OK this is kinda complicated, so bear with me 
We are using Microsoft Great Plains in a Windows 2000 Terminal Services / Citrix Metaframe environment. We do not give the users access to the Citrix desktop (in other words, we publish the GP application).
We are using CR 8.5 for the reporting engine for many of the reports, quotes, invoices, and forms in Great Plains. Our problem comes when we try to use the MAPI export feature.
At first we were using Outlook 2000 as the mail client. Since the users are using a published application, they never really open Outlook on the Citrix server. When Crystal went to do a MAPI export, there would be no existing MAPI session and Outlook would try to ask the user to select a MAPI profile so one could be started. Unfortunately, Crystal never presented this dialog to the user, so it looked like nothing ever happened. (he same thing will happen in Excel or Word if you pick "Send To mail recipient (as attachment), except you DO see the dialog box, can select a profile, and continue).
We "worked around" this by launching a "canned" report (non-Crystal) in Great Plains and trying to email it. This also asked the user for a MAPI profile, but at least the dialog box was presented so that the user could select his profile (there was only ever one profile offered, btw) and continue with the email. After this "kick start" of the MAPI session, then Crystal was happy and we could go ahead and do a MAPI export, the Outlook 2000 Send window would open, and life was good.
Well, after enough user complaints about having to do a "kick start" to start the day, we started looking at using Outlook Express as the mail client instead. I got this working, including automatic generation of the required Internet Connection Wizard settings for each user, but there were drawbacks: you couldn't attach more than one file to the email; items were not kept in a "Sent Items" folder; the Outlook contacts were not available, etc. People we evenly split about whether Express was better or worse than Outlook.
Ok now to current day: We got Office 2003 in the mail. Some early testing showed promise. I installed Office 2003 on the test terminal server and launched Great Plains, then did a Crystal Report and exported to MAPI. Instead of 1) getting the Outlook 2003 Send window (what I had hoped for) or 2) having the thing just sit there (what I feared would happen), I still got a "plain jane" Send window like we got when using Outlook Express. I would prefer to get the Outlook 2003 Send window.
So, to the bottom line: I'm no MAPI expert at all. When Crytsal makes a MAPI export call, how does it know what kind of "Send" window to present? Can we force it somehow to show the Outlook 2003 window?
Thanks for reading this far, even if you have no idea how to help!
We are using Microsoft Great Plains in a Windows 2000 Terminal Services / Citrix Metaframe environment. We do not give the users access to the Citrix desktop (in other words, we publish the GP application).
We are using CR 8.5 for the reporting engine for many of the reports, quotes, invoices, and forms in Great Plains. Our problem comes when we try to use the MAPI export feature.
At first we were using Outlook 2000 as the mail client. Since the users are using a published application, they never really open Outlook on the Citrix server. When Crystal went to do a MAPI export, there would be no existing MAPI session and Outlook would try to ask the user to select a MAPI profile so one could be started. Unfortunately, Crystal never presented this dialog to the user, so it looked like nothing ever happened. (he same thing will happen in Excel or Word if you pick "Send To mail recipient (as attachment), except you DO see the dialog box, can select a profile, and continue).
We "worked around" this by launching a "canned" report (non-Crystal) in Great Plains and trying to email it. This also asked the user for a MAPI profile, but at least the dialog box was presented so that the user could select his profile (there was only ever one profile offered, btw) and continue with the email. After this "kick start" of the MAPI session, then Crystal was happy and we could go ahead and do a MAPI export, the Outlook 2000 Send window would open, and life was good.
Well, after enough user complaints about having to do a "kick start" to start the day, we started looking at using Outlook Express as the mail client instead. I got this working, including automatic generation of the required Internet Connection Wizard settings for each user, but there were drawbacks: you couldn't attach more than one file to the email; items were not kept in a "Sent Items" folder; the Outlook contacts were not available, etc. People we evenly split about whether Express was better or worse than Outlook.
Ok now to current day: We got Office 2003 in the mail. Some early testing showed promise. I installed Office 2003 on the test terminal server and launched Great Plains, then did a Crystal Report and exported to MAPI. Instead of 1) getting the Outlook 2003 Send window (what I had hoped for) or 2) having the thing just sit there (what I feared would happen), I still got a "plain jane" Send window like we got when using Outlook Express. I would prefer to get the Outlook 2003 Send window.
So, to the bottom line: I'm no MAPI expert at all. When Crytsal makes a MAPI export call, how does it know what kind of "Send" window to present? Can we force it somehow to show the Outlook 2003 window?
Thanks for reading this far, even if you have no idea how to help!
