OL97: Conflicting Edits Warning After Synchronizing Folders

• Microsoft Outlook 97

SYMPTOMS

After synchronizing your Offline Store (sometimes called the OST or Offline Folders file) with your server Mailbox, some or all of your appointments may have an icon that looks like an X. When you open these appointments, you receive the following message:

   Conflict Message

   Conflicting edits have been made to the same message. The different
   versions of the message appear below. To resolve this conflict, do one
   of the following:

   1.  Specify one of the messages as the master message and merge any
       information you need from the other messages in to the master.
       Then choose the KEEP THIS ITEM button to replace the conflict
       message with the master, discarding other versions.

   2.  Preserve the different versions of the message by choosing the KEEP
       ALL button.  This will replace the conflict message with a new
       message for each of the versions listed here.

CAUSE

This message will occur if you have modified the appointment in question, in both the Mailbox on the Microsoft Exchange Server, and in the same folder in the Offline Store (OST), and then synchronized the two folders.

Under the following circumstances appointment conflicts may occur, even though you have not physically modified the appointments:

You have set reminders for a single appointment. When the reminder displays, it modifies the Appointment item. Since the appointment is modified both when you work in the online Mailbox, and in the offline OST, when you synchronize the two, you get a single appointment that has been modified twice, causing the conflicting edits.

RESOLUTION

You must turn off the reminder for any appointment where you do not want this to occur. Otherwise, the reminders will run as set.

Clearing the Display Reminder check box on the Reminders tab of the Options dialog box does not prevent this problem. You must clear the Reminder option in the appointment itself. Open the reminder and on the Appointment tab, click to clear the Reminder check box.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Problem

Before following these steps, make sure you do not have "When online, synchronize all folders upon exiting" selected on the General tab of the Options dialog box. Having this option selected may result in inconsistent results.

1. Create a profile with Microsoft Exchange Server that uses an Offline folder file setting pointing to your OST file.

2. On the Tools menu click Services. On General tab, click to select "Choose the Connection type when starting."

3. Start Outlook, and click Connect to connect to the server.

4. Create an appointment with a reminder that is due in the near future.

5. With your Calendar folder open, on the Tools menu, point to Synchronize and click This folder to synchronize your Calendar folder.

6. Wait for the reminder to display while connected.

7. On the File menu, click Exit and Log Off.

8. Start Outlook, and click Work Offline to not connect to the server.

9. The appointment reminder should appear, since the appointment has past.

10. On the file menu, click Exit and Log Off.

11. Start Outlook, and click Connect to connect to the server.

12. With your Calendar folder open, on the Tools menu, point to Synchronize and click This folder to synchronize your Calendar folder.

REFERENCES

For more information on Offline Folders and Working Offline, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   Article-ID:  Q162046
   Title     :  OL97: Remote Mail, Offline Folders, and Working Offline