Creating and overriding the default Outlook reader inspector

Question

I'm trying to create a customized view to replace the default Outlook message reader (the reader is shown in this picture).

Standard Outlook Message Reader

I can't seem to find any resources on this, is it even possible?

The picture you have is of Outlook **Explorer**, not an **Inspector**. The **Inspector** is a view of a single Outlook Item, whereas the **Explorer** is a view of multiple Outlook Items. See [MSDN for Outlook Object Model Overview](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms268893%28v=vs.80%29.aspx). — SliverNinja - MSFT, Jun 28 '12 at 13:48
Ohhhh! That would explain why nothing I came up with was relevant.. — Innatepirate, Jun 28 '12 at 14:45

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

1

You are probably looking for Explorer Folder View or Web View Regions. The only way to achieve what you're after is by leveraging low-level Win32 APIs - outside the scope of what VSTO offers. See related SO post.

Here are two approaches:

Purchase AddIn Express which already handles the Win32 integration (see video here).
Build the Adjacent Region yourself using Win32 API calls.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

Community

1
1

answered Jun 28 '12 at 14:00

SliverNinja - MSFT

31,051
11
110
173

1

I might as well learn how to do it with Win32; should be a fun crash course into native C++, haha. Thank you – Innatepirate Jun 28 '12 at 14:48

Creating and overriding the default Outlook reader inspector

1 Answers1