HOWTO: Automate Outlook Using Visual C++/MFC

• Microsoft Outlook, versions 2000, 98
• Microsoft Office 2000 Developer
• Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, versions 5.0, 6.0
• The Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC)

SUMMARY

You can programmatically control Microsoft Outlook using Microsoft Visual C++. This article demonstrates how to create contacts, create appointments, and send messages using Microsoft Outlook's object-model from Visual C++.

MORE INFORMATION

Follow the steps below to build and run the example:

1. Start Visual C++ and create a new MFC EXE dialog-based application.



2. Add a button to your dialog.



3. Double-click the button to add a handler for it, and add the following code:
   

   
      // Start Outlook.
      // If it is already running, you'll use the same instance...
      _Application olApp;
      COleException e;
      if(!olApp.CreateDispatch("Outlook.Application", &e)) {
         CString str;
         str.Format("CreateDispatch() failed w/error 0x%08lx", e.m_sc);
         AfxMessageBox(str, MB_SETFOREGROUND);
         return;
      }
   
      // Logon. Doesn't hurt if you are already running and logged on...
      NameSpace olNs(olApp.GetNamespace("MAPI"));
      COleVariant covOptional((long)DISP_E_PARAMNOTFOUND, VT_ERROR);
      olNs.Logon(covOptional, covOptional, covOptional, covOptional);
      
      // Create and open a new contact
      _ContactItem olItem(olApp.CreateItem(2));
      
      // Setup Contact information...
      olItem.SetFullName("James Smith");
      COleDateTime bdDate;
      bdDate.SetDate(1975, 9, 15);
      olItem.SetBirthday(bdDate);
      olItem.SetCompanyName("Microsoft");
      olItem.SetHomeTelephoneNumber("704-555-8888");
      olItem.SetEmail1Address("someone@microsoft.com");
      olItem.SetJobTitle("Developer");
      olItem.SetHomeAddress("111 Main St.\nCharlotte, NC 28226");
      
      // Save Contact
      olItem.Save();
      
      // Create a new appointment
      _AppointmentItem olAppt(olApp.CreateItem(1));
      
      // Schedule it for two minutes from now...
      COleDateTime apptDate = COleDateTime::GetCurrentTime();   
      olAppt.SetStart((DATE)apptDate + DATE(2.0/(24.0*60.0)));
      
      // Set other appointment info...
      olAppt.SetDuration(60);
      olAppt.SetSubject("Meeting to discuss plans...");
      olAppt.SetBody("Meeting with James to discuss plans.");
      olAppt.SetLocation("Home Office");
      olAppt.SetReminderMinutesBeforeStart(1);
      olAppt.SetReminderSet(TRUE);
      
      // Save Appointment
      olAppt.Save();
      
      // Prepare a new mail message
      _MailItem olMail(olApp.CreateItem(0));
      olMail.SetTo("someone@microsoft.com");
      olMail.SetSubject("About our meeting...");
      olMail.SetBody(
         "Hi James,\n\n"
         "\tI'll see you in two minutes for our meeting!\n\n"
         "Btw: I've added you to my contact list!");
   
      // Send the message!
      olMail.Send();
      
      AfxMessageBox("All done.", MB_SETFOREGROUND);
      olNs.Logoff(); 




4. Bring up the ClassWizard (Control-W) click the Automation Tab, and choose "From a type library" under the Add Class menu.



5. In the dialog box that comes up, navigate to the directory where Outlook is installed, and choose the Outlook type library (see table below). Select all the items it finds, and click OK to have ClassWizard generate MFC wrapper classes for all of them:




Outlook Version	Type Library
97	msoutl8.olb
98	msoutl85.olb
2000	msoutl9.olb

6. Add the following just before the implementation of your button handler:
   

   
      #include "msoutl85.h"
      // Ole-initialization class.
      class OleInitClass {
      public:
         OleInitClass() {
            OleInitialize(NULL);
         }
         ~OleInitClass() {
            OleUninitialize();
         }
      };
      // This global class calls OleInitialize() at
      // application startup, and calls OleUninitialize()
      // at application exit...
      OleInitClass g_OleInitClass; 




7. Compile and run the project. Once it has run, you should have a new contact named James Smith, an appointment scheduled in two minutes with a reminder to appear in one minute, and have sent a message to someone@microsoft.com. Also, because you added a birthday for your contact (9/15), a recurring event was added for your Outlook Calendar to remind you on that day.

Automating Microsoft Outlook 2000

Namespace olNS(olApp.GetNames("MAPI")); 

_Namespace olNS(olApp.GetNames("MAPI")); 

REFERENCES

For additional information about Automation of Outlook, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q199870 HOWTO: Send a Message by Outlook Object Model with VC++

Q196776 FAQ: Office Automation Using Visual C++

© Microsoft Corporation 1999, All Rights Reserved.
Contributions by Joe Crump, Microsoft Corporation

Additional query words: _com_ptr_t import COleDispatchDriver CoCreateInstance

Keywords : kbole kbAutomation kbMFC kbOutlookObj kbVC kbVC500 kbVC600 kbGrpDSO kbOffice2000 kboutlook2000
Version : WINDOWS:2000,98; :; winnt:5.0,6.0
Platform : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type : kbhowto