How can I intercept Outlook hyperlink clicks to run c# code instead?

Question

I have an Outlook add-in, which transform plain text reference numbers (ticket numbers) to clickable hyperlinks. When clicked, they open up the default browsers (as you would except). That works just fine, but now I want to intercept this click, to run c# code of my add-in instead. Similar to how Outlook intercepts clicks on mailto-links to known addresses (it shows the contact card instead).

How can I achieve that?

Answer 1

The Word Object Model does not have any events that fire when a user clicks on links (Word renders HTML messages in Outlook). The best you can is create your own url handler (eg MyHandler:somelink). You can then replace the links in the HTML body.