HOWTO: Display Free/Busy Information from an ASP Page

ID: Q195591

The information in this article applies to:

Collaboration Data Objects (CDO), versions 1.2, 1.21

SUMMARY

This article contains code that uses Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) to retrieve free/busy information for both individuals and members of a distribution list. It then displays the information in an Active Server Pages (ASP) Web page according to status by color.

NOTE: Once you log on to the Microsoft Exchange server, no special permissions are required to view the free/busy information of another mailbox.

MORE INFORMATION

The GetFreeBusy method has the following syntax:

   strAvail = objAddressEntry.GetFreeBusy(StartTime, EndTime, Interval)

A description of each follows:

strAvail: On successful return, contains a string indicating the

             Messaging user's availability for each of the time slots in
             the specified time period.

objAddressEntry: Required. The AddressEntry object.
StartTime: Required. Variant (vbDate format). Specifies the date/time of
```
              the beginning of the first time slot.
```
EndTime: Required. Variant (vbDate format). Specifies the date/time of
```
            the end of the last time slot.
```

Interval: Required. Long. Specifies the length of each time slot in

             minutes. If this parameter is less than 1, GetFreeBusy returns
             CdoE_INVALID_PARAMETER.

To implement this Active Server Pages Web page, you must change the ServerName and MailboxName to the proper values and then add the individuals or distributions lists that you want to display free/busy information for to the Recipients collection.

Sample Code

   <%@ LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" %>
   <HTML>
   <HEAD>
   <TITLE>Free Busy Information</TITLE>
   </HEAD>
   <BODY>
   <TABLE ALIGN=RIGHT BORDER>
   <TH>Status<TH>Color
   <TR><TD>Free<TD bgcolor=white>&nbsp</TR>
   <TR><TD>Tenative<TD bgcolor=lightblue>&nbsp</TR>
   <TR><TD>Busy<TD bgcolor=blue>&nbsp</TR>
   <TR><TD>Out-of-Office<TD bgcolor=purple>&nbsp</TR>
   </TABLE>
   <P>
   <%
     On Error Resume Next
     Const cdoDistList = 1
      Dim objSession
      Dim strProfileInfo
      strProfileInfo = "ServerName" & vbLF & "MailboxName"

      Set objSession = CreateObject("MAPI.Session")
      objSession.Logon , , False, True, 0, True, strProfileInfo

      Set objMessage = objSession.Outbox.Messages.Add
      Set objRecips = objMessage.Recipients

      ' Add the users or Distribution lists that you would like to
      ' see free/busy information.
      objRecips.Add("user1")
      objRecips.Add("distList1")

      For Each r In objRecips
         ' If it is a distribution list, do the following.
         If r.AddressEntry.DisplayType = cdoDistList Then

           ' Get the individual members, and add them.
           Set objMembers = r.AddressEntry.members
           For Each mem In objMembers
              objRecips.Add(mem.name)
           Next

           ' Remove the distribution list from the recipients' collection.
           r.delete
         End If
      Next

      objRecips.Resolve
      Response.Write( "<TABLE border align=center>" & vbLF _
                      & "<TR><TH>Name" )

      ' Create the column headers.
      For j = 0 To 23
         temp = j Mod 12
         If temp = 0 Then temp= 12
         Response.Write("<TH>" & temp)
      Next
      For Each r In objRecips
         Response.Write( "<TR><TD>" & r.name )

         ' When checking the free/busy information, pass in the start
         ' date/time, end date/time, and interval in minutes.

         ' Get Today's date.
         objDate1= Date()

         ' Get Tommorow's date.
         objDate2= Date() + 1

         ' Retrieve the Free/Busy Information from between to two
         ' time periods.

         ' If the user does not have any appointments
         ' on their calendar GetFreeBusy will return in error.
         ' This error check creates a string of zeros
         ' representing availability.
         FreeBusyInfo =r.GetFreeBusy(objDate1,objDate2,60)
         If Err.Count <> 0 Then
            FreeBusyInfo = String(24,"0")
            Err.Clear
         End If

         ' Look at each of the time blocks returned and decide what the
         ' status is. Each segement will be a table cell.
         For i = 1 To Len(FreeBusyInfo)

            ' If the person is available leave the color white.
            ' If the person is tenative set to the color to light blue.
            ' If the person has a commitment set the color to blue.
            ' If the person is oof set the color to purple.

            Select Case Mid(FreeBusyInfo, i, 1)

              Case "0"
                 Response.Write( "<TD bgcolor=white>&nbsp" )

              Case "1"
                 Response.Write( "<TD bgcolor=lightblue>&nbsp" )

              Case "2"
                 Response.Write( "<TD bgcolor=blue>&nbsp" )

              Case "3"
                 Response.Write( "<TD bgcolor=purple>&nbsp" )

            End Select

         Next
         ' End of 1 person's data.

         Response.Write( "</TR>" )
      Next

      Set objMessage = Nothing
      objSession.Logoff
      Set objSession = Nothing
    %>

    </BODY>
    </HTML>

REFERENCES

For information about Collaboration Data Objects and Active Messaging, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q176916
   TITLE     : INFO: Active Messaging and Collaboration Data Objects (CDO)

   ARTICLE-ID: Q186753
   TITLE     : HOWTO: Check Someone Else's Schedule for Free/Busy
               Information

Additional query words:

Keywords          : kbdocfix kbASP kbCDO120 kbCDO121 kbOLEMsg kbGrpMsg 
Version           : WINDOWS: 1.2,1.21
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: April 7, 1999