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Name a Form Region

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Depending on the purpose, there are multiple ways you can provide identifiers for a form region. Only one of these identifiers is mandatory, which is the name that you associate with the form region manifest XML file when you register the form region in the Windows registry. You can optionally specify the other identifiers through the name, title, and formRegionName elements of the form region XML schema.

To provide an identifier in the Windows registry

  1. In the Windows registry, under the current user key, create a key for the message class that the form region is created for, if the key does not already exist.
  2. Add a value of the type String.
  3. Specify an identifier for the form region as the name of the key.
  4. Specify the full path name of the form region manifest XML file as the data of the key.

For more information, see Specifying Form Regions in the Windows Registry.

Optional: To provide an internal identifier using the name element

  • In the form region manifest XML file, specify a string identifier for the form region as a value of the name element. The value of the name element is an internal name used by Outlook and any form region add-in to identify this form region. The following example specifies TestFormRegion as the internal identifier of a form region: <name>TestFormRegion</name>If the name element is not specified in the form region manifest XML file, then the identifier specified in the Windows registry will be used as the internal name.

Optional: To provide a display name using the title element

  • In the form region manifest XML file, specify a string identifier for the form region as a value of the title element. The value of the title element is the display name of the form region in the default locale. If the form region is a replacement or replace-all form region, the value of title is used in the Actions menu and the Choose Form dialog box. This value can be overridden with a locale-specific value according to the regional settings and any form region localization manifest. The following example specifies Sample Form Region as the display name of a form region: <title>Sample Form Region</title>In general, the value for the title element is optional. If the title element is not specified in the form region manifest XML file, then the value for formRegionName, if it is defined, will be used as the display name. If no value for formRegionName has been specified, then the internal name will be used. The exception is for a replacement or replace-all form region that has the hidden attribute being false. In this case, if the title element is not set, the form region will not be displayed in the Actions menu, Choose Form dialog, and Design Form dialog.

Optional: To provide a form region identifier using the formRegionName element

  • In the form region manifest XML file, specify a string identifier for the form region as a value of the formRegionName element. The value of the formRegionName element identifies the form region in the Show group of the ribbon in the default locale. If the form region is an adjoining form region, the value is also used in the header that separates the beginning of an adjoining form region from the preceding portion of the form. This value can be overridden with a locale-specific value according to the regional settings and any form region localization manifest. The following example specifies Additional Information as the form region identifier of a separate form region: <formRegionName>Additional Information</formRegionName>If the formRegionName element is not specified in the form region manifest XML file, then the value for title, if it is defined, will be used. If no value has been specified for title, then the internal name will be used.

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