How come my outlook add-in only works once?

Question

Ok so I have generated a very simple Ribbon to be added to each new Compose window that a user opens. The ribbon works fine the first time. It has 2 checkboxes on it, lets say the user selects the first checkbox and sends their message.

If I debug the code when the user sends their first message. In the ItemSend event I access Globals.Ribbons.MyRibbon.MyCheckbox1.Checked it will show that checkbox is checked. That window closes and the user opens a new email.

Lets say that in the second email the user clicks the second checkbox Globals.Ribbons.MyRibbon.MyCheckbox2.Checked. If I debug the same ItemSend event and look at that field it shows it as false and the the first checkbox is currently checked.

It is almost as if the Globals.Ribbons.MyRibbon control instances aren't getting updated properly or if I am misunderstanding its not getting disposed of properly.

Edit 1

As an update I used the Ribbon (Visual Designer) to create my ribbon. Should I have used the Ribbon (XML)?

Edit 2

Not sure how adding this to my question, when it is already in the original question above makes any difference but here is my "code" that I used in the application.

private void ThisAddIn_Startup(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
    this.Application.ItemSend += new Outlook.ApplicationEvents_11_ItemSendEventHandler(Application_ItemSend);
}

void Application_ItemSend(object Item, ref bool Cancel) {
    if (Globals.Ribbons.MyRibbon.MyCheckbox1.Checked) {

    } else { 

    }
}

Nice one! Does the question not suffice enough code to explain whats happening here? Did you try to create a new Outlook add-in project and test it with adding a simple checkbox and see if the behavior performs the same? — Steven Combs, Dec 20 '12 at 22:04
I've got some code on my computer that fixes your problem. Try using that to fix your problem. — JohnFx, Dec 20 '12 at 22:06
Of course I didn't. Please read the FAQ and look at the section on asking good questions. Good luck! — Hogan, Dec 20 '12 at 22:06

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 20 '12 at 22:56

So my problem was that I wasn't accessing the current ribbon collection. As the code states above I was using Globals.Ribbons.MyRibbon.Checkbox1.Checked. For each ItemSend event you need to specify ThisRibbonCollection ribbonCollection = Globals.Ribbons[Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveInspector()]; in order to get the current windows ribbon. This in turn gave me the correct values on the send event.

For those that need this in a code window.

private void ThisAddIn_Startup(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
    this.Application.ItemSend += new Outlook.ApplicationEvents_11_ItemSendEventHandler(Application_ItemSend);
}

void Application_ItemSend(object Item, ref bool Cancel) {
    ThisRibbonCollection ribbonCollection = Globals.Ribbons[Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveInspector()];
    if (ribbonCollection.MyRibbon.MyCheckbox1.Checked) {

    } else { 

    }
}

How come my outlook add-in only works once?

1 Answers1