Edit

Selection.Item method (Outlook)

  • Article

Returns a Microsoft Outlook item or conversation header from the selection.

Syntax

expression.Item (Index)

expression A variable that represents a 'Selection' object.

Parameters

Name Required/Optional Data type Description
Index Required Variant Either the index number of the object, or a value used to match the default property of an object in the collection.

Return value

An Object that represents the specified item or conversation header.

Remarks

Do not make any assumptions about the Item method return type; your code should be able to handle multiple item types or a ConversationHeader object. For example, the Item method can return an AppointmentItem, MailItem, MeetingItem, or TaskItem in the Inbox folder, depending on the value of the Selection.Location property.

The Selection collection contains ConversationHeader objects only if you specify olConversationHeaders in the GetSelection method of the Selection object.

Example

The following Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) example displays the sender of each selected item in the active explorer. It uses the Count property and Item method of the Selection object, returned by the Explorer.Selection property, to display the senders of all messages that are selected in the active explorer.

Sub GetSelectedItems() 
 Dim myOlExp As Outlook.Explorer 
 Dim myOlSel As Outlook.Selection 
 Dim mySender As Outlook.AddressEntry 
 Dim oMail As Outlook.MailItem 
 Dim oAppt As Outlook.AppointmentItem 
 Dim oPA As Outlook.PropertyAccessor 
 Dim strSenderID As String 
 Const PR_SENT_REPRESENTING_ENTRYID As String = _ 
 "http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x00410102" 
 Dim MsgTxt As String 
 Dim x As Long 
 
 MsgTxt = "Senders of selected items:" 
 Set myOlExp = Application.ActiveExplorer 
 Set myOlSel = myOlExp.Selection 
 For x = 1 To myOlSel.Count 
 If myOlSel.Item(x).Class = OlObjectClass.olMail Then 
 ' For mail item, use the SenderName property. 
 Set oMail = myOlSel.Item(x) 
 MsgTxt = MsgTxt & oMail.SenderName & ";" 
 ElseIf myOlSel.Item(x).Class = OlObjectClass.olAppointment Then 
 ' For appointment item, use the Organizer property. 
 Set oAppt = myOlSel.Item(x) 
 MsgTxt = MsgTxt & oAppt.Organizer & ";" 
 Else 
 ' For other items, use the property accessor to get sender ID, 
 ' then get the address entry to display the sender name. 
 Set oPA = myOlSel.Item(x).PropertyAccessor 
 strSenderID = oPA.GetProperty(PR_SENT_REPRESENTING_ENTRYID) 
 Set mySender = Application.Session.GetAddressEntryFromID(strSenderID) 
 MsgTxt = MsgTxt & mySender.Name & ";" 
 End If 
 Next x 
 Debug.Print MsgTxt 
End Sub

See also

Selection Object

Support and feedback

Have questions or feedback about Office VBA or this documentation? Please see Office VBA support and feedback for guidance about the ways you can receive support and provide feedback.