Microsoft KB Archive/922759

= Meeting reminder settings in a meeting request may be cleared or may take precedence over the meeting reminder settings in Outlook 2003 =

Article ID: 922759

Article Last Modified on 7/25/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

-





SYMPTOMS
When you receive a meeting request that has a reminder set in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:
 * The reminder in the meeting request may be cleared if you have a rule that runs when a meeting request is received.
 * The reminder in the meeting request may take precedence over how you have meeting reminders set in Outlook 2003.

Note You would expect that the reminder settings in Outlook 2003 would take precedence over the reminder in the meeting request.



WORKAROUND
To work around this issue, use a script to force the Reminder event to equal true for all meeting requests and meeting updates. To do this, you need to write a script. Then, use the E-mail Rules feature to run the script every time that you receive a new meeting request or a new meeting update.



MORE INFORMATION
The following scenarios describe unexpected behavior that you may experience when Outlook 2003 processes a meeting request that has a reminder set.

Scenario 1
 * User A has the Default reminder option set to 15 minutes.
 * User B has the Default reminder option set to 40 minutes.

Note To set the Default reminder option in Outlook 2003, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the Preferences tab.

Behavior that occurs in scenario 1
 * User A sends to User B a meeting request that contains no changes to the Default reminder option. After User B accepts the meeting request, the reminder time will be set to 40 minutes because that is User B's default reminder time.
 * User A sends to User B a meeting request that changes the Default reminder option to 1 day. After User B accepts the meeting request, the reminder time will be set to 1 day. You may expect that the reminder time for User B would be set to the default reminder of 40 minutes. However, the reminder time for the meeting request is set to 1 day.

This behavior is by design in Outlook 2003. In Outlook, the time that is the default, or unchanged, reminder time or the time that you set as the reminder time is referred to as delta time. The delta time also applies to the altered reminder time that you may set when you compose a new meeting request and when the reminder time does not match your default reminder time.

Two attributes are used with this functionality when Outlook checks the status of a received meeting request. These attributes include a setting that is identified as the default reminder time and a companion attribute that reflects the actual time for the reminder.

When the reminder trigger delta time is left at the default value of 15 minutes, Outlook puts a hard-coded time on the reminder time that states that the sender has used the default reminder time. This hard-coded time is not the default reminder trigger delta time of 15 minutes. When the receiver accepts the meeting request during the &quot;meeting request to calendar extraction phase,&quot; Outlook checks the reminder trigger delta time to determine whether the value is the hard-coded default time. If it is the hard-coded default time, Outlook sets the reminder trigger delta to the recipient's setting.

When the reminder trigger delta time has been changed, Outlook will use the delta time that is specified by the sender. When the recipient accepts the meeting request during the &quot;meeting request to calendar extraction phase,&quot; Outlook checks the reminder trigger delta time to determine whether the value is the hard-coded default time. Because, in this case, the reminder trigger delta time is not the default hard-coded value, Outlook retains the sender's setting.

Scenario 2
 * User A has the Default reminder option turned off. To turn off the Default reminder option, click to clear the Default reminder check box.
 * User B has the Default reminder option set to 15 minutes. This is the default reminder time in Outlook.

Note To set the Default reminder option in Outlook 2003, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the Preferences tab.

Behavior that occurs in scenario 2
 * User A sends to User B a meeting request that does not have a reminder. After User B accepts the meeting request, User B is not reminded of the meeting.

This behavior is by design in Outlook 2003. Outlook processes reminders from a special folder in your mailbox that is called the Reminders folder. The Reminders folder is a search folder that contains links to messages in which the message criteria meets one or more of the following conditions:
 * Reminder Set = True
 * Recurring = True

When a new message arrives, the message is created, modified, or deleted in one of the following folders:
 * Inbox
 * Task
 * Calendar

Microsoft Exchange Server automatically examines the message conditions. If the message meets the previously mentioned criteria, Outlook processes the search folder and adds a link, changes a link, or deletes a link.

For example, one of the following actions may occur depending on the conditions:
 * You receive a new meeting request. The sender has selected the Default reminder option. When the message is delivered to your Inbox, Exchange Server determines that the message meets the previously mentioned criteria and then adds a link to the message in the Reminders folder.
 * You have an existing appointment that has the Default reminder option selected. You delete the appointment. Then, Exchange Server removes the link from the Remainders folder.
 * You have an existing appointment that has the Default reminder option selected. You change the item to clear the Default reminder check box. Exchange Server notes that the message no longer meets the criteria and then removes the link from the Reminders folder.
 * You have an existing appointment that has the Default reminder option cleared. You click to select the Default reminder check box. Exchange Server notes that the message now meets the criteria and then adds the link to the Reminders folder.

Outlook 2003 now acts on what is in the Reminders folder. Outlook listens for any Change, Delete, or Add event in the Reminders folder. Additionally, a memory cache of what is in the Reminders folder is maintained. This memory cache is used to trigger the reminders that you see in Outlook.

If a meeting request in which a reminder is turned off arrives, the item will not be added to the Reminders folder. Additionally, Outlook will never know that a reminder has to occur for this event. Outlook will not need a reminder to occur because the sender of the request did not intend for a reminder to be set. This could be contrary to what a recipient expects. This design dictates that a reminder will not be configured because of the incoming state of the meeting request. If you want a reminder for all meeting requests that you receive regardless of whether a reminder is set, you must open these items and then turn on the reminder option.

You should not assume that the default settings are used in scenario 2 as in the scenario 1 because the sender, not the recipient, controls whether a reminder has to be set for the sent item. Additionally, as in scenario 1, because the reminder is set as a Boolean flag that can be set to either 0 or 1, Outlook cannot determine whether the reminder time was the default reminder time of the sender or the default reminder time of the recipient.

Additional query words: outlook2003 outlook2k3 outlook11 ol2003 ol2k3 ol11

Keywords: kbcalendar kbemail kbreceivefunctions kbtshoot kbexpertisebeginner kbprb KB922759

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.