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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 all folders from network

I'm kind of lost, I have a task to get all folders from a network domain,
E.g. (My Network Places/Entire Network/Microsoft Windows Network/xyNetwork).
I have to get all folders and sub-folders then get all security groups assigned to this folder and the rights granted to each security group.
The second part I have done before, however, the first part which is getting a list of all folders seems to be very complicated.
Any guides or references that might help?

Well, there is a code in another similar entry that lists all the computer names from the network... That's the first part of your requirement. For the second part I think you need to dig into System.DirectoryServices classes since there are some for permissions as well... good luck.
//Lists all available computer names on the network.
public static List<String> ListNetworkComputers()
{
var computerNames = new List<String>();
var computerSchema = "Computer";
var entries = new System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry("WinNT:");
foreach (var domains in entries.Children)
{
foreach (var computer in domains.Children)
{
if (computer.SchemaClassName.ToLower().Contains(computerSchema .ToLower()))
{
computerNames.Add(computer.Name);
}
}
}
return computerNames;
}
I just printed out the values and it worked fine for me.
foreach (string lst in ListNetworkComputers())
{
Console.WriteLine("PC: " + lst);
}
(Above code taken from: Getting computer names from my network places )
What you need is to access the Win32_Share WMI from your code.
Add the reference to System.Management.dll and use the following code.
code example in VB.NET from the topic here:
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/finding-share-s-directory-spec-t3064222.html
C# version of the VB.net program:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var objClass = new System.Management.ManagementClass("Win32_Share");
foreach(var objShare in objClass.GetInstances())
{
Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0} -> {1}",
objShare.Properties["Name"].Value, objShare.Properties["Path"].Value));
}
}
}
You can compare the results of the code above against the result that you get by running the following command in a windows command prompt:
C:\net share
Which will give you the Share Name (shared name given when sharing i.e. MySharedDir) and the Resource (windows path i.e. C:\myshareddir).

you can simply use GetDirectories. For example:
var folders = Directory.GetDirectories(#"\\server\share");
to get all directories (i.e. include subdirectories), use the following:
var folders = Directory.GetDirectories(#"\\server\share", "*", SearchOption.AllDirectories));

Recursive search of file/folder structure

I am trying to build a recursive search function for a web service that returns a list of files and folders. I created the two methods so they act as recursive search, it first goes and gets the top level contents, then it adds any files to the fileList, and any sub folders to the subFoldersList. We pass in the access level (in our case root) and then the path which you want the information for. If any folders were found it then removes the top folder because it has begun the search for that folder. Then it calls the processDirectories method, which passes back to getFiles the new path location starting the process all over again. Right now for testing my folder structure is below. When it goes to add the second file (profilepic.png) to the list. I get an error "Collection was modified; enumeration operation may not execute." What is causing this error?
Photos
picture1.png
TestFolder
profilepic.png
my code:
public static List<string> fileList = new List<string>();
public static List<string> subFolderList = new List<string>();
static void processDirectories(string access, string Folder)
{
getFiles(access, Folder);
}
static void getFiles(string access, string Folder)
{
var accessToken = new OAuthToken(token, secret);
var api = new DssAPI(ConsumerKey, ConsumerSecret, accessToken);
var folder = api.GetContents(access, Folder);//Get list from WebService
foreach (var item in folder.Contents)//Contents is an IEnumerable
{
if (item.IsDirectory == true)
subFolderList.Add(item.Path);
else
fileList.Add(item.Path);
}
foreach (var subFolder in subFolderList)
{
subFolderList.RemoveAt(0);
processDirectories(root, subFolder);
}
}

Assuming you're not writing this as an academic exercise, you can use Directory.EnumerateFiles and avoid implementing this yourself.
foreach(var png in Directory.EnumerateFiles(sourceDirectory, "*.png", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
{
// do something with the png file
}

Change that:
foreach (var subFolder in subFolderList)
{
subFolderList.RemoveAt(0);
processDirectories(root, subFolder);
}
To:
while (subFolderList.Count > 0)
{
var subFolder = subFolderList[0];
subFolderList.RemoveAt(0);
processDirectories(root, subFolder);
}
A collection cannot be modified while iterating through it, so when you're foreach-ing it and removing items from it inside the iteration, it causes trouble. The workaround is usually using a for loop and manipulating the loop-variable appropriately, but in your case a while loop is simpler.

the problem is here
foreach (var subFolder in subFolderList)
{
subFolderList.RemoveAt(0);
processDirectories(root, subFolder);
}
You're iterating over subFilderList, and you're removing items from it at the same time. The machine doesn't know how to handle that.
What I would suggest, in this case, is probably doing a regular for-loop

Try this,
Public static void GetFilesLocal( string path)
{
foreach (string f in Directory.GetFiles( path))
{
// Add to subFolderList.
}
foreach (string d in Directory.GetDirectories( path))
{
GetFilesLocal( d );
}
}

You cannot go over the collection and modify it, as the error message says. For example the lower foreach is iterating the subFolderList and then you remove the first item. After that the iterators are not valid.
You should be using for loops, if you want to modify the collections, but then you have to remember to decrease the indexer variable if you delete the first item etc.