Programming Applications for Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2007

✍ Scribed by Byrne, Randy;Gregg, Ryan

• Publisher: Microsoft Press
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 591
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Get the definitive guide to learning how to exploit the built-in functionality in Outlook 2007. Written by two experts on Outlook extensibility, this book delivers practical guidance and extensive code samples to help you extend, adapt, and customize information flow to the desktop.



Discover how to:

Programmatically create built-in item types to expose Outlook functionality in your solution
Use the Items collection and Table object to access containers for Outlook items
Connect to shared folders, Internet calendars, and RSS subscriptions
Write event handlers and hook up event delegates for Outlook objects
Implement programmatic search and organizational schemas
Add controls at design-time or runtime to help you build rich form regions
Extend the Office Fluent Ribbon with customized task panes and property pages
Develop trusted add-ins that do not display security prompts
Write registry keys, install required assemblies, and deploy your solution


Companion Web site includes:

Code samples in Microsoft Visual Basic and Visual C#
Reusable code snippets
Add-in templates and samples

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Copyright Page......Page 2
Dedication......Page 3
Contents at a Glance......Page 4
Table of Contents......Page 5
Foreword......Page 19
Acknowledgments......Page 22
Why We Wrote This Book......Page 24
Part I: Introducing Microsoft Office Outlook 2007......Page 25
Part IV: Providing a User Interface for Your Solution......Page 26
Sample Code on the Web......Page 27
Code Snippets......Page 30
Building the Sample Add-Ins......Page 31
Support for This Book......Page 32
Part I: Introducing Microsoft Office Outlook 2007......Page 34
Chapter 1: What’s New in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007......Page 35
Form Regions......Page 36
Security......Page 38
Table Object......Page 39
Improved Search......Page 40
Enhanced Events......Page 41
SelectNamesDialog Object......Page 43
Sharing Objects......Page 44
Rules Objects......Page 45
PropertyAccessor Sample Code......Page 46
Developer Reference......Page 48
Summary......Page 49
Why Integrate with Outlook?......Page 51
Different Types of Outlook Integration......Page 53
Data Integration......Page 54
Functional Integration......Page 56
Data Integration......Page 58
Business Logic......Page 61
User Interface Integration and Data Presentation......Page 62
InfoPath Forms......Page 70
Architecture......Page 72
Outlook Object Model......Page 73
Form Regions......Page 75
MAPI as a Platform Component......Page 77
Simple MAPI......Page 83
Deemphasized and Phased-Out Components......Page 84
Visual Basic for Applications......Page 85
Visual Studio Tools for Office......Page 86
Managed Versus Native Code......Page 87
Add-In Model......Page 88
Summary......Page 89
Part II: Quick Guide to Building Solutions......Page 90
Introducing the Instant Search Add-In......Page 91
Install the Outlook Add-in Templates......Page 92
Creating the Instant Search Add-In......Page 93
Writing Code......Page 95
The InitializeAddin Method......Page 96
Adding Instance Variables......Page 97
ItemContextMenuDisplay Event......Page 98
ContextMenuClose Event......Page 100
The DisplayInstantSearchExplorer Method......Page 101
Writing Code for Submenu Click Events......Page 102
Building the Add-in Project......Page 103
Creating a Shim Project......Page 104
Creating a Setup Project......Page 108
Installing the Instant Search Add-In......Page 111
Troubleshooting......Page 112
Debug Mode......Page 113
Debugging Code......Page 114
Summary......Page 115
Introducing the Instant Search Add-In......Page 116
Install the Outlook Add-in Templates......Page 117
Creating the Instant Search Add-In......Page 118
Writing Code......Page 120
InitializeAddin Method......Page 121
Adding Instance Variables......Page 122
ItemContextMenuDisplay Event......Page 123
ContextMenuClose Event......Page 126
DisplayInstantSearchExplorer Method......Page 127
Writing Code for Submenu Click Events......Page 128
Creating a Shim Project......Page 130
Creating a Setup Project......Page 134
Installing the Instant Search Add-In......Page 137
Troubleshooting......Page 138
Debug Mode......Page 139
Debugging Code......Page 140
Summary......Page 141
Part III: Working with Outlook Data......Page 142
Introduction to Built-in and Custom Item Types......Page 143
Understanding MessageClass......Page 145
Creating an Item......Page 146
MailItem, PostItem, and SharingItem Objects......Page 150
