Using the Form Region XML Manifest to Define a Form Region

To run a form region, you must register it in the Windows registry and specify the message class and other necessary information that Microsoft Outlook needs to display the form region. The form region XML schema allows you to specify information related to the functionality, behavior, and other innate properties of the form region. Typically, you would specify XML that follows this schema in a form region manifest XML file, and then register this file in the Windows registry so as to use the form region to display items of the corresponding message class.

For example, if you are designing a form region for items of the message class IPM.Contact, you can specify a form region manifest XML file, contoso.xml, that defines characteristics of the form region. When you register the form region in the Windows registry, under the current user key, you can add the key IPM.Contact, add a value of the type String, and specify the name of the form region, ContosoAdjoining, as the name of the key, and the form region manifest XML file, c:\Form Regions\contoso.xml, as the data of the key. For more information, see Specifying Form Regions in the Windows Registry.

You can specify the functionality, behavior, and other innate properties of a form region through elements in the form region XML schema. Some of the more commonly used elements are listed as follows. For more information on the form region XML schema, see the Microsoft Outlook 2010 XML Schema Reference in the MSDN Library.

Schema Elements	Purpose	Further Information
name, title, formRegionName	Identify a form region internally and in the user interface.	How-to: Name a Form Region
formRegionType	Specify a form region to occupy part of a page or an entire page of a form.	How to: Specify the Location of a Form Region in a Custom Form
displayAfter	Order multiple form regions in a custom form.	How to: Specify the Location of a Form Region in a Custom Form
layoutFile	Specify a layout file for a form region.	How to: Specify a Layout File for a Form Region
showInspectorCompose	Prevent the inspector from displaying a form region when you are composing a message.	How to: Prevent the Inspector from Displaying a Form Region When You are Composing a Message
showInspectorRead	Prevent the inspector from displaying a form region when you are reading a message.	How to: Prevent the Inspector from Displaying a Form Region When You are Reading a Message
showReadingPane	Prevent the Reading Pane from displaying a form region when you are previewing a message.	How to: Prevent the Reading Pane from Displaying a Form Region When You are Previewing a Message
hidden	Prevent a form region from being modified in the Forms Designer.	How to: Prevent a Replacement Form Region from Being Used to Create a New Item or from Being Modified in the Forms Designer
exactMessageClass	Specify a form region is to be used only for items that have exactly the same message class as the form region.	How to: Specify a Form Region to be Used Only for the Exact Message Class
action and its child elements	Modify a standard action that is available to a form region.	How to: Modify a Built-in Action for a Form Region
action and its child elements	Create a custom action for a form region.	How to: Create a Custom Action for a Form Region
icons and its child elements	Specify custom icons for a form region.	How to: Specify Icons to be Displayed for a Form Region
stringOverride and its child elements	Specify locale-specific strings in the user interface of a form region.	How to: Specify Locale-Specific User Interface for a Form Region

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