[
Date Prev][
Date Next][
Thread Prev][
Thread Next][
Date Index][
Thread Index]
[
List Home]
|
RE: [platform-swt-dev] Automating Outlook
|
Title: Message
Sure.
I created an "ActiveX DLL" in VB, but you
could write it in C++ if you're a glutton for punishment.
Note
that this code is specific for Outlook. However, if you're not interested in
listening to events you could possibly get by with a call to GetCOMObject(),
which is completely generic.
Option
Explicit
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'
Public Properties
'
Public WithEvents Application As
Application ' (Need to reference the Outlook
library)
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'
Public Event Declarations
'
Public Event ItemSend(ByVal Item As
Object)
Public Event ItemReceived(ByVal Item As Object)
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'
Private Properties
'
Private WithEvents inbox As Items
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'
Functions not available in SWT
'
Public Function GetCOMObject(ByVal progID
As String) As Object
On
Error GoTo createIt
Dim obj As
Object
Set obj = GetObject(, progID)
If obj Is Nothing Then
' The
object wasn't running. Start it
up
createIt:
Set obj =
GetObject("", progID)
End If
Set GetCOMObject = obj
End
Function
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'
Workaround functions for things that don't work with SWT
'
Public Function
AddAttachment(Attachments As Attachments, ByVal Source As String, ByVal
AttachmentType As OlAttachmentType, ByVal DisplayName As String) As
Attachment
Set AddAttachment = Attachments.Add(Source,
AttachmentType, , DisplayName)
End Function
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'
Implementation
'
Private Sub
UserControl_Initialize()
Set Application = New
Outlook.Application
' Set up the Inbox
Dim nameSpace
As nameSpace
Set nameSpace =
Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Dim olFolder As
MAPIFolder
Set olFolder =
nameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)
Set inbox =
olFolder.Items
End Sub
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'
Events listened to
'
Private Sub inbox_ItemAdd(ByVal Item As Object)
If
TypeOf Item Is MailItem Then
RaiseEvent ItemReceived(Item)
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Application_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As
Boolean)
If TypeOf Item Is MailItem
Then
RaiseEvent
ItemSend(Item)
End If
End Sub
Would you consider contributing your activex control
wrapper code?
Has anybody
tried automating Outlook?
I can get it to
work... with some workarounds (see below)
I'm suspecting
that some or all of the problems have to do with Outlook not running in the
same process as the Java code. After all, if SWT's COM support is primarily
designed for in-process ActiveX controls, then I might be pushing things a
bit. However, it's appears to work very well, and it is extraordinarily
powerful.
Should I be
worried about any other potential pitfalls? For example, is SWT properly
adding/removing references to all automation objects, even if they are
out-of-process?
Problem
1)
The following
code only works if Outlook is already running:
Shell shell = new
Shell();
OleFrame frame = new
OleFrame(shell, SWT.NONE);
OleControlSite oleControlSite = new OleControlSite(frame, SWT.NONE,
"Outlook.Application");
However, if
Outlook isn't already running, then OleControlSite throws an exception.
My workaround is
to create a little ActiveX control that gets the running Outlook instance
for me. The ActiveX control declares a function called
"GetApplication", which returns an OleAutomation object of the Outlook
Application. Now I'm able to traverse the Outlook object model nicely.... up
to a point!
Problem
2)
Events don't get
fired back. I attach listeners to the Application object, but nothing
happens.
I worked around
the problem by declaring similar events in my custom ActiveX control. It
listens to Outlook and then fires an event of its own. My Java code listens
to events of the custom ActiveX control.
Problem
3)
Although I can
access lots of Outlook objects, I find that none of the functions with
optional parameters work. For example, Attachments.Add() returns
null:
int[] rgdispid = attachments.getIDsOfNames(new String[]{"Add", "Source",
"Type", "Position",
"DisplayName"});
int dispIdMember =
rgdispid[0];
Variant[] rgvarg = new
Variant[3];
int[] rgdispidNamedArgs = new int[3];
rgvarg[0] = new Variant("C:\\foo.txt"); // this is the Source
parameter
rgdispidNamedArgs[0] = rgdispid[1];
rgvarg[1] = new Variant(0x1); // this is the Type
parameter
rgdispidNamedArgs[1] = rgdispid[2];
rgvarg[2] = new Variant("Hello!"); // this is the DisplayName
parameter
rgdispidNamedArgs[2] = rgdispid[4];
Variant result = attachments.invoke(dispIdMember, rgvarg,
rgdispidNamedArgs);
Once again, my
workaround is to declare a specialized function in the custom ActiveX
control.
