OL2000: How to Sort a List Box or Combo Box

ID: Q227178

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Outlook 2000

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Outlook, there is no direct, or built-in, way to sort the contents of a list box or combo box control. This article provides two examples that use Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) code to sort information.

MORE INFORMATION

NOTE: For simplicity, the term list box will be used to denote either a list box or a combo box control.

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

Using the Items.Sort Method

This method assumes that you are populating the list box with information from items in an Outlook folder. If so, you can use the Items.Sort method to sort the items based on a particular field, to loop through those sorted items, and to insert the values of the field into the list box.

This example will add a list box to a Task form and populate the list box with contacts from the default Contacts folder. The contacts will be sorted by the Full Name field.

Open a new Task item.

On the Tools menu, click Forms, and then click Design This Form.

Click the (P.2) tab.

On the Form menu, click Control Toolbox. On the Control Toolbox, click and drag a ListBox onto the form.

Right-click the list box and then click Properties. On the Value page, click New....Type TestLB for the name and click OK. Click OK again.

On the Form menu, click View Code.

In the Script Editor, type the following VBScript code:


Sub Item_Open()

   Set objFormPage = Item.GetInspector.ModifiedFormPages("P.2")
   Set objListBox = objFormPage.Controls("ListBox1")
 
   Set objNS = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")<BR/>
   ' Get the default Contacts folder
   Set objConFolder = objNS.GetDefaultFolder(10) ' olFolderContacts

   ' Get the items in the folder
   Set colConItems = objConFolder.Items

   ' Create a Restrict filter
   strFilter = "[FullName] <> " & Chr(34) & Chr(34)

   ' Just get those contacts with a Full Name
   Set colResItems = colConItems.Restrict(strFilter)

   ' Sort the contacts based on FullName
   colResItems.Sort "[FullName]"

   ' Loop through all of the sorted contacts
   For Each objItem in colResItems
      ' Add the name to the listbox
      objListBox.AddItem objItem.FullName
   Next
   ' Loop through all of the sorted contacts
   For Each objItem in colResItems
      ' Add the name to the listbox and ignore distribution lists
      If Left(objItem.MessageClass, 11) = "IPM.Contact" Then
         objListBox.AddItem objItem.FullName
      End If
   Next

End Sub

On the Form menu, click Run this Form.

Click the P.2 page of the form.

The Item_Open event will run, and then the VBScript code will sort the contacts and load the list box on the P.2 page.

Use a Sorting Algortim

Sort algoritms can be used to sort any list. In the following example, the values in the list box are predefined and sorted using the Bubble Sort algoritm. Note that these values could also be retrieved from another source, such as an external database application.

On the Tools menu, click Forms, and then click Design a Form.

In the Standard Forms Library, click Message, and then click Open.

Click the (P.2) tab.

On the Form menu, click Control Toolbox. On the Control Toolbox, click and drag a ListBox onto the form.

Right-click the list box, and then click Properties. On the Value page, click New.... Type TestLB for the name, and click OK. In the Possible Values field, type Dog;Cat;Mouse;Horse;Pig;Cow;Chicken;Rabbit, and then click OK.

On the Control Toolbox, click and drag a CommandButton onto the form.

Right-click the command button, and then click Properties. Click the Display tab, type Sort for the Caption, and then click OK.

On the Form menu, click View Code.

In the Script Editor, type the following VBScript code:


Sub CommandButton1_Click()
   Dim strArray(8)

   Set FormPage = Item.GetInspector.ModifiedFormPages("P.2")
   Set ListBox1 = FormPage.Controls("ListBox1")

   For i = 0 to 7
      strArray(i) = ListBox1.List(i)
   Next

   Sort strArray, ListBox1

End Sub

Sub Sort(inpArray(), inpList)
   Dim intRet
   Dim intCompare
   Dim intLoopTimes
   Dim strTemp

   For intLoopTimes = 1 To UBound(inpArray)
      For intCompare = LBound(inpArray) To UBound(inpArray) - 1
         intRet = StrComp(inpArray(intCompare), _
         inpArray(intCompare + 1), vbTextCompare)
         If intRet = 1 Then
            ' String1 is greater than String2
            strTemp = inpArray(intCompare)
            inpArray(intCompare) = inpArray(intCompare + 1)
            inpArray(intCompare + 1) = strTemp
         End If
      Next
   Next

   inpList.Clear

   For intCompare = 1 To UBound(inpArray)
      inpList.AddItem inpArray(intCompare)
   Next

End Sub

On the Form menu, click Run This Form.

Click the P.2 tab, and click the Sort button to sort the list box.

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: OutSol OutSol2000

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto