vb6 DoEvents locks up Outlook 2007 when new mailitem is open

Chris Smith · Joined: 13 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

I have been using vb6 to build a COM Add-in for Outlook. There are parts of
the code that run in a long loop and require a DoEvents. In the case of
Outlook 2007, all is fine until a new mailitem is opened and user starts
typing an email. Once the user starts typing and a DoEvents it triggered by
the Add-in in the background then Outlook locks up indefinitely using 100%
CPU.

I have went through and eliminated any unnecessary DoEvents but if I remove
all of them then Outlook stalls until the large loops are completed.

This does not occur in Outlook 2000, 2002 or 2003.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Chris Smith

Archived from group: microsoft>public>outlook>program_addins

Dmitry Streblechenko · Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 220

You should not be using DoEvents in a COM add-in - it is essentially calling
GetMessage/TranslateMessage/DispatchMessage. These functions must be called
by Outlook, not by your code; you are probably ending up stealing some
messages that Outlook is expecting.
If you have a long loop, use a separate thread.

Dmitry Streblechenko (MVP)
http://www.dimastr.com/
OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
and MAPI Developer Tool

"Chris Smith" wrote in message @microsoft.com...
>I have been using vb6 to build a COM Add-in for Outlook. There are parts of
> the code that run in a long loop and require a DoEvents. In the case of
> Outlook 2007, all is fine until a new mailitem is opened and user starts
> typing an email. Once the user starts typing and a DoEvents it triggered
> by
> the Add-in in the background then Outlook locks up indefinitely using 100%
> CPU.
>
> I have went through and eliminated any unnecessary DoEvents but if I
> remove
> all of them then Outlook stalls until the large loops are completed.
>
> This does not occur in Outlook 2000, 2002 or 2003.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
> Chris Smith

Chris Smith · Joined: 05 Oct 2007 Posts: 1

Thanks for the message. Looking for shortest path to a resolution here before
considering additional threading code.

I would agree that using DoEvents in Outlook 2007 may steal messages but in
previous Outlook versions it did not exhibit this behavior. I read in group a
posting "Subject: Accessing Outlook while addin is running - 7/9/2007" that
Ken Slovak suggested using System.Windows.Forms.DoEvents. I don't currently
see a way to access that in vb6 because it is .Net.

Is there an alternative function for DoEvents that can be accessed by vb6 to
use in a COM Add-in for Outlook 2007?

Thanks again,
Chris Smith

"Dmitry Streblechenko" wrote:

> You should not be using DoEvents in a COM add-in - it is essentially calling
> GetMessage/TranslateMessage/DispatchMessage. These functions must be called
> by Outlook, not by your code; you are probably ending up stealing some
> messages that Outlook is expecting.
> If you have a long loop, use a separate thread.
>
> Dmitry Streblechenko (MVP)
> http://www.dimastr.com/
> OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
> and MAPI Developer Tool
>
> "Chris Smith" wrote in message
> @microsoft.com...
> >I have been using vb6 to build a COM Add-in for Outlook. There are parts of
> > the code that run in a long loop and require a DoEvents. In the case of
> > Outlook 2007, all is fine until a new mailitem is opened and user starts
> > typing an email. Once the user starts typing and a DoEvents it triggered
> > by
> > the Add-in in the background then Outlook locks up indefinitely using 100%
> > CPU.
> >
> > I have went through and eliminated any unnecessary DoEvents but if I
> > remove
> > all of them then Outlook stalls until the large loops are completed.
> >
> > This does not occur in Outlook 2000, 2002 or 2003.
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Chris Smith
>
>
>

Dmitry Streblechenko · Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 220

No, whether you call DoEvents in VB6 or System.Windows.Forms.DoEvents in
..Net won't make a difference; they all do the same thing.
A separate thread is the way to go.

Dmitry Streblechenko (MVP)
http://www.dimastr.com/
OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
and MAPI Developer Tool

"Chris Smith" wrote in message @microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the message. Looking for shortest path to a resolution here
> before
> considering additional threading code.
>
> I would agree that using DoEvents in Outlook 2007 may steal messages but
> in
> previous Outlook versions it did not exhibit this behavior. I read in
> group a
> posting "Subject: Accessing Outlook while addin is running - 7/9/2007"
> that
> Ken Slovak suggested using System.Windows.Forms.DoEvents. I don't
> currently
> see a way to access that in vb6 because it is .Net.
>
> Is there an alternative function for DoEvents that can be accessed by vb6
> to
> use in a COM Add-in for Outlook 2007?
>
> Thanks again,
> Chris Smith
>
>
> "Dmitry Streblechenko" wrote:
>
>> You should not be using DoEvents in a COM add-in - it is essentially
>> calling
>> GetMessage/TranslateMessage/DispatchMessage. These functions must be
>> called
>> by Outlook, not by your code; you are probably ending up stealing some
>> messages that Outlook is expecting.
>> If you have a long loop, use a separate thread.
>>
>> Dmitry Streblechenko (MVP)
>> http://www.dimastr.com/
>> OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
>> and MAPI Developer Tool
>>
>> "Chris Smith" wrote in message
>> @microsoft.com...
>> >I have been using vb6 to build a COM Add-in for Outlook. There are parts
>> >of
>> > the code that run in a long loop and require a DoEvents. In the case of
>> > Outlook 2007, all is fine until a new mailitem is opened and user
>> > starts
>> > typing an email. Once the user starts typing and a DoEvents it
>> > triggered
>> > by
>> > the Add-in in the background then Outlook locks up indefinitely using
>> > 100%
>> > CPU.
>> >
>> > I have went through and eliminated any unnecessary DoEvents but if I
>> > remove
>> > all of them then Outlook stalls until the large loops are completed.
>> >
>> > This does not occur in Outlook 2000, 2002 or 2003.
>> >
>> > Any suggestions?
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Chris Smith
>>
>>
>>

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