Let's say you have several accounts attached to your Outlook client and want to be able to choose which one to send a mail from using VBA. What do you do? The MailItem.SendUsingAccount parameter looks the right way to do this and is recommended elsewhere like here or here or here. However, if you apply the example in the Developer Reference, setting the SendUsingAccount property to valid Accounts may be impossible. Why?
This appears to be the answer: You must Dim your MailItem as an Object and not as an Outlook.Mailitem. It appears that Outlook clients which have one or more Exchange Accounts do not reliably assign Accounts to a MailItem. But, for some strange reason, if Dim As Object is used instead, the Account can be attached to that Object. Though that Object has the Properties of a MailItem, it behaves better??? ... strange...
Note: Sending a mail on on behalf of someone else meets a slightly different requirement.
The following code demonstrates the problem and the solution in operation. If there is another solution or I am missing something please let me know.
After running the code and noting the Msgbox information, look in the Immediate Window for a summary of what is done. The printed summary is clearer than the code which has lots of Debug.Print statements. There are 3 routines. The main test routine and 2 which get Account details from your system.
(Now posted as a separate question at vacip's suggestion) When MailItems are created they have the characteristics of the default Account, such as signatures etc. which may need changing. If anyone knows a good way to create the initial MailItem with the characteristics of a chosen Account instead, avoiding a lot of copy/pastes/Assignments, please let me know.
Private Sub TestSendingAccountProblems()
'This test demonstrates the problems that occur when trying to set
' the SendingAccount of a MailItem in Outlook.
'In summary, it appears that when an Outlook client has an Exchange account attached,
' it is only possible to set the SendingAccount of a MailItem if
' THE MailItem IS CREATED AS AN OBJECT.
' A bare MailItem fails with an ERROR.
'The MailItem's SendingAccount can be set to Pop3 or Exchange, so long as the MailItem is an Object.
'It does not seem to matter whether a Pop3 or an Exchange Mailbox is active at the time.
' Choosing different mailboxes causes different signatures to be appended,(if set) but
' does not affect this SendingAccount behaviour.
'The behaviour probably is different if no Exchange account is attached - try it on your
' Outlook client if you have such a system. Look at the listings in the Immediate Window &
' let us all know what you discover. (Cntrl-G in the VBIDE for the Immediate Window)
'All the Print statements make this and the routines it calls rather hard to read.
'You can start by just running it!
Dim appOl As Outlook.Application
Dim objNameSpace As Outlook.NameSpace
Dim olMailItem As Outlook.MailItem
Dim objOutlookMsg As Object
Dim SendingAccount As Outlook.Account
Dim sOlPOP3Account As String
Dim sOlExchangeAccount As String
Dim arr() As String
Dim i As Long
Dim NumAccts As Long
Dim S As String
Debug.Print String(100, "=")
Set appOl = Outlook.Application
Set objNameSpace = appOl.GetNamespace("MAPI")
'Notice that the Creation statements here are identical, this creates an Object to contain the MailItem
Set objOutlookMsg = appOl.CreateItem(olItemType.olMailItem) 'This creates an Object to contain the MailItem
Set olMailItem = appOl.CreateItem(olItemType.olMailItem) 'This creates a straightforward Mailitem.
'The line above creates a MailItem.
'The only difference is that olMailItem is explicitly Dimensioned as an Outlook.MailItem.
'Write out the status
S = objOutlookMsg.UserProperties.Session.CurrentUser.AddressEntry.Address
Debug.Print "objOutlookMsg was created by a user with this Address: " & S
S = olMailItem.UserProperties.Session.CurrentUser.AddressEntry.Address
Debug.Print "olMailItem was created by a user with this Address: " & S
If objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount Is Nothing Then
Debug.Print "objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount has no account specified on creation "
Else
Debug.Print "objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount.DisplayName = " & objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount.DisplayName
End If
If olMailItem.SendUsingAccount Is Nothing Then
Debug.Print "olMailItem.SendUsingAccount has no account specified on creation "
Else
Debug.Print "olMailItem.SendUsingAccount.DisplayName = " & olMailItem.SendUsingAccount.DisplayName
End If
'Collect the Account DisplayNames
'The strings here must be the Account Name. To see these, do this:
'Outlook Ribbon: File>Account Settings>AccountSettings-Name column.
' You can enter your own accounts here, but it is easier to let it fetch them all for you using the code below.
' sOlPOP3Account = "[email protected]"
' sOlExchangeAccount = "[email protected]"
'ReDim arr(1 To 2)
' NumAccts = 2
' arr(1) = sOlPOP3Account
' arr(2) = sOlExchangeAccount
'
'Automatically includes up to 10 accounts
NumAccts = 0
For i = 1 To 10
' Choose all accounts or just one of these: (don't leave both exposed)
S = GetAccountNameOfType(vbNullString) 'This will get all accounts that are accessible from the Outlook client'
' S = GetAccountNameOfType("POP3") 'This will get only the Pop3 accounts that are accessible from the Outlook client
If S = vbNullString Then Exit For
NumAccts = NumAccts + 1
ReDim Preserve arr(1 To NumAccts)
arr(NumAccts) = S
Next i
For i = 1 To NumAccts
S = GetAccountType(arr(i), i)
On Error Resume Next
Set SendingAccount = appOl.Session.Accounts.Item(arr(i))
If ERR <> 0 Or SendingAccount Is Nothing Then
Debug.Print String(20, "-") & vbLf & S & " account could NOT be set to variable SendingAccount. The " & S & " account has .DisplayName = " & arr(i)
Else
Debug.Print String(20, "+") & vbLf & S & " account WAS set to variable SendingAccount. The " & S & " account has .DisplayName = " & arr(i)
End If
'Works fine in all scenarios tested using an Outlook client with an Exchange account attached.
Object ' The Watch Window shows .SendingAccount = chosen Account of Type = Account/Account
On Error Resume Next
Set objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount = SendingAccount
If ERR <> 0 Then
Debug.Print "objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount was NOT SET. The Error number is " & ERR & ", Description: " & ERR.Description & " - look at what was printed above for status of the SendingAccount (or look above/check in the Watch window if stepping through.)"
Else
Debug.Print "objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount was set successfully to: " & objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount.DisplayName
End If
On Error Resume Next
'Fails .in all scenarios tested using an Outlook client with an Exchange account attached.
' The Watch Window shows .SendingAccount = chosen Account of Type = Account/Account
Set olMailItem.SendUsingAccount = SendingAccount
If ERR <> 0 Then
Debug.Print " olMailItem.SendUsingAccount was NOT SET. The Error number is " & ERR & ", Description: " & ERR.Description & " (the SendingAccount may be 'Nothing' - look above/check in the Watch window.)"
Else
Debug.Print " olMailItem.SendUsingAccount was set successfully to: " & olMailItem.SendUsingAccount.DisplayName
End If
Next i
'Clean up
Set appOl = Nothing
Set objNameSpace = Nothing
Set olMailItem = Nothing
Set objOutlookMsg = Nothing
Set SendingAccount = Nothing
End Sub'Started with code from:
'https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/7a8bed41-a28f-41aa-bbc5-bfb8057a7bc4/stuck-on-how-to-get-sendusingaccount-to-work?forum=isvvba
'revised to create 2 functions that return the current account's status and displays all the accounts at one time, neatly lined up
'and another that finds accounts of a specified type.
Private Function GetAccountType(sForDisplayName As String, _
Optional lDisplayMessage As Long) As String
' Returns the type of the account named sForDisplayName.
' Shows a message listing all the accounts and types only if lDisplayMessage is = +1 or -1.
'NOTE: If changes to the email accounts have been made in Outlook _
then must close Outlook and Re-Open before any of this works properly.
Dim objOutlook As Object
Dim objNameSpace As Object
Dim strAccountType As String
Dim strOlNameAccountType As String
Dim Account As Outlook.Account
Dim i As Long
Dim HitNum As Long
Dim bAcc As Boolean 'Determines whether the Account Type or the Account name of the next Account of Given Type is returned
Dim S As String 'Scratch string
Dim S1 As String 'Scratch string
Static LenStr As Long 'The Length of the display string in the MsgBox window
Static lGT As Long 'Account number within NumAccts that we have reached
Static sLstAcType As String 'The last Account type that was specified in sGetNextAccountOfType
Static NumAccts As Long 'The number of Accounts
Set objOutlook = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
Set objNameSpace = objOutlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")
LenStr = 40
DO_AGAIN: 'Returns to here if the account names are found to be long
S = vbNullString
For i = 1 To objNameSpace.Session.Accounts.Count
Set Account = objNameSpace.Session.Accounts.Item(i)
If Len(Account.DisplayName) + 10 + 1 > LenStr Then
LenStr = Len(Account.DisplayName) + 10 + 1
If LenStr > 86 Then LenStr = 86: GoTo GET_ON_WITH_IT
GoTo DO_AGAIN
End If
GET_ON_WITH_IT:
With Account
S1 = Right(String(LenStr - 10, "-") & Account.DisplayName, LenStr - 10)
Select Case .AccountType
Case 0
strAccountType = "Exchange"
strOlNameAccountType = Right(String(10, "-") & "olExchange", 10) 'Watch Window shows olExchange
Case 2
strAccountType = "POP3"
strOlNameAccountType = Right(String(10, "-") & "olPop3", 10) 'Watch Window shows olExchange
Case Else
strAccountType = "Not POP3 or Exchange Account"
strOlNameAccountType = Right(String(10, "-") & "Not P3/Exg", 10) 'Don't know what Watch Window shows!
End Select
S = S & i & "-" & Right(String(LenStr + 1, "-") & S1 & vbTab & "-" & strOlNameAccountType, LenStr + 1) & vbLf
If Abs(lDisplayMessage) = 1 Then _
Debug.Print Replace(i & "-" & Right(String(LenStr + 1, "-") & S1 & vbTab & "-" & strOlNameAccountType, LenStr + 1), "-", " ")
If .DisplayName = sForDisplayName Then
GetAccountType = strAccountType
End If
End With
Next i
NumAccts = i - 1
'Only displays when lDisplayMessage = +1 or -1. Defaults to not displaying if lDisplayMessage is is unset.
If Abs(lDisplayMessage) = 1 Then _
MsgBox String(86, "-") & vbLf & "List of all Email Accounts on " & Environ$("computername") & ":" & vbLf & _
Left("- Account " & String(LenStr - Len("- Account " & vbTab & "Type"), "-"), LenStr) & vbTab & "Type" & vbLf & _
S & vbLf & _
String(86, "-")
Set objNameSpace = Nothing
Set objOutlook = Nothing
Set Account = Nothing
End Function
Private Function GetAccountNameOfType(sTypeToGet As String) As String
' Gets the next account of the given type.
' Called repeatedly with the same sTypeToGet returns a Null string on the last found (or if none are).
' If the VBIDE is reset, it starts again at the beginning.
'NOTE: If changes to the email accounts have been made in Outlook _
then must close Outlook and Re-Open before any of this works properly.
Dim objOutlook As Object
Dim objNameSpace As Object
Dim strAccountType As String
Dim Account As Outlook.Account
Dim i As Long
Dim HitNum As Long
Dim bInit As Boolean 'It is an initialisation run
Static lGT As Long 'Account number within NumAccts that we have reached
Static sLstAcType As String 'The last Account type that was specified in sTypeToGet
Static NumAccts As Long 'The number of Accounts
If NumAccts > 0 Then
lGT = lGT + 1 'Get the next hit
Else
bInit = True 'Be sure to count the accounts on the first run
lGT = 1 'and when the last exit resulted in no hit
End If
Set objOutlook = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
Set objNameSpace = objOutlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")
For i = 1 To objNameSpace.Session.Accounts.Count
Set Account = objNameSpace.Session.Accounts.Item(i)
With Account
Select Case .AccountType
Case 0
strAccountType = "Exchange"
Case 2
strAccountType = "POP3"
Case Else
strAccountType = "Not POP3 or Exchange Account"
End Select
If UCase(strAccountType) = UCase(sTypeToGet) Or sTypeToGet = vbNullString Then
HitNum = HitNum + 1
If HitNum = lGT Then
GetAccountNameOfType = Account.DisplayName
If Not bInit Then
If sTypeToGet <> vbNullString Then NumAccts = HitNum
GoTo FOUNDIT
End If
End If
End If
End With
Next i
If Not bInit Then
If GetAccountNameOfType = vbNullString Then
NumAccts = 0
Else
NumAccts = i - 1
End If
Else
NumAccts = i - 1 'Always keep a count when initialising
End If
FOUNDIT:
sLstAcType = sTypeToGet
Set objNameSpace = Nothing
Set objOutlook = Nothing
Set Account = Nothing
End Function
'https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/7a8bed41-a28f-41aa-bbc5-bfb8057a7bc4/stuck-on-how-to-get-sendusingaccount-to-work?forum=isvvba
'was heavily adapted to create 2 functions that return the current account's status and displays all the accounts at one time, neatly lined up
'and another that finds accounts of a specified type.
