Form Configuration File [Description] Section

The [Description] section lists all properties of the form that are associated with controls in the form's user interface, plus attributes that are used in locating the form. The MessageClass, Clsid, and DisplayName entries, which identify the name of the form's message class, its GUID, and the message class's display name, respectively, are required entries used to locate the form within the form library. The remaining entries are optional. The format of the [Description] section is:

[Description]
MessageClass
= string
Clsid = guid
DisplayName = displayed string
SmallIcon = path
LargeIcon = path

Optional entries are:

Category = displayed string
Subcategory = displayed string
Comment = displayed string
Owner = displayed string
Number = displayed string
Version = integer
Locale = string
Hidden = integer
DesignerToolName = string
DesignerToolGuid = clsid
DesignerRuntimeGuid = clsid
ComposeInFolder = 0|1
ComposeCommand = string

The Category and Subcategory entries are used by form installers to set up the default categorization of forms within client application's user interface. For example a hierarchy could be set up where "Help Desk" is the category and "Software" and "Hardware" were the subcategories. This categorization can then be used by viewer applications to display messages in a more organized way. The Comment, Owner, and Number entries are all comment strings that appear in client application's user interface. These are form specific properties that can be used at the discretion of the form developer. For example, the Comment entry can be used to indicate the purpose of the form, the Owner entry used to indicate the person or organization responsible for maintaining the form, and the number used to track different version of the form. For the Comment entry, up to ten lines of comments can be included. The first line of comments uses the word "Comment" as the key, the second line of comments uses "Comment1" as the key, and so on through "Comment9."

The LargeIcon and SmallIcon entries are used to specify the path for the icon resources used to display icons in the client application's user interface, typically this is for table rows that include the PR_ICON or PR_MINI_ICON property columns. Icon file names can be specified as pathnames relative to the directory where the form configuration file is installed. The Version entry is used to indicate the version number of the form. Locale is the three-letter language identifier of the destination form library. A list of these identifiers can be found in the Win32 Programmer's Reference.

The Hidden entry indicates whether the form should be displayed in a form library provider's user interface: 1 indicates that the file is hidden and 0 indicates that the form is visible. An example form configuration file is shown following.

The ComposeInFolder entry controls whether the form is designed to be placed in the current folder or in the user's Inbox when the user saves the message while composing it: 1 indicates that the form should go in the current folder and 0 indicates that it should go in the Inbox.

The ComposeCommand entry is the string to be placed in the client application's compose menu. If this is not specified, the DisplayName entry will be used.

[Description] 
MessageClass = IPM.Help 
Clsid = {00020D31-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} 
DisplayName = Help Desk Request Form 
 
;optional entries 
 
Category = Help Desk Requests 
Subcategory = New Requests 
Comment = Use this form to request network assistance 
Owner = Help Desk 
Number = 1 
SmallIcon = C:\WINDOWS|EFORMS\HELPDESK\HDSMALL.ICO
LargeIcon = C:\WINDOWS|EFORMS\HELPDESK\HDLARGE.ICO
Version = 1.00 
Locale = enu 
Hidden = 0 
ComposeInFolder = 0 
ComposeCommand = &Help Desk Request