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Orphan User-Defined fields |
  
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Orphan User-Defined fields |
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There are two ways to remove a user-defined field added to contact items that use the standard Outlook message class of IPM.Contact.
The first (and preferred method) is to delete the user-defined field when view the <User-defined fields in this item) list. This explicitly removes the field with the associated data from the contact item record.
The second approach is to delete the field from the <User-defined fields in folder list>
The following must be kept in mind when deleting a user-defined field from the <Folders> list
| 1. | This does not delete any UDF field containing data at the contact item level which remain with the contact. This in effect, creates what are referred to in the ToolKit as <orphan user-defined fields>. The only way you can view them within Outlook is to open the individual contact item |
| 2. | UDF fields deleted from the folder list are not accessible in any View regardless of how many contact items have the field |
| 3. | You can re-add the UDF back to the folder list at which point the data for the field will once again become accessible via any folder view containing that field |
| 4. | When re-adding a field name to the folder list which is also exists in individual contact items, care must be taken to use the same <field type> (i.e. text, date, currency etc) since there is nothing to prevent a different field type to be used which in turn can create problems. |