There is a variety of ways to implement or create solutions
that handle incoming and outgoing e-mail. This article is a general overview of
the options that are available.
Overview of Rules
With the Outlook Rules Wizard, you can manage both incoming and
outgoing e-mail messages by defining instructions that should be applied to
certain e-mail messages in certain scenarios.
NOTE: In earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook, this type
functionality is provided by the Inbox Assistant. Although Outlook provides the
Rules Wizard instead of the Inbox Assistant, the functionality that was
provided by the Inbox Assistant is still used to process rules on Microsoft
Exchange Server public folders.
For additional information about how to use
the Rules Wizard, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
196212 OL2000: How to Use the Rules Wizard in Outlook 2000
291608 OL2002: How to Use the Rules Wizard in Outlook
When you develop solutions, it is important to
understand that rules can run on the server or the client. All the Exchange
Server-based rules are run first, and then Outlook client-based rules are run.
If you are using an Exchange server, the rules are stored both locally on the
client and also on the server. A rule is run on the server if it is possible;
otherwise, the rule will be handled by Outlook on the client. The main
disadvantage of client-side rules is that they can only run when Outlook is
running online. Rules that cannot be completed on the server are marked
"Client-only" in the Rules Wizard.
The following examples of Outlook
rules can be run on the server:
- Automatically reply to a message.
- Move a message to another folder in the same
store.
- Copy a message to another folder in the same
store.
- Exchange Server public folder rules using the Folder
Assistant.
The following examples of Outlook rules are run on the client:
- Move a message to a folder in a PST file
- "Custom Action" rules
You can use the Rules Wizard, and you can also use various
technologies to create solutions that implement rules functionality. Some of
these technologies integrate directly with the built-in Exchange Server and
Outlook rules functionality. Others use independent custom code to create a
solution that functions as the built-in rules features. All these types of
solutions are discussed later in this article, but following is a summary of
the technologies based on whether or not they apply to the server or
client.
Client-side rules developer technologies:
- Rules Wizard "Run a Script" rules
- Outlook Visual Basic for Applications solutions
- Outlook COM add-in solutions
- Custom Actions for the Rules Wizard
- Exchange SDK Rule Component (Rule.dll)
Server-side rules developer technologies:
- Exchange Server 5.5 Scripting Agents
- Exchange 2000 Server Event Sinks
- Exchange SDK Rule Component (Rule.dll)
Existing Solution or Product
There is a variety of third-party products that have already been
developed that are designed to provide functionality like rules. For more
information about these products, visit one of the following Slipstick Web
sites:
Rules Wizard "Run a Script" Rules
Outlook 2002 Visual Basic for Applications can be used in the
Rules Wizard by using the "Run a Script" option. The "script" in this case must
be Outlook Visual Basic for Applications. You cannot use another programming
language, or host the code in an Outlook COM add-in. This feature is not
available in Outlook 2000.
For additional information
about how to create a script for the Outlook Rules Wizard, click the following
article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
306108
How to Create a Script for the Rules Wizard
One of the key
advantages of this approach is that you can use the built-in functionality of
the Rules Wizard to determine which messages are processed. However, Outlook
Visual Basic for Applications is not designed to be deployed, so use this
approach only for your own personal use.
For
additional information about limitations related to deploying Outlook Visual
Basic for Applications, click the article number below to view the article in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
290779 OL2002: Managing and Distributing Outlook VBA Projects
Outlook Visual Basic for Applications Rules
Instead of using the "Run a script" feature in the Rules Wizard,
you can also create custom Visual Basic for Applications code in either Outlook
2000 or Outlook 2002 that functions as a rule. Typically, these solutions
implement either the Item_Add event on the Inbox folder so that code runs
whenever an item arrives in the Inbox, or the Application_ItemSend event so
that code runs whenever an item is sent. An example of this approach is
discussed in the following Knowledge Base articles:
292063 OL2002: How to Create a Custom Rule Using Visual Basic for Applications
235852 OL2000: How to Create a Custom Rule Using Visual Basic for Applications
Because Outlook Visual Basic for Applications code
runs on the client, Outlook must be running for the code to run.
The
following code sample is a rule that saves the attachments of a new e-mail
message. Messages arriving with the subject "Test Att" and with attachments
will have the attachments saved to the "C:\Test" folder with their file name.
To implement this code, follow the steps in one of the Knowledge Base articles
listed earlier in this article (Q292063 or Q235852), but substitute the
following code instead of the code in those articles.
