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Code level: advanced Code area: Outlook and .NET Printer Friendly Version
Title: Avoid Security Propmts / Access MAPI Properties
Description: This sample shows howto access MAPI Properties directly from C# without additional Libraries. Can be used in or outside AddIn and with VS2003 and VSTO 2005
Date: 18-Nov-2005 21:57
Code level: advanced
Code area: Outlook and .NET
Posted by: Helmut Obertanner
Body: /// http://www.x4u.de /// (c) Helmut Obertanner [X4U electronix] /// flash@x4u.de /// This sample demonstrates how to retrieve Outlook / MAPI Properties that could not be accessed /// by OOM (Outlook Object Model) ar are subject to the Outlook Security Guard /// DATALOG Software AG [http://www.datalog.de] using System; using System.Runtime.InteropServices; using System.Diagnostics; using System.Reflection; namespace X4U.Outlook { internal class X4UMapi { #region Public Functions /// <summary> /// The <b>GetMessageBody</b> function is used to retrieve a messagebody of a email without hitting the Outlook Security Guard. /// </summary> /// <param name="mapiObject"></param> /// <returns>The messagebody as string</returns> /// <example> /// object missing = Missing.Value; /// /// get the Outlook Application Object /// Outlook.Application outlookApplication = new Outlook.Application(); /// /// get the namespace object /// Outlook.NameSpace nameSpace = outlookApplication.GetNamespace("MAPI"); /// /// Logon to Session, here we use an already opened Outlook /// nameSpace.Logon(missing, missing, false, false); /// /// get the InboxFolder /// Outlook.MAPIFolder inboxFolder = nameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderInbox); /// /// get the first email /// Outlook.MailItem mailItem = ( Outlook.MailItem ) inboxFolder.Items[1]; /// /// get mailbody /// string body = X4UMapi.GetMessageBody(mailItem.MAPIOBJECT); /// /// release used resources /// Marshal.ReleaseComObject(mailItem); /// Marshal.ReleaseComObject(inboxFolder); /// /// logof from namespace /// nameSpace.Logoff(); /// /// release resources /// Marshal.ReleaseComObject( nameSpace ); /// Marshal.ReleaseComObject(outlookApplication.Application); /// </example> public static string GetMessageBody(object mapiObject) { // try to get the message body string body = GetMessageProperty (mapiObject, PR_BODY ); // if body is empty, get HTML_BODY Property if (body == "") GetMessageProperty(mapiObject, PR_BODY_HTML); // if body still empty, get HTML Property if (body == "") GetMessageProperty(mapiObject, PR_HTML); return body; } /// <summary> /// The <b>GetMessageSenderAddress</b> function is used to retrieve a messagebody of a email without hitting the Outlook Security Guard. /// </summary> /// <param name="mapiObject">The Outlook Item MAPIOBJECT property</param> /// <returns>The sender EmailAddress as string</returns> /// <example> /// object missing = Missing.Value; /// /// get the Outlook Application Object /// Outlook.Application outlookApplication = new Outlook.Application(); /// /// get the namespace object /// Outlook.NameSpace nameSpace = outlookApplication.GetNamespace("MAPI"); /// /// Logon to Session, here we use an already opened Outlook /// nameSpace.Logon(missing, missing, false, false); /// /// get the InboxFolder /// Outlook.MAPIFolder inboxFolder = nameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderInbox); /// /// get the first email /// Outlook.MailItem mailItem = ( Outlook.MailItem ) inboxFolder.Items[1]; /// /// get mailbody /// string body = X4UMapi.GetMessageBody(mailItem.MAPIOBJECT); /// /// release used resources /// Marshal.ReleaseComObject(mailItem); /// Marshal.ReleaseComObject(inboxFolder); /// /// logof from namespace /// nameSpace.Logoff(); /// /// release resources /// Marshal.ReleaseComObject( nameSpace ); /// Marshal.ReleaseComObject(outlookApplication.Application); /// </example> public static string GetMessageSenderAddress(object mapiObject) { // try to get the message body return GetMessageProperty(mapiObject, PR_SENDER_EMAIL_ADDRESS ); } #endregion #region Internal Functions /// <summary> /// Returns the Propertyvalue as string from the given Property Tag /// </summary> /// <param name="mapiObject">[in] The Outlook Item MAPIOBJECT Property</param> /// <param name="propertyTag">[in] The Property Tag to retrieve</param> /// <returns>The Item Body as string.</returns> private static string GetMessageProperty(object mapiObject, uint propertyTag) { string body = ""; // Pointer to IUnknown Interface IntPtr IUnknown = NULL; // Pointer to IMessage Interface IntPtr IMessage = NULL; // Pointer to IMAPIProp Interface IntPtr IMAPIProp = NULL; // Structure that will hold the Property Value SPropValue propValue; // A pointer that points to the SPropValue structure IntPtr ptrPropValue = NULL; // if we have no MAPIObject everything is senseless... if (mapiObject == null) return ""; try { // We can pass NULL here as parameter, so we do it. MAPIInitialize(NULL); // retrive the IUnknon Interface from our MAPIObject comming from Outlook. IUnknown = Marshal.GetIUnknownForObject(mapiObject); // since HrGetOneProp needs a IMessage Interface, we must query our IUnknown interface for the IMessage interface. // create a Guid that we pass to retreive the IMessage Interface. Guid guidIMessage = new Guid(IID_IMessage); // try to retrieve the IMessage interface, if we don't get it, everything else is sensless. if ( Marshal.QueryInterface(IUnknown, ref guidIMessage, out IMessage) != S_OK) return ""; // create a Guid that we pass to retreive the IMAPIProp Interface. Guid guidIMAPIProp = new Guid(IID_IMAPIProp); // try to retrieve the IMAPIProp interface from IMessage Interface, everything else is sensless. if ( Marshal.QueryInterface(IMessage, ref guidIMAPIProp, out IMAPIProp) != S_OK) return ""; // double check, if we wave no pointer, exit... if (IMAPIProp == NULL) return ""; // try to get the Property ( Property Tags can be found with Outlook Spy from Dmitry Streblechenko ) // we pass the IMAPIProp Interface, the PropertyTag and the pointer to the SPropValue to the function. HrGetOneProp(IMAPIProp, propertyTag, out ptrPropValue); // if that also fails we have no such property if ( ptrPropValue == NULL ) return ""; // connect the pointer to our structure holding the value propValue = (SPropValue)Marshal.PtrToStructure(ptrPropValue, typeof(SPropValue)); // now get the property // mark, that the result could also be a pointer to a stream if the messagebody is > 64K // the property value could also of another type body = Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(new IntPtr(propValue.Value)); return body; } catch (System.Exception ex) { return ""; } finally { // Free used Memory structures if (ptrPropValue != NULL) MAPIFreeBuffer(ptrPropValue); // cleanup all references to COM Objects if (IMAPIProp != NULL) Marshal.Release(IMAPIProp); if (IMessage != NULL) Marshal.Release(IMessage); if (IUnknown != NULL) Marshal.Release(IUnknown); MAPIUninitialize(); } } #endregion #region Private Properties /// <summary> /// A Variable used as C-Style NULL Pointer; /// </summary> private static readonly IntPtr NULL = IntPtr.Zero; /// <summary> /// Used for checking returncodes. /// </summary> private const int S_OK = 0; #endregion #region Initialization / Cleanup /// <summary> /// The construction Code. /// </summary> public X4UMapi() { } #endregion #region MAPI Interface ID'S // The Interface ID's are used to retrieve the specific MAPI Interfaces from the IUnknown Object public const string IID_IMAPISession = "00020300-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPIProp = "00020303-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPITable = "00020301-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPIMsgStore = "00020306-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPIFolder = "0002030C-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPISpoolerService = "0002031E-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPIStatus = "0002031E-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMessage = "00020307-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IAddrBook = "00020309-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IProfSect = "00020304-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPIContainer = "0002030B-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IABContainer = "0002030D-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMsgServiceAdmin = "0002031D-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IProfAdmin = "0002031C-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMailUser = "0002030A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IDistList = "0002030E-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IAttachment = "00020308-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPIControl = "0002031B-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPILogonRemote = "00020346-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; public const string IID_IMAPIForm = "00020327-0000-0000-C000-000000000046"; #endregion #region Property Tags /// <summary> /// Used to get the Emailheaders /// </summary> public const uint PR_TRANSPORT_MESSAGE_HEADERS = 0x007D001E; /// <summary> /// Used to read the Body of an Email /// </summary> public const uint PR_BODY = 0x1000001E; /// <summary> /// Used to read the HTML Body of the Email /// </summary> public const uint PR_BODY_HTML = 0x1013001E; /// <summary> /// Used to read the HTML Body of the Email /// </summary> public const uint PR_HTML = 0x10130102; /// <summary> /// Used to read the smtp / exchange sender address of an Email /// </summary> public const uint PR_SENDER_EMAIL_ADDRESS = 0x0C1F001E; #endregion #region MAPI Structures /// <summary> /// The SPropValue structure describes a MAPI property. /// </summary> public struct SPropValue { /// <summary> /// Property tag for the property. Property tags are 32-bit unsigned integers consisting of the property's unique identifier in the high-order 16 bits and the property's type in the low-order 16 bits. /// </summary> public uint ulPropTag; /// <summary> /// Reserved for MAPI; do not use. /// </summary> public uint dwAlignPad; /// <summary> /// Union of data values, the specific value dictated by the property type. /// </summary> public long Value; } #endregion #region MAPI DLL Imports /// <summary> /// The MAPIInitialize function increments the MAPI subsystem reference count and initializes global data for the MAPI DLL. /// </summary> /// <param name="lpMapiInit">[in] Pointer to a MAPIINIT_0 structure. The lpMapiInit parameter can be set to NULL.</param> /// <returns> /// S_OK /// The MAPI subsystem was initialized successfully. /// </returns> [DllImport("MAPI32.DLL", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)] private static extern int MAPIInitialize(IntPtr lpMapiInit); /// <summary> /// The MAPIUninitialize function decrements the reference count, cleans up, and deletes per-instance global data for the MAPI DLL. /// </summary> [DllImport("MAPI32.DLL", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)] private static extern void MAPIUninitialize(); /// <summary> /// The HrGetOneProp function retrieves the value of a single property from a property interface, that is, an interface derived from IMAPIProp. /// </summary> /// <param name="pmp">[in] Pointer to the IMAPIProp interface from which the property value is to be retrieved.</param> /// <param name="ulPropTag">[in] Property tag of the property to be retrieved.</param> /// <param name="ppprop">[out] Pointer to a pointer to the returned SPropValue structure defining the retrieved property value.</param> /// <remarks> /// Unlike the IMAPIProp::GetProps method, the HrGetOneProp function never returns any warning. /// Because it retrieves only one property, it simply either succeeds or fails. For retrieving multiple properties, /// GetProps is faster. /// /// You can set or change a single property with the HrSetOneProp function. /// </remarks> [DllImport("MAPI32.DLL", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi, EntryPoint = "HrGetOneProp@12")] private static extern void HrGetOneProp(IntPtr pmp, uint ulPropTag, out IntPtr ppprop); /// <summary> /// The HrSetOneProp function sets or changes the value of a single property on a property interface, that is, an interface derived from IMAPIProp. /// </summary> /// <param name="pmp">[in] Pointer to an IMAPIProp interface on which the property value is to be set or changed.</param> /// <param name="pprop">[in] Pointer to the SPropValue structure defining the property to be set or changed.</param> /// <remarks> /// Unlike the IMAPIProp::SetProps method, the HrSetOneProp function never returns any warning. /// Because it sets only one property, it simply either succeeds or fails. /// For setting or changing multiple properties, SetProps is faster. /// /// You can retrieve a single property with the HrGetOneProp function. /// </remarks> [DllImport("MAPI32.DLL", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi, EntryPoint = "HrGetOneProp@8")] private static extern void HrSetOneProp(IntPtr pmp, IntPtr pprop); /// <summary> /// The MAPIFreeBuffer function frees a memory buffer allocated with a call to the MAPIAllocateBuffer function or the MAPIAllocateMore function. /// </summary> /// <param name="lpBuffer">[in] Pointer to a previously allocated memory buffer. If NULL is passed in the lpBuffer parameter, MAPIFreeBuffer does nothing.</param> [DllImport("MAPI32.DLL", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi, EntryPoint = "MAPIFreeBuffer@4")] private static extern void MAPIFreeBuffer(IntPtr lpBuffer); #endregion } } Provided as is, without warranties. Feel free to use and modify. Greets, Helmut Obertanner [http://www.x4u.de] DATALOG Software AG [http://www.datalog.de]
All 95comments

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	Bart 13-Dec-2005 05:17 I tried this and it works great for let's say PR_SENDER_NAME. However... when I try to get the PR_HTML of a Task item, the error 'Arithmetic operation resulted in an overflow' is thrown when the body is returned in the GetMessageProperty function.
	Sathiya 21-Dec-2005 14:09 Yeah, the same error for me. when i tried to use PR_ENTRYID... Is this anything to do with unit or ulong??
	Josh 06-Feb-2006 15:16 Try wrapping it in a unchecked { } block.
	Subhajit Biswas 08-Feb-2006 08:28 The above code snippet works fine if my default mail client is set as Outlook.But the problem comes if Outlook is not default mail client then GetMessageBody() returns " " How to tackle this ?...
	Eric 27-Feb-2006 06:25 This seems to work fine, but it looks using PR_BODY_W does not return the unicode clear text body. Here is what I does: I have an utf-8 body example in a plaintext message. When I try to read it in Outlook 2002/XP, it is shown decoded (japanese & russian visible). When I try to read it from the MAPIOBJECT using the above method, I get "?" instead of the correct bytes. I've tried to read the body as ansi (0x1e) or as unicode (0x1f). It does not work. (XP SP2 / Outlook XP SP3 installed) The same experiment with HTML works perfectly fine. As a sidenote, it looks Outlook 2003 (any SP) is unable to read utf-8 encoded plaintext messages. Even if he made those messages and if they are perfecrly readable with Outlook 2002, a webmail or Thunderbird. ("?" instead of the unicode characters) I wonder if it is related.
	Eric 27-Feb-2006 06:28 I forgot to say that if I try to read the same plaintext message from the MailItem.Body, the unicode characters were there. I would like to be able to retrieve the body, even in its raw form. (My main goal is not to avoid the warning, it is to avoid that strange Outlook 2003 issue) No luck so far.
	Helmut Obertanner 28-Feb-2006 05:09 Hello Eric, as I know sometimes the MAPI function returns not directly a string, sometimes it returns a stream. I tried, but i didn't get it working with pure C# managed code. If I ever get it working i will put the sources here. Greets, Helmut
	Bikram 21-Apr-2006 01:16 Hi Helmut, This article has been very useful !! I had one query regarding SMTP addresses: PR_SENDER_EMAIL_ADDRESS property from IMailuser returns an SMTP or EX address. Suppose we need to get the sender's SMTP address only. How could we get the sender's SMTP address using MAPI? Also, is there a way to get the IAddrBook interface in C# using MAPI. Thanks and Regards, Bikram
	Helmut Obertanner 21-Apr-2006 01:46 Hello Bikram, theoretically "Yes" ! - It's only a question of time. With this sample I'll gave you a small proof of concept code that works specially for this problem. I have the problem, that I didn't figured out how to deal with the variant properties and steams from unmanaged MAPI code to managed C# code. Theorethically everything is possible, because you can get the Interface by it's guid and retrive the property that you like. The technique should be the same like in this sample anove, just another Interface. Hope this helps, greets, Helmut Obertanner
	ziggy 25-Aug-2006 05:42 I' modified this code to set the PR_SENDER_NAME value to see right names in my postItems. But it works queer: i see set phrase if i open postitem, and in "quick view" window. But in folder i see the word "Unknown", and in my program PostItemObject.SenderName return "Unknown". So, I'd greatly appreciate, if you mention me how to set all PR_SENDER_... properties of the PostItem. I need to set SenderName an RecievedTime. Ind I need user not to see any "Sender" of the PostItem. Just the "Name" of Item. Thanks a lot for your example!
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