Tips for Working with Details Templates

To avoid confusion, manage details templates and custom attributes from one central location. Use the same names for each attribute number, because the value of the attributes replicate but the name doesn't. For example, if an administrator in one site names Custom Attribute 1 Employee Age and an administrator in another site names Custom Attribute 1 Employee ID, the values of this attribute in the different sites won't correspond.

In a template with several tabbed pages, you can arrange the tab order by moving the corresponding Page Break. The first Page Break is the leftmost tab, the second Page Break is the second leftmost tab, and so forth. Of course, when moving tabs, don't forget to move all controls originally part of that Page Break so those controls come under the correct Page Break. Unfortunately, you must move controls one at a time; I haven't found a way to select several controls and move them simultaneously.

To restrict access to certain information in a template (e.g., not displaying recipients' pager numbers on the client), select the control you want to eliminate and click Remove. If you want to remove only one field, remove the Edit control and the corresponding Label control. If you remove a Page Break, be sure to remove all the controls under the Page Break, too.

Exchange Server lets you revert to your original template if you no longer need your manually defined template. To revert to the original template, go to the Templates tab of the details template and click Original. Reverting to the original template permanently overwrites any changes you've made to the template. The Microsoft article "XADM: How to Move Details Templates to Another Server" (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q182/1/99.asp) gives instructions for saving your templates if you want to use them in another site.

New custom attributes fields in the DS Site Configuration property sheet don't always display immediately under the template's Field option. You can tell whether this latency is occurring if you name a numbered custom attribute (e.g., # 5) to a different name, yet you still see Custom Attribute # 5 option under the Field drop-down menu of the template.

Users can also download templates and their data to the client for offline use. From the toolbar in the client program, choose Tools, Synchronize, Download Address Book. Downloading a copy of the Offline Address Book (OAB) creates five .oab files (rdndex.oab, anrdex.oab, tmplts.oab, browse.oab, and details.oab) at the client. The templts.oab file contains the empty electronic form template, and the details.oab populates the details template.