ASP .NET and Microsoft Outlook

[James]

Is it possible for me to generate Outlook objects in an ASP.NET application
on a web server (like a calander event for example) and then attach that
object to an email so that the recipient can open it and add a calander
event to THEIR Outlook file? I already know how to send mail using the
SmtpMail object.

If it is possible, how difficult is it? And are there any good examples,
tutorials, or books that could point me in this direction using VB.NET?
Thanks,

James

[Ananda Sim]

Hi James,

If you are only interested in Calendar items (I'd refrain from calling it a
Calendar event because uh, the industry reuses jargon over and over again),
you don't need Outlook or the Outlook object model. All you need to do is to
construct a VCAL file which is a plain text file - search MSDN or google....

Hope This Helps
Ananda

"James" <ca*******@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Oc**************@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...

Is it possible for me to generate Outlook objects in an ASP.NET application on a web server (like a calander event for example) and then attach that
object to an email so that the recipient can open it and add a calander
event to THEIR Outlook file? I already know how to send mail using the
SmtpMail object.

If it is possible, how difficult is it? And are there any good examples,
tutorials, or books that could point me in this direction using VB.NET?
Thanks,

James

[Tian Min Huang]

Hi James,

Thanks for your post. I'd like to share the following information with you:

Creating an Appointment/Meeting Request from ASP.NET can be done but how
you do it will depend on the type of environment you are using.

First, the Outlook Object Model is not supported for use unattended or from
a service, so the Outlook Object Model is not suitable to run from an
ASP.NET page. For more information see the following article:

Q237913 INFO: Outlook Object Model Unsuitable to Run in Windows Service
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../q237/9/13.asp

If you want the code to run on an ASP.NET Web Server, you should review the
following article about the supported Messaging APIs with the .NET
Framework and make a decision based on your environment.

Support Policy for Microsoft Exchange APIs with .NET Framework
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=813349

For example, if your users are working against an Exchange 2000 server you
can use WebDAV to create Appointments directly in Calendar folders or to
send meeting requests. Here is an article with some sample WebDAV code:

308373 HOWTO: Send a Meeting Request Using WebDAV
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308373

If you are not using an Exchange Server then users will typically have
their Calendars stored in local Personal Folder files (.pst) and you will
not be able to access these folders directly from a Web Server (or any
other machine). In this type of scenario you could generate a mail message
using System.Web.Mail (based on the previous code sample posted to this
thread) and attach and iCalendar (.ics) file with the meeting information.
iCalendar information can be sent in a text file attachment. For testing,
you can create an iCalendar item in Outlook by selecting an Appointment in
your Calendar and then choosing "Forward as iCalendar" from the Actions
menu. You can then open the attached ".ics" file in a text editor like
Notepad to see the iCalendar information. To get more information about the
iCalendar Internet Standard you can search the web for "RFC" and
"iCalendar". For example, here is a "Request For Comment" (RFC) link I
found for the iCalendar format: <http://rfc-2445.rfcindex.net>.

By the way, there are no supported .NET APIs for working with Exchange
Server 5.5 data, so you could use CDO 1.21 in a classic ASP page to create
Appointments. There is no server-side API either that is supported for
creating Task items. The only supported API for creating Outlook Task items
is the Outlook Object Model.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any problems or concerns.

Have a nice day!

Regards,

HuangTM
Microsoft Online Partner Support
MCSE/MCSD

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