Figure 8-16. Use the Create Rule dialog box to specify basic rule conditions and actions. in Visual Basic .NET

Generating QR Code in Visual Basic .NET Figure 8-16. Use the Create Rule dialog box to specify basic rule conditions and actions.

Note Remember that HTTP accounts don t support Outlook rules. If you right-click a mes sage stored in a folder for an HTTP-based mail account, you ll see that the Create Rule com mand is not available. Also, rules are always created in the Inbox, not in other folders. You can, however, run rules manually in other folders.

To this point, you ve explored relatively simple rules that function based on a single condi tion or on multiple AND conditions. In the latter case, the rule specifies multiple conditions and applies only to messages that meet all the conditions. If a rule is defined by three AND conditions, for example, Outlook uses it only on messages that meet condition 1, condition 2, and condition 3. You also can create rules that follow OR logic. In this case, a rule specifies a single condition, but multiple criteria for that condition. The rule will then act on any message that meets at least one of the criteria for the condition. For example, you might create a rule that deletes a message if the subject of the message contains any one of three words. If one of the conditions is met (that is, if the subject of a message contains at least one of the three words), Outlook deletes that message. With Outlook, you can create several rules that use OR logic within a single condition, but you can t create a single rule that uses OR logic on multiple conditions. For example, you might create a rule that deletes a message if the message contains the phrase MLM, Free Money, or Guaranteed Results. However, you can t create a message rule that deletes the mes sage if the subject of the message contains the words Free Money (condition 1), or if the mes sage is from a specific sender (condition 2), or if the message is larger than a given size (condition 3). OR must operate within a single condition. When you create a rule with mul tiple conditions, Outlook always treats multiple conditions in the same rule using AND logic. You would have to create three separate rules to accommodate the latter example.

Outlook Express uses OR logic better Microsoft Outlook Express beats Outlook hands down when it comes to creating rules that use OR logic. The interface in Outlook Express is much more intuitive, and the ability to cre ate such rules is obvious to the user because of the way Microsoft designed the interface. It would be great if, for example, you could create a single rule with multiple OR conditions in Outlook as easily as you can in Outlook Express.

If you have a situation where you need to check for more than one piece of data in a single condition, you can do so easily enough; however, when you create the rule and define the condition, specify multiple items. For example, if you need a rule that processes messages based on four possible strings in the subject of the messages, click Specific Words in the rule description area of the Rules Wizard. In the Search Text dialog box, enter the strings sepa rately. As you can see in Figure 8-17, the search list includes the word or to indicate that the rule applies if any one of the words appears in the subject.

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Although you can t create a single rule with OR logic operating on multiple conditions in Outlook, you can create rules that combine AND and OR logic. For example, you might cre ate a rule that applied if the message was from a specific sender and the subject contained the words Free Money or Guaranteed Results. Keep in mind that you must specify two conditions not one to build the rule. The first condition would check for the sender and the second would check for the words Free Money or Guaranteed Results.