New Draft from Filemaker Script Step, Outlook 2011

[Tony O]

Firstoff, yes, Outlook 2011 for Mac is set as the default email client.

We use the Filemaker script step "Send via email client" extensively and it's always worked fine with Office 2008. The script step formats an email with recipient, cc, message body and attachments and passes it along to whatever client is your default, that is, Entourage 2004, 2008, Mac Mail, Thunderbird, whatever.

However, it does not finish the job with Outlook 2011, which is a complete game changer for this office; a significant percentage of our sales outgoing mail is quotes, invoices, POs, etc generated from that simple script step.

When I follow the script through with Filemaker Developer debugging tool it is fine and does actually "go" to Outlook correctly upon execution (making it frontmost window) but the expected draft is not in the "drafts" folder, as it would be with the Entourage 2008 (and any other email client).

I am inclined then to think that the problem is not with the Filemaker step but with interoperability somewhere in Outlook's behavior. Since Outlook 2011 is only recently released I checked these forums for any early adopters like myself that have experienced this problem and looks like zip zero nada so far. Hmm.

Filemaker versions are 10 and 11. Outlook is latest build, version checked for updates as of this am (11/1/10). I am also cross posting this on the Office for Mac forum. TIA for any reply!

Tony Ochoa

IT Dude, Cube Passes

[Ron Cates]

For us, when using Outlook the email is sent to the outbox and is sent with the next scheduled cycle. If we want to make sure it goes out right away we have to open the outbox and send it from there. Otherwise it will just go on it's own when the time comes.

[Tony O]

Hmm, not getting that behavior at all. Is your setup close to matching ours (FM Server 11 Advanced, Outlook for Mac 2011, Fm Clients 10 and 11)? Or is this Outlook on the PC? No problem there for us either. This is strictly an Outlook 2011 for Mac problem.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Guest

[scott_m29]

I am seeing exactly the same problem. Everything worked with Entourage 2008 (Web Edition). Upgraded to Office 2011 and Outlook stopped playing along. Reset Outlook as the default mail client.

On a subset of scripts I have single PDF files created as attachments written to disk, then attached to the e-mail. These are being created fine, as before. But, Outlook is just sitting there.

Downloading this morning's Office 14.01 updater now, hoping that is has a fix inside it that resolves this issue.

Mac-based FM v11 server, FM v11 clients on Snow Leopard.

[Tony O]

Unfortunately, update did not help.

See this thread on the Outlook support forum.

Outlook for Mac - Filemaker Script Step

This issue is a non-starter for us and we have suspended all installs of Outlook 2011 for Mac until the bug (in Outlook, not FM) is fixed.

Tony

[Stickybeak]

How do you know this is an Outlook issue?

I was told that outlook 2011 has changed the way it accesses the server (or something like that) and fm hasnt caught up to that change...

see also: http://forums.filemaker.com/posts/715dad2d7f

[Stickybeak]

The filemaker.com thread establishes this.

Wouldn't filemaker have known of a fundamental change in the structure of outlook well prior to release?

Destroys a massive amount of FM functionality.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Guest