Compose MailItem......Page 151
Read MailItem......Page 160
Adding an Electronic Business Card......Page 164
Create a To-Do Item......Page 165
PostItem Object......Page 167
AppointmentItem Object......Page 168
One-Time Appointments......Page 169
All-Day Events......Page 171
Appointment Attendees......Page 172
Recurring Appointments......Page 174
MeetingItem Object......Page 182
Working with Contact Properties......Page 186
Electronic Business Cards......Page 188
Creating a Recurring Task......Page 190
TaskRequestItem Object......Page 191
Working with Task Requests......Page 192
DistListItem Object......Page 194
NoteItem Object......Page 195
StorageItem Object......Page 196
Summary......Page 198
Exchange Server......Page 199
Accounts Collection and Account Object......Page 201
Stores Collection......Page 202
Adding or Removing a Store Programmatically......Page 203
Working with the Store Object......Page 204
An Overview of Folder Types......Page 206
Folders Collection......Page 208
Folder Object......Page 210
Working with the Folder Object......Page 211
Folder Properties and Methods......Page 215
Folder Permissions......Page 219
Assigning Folder Permissions......Page 220
Assigning Roles......Page 221
Performance Considerations......Page 222
OutlookItem Helper Class......Page 223
Items Collection......Page 224
Table Object......Page 229
Summary......Page 242
Exchange Global Address List......Page 243
Offline Address Book......Page 244
Other Address Book Providers......Page 245
The CreateRecipient Method......Page 246
Working with the Recipients Collection Object......Page 248
Obtaining the SMTP Address of a Recipient......Page 251
The AddressListType Property......Page 252
Finding a Specific AddressList Object......Page 253
Determining the Contacts Folder for a Contacts Address Book......Page 254
The AddressEntries Collection and AddressEntry Object......Page 255
The AddressEntryUserType Property......Page 256
The GetAddressEntryFromID Method......Page 257
Displaying AddressEntry Details......Page 259
Getting Availability Information for a User......Page 260
Working with ExchangeUser Properties......Page 262
Obtaining an ExchangeUser Object from an AddressEntry Object......Page 263
The GetDirectReports Method......Page 264
The GetMemberOfList Method......Page 265
The ExchangeDistributionList Object......Page 266
The GetExchangeDistributionListMembers Method......Page 267
The SelectNamesDialog Object......Page 268
Using the SetDefaultDisplayMode Method......Page 269
Dialog Caption and Recipient Selectors......Page 270
Setting the InitialAddressList Property......Page 271
Using SelectNamesDialog.Recipients......Page 273
Summary......Page 274
Writing Event Handlers in Managed Code......Page 275
Hooking Up Events in Visual Basic .NET......Page 277
Hooking Up Events in C#......Page 279
Application Object Events......Page 282
Explorers Collection Event......Page 287
Explorer Object Events......Page 290
Folder Object Events......Page 292
Inspectors Collection Event......Page 293
Inspector Object Events......Page 296
Items Collection Events......Page 297
Item-Level Events......Page 298
Namespace Object Events......Page 302
OutlookBarPane Object Events......Page 303
OutlookBarShortcut Object Events......Page 304
Stores Collection Events......Page 305
Reminders Collection Events......Page 306
Views Collection Events......Page 307
Summary......Page 308
Sharing in iCalendar Format......Page 309
Sharing a Calendar Through E-Mail......Page 310
Saving a Calendar to Disk......Page 311
Saving an Appointment to Disk......Page 312
Opening an iCalendar File......Page 313
RSS Feeds......Page 314
SharePoint Folders......Page 315
Internet Calendars......Page 317
Using the SharingItem Object......Page 318
Sharing a Folder with a Sharing Invitation......Page 319
Requesting Folder Access with a Sharing Request......Page 320
Processing a Sharing Item......Page 321
Summary......Page 323
The Categories Collection and Category Objects......Page 324
Assigning One or More Categories to an Item......Page 326
Displaying the Categories Dialog Box......Page 327
Controlling Visibility of the To-Do Bar......Page 328
Creating To-Do Items That Appear in the To-Do Bar......Page 329
Overview of Rules Programming......Page 330
Rules Collection......Page 333
The Rule Object......Page 337
The RuleActions Collection......Page 339
The RuleConditions Collection......Page 341
Get or Set Action or Condition Properties with an Array......Page 344
Rules Sample Add-In......Page 345
When to Use a Search Folder......Page 346
Enumerating Search Folders......Page 347
Creating a Search Folder Programmatically......Page 348
Objects That Derive from the View Object......Page 352
