|
Accessing Outlook 98 Contacts in ASP Pages
By Dennis Adams |
Rating: 3.9 out of 5
Rate this article
|
email this article to a colleague
suggest an article
|
Introduction
Our company uses an Intranet primarily to enter and track purchase orders. Instead of manually finding and typing in vendor information (name, address, phone number, etc.) we access Outlook 98 Contact Folders directly in our ASP pages.
Initially we tried to use the Outlook automation component directly in an ASP page (Server.CreateObject) and then use the methods and properties of the component. However, this approach didn’t work because not all of the advertised methods and properties of the object could be made to work (probably because of incompatibilities in the COM interface between ASP pages and the Outlook automation component).
The approach finally taken was to make the Outlook Contacts Folder part of the Public Folders and then to access the Public Folders via Exchange Server using Collaboration Data Objects (CDOs) (specifically the Messaging Application Programming Interface [MAPI].Session object). This article shows the ASP code used to accomplish this.
Prerequisites
I found that the following were prerequisites for this approach to work:
- Exchange Server V 5.5 with SP 2, a free, object-oriented toolkit for Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) parsing and entity management, is required.
- Outlook for Web Applications (OWA) (an Exchange Server 5.5 install option) must be installed on the IIS computer in order to install the CDO DLLs. (See References 5 ,6, and 7.)
- OWA must be configured as explained in the Exchange Server documentation located in folder \exchsrvr\docs\web_docs\server\htm\xog18008.htm. (See Reference 4.)
- On the IIS computer, disable "Windows NT Challenge Response" and enable "Allow Anonymous Access" and "Basic Authentication." This is necessary because of a documented bug in Exchange Server that will not allow NT Authentication if the IIS and Exchange Server are on different computers. By doing this, when the code attempts to logon to Exchange Server, Exchange Server will bring up a logon dialog box because it will be using Basic Authentication. At this point, make sure to enter your domain logon name (i.e., \\myDomainName\myUserName).
- Setup IIS and Exchange Server Permissions as explained in "MS Exhange FAQs from Support Online." (See References 8 and 9.)
- Place the Outlook Contacts Folder in the Public Folders Folder.
The Code
Visual InterDev is our development tool, so all references to thisPage Object, list boxes, etc., in the code should be taken in this context.
Our Purchase Order screen has a list box filled with the names of our vendors. The names of the vendors are obtained programically from the Outlook Contacts Folder. Only a subset of our Contacts Folder is used for vendors, and they are identified by entering "Vendor" in the "Profession" entry in the Contacts database.
The list box is filled with the vendor names using the following code.
- When the ASP page is first entered, the browser is forced to use "Basic" authentication in order to help identify the logon user to the Exchange Server. (NT Authentication won’t work if IIS and Exchange Server are on different computers. [See MS documented bug in Reference 8) as shown in lines "auth A" and "auth B."]) This is a key element often missed in most logon attempts, and is explained in more detail in Reference 1. You must also disable "Windows NT Challenge Response" and enable "Allow Anonymous Access" and "Basic Authentication" on the IIS Web site security settings.
Sub thisPage_onenter()
Dim bstrAT, oSession,oInbox,oMessages
Dim oRenderApp,oRenderer, myUser
Dim objSession
Dim objMessages
Dim objOneMessage
Dim objInfoStores
Dim objInfoStore
Dim objTopFolder
Dim objFolders
Dim objFolder
Dim objSubFolder
Dim objTargetFolder
Dim strProfileInfo
Dim i
Dim bstrPublicRootID
Dim FieldsCollection, myField,strSQL
On Error Resume Next 'Are going to test for errors
If(thisPage.firstEntered) Then
'user logs on to IIS as IUSR_machine (if IIS anonymous login is enabled in IIS).
‘However because of Exchange Server’s security
'reasons, this account will not be allowed to log onto Exchange Server. Therefore we
'must add NT Challenge or Basic to the HTTP header to force the logon as the
'NT Challenge/Response Or Basic in order for the Exchange Server login to work. This
'code should be added to every routine on every ASP page that logs onto Exchange
'sever in case the session times out.
'NOTE 1: The only way I could get to logon to Exchange Server successfully was to make
'the IIS 'logon be IIS Anonymous and Basic logon and to DISABLE
'NT Challenge/Response (because of an Exchange Server bug)
'Get the IIS Authorization type
bstrAT = Request.ServerVariables("AUTH_TYPE")
'Force BASIC authentication as Exchange Server Requires to successfully logon to it
if InStr(1,"_BasicNTLM", bstrAT,vbTextCompare) < 2 Then
Response.Buffer = TRUE 'buffer until page is complete
'tell browser user is not authorized and for browser to challenge for the
'user credentials (i.e., his NT account)
Response.Status = ("401 Unauthorized")
Response.AddHeader "WWW.Authenticate", "Basic"
Response.End
End If
- The MAPI Session object is created and Exchange Server is logged onto.
'Create the MAPI Session Object
set objSession = Server.CreateObject("MAPI.Session")
'Logon to Exchange server, specify which server and mailbox
err.clear 'we are going to test for errors so clear 1st
'Create the logon string
strProfileInfo = "myExchangeServerName" & vbLF & "myValidExdhangeMailboxName"
'Try to logon to Exchange Server
objSession.Logon "", "", False,True,0,True,strProfileInfo
'Verify login (still may not have correct permissions even if logon worked)
myUser = objSession.CurrentUser
'Response.Write("<br>DEBUG: Exchange Logon User = " & myUSer)
'See if logon was successful
if err.number = 0 And myUser <> "Unknown" Then
- The Exchange Server Public Folder Collection is then obtained. (See Reference 2.)
'Get the info stores collection
Set objInfoStores = objSession.InfoStores
'Get the Public Folders Info Store
Dim myFoundPulic
myFoundPublic = false
For i = 1 To objInfoStores.Count
If objInfoStores.Item(i)= "Public Folders" Then
Set objInfoStore=objInfoStores.Item(i)
'Response.Write("<br>__DEBUG: Found 'Public Folders' InfoStore OK")
myFoundPublic = true
Exit For 'found it
End If
Next
if myFoundPublic = true Then
'Get the Folders Root
'H66310102 is the value for Public Folders ID (see Technet)
bstrPublicRootID = objInfoStore.Fields.Item( &H66310102 ).Value
Set objTopFolder = objSession.GetFolder(bstrPublicRootID, _
objInfoStore.ID)
'Get the Public Folders Collection
Set objFolders = objTopFolder.Folders
- The Contacts Folder within the Public Folders is then found (simply identified by its Contacts folder name).
'Find the Public Folder we’re looking for (Outlook Contacts)
Set objFolder = objFolders.GetFirst()
Dim test,j
test = objFolder.Name
'Response.Write("<br>DEBUG: Public Folder Name = " & test)
'init
j=0
Do Until test = "myPublicFolderNameConsistingOfContacts"
Set objFolder=objFolders.GetNext()
test = objFolder.Name
'Response.Write("<br>DEBUG: Public Folder Name = " & test)
j= j+1
if j>100 then
Exit Do 'Avoid infinite loop
End if
Loop
if test = " myPublicFolderNameConsistingOfContacts" Then
- The individual contacts are then obtained and processed. The vendor names are
stored temporarily into an SQL database for later sorting.
'Get the Contacts Collection
Set objMessages = objFolder.Messages
'Response.Write("DEBUG:objMessages.Count = " _
'& objMessages.Count & "<br>")
'Fill the vendor list box with Exchange Server Public
'Folder Contact Data. Since it
'is not alphabetical when getting from Exchange server,
'we will temporarily store it in an SQL db table and then retrieve with
'ORDER BY ASC clause
'store the contact data temporality in a SQL db table
'delete the current Unalphabetical Contacts SQL db data
Dim DeleteRecordset
set DeleteRecordset=CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
strSQL = "DELETE FROM tempContacts"
DeleteRecordset.Open strSQL,"DSN=MyDSN;UID=sa"
'Get ready to fill it with current unalphabetized Contact Data
Dim InsertRecordset
set InsertRecordset=CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
Dim myContactCo,myProfession
'Look at each Contact
For Each objOneMessage in objMessages
'Get the fields from this Contact
Set FieldsCollection = objOneMessage.Fields
'Get the Company name and profession for each contact
'See cdo.hlp for &H codes
myContactCo = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A16001E)
myProfession = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A46001E)
if myProfession = "Vendor" Then
'Replace all with spaces for INSERT to work
myContactCo = Replace(myContactCo,"'"," ")
'put into temp SQL db
strSQL = "INSERT INTO tempContacts" &_
" VALUES_ ('" & myContactCo & "')"
InsertRecordset.Open strSQL,"DSN=MyDSN;UID=sa"
End if
myProfession = "" 'reset
myContactCo = ""
Next
- The vendor names are retrieved, sorted, and placed into the vendor name list box.
'Now retrieve the data alphabetically and put into Drop list
Dim ContactsRecordset
set ContactsRecordset=CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
strSQL = "Select * from tempContacts ORDER BY _
CompanyName ASC"
ContactsRecordset.Open strSQL,"DSN=MyDSN;UID=sa"
ContactsRecordset.MoveFirst
lstVendors.clear 'clear current drop list
lstVendors.addItem("") 'force a user selection
Do While (NOT ContactsRecordset.EOF)
'Get 1st and only field value of the field
'COLLECTION in the DropList Table
myField = ContactsRecordset.Fields("CompanyName") lstVendors.addItem(myField)
ContactsRecordset.MoveNext
Loop
- Cleanup is then performed.
set ContactsRecordset = nothing
set InsertRecordset = nothing
set DeleteRecordset = nothing
Else
Response.Write("<br>ERROR getting " &_
"myValidExdhangeMailboxName_ Folder From Public " &_
"Folders On Exchange Server...Vendor Info_ will " &_
"not be available<br>")
End If
Else
Response.Write("<br>ERROR getting Public Folders_
OnExchangeServer<br>")
End If
Else
Response.Write("<p>ERROR logging onto Exchange Server...Vendor Info will_
not be available<br>")
bstrHTTPUser = Request.ServerVariables("AUTH_USER")
Response.Write("<br>AUTH_USER = " & bstrHTTPUser)
bstrHTTPPaswrd = Request.ServerVariables("AUTH_PASSWORD")
Response.Write("<br>AUTH_PASSWORD = " & bstrHTTPPaswrd)
bstrAT = Request.ServerVariables("AUTH_TYPE")
Response.Write("<br>AUTH_TYPE = " & bstrAT)
End If
objSession.Logoff
Set objOneMessage = Nothing
Set objMessages = Nothing
Set objFolder = Nothing
Set objTopFolder = Nothing
Set objSession = Nothing
End If
End Sub
- Once the vendor name list box is filled in, the user can select a vendor to get their address, phone number, etc., from the Outlook Contacts Folder. The preceding code is essentially duplicated in order to logon to the Exchange server again and get the data (in case of timeouts).
Sub lstVendors_onchange()
Dim bstrAT, oSession,oInbox,oMessages
Dim oRenderApp,oRenderer, myUser
Dim objSession
Dim objMessages
Dim objOneMessage
Dim objInfoStores
Dim objInfoStore
Dim objTopFolder
Dim objFolders
Dim objFolder
Dim objSubFolder
Dim objTargetFolder
Dim strProfileInfo
Dim i
Dim bstrPublicRootID
Dim FieldsCollection, myField,strSQL
On Error Resume Next
'Get selected list box value
mySelectedCo = lstVendors.getText()
'Find this co. in Contacts Db in order to get address, etc.
'Make sure Browser is authenticated, or else you can't log on to Exchange server
bstrAT = Request.ServerVariables("AUTH_TYPE")
if InStr(1,"_BasicNTLM", bstrAT,vbTextCompare) < 2 Then
Response.Buffer = TRUE
Response.Status = ("401 Unauthorized")
Response.AddHeader "WWW.Authenticate", "NTLM"
Response.End
End If
set objSession = Server.CreateObject("MAPI.Session")
On Error Resume Next
'Logon to Exchange server again (in case timed out), specify which server and mailbox
strProfileInfo = "myExchangeServerName" & vbLF & myValidExdhangeMailboxName)
err.clear
'try to logon
objSession.Logon "", "", False,True,0,True,strProfileInfo
'Verify login (still may not have correct permissions even if this works)
myUser = objSession.CurrentUser
'Response.Write("<br>DEBUG: Exchange Logon User = " & myUSer)
'See if successful
if err.number = 0 Then
Set objInfoStores = objSession.InfoStores
Dim myFoundPulic
myFoundPublic = false
For i = 1 To objInfoStores.Count
If objInfoStores.Item(i)= "Public Folders" Then 'look at Public folders
Set objInfoStore=objInfoStores.Item(i)
myFoundPublic = true
Exit For 'found it
End If
Next
if myFoundPublic = true Then
'H66310102 is for Public Folders ID
bstrPublicRootID = objInfoStore.Fields.Item( &H66310102 ).Value
Set objTopFolder = objSession.GetFolder(bstrPublicRootID, _
objInfoStore.ID)
Set objFolders = objTopFolder.Folders
Set objFolder = objFolders.GetFirst()
Dim test,j
test = objFolder.Name
j=0 'init
Do Until test = " myPublicFolderNameConsistingOfContacts "
Set objFolder=objFolders.GetNext()
test = objFolder.Name
j= j+1
if j>100 then
Exit Do 'avoid infinite loop
End if
Loop
if test = " myPublicFolderNameConsistingOfContacts " Then
Set objMessages = objFolder.Messages
'Find the desired Co in the Exchange data
Dim myContactCo, myFoundIt
myFoundIt = false
For Each objOneMessage in objMessages
Set FieldsCollection = objOneMessage.Fields
myContactCo = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A16001E)
myContactCo = Replace(myContactCo,"'"," ")
if myContactCo = mySelectedCo Then
myFoundIt = true
Exit For
End if
Next
If myFoundIt = true Then
- Individual Contact Addresses, etc., are then using the &H Property Tags from Reference 3.
'See cdo.hlp for &H codes
'Get the Street
myContactStr = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A29001E)
'Get the city
myContactCity = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A27001E)
'Get the state
myContactSt = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A28001E)
'Get the zip code
myContactZip = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A2A001E)
'Get the phone number
myContactPh = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A08001E)
'Get the fax number
myContactFax = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A24001E)
'Get out Customer Id
myContactID = FieldsCollection.Item(&H3A4A001E)
'NOTE: Can't find the E-mail addr in Exchange (MS bug!!??)
'therefore get it from our own maintainable VendorEmail Table
myContactEmail = "Unknown" 'init
VendorEmailRecordset.close
VendorEmailRecordset.open
myRecordCount = VendorEmailRecordset.getCount()
Count=myRecordCount
If (VendorEmailRecordset.getCount() > 0) Then
VendorEmailRecordset.moveLast
Do While(VendorEmailRecordset.BOF <> true)
if(VendorEmailRecordset.fields.getValue_
("CompanyName") = myContactCo) Then
myContactEmail =_ VendorEmailRecordset.fields.getValue_
("EmailAddr")
exit Do
End If
VendorEmailRecordset.movePrevious
Count=Count-1
Loop
End If
'Fill in the Text Boxes with the data
txtVendorName.value = myContactCo
txtVendorStreet.value = myContactStr
txtVendorCity.value = myContactCity
txtVendorState.value = myContactSt
txtVendorZip.value = myContactZip
txtVendorPhone.value = myContactPh
txtVendorFax.value = myContactFax
Else
Response.Write("Can't find selected " &_
"company in Exchange_ " &_
"Contacts Folder. Please manually fill in " &_
"Vendor Address_ data.")
End If
Else
Response.Write("<br>ERROR getting I.T.S Department " &_
"Contacts Folder_ From Public Folders " &_
" On Exchange " &_
Server...Vendor Info will not be_ " &_
"available<br>")
End If
Else
Response.Write("<br>ERROR getting Public Folders On Exchange Server... _
Vendor Info will not be available<br>")
End If
Else
Response.Write("<br>ERROR logging onto Exchange Server...Vendor Info will not_
be available<br>")
End If
objSession.Logoff
Set objOneMessage = Nothing
Set objMessages = Nothing
Set objFolder = Nothing
Set objTopFolder = Nothing
Set objSession = Nothing
End Sub
Summary
Accessing Outlook 98 Contacts (via a Public Folder) from ASP pages is possible if care is taken to properly install the required components, configure the IIS and Exchange Server computers, locate appropriate Technet articles and Exchange Server documentation, and provide code to work around MS bugs.
References
- Building Collaborative Web Applications with Microsoft Exchange Server
http://www.asptoday.com/articles/19990429.htm
- How to View Public Folder Contents from an ASP Page – Technet Article Q178552
- MAPI Property Tags from CDO documentation located at \\myExchangeServer\exchsrvr\bin\cdo.hlp.
- OWA configuration as explained in the Exchange Server documentation located in folder \exchsrvr\docs\web_docs\server\htm\xog18008.htm
- What’s the Difference between CDO and CDONTS? – Technet Article Q177850
- Problems with CDO after Upgrading to Outlook 98 – Technet Article Q194077
- INFO: Where to Acquire the Collaboration Data Objects Libraries – Technet Article Q171440
- PRB: Accessing Public Folders via a Web Browser Causes Error – Technet Article Q168661
- XSEB: VBScript Error ‘800a03a3’ When Accessing OWA Server 5.5 – MS Exchange FAQs from MS Support Online.
About The Author
Dennis Adams is an independent software contractor currently specializing in the MS Visual Studio language suite. He is a Microsoft Certified Professional in MS Visual C++ and is studying to be a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider (MCSP). He can be reached at adamsde1@aol.com and dennisa@ntbtrk.com.
|
|
|
|
|
Supporting Products/Tools
|
|
AspEmail
|
|
Free SMTP component that supports multiple file attachments, unlimited recipients, CC's, BCC's and REPLY-TO's. Sends messages as plain text or in the HTML format. Premium features include message queuing and deferred processing for high mail volumes. When used with AspEncrypt, generates S/MIME-enabled secure mail.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
AspMail
|
|
AspMail supports multiple file attachments (MIME and UUE), US ASCII and ISO-8859-1 character sets, 8bit subject lines, custom message content headers, custom message headers, MS Exchange priority headers, PGP and more.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
DevMailer 1.0
|
|
DevMailer adds SMTP email sending abilities to ASP or Perl programs. Features include: attachments, failsafe queueing, redundant servers, standard message file support, and advanced activity logging. Also verify email addresses and send multiple messages on a single connection.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
JangoMail
|
|
JangoMail, located at JangoMail.com, is a web-based service that sends mass
e-mails by connecting to data from your SQL Server or ODBC compliant
database. Unlike traditional ASP e-mail components, the JangoMail service
can also handle unsubscribes and bounces automatically and synchronize these
with your original web database. The only setup that is required is the
placement of one ASP file on your web server. Other features include
message open tracking and click tracking.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
JMail
|
|
Send Email directly from you web page via your webserver. jMail will not start up any annoying email clients, just smoothly send the mail via the mailserver. Implement it with easy ASP code.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
Mail for .NET
|
|
Mail for .NET is the first product for the NetToolworks.NET framework. Together they provide methods that send, receive, compose, edit, encode and decode e-mail messages. SMTP, POP, complex MIME messages, HTML messages, and file/memory streaming are also supported.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
OCXMail
|
|
A single component that is limited in scope to five methods. The OCXMail ASP component allows you to send mail using the standard SMTP protocol from any program that can use ActiveX/OLE components.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
ocxQMail
|
|
The ocxQmail ASP component allows you to send mail using the standard SMTP protocol from any program that can use ActiveX/OLE components. ocxQmail queues up messages for batch delivery by a companion NT Service at intervals you specify in the Administration Windows GUI.
