DoesContactExist Method

  • Article

The DoesContactExist method determines if Groove has enough information about the contact to send it an instant message or get the awareness state of the user.

Syntax

object.DoesContactExist

(

i_ContactURL As String

) As Boolean

Parameters

Parameter Description

i_ContactURL

Contact URL.

Return Value

The return value is TRUE if Groove has enough information about the contact to send an instant message; FALSE otherwise.

Remarks

There are different kinds of information that are available about a contact. The kind of information that is available about a contact determines whether you can perform the following methods on the contact:

  • Send instant messages (including invitations).

  • Get awareness information.

You typically get access to a Contact URL in one of two ways:

  • From a Contact field in a form.

  • From a field that stores a Contact URL, such as the _ModifiedBy field.

In both cases, before sending an instant message to a contact, you should check if the contact is fully accessible and if it is a Groove contact.

To test whether a contact is fully accessible, use DoesContactExist method. If this method returns TRUE, the contact is accessible; if it returns FALSE, then the contact is not currently accessible. If a contact is not accessible but you have access to it through a Contact field in a form, you can make the contact accessible by setting a special "_Inline" field in the form record. When you create a Contact field, the Forms Tool also creates a hidden field by appending "_Inline" to the field name. For example, if the field is named ProgMgr, the hidden field is named ProjMgr_Inline. This field has a Boolean value. Setting this field to FALSE instructs Groove to make the contact fully accessible. If DoesContactExist returns FALSE and you have access only to the Contact URL and not to a Contact field, you cannot make the contact accessible.

The IGrooveFormsToolContactIsGroovey read-only property specifies whether the Contact describes a Groove identity. If IsGroovey has a FALSE value, then you cannot send an instant message to that contact. If you are accessing a Contact field, you can test whether the Contact IsGroovey directly. If you are accessing a Contact URL, you must first call the OpenContact method to get access to the Contact object.

Note that setting the "_Inline" field only affects the current user. It does not affect the other members of the workspace.

You can also make a contact fully accessible by adding it to the user's Personal Contact list. This makes it easier for the user to send the contact instant messages and invitations from Groove. To use this mechanism, call the IGrooveFormsToolContactServicesAddContactToPersonalContacts method.

See Also

Reference

IGrooveFormsToolContact Interface
IGrooveFormsToolContactServices Interface