CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#asp.netasp.net-mvcoutlookexchange-server
user4432964
user4432964

Reputation:

Read Outlook emails in c#

I need some advice on how to solve a problem. I have an application that sends out emails to users. Note, I am using Microsoft Exchange as email server. I would like to have a feature where the user can reply to the email sent by the application and the application be able to read the reply and perform certain actions.

For example, the application will send out an email requesting approval for an item. I would like the user to reply the email and say whether or not the item has been approved or rejected. It's a very simple scenario but it captures what I want to do. How can I read emails sent to a particular address in c#?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2651

Answers (2)

Eugene Astafiev
Eugene Astafiev

Reputation: 49455

You can use EWS, see EWS Managed API, EWS, and web services in Exchange. If you are dealing with Office 365 you may also consider using Outlook REST API.

Microsoft does not currently recommend, and does not support, Automation of Microsoft Office applications from any unattended, non-interactive client application or component (including ASP, ASP.NET, DCOM, and NT Services), because Office may exhibit unstable behavior and/or deadlock when Office is run in this environment.

If you are building a solution that runs in a server-side context, you should try to use components that have been made safe for unattended execution. Or, you should try to find alternatives that allow at least part of the code to run client-side. If you use an Office application from a server-side solution, the application will lack many of the necessary capabilities to run successfully. Additionally, you will be taking risks with the stability of your overall solution. Read more about that in the Considerations for server-side Automation of Office article.

If you use Outlook for sending emails consider using the VotingOptions property of the MailItem class which allows to set a string specifying a delimited string containing the voting options for the mail message. This property uses the character specified in the value name, sList, under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International in the Windows registry, as the delimiter for multiple voting options. So, in a response you can use the VotingResponse property which returns a string specifying the voting response for the mail message. This property is usually set to one of the delimited values returned by the VotingOptions property on a reply to the original message.

Upvotes: 0

Eugene Komisarenko
Eugene Komisarenko

Reputation: 1543

Reading, parsing and answering emails in code is often very hard piece of machinery. If you are open to suggestions though one of the possible solutions could be a couple of Approve/Reject links in the body of the email which are linking back to your web site and triggering corresponding actions in your approval workflow. Hope it helps!

Upvotes: 1

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