Private Function GetAccountType(sForDisplayName As String, _
Optional lDisplayMessage As Long) As String
' Returns the type of the account named sForDisplayName.
' Shows a message listing all the accounts and types only if lDisplayMessage is = +1 or -1.
'NOTE: If changes to the email accounts have been made in Outlook _
then must close Outlook and Re-Open before any of this works properly.
Dim objOutlook As Object
Dim objNameSpace As Object
Dim strAccountType As String
Dim strOlNameAccountType As String
Dim Account As Outlook.Account
Dim i As Long
Dim HitNum As Long
Dim bAcc As Boolean 'Determines whether the Account Type or the Account name of the next Account of Given Type is returned
Dim S As String 'Scratch string
Dim S1 As String 'Scratch string
Static LenStr As Long 'The Length of the display string in the MsgBox window
Static lGT As Long 'Account number within NumAccts that we have reached
Static sLstAcType As String 'The last Account type that was specified in sGetNextAccountOfType
Static NumAccts As Long 'The number of Accounts
Set objOutlook = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
Set objNameSpace = objOutlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")
LenStr = 40
DO_AGAIN: 'Returns to here if the account names are found to be long
S = vbNullString
For i = 1 To objNameSpace.Session.Accounts.Count
Set Account = objNameSpace.Session.Accounts.Item(i)
If Len(Account.DisplayName) + 10 + 1 > LenStr Then
LenStr = Len(Account.DisplayName) + 10 + 1
If LenStr > 86 Then LenStr = 86: GoTo GET_ON_WITH_IT
GoTo DO_AGAIN
End If
GET_ON_WITH_IT:
With Account
S1 = Right(String(LenStr - 10, "-") & Account.DisplayName, LenStr - 10)
Select Case .AccountType
Case 0
strAccountType = "Exchange"
strOlNameAccountType = Right(String(10, "-") & "olExchange", 10) 'Watch Window shows olExchange
Case 2
strAccountType = "POP3"
strOlNameAccountType = Right(String(10, "-") & "olPop3", 10) 'Watch Window shows olExchange
Case Else
strAccountType = "Not POP3 or Exchange Account"
strOlNameAccountType = Right(String(10, "-") & "Not P3/Exg", 10) 'Don't know what Watch Window shows!
End Select
S = S & i & "-" & Right(String(LenStr + 1, "-") & S1 & vbTab & "-" & strOlNameAccountType, LenStr + 1) & vbLf
If Abs(lDisplayMessage) = 1 Then _
Debug.Print Replace(i & "-" & Right(String(LenStr + 1, "-") & S1 & vbTab & "-" & strOlNameAccountType, LenStr + 1), "-", " ")
If .DisplayName = sForDisplayName Then
GetAccountType = strAccountType
End If
End With
Next i
NumAccts = i - 1
'Only displays when lDisplayMessage = +1 or -1. Defaults to not displaying if lDisplayMessage is is unset.
If Abs(lDisplayMessage) = 1 Then _
MsgBox String(86, "-") & vbLf & "List of all Email Accounts on " & Environ$("computername") & ":" & vbLf & _
Left("- Account " & String(LenStr - Len("- Account " & vbTab & "Type"), "-"), LenStr) & vbTab & "Type" & vbLf & _
S & vbLf & _
String(86, "-")
Set objNameSpace = Nothing
Set objOutlook = Nothing
Set Account = Nothing
End Function
Private Function GetAccountNameOfType(sTypeToGet As String) As String
' Gets the next account of the given type.
