Introduction Part 3: Stores and all their folders

Introduction#

Completes the introduction to stores and folders started in part 2 of this tutorial

Expected prior knowledge: You have studied part 2 of this tutorial or are already familiar with its contents.

3. 0 Contents

• How to reference any accessible folder.
• How to get the full name of a referenced folder.
• A pair of routines that together will list every folder within every accessible store.
• A routine to move a folder from one parent folder to another.

3.1 Function GetFldrNames() which is needed for several of the demonstration macros

A number of the demonstration macros within this part requires a function which I will explain later. For the moment, please just copy GetFldrNames() to a suitable module. I use this function frequently and keep it, and other like it that I use in many different macros, in a module named “ModGlobalOutlook”. You might like to do the same. Alternatively, you might prefer to keep the macro with all the other macros within this tutorial series; you can move it later if you change your mind.

Public Function GetFldrNames(ByRef Fldr As Folder) As String()

  ' * Fldr is a folder. It could be a store, the child of a store,
  '   the grandchild of a store or more deeply nested.
  ' * Return the name of that folder as a string array in the sequence:
  '    (0)=StoreName (1)=Level1FolderName (2)=Level2FolderName  ...
  
  ' 12Oct16  Coded
  ' 20Oct16  Renamed from GetFldrNameStr and amended to return a string array
  '          rather than a string
  
  Dim FldrCrnt As Folder
  Dim FldrNameCrnt As String
  Dim FldrNames() As String
  Dim FldrNamesRev() As String
  Dim FldrPrnt As Folder
  Dim InxFN As Long
  Dim InxFnR As Long

  Set FldrCrnt = Fldr
  FldrNameCrnt = FldrCrnt.Name
  ReDim FldrNamesRev(0 To 0)
  FldrNamesRev(0) = Fldr.Name
  ' Loop getting parents until FldrCrnt has no parent.
  ' Add names of Fldr and all its parents to FldrName as they are found
  Do While True
    Set FldrPrnt = Nothing
    On Error Resume Next
    Set FldrPrnt = Nothing   ' Ensure value is Nothing if following statement fails
    Set FldrPrnt = FldrCrnt.Parent
    On Error GoTo 0
    If FldrPrnt Is Nothing Then
      ' FldrCrnt has no parent
      Exit Do
    End If
    ReDim Preserve FldrNamesRev(0 To UBound(FldrNamesRev) + 1)
    FldrNamesRev(UBound(FldrNamesRev)) = FldrPrnt.Name
    Set FldrCrnt = FldrPrnt
  Loop

  ' Copy names to FldrNames in reverse sequence so they end up in the correct sequence
  ReDim FldrNames(0 To UBound(FldrNamesRev))
  InxFN = 0
  For InxFnR = UBound(FldrNamesRev) To 0 Step -1
    FldrNames(InxFN) = FldrNamesRev(InxFnR)
    InxFN = InxFN + 1
  Next

  GetFldrNames = FldrNames

End Function

3.2 Referencing a default folder

In TestDefaultFldr() I set Fldr to the default Inbox. The constant olFolderInbox can be replaced by other values giving access to any of the default folders. If you type Set Fldr = Session.GetDefaultFolder(, the VB editor will display a drop down list of all the possible values.

Sub TestDefaultFldr()

  Dim Fldr As Folder

  Set Fldr = Session.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)

  Debug.Print Join(GetFldrNames(Fldr), "|")

End Sub

On my laptop, TestDefaultFldr() displays Outlook data file|Inbox which came as a surprise. I wrote GetFldrNames(Fldr) to make sure that the folder I had referenced was the one I wanted. I had accessed the default Inbox and found it was empty! Store “Output data file” came with the default installation and I had ignored it since Outlook had created a store for each of my email accounts. It was only after discovering my empty default Inbox that I thought about how Outlook would know which of my email accounts was the account I would want as the default. Of the standard Outlook folders, there is either no default or the default is within “Output data file”. It may be possible to change which Inbox is the default Inbox but I have not investigated because I am not sure which of my email accounts I would make the default if I did change. Just remember that all your Calendar Items, Tasks and so on are within “Outlook data file” and make sure you include “Outlook.pst” in your archive list.

Most Outlook objects have the property Parent. GetFldrNames(Fldr) records the name of the folder in an array before trying to access its parent. It loops adding names to the end of the array until it reaches the store. The store does not have a parent so the attempt to access it fails. The sequence of names in the array is reversed and then returned to the caller. I have used Join to turn the array of names into a displayable string.

3.3 Referencing any folder within any accessible store

TestFldrChain() demonstrates how to reference any folder within any accessible store:

Sub TestFldrChain()

  Dim Fldr As Folder

  Set Fldr = Session.Folders("A").Folders("A2"). _
                           Folders("A21").Folders("A213")

  Debug.Print Join(GetFldrNames(Fldr), "|")

End Sub    

In TestFldrChain(): A is the name of a store; A2 is the name of a folder within A; A21 is the name of a folder within A2 and A213 is the name of a folder within A21.

What is happening here?

Session has a property Folders which is a list of all accessible stores.

