CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#emailoutlook
Fahad
Fahad

Reputation:

Reading e-mail without Outlook app open

Thats what I am using to read e-mail using C#:

outLookApp.NewMailEx += new ApplicationEvents_11_NewMailExEventHandler(outLookApp_NewMailEx);
            Outlook.NameSpace olNameSpace = outLookApp.GetNamespace("mapi");

olNameSpace.Logon("xxxx", "xxxxx", false, true);
Outlook.MAPIFolder oInbox  = olNameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderInbox);
Outlook.Items oItems  = oInbox.Items;
MessageBox.Show("Total : " + oItems.Count); //Total Itemin inbox
 oItems = oItems.Restrict("[Unread] = true");
 MessageBox.Show("Total Unread : " + oItems.Count); //Unread Items
 Outlook.MailItem oMsg;


 Outlook.Attachment mailAttachement;
 for (int i = 0; i < oItems.Count; i++)
 {
     oMsg = (Outlook.MailItem)oItems.GetFirst();

     MessageBox.Show(i.ToString());

    MessageBox.Show(oMsg.SenderName);
    MessageBox.Show(oMsg.Subject);
    MessageBox.Show(oMsg.ReceivedTime.ToString());
    MessageBox.Show(oMsg.Body);

The problem that I am facing is this application only works if the Outlook is open on the machine. If Outlook is closed it throws an exception:

The server is not available. Contact your administrator if this condition persists.

Is there anyway I can read e-mail with Outlook open?

Upvotes: 9

Views: 21021

Answers (6)

Shawn
Shawn

Reputation:

Use the Redemption COM library for your code.

Upvotes: 0

theAlse
theAlse

Reputation: 5747

This is kind of an old question, but I am going to answer it since I struggled with the same issue for a long time and the previous answers on this page did not really help me.

I had to write a program and use outlook to send an email on different machines with different UAC-levels and this is what I came up with after a long time.

using Outlook = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook;

// Create the Outlook application.
Outlook.Application oApp = null;

// Check whether there is an Outlook process running.
int outlookRunning = Process.GetProcessesByName("OUTLOOK").Length;
if (outlookRunning > 0)
{
    // If so, use the GetActiveObject method to obtain the process and cast it to an Application object.
    try
    {
        oApp = Marshal.GetActiveObject("Outlook.Application") as Outlook.Application;
    }
    catch (Exception)
    {
        oApp = Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetTypeFromProgID("Outlook.Application")) as Outlook.Application;
    }
    finally
    {
        // At this point we must kill Outlook (since outlook was started by user on a higher prio level than this current application)
        // kill Outlook (otherwise it will only work if UAC is disabled)
        // this is really a kind of last resort
        Process[] workers = Process.GetProcessesByName("OUTLOOk");
        foreach (Process worker in workers)
        {
            worker.Kill();
            worker.WaitForExit();
            worker.Dispose();
        }
    }
}
else
{
    // If not, create a new instance of Outlook and log on to the default profile.
    oApp = new Outlook.Application();
    Outlook.NameSpace nameSpace = oApp.GetNamespace("MAPI");
    try
    {
        // use default profile and DO NOT pop up a window
        // on some pc bill gates fails to login without the popup, then we must pop up and lets use choose profile and allow access
        nameSpace.Logon("", "", false, Missing.Value);
    }
    catch (Exception)
    {
        // use default profile and DO pop up a window
        nameSpace.Logon("", "", true, true);
    }
    nameSpace = null;
}

// Done, now you can do what ever you want with the oApp, like creating a message and send it
// Create a new mail item.
Outlook.MailItem oMsg = (Outlook.MailItem)oApp.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem);

Upvotes: 1

jgauffin
jgauffin

Reputation: 101140

Use a MAPI client to retrieve the emails and a MIME decoder to read them. Both exists in the lumisoft framework:

http://www.lumisoft.ee/lswww/download/downloads/Net/

Upvotes: 0

Steve Dunn
Steve Dunn

Reputation: 21761

I would personally not use Outlook as a proxy. If you're trying to ultimately monitor an Exchange store, then I'd use WebDav. Your Exchange server must support it - but if it does, it's a simple XML API. Well, the API bit is simple, but the XML is quite convoluted. But once you've encapsulated this in a bit of code, it's a doddle to use.

Upvotes: 0

Vinzz
Vinzz

Reputation: 4018

Are you sure you want to use Outlook as a proxy?

people seems to deal low level with such a task in C# (surprising there isn't any built-in component in the framework...)

Concerning Mat's response, Redemption is indeed a fine product (used it to parse mails upon arrival in outlook), but I doubt it can work without outlook running.

Upvotes: 0

Mat Nadrofsky
Mat Nadrofsky

Reputation: 8264

You'll likely run into this when Outlook is closed.

Also following this tutorial will ensure you're doing all the right steps part and parcel.

Best of luck!

Upvotes: 2

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