ID: Q192339
The information in this article applies to:
The purpose of this article is to describe one method of developing a Microsoft Exchange Server Custom Agent. This article does not give an overview of the Microsoft Exchange Event Service, nor does it provide information on the Microsoft Exchange Server Scripting Agent. However, one of the files included with this sample is Agents.hlp (also available on the Microsoft Exchange Server CD). This file provides information that supplements this article.
IMPORTANT: This article presumes that you will read and use the information provided in the Agents.hlp file.
The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Software Library:
~ Suggest.exe (size: 62464 bytes)
For more information about downloading files from the Microsoft Software Library, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
ARTICLE-ID: Q119591
TITLE : How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services
This sample (referred to as Suggest from this point forward) was written to be simple and yet provide a skeleton for further Custom Agent development.
The Suggest.exe file monitors a folder. Whenever a message is placed into the folder, Suggest sends a message back to the user that placed the message into the folder. The message sent to the user contains the same subject as the message placed into the folder. The message also contains a body that is configurable through a property sheet.
(For simplicity, these steps are written to be performed from your Microsoft Exchange Server computer.)
1. Download the attached self-extracting executable file.
2. Unzip the files into a project directory.
3. Open the Suggest.dsw workspace from Microsoft Visual
Studio/ Visual C/C++.
5. Stop the Microsoft Exchange Event Service using the Services Control
Panel.
7. From the Tools menu, select Register Control.
8. Start the Microsoft Exchange Event Service using the Services Control
Panel.
10. Select the folder in which you wish to install Suggest.
11. Right-click the folder and then select Properties.
12. Select the Agents tab.
NOTE: If you do not see an Agents tab please refer to the "When Agents
Tab Is Not Shown" section that appears later in the article.
14. Input a name for this instance of Suggest.
15. Select the "A new item is posted in this folder" check box.
16. Select the Other option button.
17. Open the combo box and select "Microsoft Exchange 5.5 SDK Custom Agent
Class".
19. Input text for the body of the message that is returned to users.
20. Click the OK button in the dialog box.
21. Click the OK button in the New Agent dialog box.
22. Click the OK button in the Folder Property Sheet.
At this point the agent is installed and begins operating. (Please see Incremental Change Synchronization [ICS].)
(For simplicity, these steps are written to be performed from your Microsoft Exchange Server computer.)
1. Download the attached self-extracting executable file.
2. Unzip the files into a project directory.
3. Open the Suggest.dsw workspace from the Microsoft Visual Studio/ Visual
C/C++ directory.
NOTE: ExEvHandler is designed to instantiate a class and call one of
four methods in this class. If you replace CSuggestEvents with a
class of your own you should perform the following steps. If you
are simply modifying CSuggestEvents you may skip to step 10.
class (Line 54).
7. Ensure that you implement the following four methods in your class:
HRESULT OnChange(CExEvHandler* phndlr);
HRESULT OnMessageDeleted(CExEvHandler* phndlr);
HRESULT OnTimer(CExEvHandler* phndlr);
HRESULT OnMessageCreated(CExEvHandler* phndlr);
features to the Property Page Dialog. (Please refer to the "Properties
on Custom Agents" section.)
10. Stop the Microsoft Exchange Event Service using the Services Control
Panel.
12. From the Tools menu, choose Register Control.
13. Start the Microsoft Exchange Event Service using the Services Control
Panel.
15. Select the folder in which you wish to install your agent.
16. Right-click the folder and select Properties.
17. Select the Agents tab. (If you do not see an Agents tab, please see the
"When Agents Tab Is Not Shown" section.)
19. Input a name for this instance of your Agent.
20. Select the appropriate check boxes. (Please see the Agent Events
section.)
22. Open the combo box and select your agent.
23. Click the Properties button.
24. Configure the Property Page as desired.
25. Click the OK button.
26. Click the OK button on the Folder Property Sheet.
There are a variety of reasons why your Agents tab is not be displayed in the properties of a folder. The main two reasons follow:
-and-
is done in the Microsoft Exchange Server Administrator program. Under
your Site, select Folders, System Folders, Events Root, and
EventConfig_servername. From the File menu, select Properties, then
click Client Permissions and make sure you are in the list.
menu, choose Options. Click the Other tab and then select Advanced
Options and then Add-In Manager. Make sure that the check box next to
Server Scripting is selected.
The Microsoft Exchange Event Service utilizes ICS in order to track changes to the directory. ICS, by default, triggers every 60 seconds. Therefore, you may have to wait up to one minute after placing a message into a folder with an agent bound to it before you see the activation of your agent.
Typically you would retrieve the EventBinding Object from within the Property Page when the user clicks the Properties button on the Agents tab. This allows you to obtain all information about the Handler that you require. This in turn, allows you to set per instance properties on the handler. However, this is being researched because it does not appear to be working at this time.
Suggest simply stores the information gathered on the property page in the registry under the Class id for Suggest. However, this is not very effective as it causes all instances of Suggest to be modified any time the user modifies the properties on suggest. Also, since the registry is local, the information gathered from the property pages while at a client computer will not affect the operation of the agent on the server. Only when properties are set at a server do the changes take effect.
A better short-term solution would be to save the property information on the Agent message which resides in the following folder path:
\Public Folders\NON-IPM Subtree\Events Root\EventConfig_servername
There are four agent events:
Keywords : kbfile kbCDO120 kbCDO121 kbXchge550 kbMAPI kbMsg kbVC kbEDK550 kbMAPI100 kbGrpMsg
Version : WINDOWS:5.5
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfoLast Reviewed: May 14, 1999