' Called repeatedly with the same sTypeToGet returns a Null string on the last found (or if none are).
' If the VBIDE is reset, it starts again at the beginning.
'NOTE: If changes to the email accounts have been made in Outlook _
then must close Outlook and Re-Open before any of this works properly.
Dim objOutlook As Object
Dim objNameSpace As Object
Dim strAccountType As String
Dim Account As Outlook.Account
Dim i As Long
Dim HitNum As Long
Dim bInit As Boolean 'It is an initialisation run
Static lGT As Long 'Account number within NumAccts that we have reached
Static sLstAcType As String 'The last Account type that was specified in sTypeToGet
Static NumAccts As Long 'The number of Accounts
If NumAccts > 0 Then
lGT = lGT + 1 'Get the next hit
Else
bInit = True 'Be sure to count the accounts on the first run
lGT = 1 'and when the last exit resulted in no hit
End If
Set objOutlook = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
Set objNameSpace = objOutlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")
For i = 1 To objNameSpace.Session.Accounts.Count
Set Account = objNameSpace.Session.Accounts.Item(i)
With Account
Select Case .AccountType
Case 0
strAccountType = "Exchange"
Case 2
strAccountType = "POP3"
Case Else
strAccountType = "Not POP3 or Exchange Account"
End Select
If UCase(strAccountType) = UCase(sTypeToGet) Or sTypeToGet = vbNullString Then
HitNum = HitNum + 1
If HitNum = lGT Then
GetAccountNameOfType = Account.DisplayName
If Not bInit Then
If sTypeToGet <> vbNullString Then NumAccts = HitNum
GoTo FOUNDIT
End If
End If
End If
End With
Next i
If Not bInit Then
If GetAccountNameOfType = vbNullString Then
NumAccts = 0
Else
NumAccts = i - 1
End If
Else
NumAccts = i - 1 'Always keep a count when initialising
End If
FOUNDIT:
sLstAcType = sTypeToGet
Set objNameSpace = Nothing
Set objOutlook = Nothing
Set Account = Nothing
End Function
Here is a sample of the output from running this program on an Outlook Client that has 2 POP3 and 1 Exchange account attached to it:
''====================================================================================================
''objOutlookMsg was created by a user with this Address: /o=ExchangeLabs/ou=Exchange Administrative Group (lotsofcharacter)/cn=Recipients/cn=longhexnumberisplacedherefollowe-dname
''olMailItem was created by a user with this Address: /o=ExchangeLabs/ou=Exchange Administrative Group (lotsofcharacter)/cn=Recipients/cn=longhexnumberisplacedherefollowe-dname
''objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount has no account specified on creation
''olMailItem.SendUsingAccount has no account specified on creation
''olMailItem.SendUsingAccount has no account specified on creation
''1 [email protected] olPop3
''2 [email protected] olPop3
''3 [email protected] olExchange
''++++++++++++++++++++
''POP3 account WAS set to variable SendingAccount. The POP3 account has .DisplayName = [email protected]
''objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount was set successfully to: [email protected]
'' olMailItem.SendUsingAccount was NOT SET. The Error number is 91, Description: Object variable or With block variable not set (the SendingAccount may be 'Nothing' - look above/check in the Watch window.)
''++++++++++++++++++++
''POP3 account WAS set to variable SendingAccount. The POP3 account has .DisplayName = [email protected]
''objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount was set successfully to: [email protected]
'' olMailItem.SendUsingAccount was NOT SET. The Error number is 91, Description: Object variable or With block variable not set (the SendingAccount may be 'Nothing' - look above/check in the Watch window.)
''++++++++++++++++++++
''Exchange account WAS set to variable SendingAccount. The Exchange account has .DisplayName = [email protected]
''objOutlookMsg.SendUsingAccount was set successfully to: [email protected]
'' olMailItem.SendUsingAccount was NOT SET. The Error number is 91, Description: Object variable or With block variable not set (the SendingAccount may be 'Nothing' - look above/check in the Watch window.)