OL2000: SetColumns Returns Incorrect Times When Used With Tasks

ID: Q208305

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Outlook 2000

SYMPTOMS

When using the SetColumns method to retrieve dates or times from tasks, the times may not accurately reflect what is stored in the task.

CAUSE

With the exception of tasks, all dates in Outlook are stored in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). However, tasks store dates in local time. The SetColumns method always converts the retrieved time into local time, therefore causing the times to be offset.

WORKAROUND

Use either of the following methods to work around this behavior.

Method 1: Do Not Use SetColumns

Do not use the SetColumns method to retrieve dates with tasks. In most cases this will adversely affect your solution's performance.

Method 2: Retrieve and Use an OffSet

NOTE: If you are using Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript), you cannot access the system registry and this workaround does not apply.

If you are using Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications, programmatically get the local time zone information from the computer running your application. This information is stored in the following location in the registry:

HKEY_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation

The Bias value specifies the current bias, in minutes, for local time translation on the computer. The bias is the difference, in minutes, between local time and UTC. Use this value to correct the time retrieved using the SetColumns method.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Outlook 2000.

MORE INFORMATION

The Date type is implemented as a floating-point value, measuring days from midnight, December 30, 1899. To interpret the time portion, take the absolute value of the fractional part of the number. Since the bias is measured in minutes however, you must divide the bias by the number of minutes in a day (1440) in order to perform the conversion. The formula is:


   local time + (Bias / 1440 ) = UTC

For example, the Date value of a task to be started February 14, 1999 (UTC) should be 36205.0. However, if your application is run on a computer in New York, the Date value (local time) will be 36204.7916667 (February 13, 1999 7:00 P.M.). To perform the conversion, find the computer's bias from the registry, which is 0x0000012c (300 minutes). Using this in the formula, we have:


   local time + (Bias / 1440 ) = UTC
   36204.7916667 + (300/1440) = 36205.0
   (February 13, 1999 7:00 PM + 5hrs) = February 14, 1999 0:00am

For more information about using Visual Basic to retrieve values from the registry, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q1456796 HOWTO: Use the Registry API to Save and Retrieve Setting

Steps to Reproduce the Problem:

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http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp

Create a new task in the default tasks folder.

Set the Subject to "New Task" (without the quotes).

Set the Start date to any date and time.

Save the task.

Enter the following automation code into Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications:


Private Sub Command1_Click()
   Dim OutApp As Outlook.Application
   Dim oNameSpace As Outlook.NameSpace
   Dim oFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
   Dim oItems As Outlook.Items
   Dim oTask As Outlook.TaskItem

   Set OutApp = New Outlook.Application
   Set oNameSpace = OutApp.GetNamespace("MAPI")
   Set oFolder = oNameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderTasks)
   Set oItems = oFolder.Items

   Set oTask = oItems("New Task")
   MsgBox CDbl(oTask.StartDate)

   oItems.SetColumns "StartDate"
   Set oTask2 = oItems("New Task")
   MsgBox CDbl(oTask2.StartDate)
End Sub

Add a reference to the Microsoft Outlook 9.0 Object Library.

Run the code.

REFERENCES

For additional information about available resources and answers to commonly asked questions about Microsoft Outlook 2000 solutions, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q146636 OL2000: Questions About Custom Forms and Outlook Solutions

Additional query words: OL2K OutSol OutSol2000 vbscript

Keywords : kbdta
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug