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c# Outlook Add-in get Sent date after email is in Sent mailbox

I have made an Outlook Add-In (Outlook 2013 and 2016 VSTO Add-In) for business purposes to save the email details to our database. The add-in is launched when a new email is composed, but closes when the email is sent.
The sent date of the email is only added after the email is moved to the Sent mailbox. Is there a way to use my current add-in (or another add-in) can be used to get that sent date after it has been closed without letting the user wait for it to be moved to the sent mailbox?
I know it can easily be done in VBA, but I want to preferably use an Add-in so that it can be easily loaded to all users with exchange server.

Wouldn't that date be today's date/time (Now) or something close to it?
Everything you can do in VBA you can do in a COM addin - subscribe to the Items.ItemAdd event on the Sent Items folder and retrieve the date when the event fires.

Thank you Dmitry for the reply. It set me on the right path. I used my existing VSTO add in to fire when a new item is added to the Sent mailbox. I did not know that when inserting this in the "ThisAddIn_Startup" method re-activates the add-in, which now makes sense.
I followed this example.
Here is my code:
Outlook.NameSpace outlookNameSpace;
Outlook.MAPIFolder Sent_items;
Outlook.Items items;
private void ThisAddIn_Startup(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
outlookNameSpace = this.Application.GetNamespace("MAPI");
Sent_items = outlookNameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderSentMail);
items = Sent_items.Items;
items.ItemAdd += new Outlook.ItemsEvents_ItemAddEventHandler(items_ItemAdd);
}
void items_ItemAdd(object Item)
{
Outlook.MailItem mail = (Outlook.MailItem)Item;
string strMailItemNumber_filter = mail.UserProperties["MailItemNumber"].Value;
if ((Item != null) && (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(strMailItemNumber_filter)))
{
if (mail.MessageClass == "IPM.Note" &&
mail.UserProperties["MailItemNumber"].Value.ToUpper().Contains(strMailItemNumber_filter.ToUpper())) //Instead of subject use other mail property
{
//Write 'Sent date' to DB
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("Sent date is: "+ mail.SentOn.ToString()+ " MailNr = "+strMailItemNumber_filter);
}
}
}
I had to create a new mail user defined property to match the email I sent to find the correct email in the sent mailbox:
private void AddUserProperty(Outlook.MailItem mail)
{
Outlook.UserProperties mailUserProperties = null;
Outlook.UserProperty mailUserProperty = null;
try
{
mailUserProperties = mail.UserProperties;
mailUserProperty = mailUserProperties.Add("MailItemNrProperty", Outlook.OlUserPropertyType.olText, false, 1);
// Where 1 is OlFormatText (introduced in Outlook 2007)
mail.UserProperties["MailItemNumber"].Value = "Any value as string...";
mail.Save();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
finally
{
if (mailUserProperty != null) Marshal.ReleaseComObject(mailUserProperty);
if (mailUserProperties != null) Marshal.ReleaseComObject(mailUserProperties);
}
}

Add members to Outlook GAL Distribution List using C# in a Console app

I'm trying to write a C# console app that can programmatically update an Outlook distribution list (DL) in the Global Address List (GAL). I have permission to update this DL. I can do it interactively on my PC using Outlook, and I can do it in Perl code using Win32::NetAdmin::GroupAddUsers.
After adding a reference to COM library "Microsoft Outlook 14.0 Object Library", and then accessed via:
using Outlook = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook;
I can successfully read from a DL, even recursing through DL's inside the "main" DL being searched. Here's that working code (critiques not needed for this piece):
private static List<Outlook.AddressEntry> GetMembers(string dl, bool recursive)
{
try
{
List<Outlook.AddressEntry> memberList = new List<Outlook.AddressEntry>();
Outlook.Application oApp = new Outlook.Application();
Outlook.AddressEntry dlEntry = oApp.GetNamespace("MAPI").AddressLists["Global Address List"].AddressEntries[dl];
if (dlEntry.Name == dl)
{
Outlook.AddressEntries members = dlEntry.Members;
foreach (Outlook.AddressEntry member in members)
{
if (recursive && (member.AddressEntryUserType == Outlook.OlAddressEntryUserType.olExchangeDistributionListAddressEntry))
{
List<Outlook.AddressEntry> sublist = GetMembers(member.Name, true);
foreach (Outlook.AddressEntry submember in sublist)
{
memberList.Add(submember);
}
}
else {
memberList.Add(member);
}
}
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("Could not find an exact match for '" + dl + "'.");
Console.WriteLine("Closest match was '" + dlEntry.Name +"'.");
}
return memberList;
}
catch
{
// This mostly fails if running on a PC without Outlook.
// Return a null, and require the calling code to handle it properl
// (or that code will get a null-reference excception).
return null;
}
}
I can use the output of that to examine the members closely, so I think I understand the DL/member objects a bit.
But, the following code will NOT add a member to a DL:
private static void AddMembers(string dl)
{
Outlook.Application oApp = new Outlook.Application();
Outlook.AddressEntry ae = oApp.GetNamespace("MAPI").AddressLists["Global Address List"].AddressEntries[dl];
try {
ae.Members.Add("EX", "Tuttle, James", "/o=EMC/ou=North America/cn=Recipients/cn=tuttlj");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
ae.Update();
}
The arguments to Members.Add() are defined here, and the values shown in my code come exactly from examining my own Member object from another DL.
The exception displayed is simply "The bookmark is not valid." A similar question was asked before, but the solution was to use P/Invoke or LDAP. I really have no idea how to use P/Invoke (strictly a C# and Perl programmer, not a Windows/C/C++ programmer), and I don't have access to the LDAP server, so I really want to get this working through the Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook objects.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated!

After experimenting with several different .NET objects, using System.DirectorServices.AccountManagement as posted in Adding and removing users from Active Directory groups in .NET is what finally code this working for me. Closing out my own question.

Multiple MailBoxes - Access "drafts" folder of "outlook" email account without using the folder name as a string

I develop an outlook add-in using Visual studio 2013 and Add-in express v.7.7.4087.
I have to deal with multiple email accounts (stores). Please see following snapshot and code
private void timerSendFromDraftsFolder_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Outlook.Stores stores = null; // CC and OL accounts,
Outlook.Store store = null;
Outlook.MAPIFolder rootFolder = null;
Outlook.Folders rootFolderFolders = null;
Outlook.MAPIFolder draftsFolder = null;
Outlook.Items items = null;
Outlook.MailItem mailItem = null;
bool itemSent = true;
bool allMailItemsSent = true;
try
{
if (Helper.IsOnline())
{
Debug.DebugMessage(3, "AddinModule : timerSendFromSaleswingsFolder_Tick : Fired");
string version = OutlookApp.Version;
if (String.Compare(version, "13") > 0)
{
stores = Globals.ObjNS.Stores;
for (int i = 1; i <= stores.Count; i++)
{
try
{
store = stores[i];
string storeName = store.DisplayName;
if (store.ExchangeStoreType != Outlook.OlExchangeStoreType.olExchangePublicFolder)
{
rootFolder = store.GetRootFolder();
rootFolderFolders = rootFolder.Folders;
if (rootFolderFolders != null)
{
try
{
draftsFolder = rootFolderFolders["drafts"]; // not working for "xxxxxxx#outlook.com" type email accounts
}
catch (Exception )
{
Debug.DebugMessage(3, "AddinModule : timerSendFromSaleswingsFolder_Tick : Excep");
draftsFolder = rootFolderFolders["Drafts (This computer only)"];
}
}
I need to access the drafts folder of each mail account, but the email account of “xxxxxxx#outlook.com“ shows drafts folder as "Drafts (This computer only)" instead of "drafts".
I works fine for me. But I don’t like to introduce this to the production version. Becaues I think this will not work for non-English environments.
Can you please suggest me a solution for that
In redemption (http://www.dimastr.com/redemption/home.htm), is there a solution for that?
P.S
I have used this code in some of my projects
oFolder = oNS.GetDefaultFolder(Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderDrafts);
But it gives the drafts folder of primary mail account. In my code there is no such method for the “store” object here.

Use the GetDefaultFolder method of the Store class instead. It allows to get a Folder object that represents the default folder in the store and that is of the type specified by the FolderType argument.
This method is similar to the GetDefaultFolder method of the NameSpace object. The difference is that this method gets the default folder on the delivery store that is associated with the account, whereas NameSpace.GetDefaultFolder returns the default folder on the default store for the current profile.
The Redemption library provides the GetDefaultFolder method of the RDOStore class.

GetSharedDefaultFolder is the way to go - call Namespace.CreateRecipient / Recipient.Resolve / Namespace.GetSharedDefaultFolder.

The Outlook data file (.pst) failed to load for this session

i am using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook Version 12.0.0.0 to read my outlook pst file but when compiler reaches this code outlookNs.AddStore(pstFilePath); it gives exception that
"The Outlook data file (.pst) failed to load for this session." i have tried outlookNs.AddStoreEx(pstFilePath); also but the error was same ....any sugession ??
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook;
namespace PSTReader {
class Program {
static void Main () {
try {
IEnumerable<MailItem> mailItems = readPst(#"C:\temp\PST\Test.pst", "Test PST");
foreach (MailItem mailItem in mailItems) {
Console.WriteLine(mailItem.SenderName + " - " + mailItem.Subject);
}
} catch (System.Exception ex) {
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
Console.ReadLine();
}
private static IEnumerable<MailItem> readPst(string pstFilePath, string pstName) {
List<MailItem> mailItems = new List<MailItem>();
Application app = new Application();
NameSpace outlookNs = app.GetNamespace("MAPI");
// Add PST file (Outlook Data File) to Default Profile
outlookNs.AddStore(pstFilePath);
MAPIFolder rootFolder = outlookNs.Stores[pstName].GetRootFolder();
// Traverse through all folders in the PST file
// TODO: This is not recursive, refactor
Folders subFolders = rootFolder.Folders;
foreach (Folder folder in subFolders) {
Items items = folder.Items;
foreach (object item in items) {
if (item is MailItem) {
MailItem mailItem = item as MailItem;
mailItems.Add(mailItem);
}
}
}
// Remove PST file from Default Profile
outlookNs.RemoveStore(rootFolder);
return mailItems;
}
}
}

