

after this I am not sure how to get the values for Right/bottom/Off.

Then, Depending on the Reading pane's location I want to set the Custom ADX form's(pane) location to BottomReadingPane(when reading pane is set to "right") and to RightReadingPane when the the reading pane is set to "Bottom".

following is what I have so far:

Private Sub AdxCommandBarButton1_Click(ByVal sender As Object) Handles AdxCommandBarButton1.Click

Dim OutlookApp As New Outlook.Application
If AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout.Bottom Then 'not sure what to compare this to
Me.AdxOlFormsManager1.Items(0).ExplorerLayout = AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlExplorerLayout.RightReadingPane
ElseIf AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout.Right Then
Me.AdxOlFormsManager1.Items(0).ExplorerLayout = AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlExplorerLayout.BottomReadingPane
ElseIf AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout.Off Then
Me.AdxOlFormsManager1.Items(0).ExplorerLayout = AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlExplorerLayout.RightSubpane
End If
end sub

any help would be greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.
Posted 24 Oct, 2007 16:05:39 Top
Anshul Dutt




Posts: 68
 Joined: 2007-10-24
We decided to go with a different approach, so wouldn't need to figure out the user selected opton for the reading pane.

but would be curious to know if someone knows how to retrieve those options programmatically.

Thanks.
Posted 24 Oct, 2007 18:40:37 Top
Fedor Shihantsov


Add-in Express team


Posts: 1188
 Joined: 2005-01-11
Hello Anshul,

You can use the following code to get a reading/preview pane's location: 

    Public Shared Function ReadingPaneLayout(ByVal ExplorerObj As Object) As AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout
        Try
            Dim CommandBarsObj As Object = Nothing
            Dim ReadingPaneButton As Object = Nothing
            Dim ReadingPaneCommandBar As Object = Nothing
            Dim RightButton As Object = Nothing
            Dim BottomButton As Object = Nothing
            Dim OffButton As Object = Nothing

            Try
                CommandBarsObj = ExplorerObj.[GetType]().InvokeMember("CommandBars", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.GetProperty, Nothing, ExplorerObj, New Object() {})
                If CommandBarsObj IsNot Nothing Then
                    ReadingPaneButton = CommandBarsObj.[GetType]().InvokeMember("FindControl", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, Nothing, CommandBarsObj, New Object() {10, 31134})
                End If

                If ReadingPaneButton IsNot Nothing Then
                    ReadingPaneCommandBar = ReadingPaneButton.[GetType]().InvokeMember("CommandBar", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.GetProperty, Nothing, ReadingPaneButton, New Object() {})
                End If

                If ReadingPaneCommandBar IsNot Nothing Then
                    Dim state As Integer = 0
                    RightButton = ReadingPaneCommandBar.[GetType]().InvokeMember("FindControl", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, Nothing, ReadingPaneCommandBar, New Object() {1, 7221})
                    If RightButton IsNot Nothing Then
                        state = Convert.ToInt32(RightButton.[GetType]().InvokeMember("State", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.GetProperty, Nothing, RightButton, New Object() {}))
                        If state = -1 Then
                            Return AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout.Right
                        End If
                    End If
                    BottomButton = ReadingPaneCommandBar.[GetType]().InvokeMember("FindControl", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, Nothing, ReadingPaneCommandBar, New Object() {1, 7222})
                    If BottomButton IsNot Nothing Then
                        state = Convert.ToInt32(BottomButton.[GetType]().InvokeMember("State", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.GetProperty, Nothing, BottomButton, New Object() {}))
                        If state = -1 Then
                            Return AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout.Bottom
                        End If
                    End If
                    OffButton = ReadingPaneCommandBar.[GetType]().InvokeMember("FindControl", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, Nothing, ReadingPaneCommandBar, New Object() {1, 7223})
                    If OffButton IsNot Nothing Then
                        state = Convert.ToInt32(OffButton.[GetType]().InvokeMember("State", System.Reflection.BindingFlags.GetProperty, Nothing, OffButton, New Object() {}))
                        If state = -1 Then
                            Return AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout.Off
                        End If
                    End If

                End If
            Finally
                If CommandBarsObj IsNot Nothing Then
                    Marshal.ReleaseComObject(CommandBarsObj)
                End If
                If ReadingPaneButton IsNot Nothing Then
                    Marshal.ReleaseComObject(ReadingPaneButton)
                End If
                If ReadingPaneCommandBar IsNot Nothing Then
                    Marshal.ReleaseComObject(ReadingPaneCommandBar)
                End If
                If RightButton IsNot Nothing Then
                    Marshal.ReleaseComObject(RightButton)
                End If
                If BottomButton IsNot Nothing Then
                    Marshal.ReleaseComObject(BottomButton)
                End If
                If OffButton IsNot Nothing Then
                    Marshal.ReleaseComObject(OffButton)
                End If
            End Try
            Return AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout.Off
        Catch e As Exception
            Throw e
        End Try
    End Function


I recommend you use the ADXOlFormsManager events to get current Reading Pane/Preview state: 

    Private ReadingPaneStateByFormsManager As AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout = AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout.Off

    Private Sub AdxOlFormsManager1_ADXReadingPaneHide(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal args As AddinExpress.OL.ReadingPaneHideEventArgs) Handles AdxOlFormsManager1.ADXReadingPaneHide
        ReadingPaneStateByFormsManager = AddinExpress.OL.ADXOlReadingPaneLayout.Off
    End Sub

    Private Sub AdxOlFormsManager1_ADXReadingPaneMove(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal args As AddinExpress.OL.ReadingPaneMoveEventArgs) Handles AdxOlFormsManager1.ADXReadingPaneMove
        ReadingPaneStateByFormsManager = args.ReadingPaneLayout
    End Sub

    Private Sub AdxOlFormsManager1_ADXReadingPaneShow(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal args As AddinExpress.OL.ReadingPaneShowEventArgs) Handles AdxOlFormsManager1.ADXReadingPaneShow
        ReadingPaneStateByFormsManager = args.ReadingPaneLayout
    End Sub
Posted 25 Oct, 2007 05:16:30 Top
Anshul Dutt




Posts: 68
 Joined: 2007-10-24
Hi Fedor,

This is exactly what I was looking for.I was able to get the location of the reading pane using your code.

Thanks a lot for your help.
Posted 25 Oct, 2007 09:57:39 Top