Adding or Removing a View Programmatically......Page 353
Specifying Fields in a View......Page 354
Sorting Items in a View......Page 356
The AutoFormatRules Collection......Page 357
Summary......Page 361
Outlook Query Languages......Page 362
AQS......Page 364
DASL......Page 369
Filtering Recurring Items in the Calendar Folder......Page 381
Time Zones Used in Comparison......Page 383
Conversion to UTC for DASL Queries......Page 384
Integer Comparisons......Page 385
DASL......Page 386
Logical Operators......Page 387
Search Entry Points......Page 388
Performance......Page 391
Read-Only vs. Read/Write......Page 392
Windows Desktop Search......Page 393
Summary......Page 394
Part IV: Providing a User Interface for Your Solution......Page 395
Decoding the User Interface......Page 396
The Explorer Window (The Explorer Object)......Page 397
The Explorers Collection......Page 398
The Inspector Window (The Inspector Object)......Page 402
The Inspectors Collection......Page 403
Making the Most of Navigation Modules......Page 405
Adding Structure with Navigation Groups......Page 407
Removing Folders......Page 409
Customizing the Reading Pane......Page 410
Context Menus......Page 411
Folder Home Pages......Page 414
Summary......Page 415
Introduction to Form Regions......Page 416
Form Region Types......Page 417
Standard Form Types......Page 420
Becoming Familiar with Form Region Design......Page 421
Designing a Form Region......Page 422
Adding Controls......Page 424
Working with Fields......Page 428
Polishing Your Form Region......Page 431
Step 1: Creating a Form Region......Page 436
Step 2: Writing Business Logic......Page 440
Step 3: Registering the Form Region......Page 448
Advanced Form Region Methods......Page 458
Summary......Page 459
The Outlook Combo Box......Page 460
The Outlook Command Button......Page 461
The Outlook Option Button......Page 462
The Outlook Business Card Control......Page 463
The Outlook Category Control......Page 464
The Outlook Contact Photo Control......Page 465
The Outlook Frame Header Control......Page 466
The Outlook InfoBar Control......Page 467
The Outlook Page Control......Page 468
The Outlook Sender Photo Control......Page 469
The Outlook Time Zone Control......Page 470
The Outlook Time Control......Page 471
Adding Controls to the Control Toolbox......Page 472
Adding Controls Programmatically......Page 473
Programmatic Access to Controls......Page 475
Summary......Page 477
Introducing Ribbon Extensibility......Page 478
What Happens with Existing Code......Page 479
Installation Instructions......Page 483
Modifying Your Code to Use RibbonX......Page 484
Authoring Ribbon XML......Page 486
IRibbonExtensibility Interface......Page 487
Detecting Errors......Page 490
NewInspector Event......Page 491
OutlookInspector Class......Page 492
IRibbonControl Object......Page 493
Summary......Page 495
Custom Task Panes......Page 496
Implementing a Custom Task Pane......Page 497
Adding a Custom Task Pane in an Add-In......Page 500
Custom Property Pages......Page 503
Designing a Custom Property Page......Page 504
Summary......Page 511
Part V: Advanced Topics......Page 512
Scenarios for PropertyAccessor......Page 513
Objects That Implement PropertyAccessor......Page 514
Obtaining a Specific SchemaName String......Page 515
The Proptag Namespace......Page 516
Named Property ID Namespace......Page 517
Named Property String Namespace......Page 518
Office Namespaces......Page 519
DAV Namespaces......Page 520
The GetProperty Method......Page 521
The SetProperty Method......Page 522
The GetProperties Method......Page 523
The SetProperties Method......Page 524
The DeleteProperties Method......Page 525
Multivalued Properties......Page 526
Helper Methods......Page 527
Detecting and Reporting Error Conditions......Page 529
Property Size Limitations......Page 530
Summary......Page 531
Creating a Setup Project......Page 532
Registry Keys Required for an Add-In......Page 533
.NET Framework Version 2.0......Page 535
Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime......Page 536
Primary Interop Assemblies......Page 537
Writing Custom Actions......Page 539
Summary......Page 540
Code Security for Outlook 2007......Page 541
Guard Principles......Page 544
Security Warning Types......Page 545
Detecting Trusted State......Page 547
Restricted Properties and Methods......Page 548
Trustable Shared Add-Ins......Page 553
Trust Center......Page 554
Group Policy Security for COM Add-Ins......Page 557
Configuring a Security Policy......Page 558
Trusting an Add-In......Page 559
Form Region Policy......Page 562
Folder Home Page Policy......Page 563
Summary......Page 564
Index......Page 565
About the Authors......Page 591