I got the same issue, and the below is what I did.
When you are saying outlookNs.AddStore, you have to give path and the file name.
and then in the outlookNs.Stores, the variable pstName should have any extension as .pst, you have to remove it.
Below is the sample on how I got it worked.
public class Mail
{
public MailItem mailItem { get; set; }
public String path { get; set; }
}
public static class Mails
{
public static List<Mail> readPst(string pstFilePath, string pstName)
{
List<Mail> mail = new List<Mail>();
Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application app = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application();
NameSpace outlookNs = app.GetNamespace("MAPI");
// Add PST file (Outlook Data File) to Default Profile
outlookNs.AddStore(pstFilePath + pstName);
string storeInfo = null;
foreach (Store store in outlookNs.Stores)
{
storeInfo = store.DisplayName;
storeInfo = store.FilePath;
storeInfo = store.StoreID;
}
MAPIFolder rootFolder = outlookNs.Stores[pstName.Substring(0,pstName.Length-4)].GetRootFolder();
// Traverse through all folders in the PST file
Folders subFolders = rootFolder.Folders;
foreach (Folder folder in subFolders)
{
ExtractItems(mail, folder);
}
// Remove PST file from Default Profile
outlookNs.RemoveStore(rootFolder);
return mail;
}
private static void ExtractItems(List<Mail> mailItems, Folder folder)
{
Items items = folder.Items;
int itemcount = items.Count;
foreach (object item in items)
{
if (item is MailItem)
{
MailItem mailItem = item as MailItem;
Mail mail = new Mail();
mail.mailItem = mailItem;
mail.path = folder.FolderPath + folder.Name;
mailItems.Add(mail);
}
}
foreach (Folder subfolder in folder.Folders)
{
ExtractItems(mailItems, subfolder);
}
}
}

Is it possible the PST is read only or already open in a another process? Outlook needs readwrite permissions to the PST file, regardless of what you intend to do with it.

I ran into this problem today! Searched high and low for an answer without success.
Eventually, we figured out that my user login credentials had read-permissions to the folder structure containing the PST file, while another user in my organization did not. She received the above error until we changed the permissions on the directory to allow read access, and the problem disappeared.

In my case, neither credentials were the issue nor that the PST file was opened in another process. I could not figure out what caused this but ...
... solution for me was to open Outlook->New Items->More Items->Outlook Data File...
In the popup, select Outlook data file (.pst) and hit OK
This will open Windows Expolorer, navigate to the location where your PST used to be created, name your PST file the way you used to name it and save it to that location. Make sure you save as type Outlook Data File (*.pst).
Restart Outlook
This should restart outlook and your PST should be loaded now. After this, I was also able to delete all from the location where my PST was located (including PST) and restarting outlook would not create it without any issues.

Get unread Mails from Outlook

Is there any way to get all mail from an specific Folder into my Application?

Check this link. Introduction to Outlook Programming will explain things more clearly.
You could loop through the mailitems. Sample code
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using OutLook = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook;
using Office = Microsoft.Office.Core;
OutLook.Application oApp;
OutLook._NameSpace oNS;
OutLook.MAPIFolder oFolder;
OutLook._Explorer oExp;
oApp = new OutLook.Application();
oNS = (OutLook._NameSpace)oApp.GetNamespace("MAPI");
oFolder = oNS.GetDefaultFolder(OutLook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderInbox);
oExp = oFolder.GetExplorer(false);
oNS.Logon(Missing.Value, Missing.Value, false, true);
OutLook.Items items = oFolder.Items;
foreach (OutLook.MailItem mail in items)
{
if (mail.UnRead == true)
{
}
}
Edit:
Reference other folders
oFolder.Folders["Foldername"]
OutLook Code
Common Outlook tasks

Looping through all items in a folder is a terrible idea, especially if you are working against an online Exchange store. Items.Find/FindNext or Items.Restrict is the way to go.
Find/FindNext:
OutLook.Items items = oFolder.Items;
OutLook.MailItem mail = items.Find("[Unread] = true");
while (mail != null)
{
MessageBox.Show(mail.Subject);
mail = items.FindNext();
}
Items.Restrict:
OutLook.Items items = oFolder.Items.Restict("[Unread] = true")
foreach (OutLook.MailItem mail in items)
{
MessageBox.Show(mail.Subject);
}

There's some examples of accessing Outlook folders here, one of which deals specifically with unread mail.
Edit: There's a KB article specifically about accessing folders from C#, Programming samples that can reference items and folders in Outlook by using Visual C# .NET
To open another user's folder, use GetSharedDefaultFolder

foreach (Object Unreadmail in folderItems)
{
if ((Unreadmail as Outlook.MailItem) != null && (Unreadmail as Outlook.MailItem).UnRead == true)
{
//DO Your action Here
}
}
I have experienced "COM_object" exception error with above solutions, More info please refer here