Using Automation to Send a Microsoft Exchange Message

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This article was previously published under Q153311

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SUMMARY

This article describes how you can use Automation to create and to send a Microsoft Exchange message.

This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and that you can create Microsoft Access applications by using the programming tools that are provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, see your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.

NOTE: This article uses Microsoft Exchange, a product that must be purchased and be installed separately. The Microsoft Exchange component that is included with Microsoft Windows 95 does not work with this article.

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MORE INFORMATION

NOTE: The following code may not work properly if you have installed the Microsoft Outlook E-mail Security Update. For additional information about this update, depending on which version of Outlook you have, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

262631 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/262631/EN-US/ ) OL2000: Information About the Outlook E-mail Security Update

262617 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/262617/EN-US/ ) OL98: Information About the Outlook E-mail Security Update

You can send a MAPI mail message with the SendObject method of Microsoft Access. However, you cannot attach external files or set certain message properties, such as message importance, when you use the SendObject method.

There are five main steps in sending a MAPI message through Automation:

Initialize and logon to the MAPI session.
Create a new message and add the message to the Outbox.
Add the recipients (To, Cc, and Bcc), and then resolve the names.
Set valid properties, such as text, subject, and importance.
Send the message.

To programmatically send a Microsoft Exchange message, follow these steps:

Create a folder on drive C that is named Examples.
Create a sample text file that is named Customers.txt in the Examples folder.
Create a module, and then type the following line in the Declarations section if it is not already there:

Option Explicit
On the Tools menu, click References.
In the References box, click to select OLE/Messaging 1.0 Object Library, and then click OK.

NOTE: If this object library is not available in the References list, click Browse, and then search your Windows\System folder for the file Mdisp32.tlb.

Type the following procedure:

 '--------------------------------------------------------------------
    ' This procedure sets an object variable to the MAPI Session object
    ' using the CreateObject() function. Then, it logs on to the session
    ' using a predefined profile. As soon as you are logged on,
    ' the procedure creates
    ' a new message and adds it to the Messages collection of the Outbox
    ' of the user. Then, it creates two recipients (one on the TO: line and
    ' one on the CC: line) and then adds both to the Recipients collection
    ' of the message. Next, it resolves the names of all recipients.
    ' Then, it attaches a sample file before filling in the Subject,
    ' Text, and Importance attributes of the message.
    '--------------------------------------------------------------------
     Sub SendMAPIMessage()
        Dim MapiSession As Object
        Dim MapiMessage As Object
        Dim MapiRecipient As Object
        Dim MapiAttachment As Object
        Dim Recpt
        Dim errObj As Long
        Dim errMsg

        On Error GoTo MAPITrap
        ' Create the MAPI Session.
        Set MapiSession = CreateObject("Mapi.Session")

        ' Log on to the session. If the ProfileName argument is omitted,
        ' Microsoft Exchange prompts you for the profile to use. If the
        ' profile name is incorrect, you receive a runtime error.
         MapiSession.Logon profilename:="Steven Buchanan"

        ' Add a message to the Outbox.
        Set MapiMessage = MapiSession.Outbox.Messages.Add

        ' Add the recipients of the message. Note, each recipient must be
        ' added separately to the Recipients collection of the Message
        ' object.

        With MapiMessage
            Set MapiRecipient = MapiMessage.Recipients.Add
            MapiRecipient.Name = "Nancy Davolio"
            MapiRecipient.Type = mapiTo
            Set MapiRecipient = MapiMessage.Recipients.Add
            MapiRecipient.Name = "Andrew Fuller"
            MapiRecipient.Type = mapiCc
            Set MapiRecipient = MapiMessage.Recipients.Add
            MapiRecipient.Name = "Michael Suyama"
            MapiRecipient.Type = mapiBcc

            ' Resolve each recipient's e-mail name.
            ' Starting with Outlook version 8.03 (ref. Q172623) 
            ' OLE Messaging 1.0 was replaced with Active Messaging 1.1.
            ' Outlook 98 (version 8.5) replaced Active Messaging
            ' with Microsoft CDO (Collaborative Data Objects) 1.21.
            ' OLE Messaging 1.0 uses a zero-based Recipients collection;
            ' Active Messaging 1.1 and Microsoft CDO 1.21 are 1-based.
            For Recpt = 1 To .Recipients.Count
               .Recipients(Recpt).Resolve showdialog:=False
            Next

            ' Attach a file to the message.
            Set MapiAttachment = MapiMessage.Attachments.Add
            With MapiAttachment
                .Name = "Customers.txt"
                .Type = mapiFileData
                .Source = "C:\Examples\Customers.txt"
                .ReadFromFile filename:="C:\Examples\Customers.txt"
                .position = 2880
            End With

            ' Assign the text, subject, and importance of the message.
            .subject = "My Subject"
            .Text = "This is the text of my message." & vbCrLf & vbCrLf
            .importance = mapiHigh

            ' View the message in Microsoft Exchange before sending. Set
            ' the ShowDialog argument to False if you want to send the
            ' message without viewing it in Microsoft Exchange.
            .Send showdialog:=True
        End With
        Set MapiSession = Nothing  ' Clear the object variable.

     MAPIExit:
        Exit Sub

     MAPITrap:
        errObj = Err - vbObjectError  ' Strip out the OLE automation error.
        Select Case errObj
            Case 275                  ' User cancelled sending of message.
                Resume MAPIExit
            Case Else
                errMsg = MsgBox("Error " & errObj & " was returned.")
                Resume MAPIExit
            End Select
     End Sub

Make sure to replace both the Mapisession.Login Profilename and the MapiRecipient.name with valid e-mail names.
To test this procedure, type the following line in the Debug window, and then press ENTER:

SendMAPIMessage

Note that Microsoft Exchange is invoked with the sample message ready to send.

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REFERENCES

For more information about Automation, search the Help Index for Automation or ask the Microsoft Access 97 Office Assistant.

For more information about referencing object libraries, search the Help Index for object libraries, or ask the Microsoft Access 97 Office Assistant.

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition
Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition

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kbhowto kbinterop kbprogramming KB153311

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Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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