Microsoft KB Archive/219034

= OL97: OL98: SetColumns Returns Incorrect Times When Used with Tasks =

Article ID: 219034

Article Last Modified on 11/23/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Outlook 98 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q219034





SYMPTOMS
When using the SetColumns method to retrieve dates or times from tasks, the times may not accurately reflect what is stored in the task.



CAUSE
With the exception of tasks, all dates in Outlook are stored in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). However, tasks store dates in local time. The SetColumns method always converts the retrieved time into local time, therefore causing the times to be offset.



Method 1: Do Not Use SetColumns
Do not use the SetColumns method to retrieve dates with tasks. In most cases this adversely affects your solution's performance.

Method 2: Retrieve and Use an OffSet
NOTE: If you are using Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript), you cannot access the system registry and this workaround does not apply.

If you are using Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications, programmatically get the local time zone information from the computer running your application. This information is stored in the following location in the registry:

HKEY_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation

The Bias value specifies the current bias, in minutes, for local time translation on the computer. The bias is the difference, in minutes, between local time and UTC. Use this value to correct the time retrieved using the SetColumns method.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.



MORE INFORMATION
The Date type is implemented as a floating-point value, measuring days from midnight, December, 30 1899. To interpret the time portion, take the absolute value of the fractional part of the number. Since the bias is measured in minutes however, you must divide the bias by the number of minutes in a day (1440) in order to perform the conversion. The formula is:

  local time + (Bias / 1440 ) = UTC

For example, the Date value of a task to be started February 14, 1999 (UTC) should be 36205.0. However, if your application is run on a computer in New York, the Date value (local time) may be 36204.7916667 (February 13, 1999 7:00 P.M.). To perform the conversion, find the computer's bias (from the registry), which is 0x0000012c (300 minutes). Using this in the formula, we have:

  local time + (Bias / 1440 ) = UTC 36204.7916667 + (300/1440) = 36205.0  (February 13, 1999 7:00 PM + 5hrs) = February 14, 1999 0:00am

For more information about using Visual Basic to retrieve values from the registry, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

145679 HOWTO: Use the Registry API to Save and Retrieve Setting

Steps to Reproduce the Problem:
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:

https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104

For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

 Create a new task in the default tasks folder. Set the Subject to New Task . Set the Start date to any date and time. Save the task.</li>  Enter the following automation code into Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications: Private Sub Command1_Click Dim OutApp As Outlook.Application Dim oNameSpace As Outlook.NameSpace Dim oFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder Dim oItems As Outlook.Items Dim oTask As Outlook.TaskItem

Set OutApp = New Outlook.Application Set oNameSpace = OutApp.GetNamespace("MAPI") Set oFolder = oNameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderTasks) Set oItems = oFolder.Items

Set oTask = oItems("New Task") MsgBox CDbl(oTask.StartDate)

oItems.SetColumns "StartDate" Set oTask2 = oItems("New Task") MsgBox CDbl(oTask2.StartDate) End Sub </li> Add a reference to the Microsoft Outlook 98 Object Model.</li> Run the code.</li></ol>

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