Dim WithEvents objInbox As Outlook.Items
Private Sub Application_Startup()
Set objInbox = Session.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox).Items
End Sub
Private Sub objInbox_ItemAdd(ByVal Item As Object)
If Item.Class = olMail And Item.Subject = "Test Att" Then
If Item.Attachments.Count > 0 Then
Dim objAttachments As Outlook.Attachments
Set objAttachments = Item.Attachments
For Each objAttach In objAttachments
' Does not handle duplicate filename scenarios
objAttach.SaveAsFile "C:\Test\" & objAttach.FileName
Next
Set objAttachments = Nothing
End If
End If
End Sub
Outlook COM Add-in Rules
You can create a custom rule solution by developing an Outlook
COM add-in. COM add-in solutions function as Outlook Visual Basic for
Applications code does, but can be deployed.
For
additional information about how to create a Visual Basic COM add-in, click the
article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
230225 OL2000: How to Create a COM Add-in for Outlook
291163 OL2002: How to Create a COM Add-in for Outlook
316983 OL: A Sample COM Add-in That Uses the Visual Basic 6.0 Add-in Template
238228 How To Build an Office 2000 COM Add-In in Visual Basic
The following Outlook COM add-in sample code will move Reply messages
to another folder. E-mail messages with a subject beginning with "RE:" are
moved to the folder "Sent Mail Archive", which is on the same level as the
Inbox. You can modify the strings "RE:" and "Sent Mail Archive" to customize
this sample.
Dim WithEvents objOL As Outlook.Application
Private Sub AddinInstance_OnConnection(ByVal Application As Object, ByVal _
ConnectMode As AddInDesignerObjects.ext_ConnectMode, ByVal AddInInst As _
Object, custom() As Variant)
Set objOL = Application
End Sub
Private Sub AddinInstance_OnDisconnection(ByVal RemoveMode As _
AddInDesignerObjects.ext_DisconnectMode, custom() As Variant)
Set objOL = Nothing
End Sub
Private Sub objOL_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As Boolean)
Dim objDefFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Dim objSentFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Set objInboxFolder = Session.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)
Set objSentFolder = obInboxFolder.Parent.Folders("Sent Mail Archive")
Dim strSubject As String
Dim strLeft As String
strSubject = Item.Subject
strLeft = Left(strSubject, 3)
If strLeft = "RE:" Then
Item.SaveSentMessageFolder objSentFolder
End If
Set objInboxFolder = Nothing
Set objSentFolder = Nothing
End Sub
Custom Actions for the Outlook Rules Wizard
Custom actions are developed by using C/C++ and must be installed
on the computer running Outlook. Therefore, all custom actions are client-side
rules. With custom actions, you can perform a specific action when a rule in
the Rules Wizard is run. Outlook does not provide any custom actions, but many
are available from third-party vendors. Documentation about developing a custom
action is provided on MSDN. To view this documentation, visit the following
Microsoft Web site:
For additional information about
custom actions, click the article number below to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
196868 OL2000: Rules Wizard Custom Actions and Third Party Add-Ins
A sample Custom Action agent, named CRARUN, is
available as part of the Exchange Server 5.5 SDK.
For additional
information about CRARUN, click the article number below to view the article in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
151690 XCLN: What is the 'Custom' Rule Action For?
For more information about custom rules and
actions, visit the following Slipstick Systems Web site:
Server-Side Rules Using Exchange Event Scripts and Sinks
For scenarios where you require a custom rule to run on the
server, you can use the Exchange 5.5 Scripting Agent or Exchange 2000 event
sinks. These types of solutions are especially well suited for particular
public folders or a limited number of mailboxes.
For additional information, click the article numbers
below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
181036 INFO: Suitable Applications for Exchange Server Event Scripting
288156 How To Create an Exchange 2000 Store Event Sink in Visual C++
Exchange SDK Rule Component
The Exchange 5.5 SDK includes a Rules Component (Rule.dll) that
you can use to programmatically create rules in a folder. These rules are run
on either the client or server, depending on the type of rule created. For additional information
about using the Rules Component, click the following article number to view the
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
251125
HOWTO: Use the Rule.dll Sample to Create an Inbox Rule from Visual Basic
NOTE: Rules that are created by using the Rules Component are not
displayed in the Outlook user interface.
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third-party contact information.
The third-party products that are
discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of
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performance or reliability of these products.