Your ASP pages do not have to wait for the mail message to be physically sent before continuing.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
RobustPop3
|
|
RobustPOP3 component allows you to retrieve mail using POP3 protocol. Features include: Retrieve Messages
Multiple File Attachments, File Attachments support MIME and UUEncode.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
SA-SmtpMail
|
|
A full-featured SMTP e-mail client component that allows developers to send e-mail from any client. This award-winning control offers significantly better performance than other popular SMTP components. SoftArtisans SMTPmail is written in high-performance C++ and supports all threading models, file attachments and multiple encoding schemes. New features in version 2.0 include login authentication and mass mail. The new version also supports PGP encryption.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
SimpleMail
|
|
Simple mail strictly conforms to the original SMTP standard. It does not support enhanced features like attachments, MIME or multiple character sets. However, it offers high performance, ease of use and a very competitive low price.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
WebMail
|
|
Chilkat WebMail is a POP3/SMTP client component packed with
advanced features including: full S/MIME capability, MHTML,
multipart/alternative, multipart/related, attachments, advanced AES encryption, charset conversion, Outlook integration, progress monitoring,
import EML, import/export XML, mail-merge, distribution lists, Chilkat Zip
integration, Outlook contacts and distribution lists, bad email address
detection/collection, SMTP Windows Integrated Authorization, smart cards,
SMTP/POP3 server diagnostics, full control over Cryptographic Service
Providers for S/MIME, auto-handle any charset for any language, and more.
|
[Top]
|
|
|
|
Other Articles
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 2, 2001 - Creating PGP-Encrypted E-Mails
|
|
|
PGP is an encryption program being used for secure transmission of files and e-mails. This article explains the concepts of PGP, provides details about installing and configuring the command-line version of PGP, and explains how an encrypted e-mail can be generated from ASP.
[Read This Article] [Top]
|
|
|
|
Dec 17, 1999 - How to Send Secure Mail in ASP-Based E-Commerce Applications
|
|
|
Peter Persits' article explains how Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, or S/MIME, has come to rescue of e-commerce Web sites that need some order information to be contained in encrypted E-mail. Customers don't want to use automatic on-line credit card authorization, so order information instead is sent over an SSL-protected HTML form and credit card numbers are sent via encrypted E-mail for manual processing.
[Read This Article] [Top]
|
|
|
|
Oct 7, 1999 - Using the WSH on the Desktop
|
|
|
In this article Shahriar Moosavizadeh uses a script to report each day's sales data via E-mail to the sales manager. The Windows Scripting Host allows scripts to be executed directly on the desktop and create a report without having to run the script within the HTML document or ASP page. Included is a sample script that both builds the report and E-mails it to the sales manager,
and step-by-step screenshots and instructions.
[Read This Article] [Top]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 6, 1997 - Creating a List Server with ASP
|
|
|
This issue describes how to make a list server using Active Server, SQL Server, and Stephen Genusa's ASPMail Component. Included are source and instructions for adding the user to the list from a Active Server page, removing the user from the list via a Active Server page, and sending mail to the whole list.
[Read This Article] [Top]
|
|
|
Mailing List
Want to receive email when the next article is published? Just Click Here to sign up.
|
|
