I’m in charge of administering a network environment which includes an Exchange 5.5 server on NT 4 and numerous internal and remote PCs running Outlook 2000 or XP. I’ve designed a custom contacts form and set it as the default in one of the public folders on the Exchange server, and since that time hundreds of entries have been generated.
I would like to create some kind of simple method of searching the custom fields on these entries, but the search functionality built into Outlook seems to make searching custom fields a rather tedious process.
Ideally, I’d like to create a custom *search* form that looks identical to the custom contacts form and allows users to fill in the specific fields they wish to search through with the text or properties they wish to search for. I would also like to be able to propagate this custom form to all of my users. However, I really don’t know how feasible this is, how to go about it if it is, or what would be a reasonable alternative if this option seems far-fetched.
If attaining my goal requires learning a particular programming language, I’m all for that. The usability of this public folder is crucial to our company, so it’s worth it to me to take the steps necessary to be technically prepared for this implementation.
Any advice?