Session.Folders(integer), which I used in Part 2 of this tutorial, allows me to step through the stores in sequence when I do not know their names. Session.Folders("A") allows me to access a folder when I know its name.

Session.Folders("A") is a folder and it too has a property Folders.

Session.Folders("A").Folders("A2") gives me access to folder “A2” within store “A”.

I can chain as many Folders("x")s as necessary to reach any folder. If the chain is too long for one line, you can split the statement across several lines as I have.

Look for the most deeply nested folder within your installation and replace A, A2, A21 and A213 by the names of your store and folders. Increase or decrease the number of Folders in the chain as necessary.

If you update and run TestFldrChain(), it will output the following except that A, A2 and so on will have been replaced by your folder names:

A|A2|A21|A213 

3.4 Listing the names of every folder within every accessible store

In Part 2, you were shown how to list every accessible store and the top level folders within each store. This involved a loop through the stores and then a loop for each store through its folders Above you have seen how to reference a known folder at any depth within the hierarchy of folders. This involved chaining together as many Folders("x")s as necessary to reach the folder.

I now want to list every folder, at any depth, within every store. The easiest coding technique for solving this type of problem where you must move down chains of varying lengths is recursion. If you are a serious programmer in another language or tool, you may already know about recursion. If you have ambitions to be a serious programmer, you will need to understand recursion eventually but not necessarily today. “Recursion” is one of those concepts that many find difficult to grasp at first. You can type “Recursion” into your favourite search engine and read the various attempts at explaining this concept. Alternatively, you can accept these macro work but not worry how they work.

Note the comment in ListStoresAndAllFolders(): these macros need a reference to “Microsoft Scripting Runtime”. Click Tools in the tab bar at the top of the VB Editor window then click References. You will get a list of all the available references (libraries). Some at the top will already be ticked. The remainder are in alphabetic order. Scroll down the list and click the box to the left of “Microsoft Scripting Runtime” to get a tick. Then click OK

 Sub ListStoresAndAllFolders()

  ' Displays the name of every accessible store
  ' Under each store, displays an indented list of all its folders

  ' Technique for locating desktop from answer by Kyle:
  ' https://stackoverflow.com/a/17551579/973283

  ' Needs reference to “Microsoft Scripting Runtime” if "TextStream"
  ' and "FileSystemObject" are to be recognised

  Dim FileOut As TextStream
  Dim FldrCrnt As Folder
  Dim Fso As FileSystemObject
  Dim InxFldrCrnt As Long
  Dim InxStoreCrnt As Long
  Dim Path As String
  Dim StoreCrnt As Folder

  Path = CreateObject("WScript.Shell").SpecialFolders("Desktop")
  
  Set Fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
  Set FileOut = Fso.CreateTextFile(Path & "\ListStoresAndAllFolders.txt", True)

  With Application.Session
    For InxStoreCrnt = 1 To .Folders.Count
      Set StoreCrnt = .Folders(InxStoreCrnt)
      With StoreCrnt
        FileOut.WriteLine .Name
        For InxFldrCrnt = .Folders.Count To 1 Step -1
          Set FldrCrnt = .Folders(InxFldrCrnt)
          Call ListAllFolders(FldrCrnt, 1, FileOut)
        Next
      End With
    Next
  End With

  FileOut.Close

End Sub
Sub ListAllFolders(ByRef Fldr As Folder, ByVal Level As Long, ByRef FileOut As TextStream)

  ' This routine:
  '  1. Output name of Fldr
  '  2. Calls itself for each child of Fldr
  ' It is designed to be called by ListStoresAndAllFolders()

  Dim InxFldrCrnt As Long

  With Fldr
    FileOut.WriteLine Space(Level * 2) & .Name
    For InxFldrCrnt = .Folders.Count To 1 Step -1
      Call ListAllFolders(.Folders(InxFldrCrnt), Level + 1, FileOut)
    Next
  End With

End Sub

After you have run ListStoresAndAllFolders, there will be a new file on your DeskTop named “ListStoresAndAllFolders.txt” which will contain the promised list of stores and folders.

3.5 Moving a folder from one parent folder to another

Why do I want to reference a folder? In the next part I will show you how to access emails within a referenced folder. Here I will show you how to move a folder. I created a folder named “Test” within my Inbox. In TestMoveFolder(), I replaced “A” with the name of the store containing my Inbox. Running TestMoveFolder() moved “Test” to “Deleted Items”.

Sub TestMoveFolder()

  Dim FldrDest As Folder
  Dim FldrToMove As Folder

  Set FldrToMove = Session.Folders("A").Folders("Inbox").Folders("Test")
  Set FldrDest = Session.Folders("A").Folders("Deleted Items")
  
  FldrToMove.MoveTo FldrDest

End Sub

3.6 What you should remember from this part of the tutorial

• How to reference a default folder and the possible limitations of this technique.
• How to reference any single folder at any depth within any accessible store.
• How to display the full name of a referenced folder.
• How to reference one of the many, many available libraries that provide functionality beyond the default set of subroutines and functions.
• How to display the name of every folder within every accessible store.
• How to move a folder from one parent folder to another.