Understanding the Object Browser

[dhancy]

Hello,

Within Excel VBA, I am looking at the Object Browser. I have selected Outlook as the Library, and ContactItem as the Class.

Beneath this window is this note:

Class ContactItem
Member of Outlook

Here is the code I am trying to run:

Dim o As Outlook.Application
Dim c As Outlook.ContactItem
Set o = CreateObject("Outlook.application")
Set c = o.ContactItem

When I step through the code, it produces this error message on the last line:

Run-time error: '438':
Object doesn't support this property or method

If ContactItem is a member of Outlook, how come I am getting this error?

Perhaps I am just not clear on the terms Class, Member, Property and Method. Or perhaps I am not clear how to interpret the information in the Object Browser.


In any case, can anyone shed some light on what I am doing wrong?


Thanks!

Dennis

 

[Zack Barresse]

You aren't creating the object correctly. You need to use the CreateItem method to do so. Instead use....

    Dim OutlookApplication As Outlook.Application
    Dim OutlookContact As Outlook.ContactItem
    Set OutlookApplication = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
    Set OutlookContact = OutlookApplication.CreateItem(olContactItem) '2

While the Object Browser is helpful, it's not as helpful as documentation. These are what you need to read:

ContactItem object (Outlook)
OlItemType enumeration (Outlook)

Edit: for future reference, I would suggest creating your post titles with a little more clarity in regards to your question.

 

[dhancy]

Thanks Sir.
That works much better.

While I've written plenty of VBA code in the past, I rarely am asked to write code for Outlook. The learning curve for me is learning about the Outlook objects and hierarchies. Part of my research included checking into the Object Browser which mostly just contributed to my confusion. So my questions are about both topics, even though my initial question was about Outlook objects.

 

[Zack Barresse]

Fair enough. Glad it got you sorted. I've been in your position. slipstick.com is probably the best Outlook VBA site I've used over the years. Also, as linked in my previous post, the online documentation is actually pretty darn good. I use it extensively and highly recommend it.