OL2000: ItemRemove Event Does Not Run in Some Scenarios

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This article was previously published under Q279502

SYMPTOMS

You use the ItemRemove event in an Outlook solution, but the event does not run.

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The event is designed to parallel the MAPI function ROW_DELETE, but there are scenarios where MAPI issues a TABLE_CHANGED notification instead of a ROW_DELETE notification when items are deleted. Either of the following scenarios prevents the ItemRemove event running:

In a personal folder (.pst) file, the last item in a folder is deleted.
In a .pst file, Microsoft Exchange mailbox, or an Exchange public folder, 16 or more items are deleted at once.

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WORKAROUND

Use one of the following methods to work around the problem.

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Method 1

To work around the limitation of the ItemRemove event not running when the last item in a .pst folder is deleted, you can use the FolderChange event to detect when a change has been made to a folder, and then check to see if the number of items in the folder is zero. If so, this means the last item in the folder was deleted. For example, the following Outlook Visual Basic for Applications code monitors the default Contacts folder, and displays a message when the last contact is deleted.

Dim WithEvents objFolders As Outlook.Folders
 
Sub Application_Startup()
   Set objFolders = Session.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox).Parent.Folders
End Sub
 
Sub objFolders_FolderChange(ByVal Folder As Outlook.MAPIFolder)
   If Folder.Name = "Contacts" And Folder.Items.Count = 0 Then
      MsgBox "Last item in Contacts folder deleted."
   End If
End Sub

You can also determine when more than 16 items have been deleted. To do this, keep track of the number of items in the folder, and then in the FolderChange event, check to see if there are fewer items than there previously were. For example, the following Outlook Visual Basic for Applications code monitors the default Contacts folder, and displays a message when contacts are deleted.

Dim WithEvents objFolders As Outlook.Folders
Dim objConFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Dim iNumContacts As Long
 
Sub Application_Startup()
   Set objFolders = Session.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox).Parent.Folders
   Set objConFolder = Session.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts)
   iNumContacts = objConFolder.Items.Count
End Sub
 
Sub objFolders_FolderChange(ByVal Folder As Outlook.MAPIFolder)
   If Folder.Name = "Contacts" Then
      If Folder.Items.Count < iNumContacts Then
         MsgBox "One or more contacts were deleted."
      End If
      iNumContacts = objConFolder.Items.Count
   End If
End Sub

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Method 2

Depending on your solution's needs, implement your own custom algorithm to determine when items have been deleted. You may want to implement the ItemRemove event to handle most deletions, and then run some other code on a timer to trap deletions that are not detected by the ItemRemove event.

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Method 3

If you are using Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later, you can implement an Exchange Server Scripting Agent script if the folder is located in an Exchange Server public folder or mailbox. In the script, you can implement the OnMessageDeleted event. However, you must use the Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) object model in the server script, and not the Outlook object model; therefore, this approach may not be feasible for your solution. For more information about SUGGEST.EXE, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

192339 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192339/ ) SUGGEST.EXE is Microsoft Exchange Server Custom Agent

For additional information about how to use the OnMessageDeleted event in a server script, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

231160 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/231160/EN-US/ ) HOWTO: Relate a Deleted Message Using Folder_OnMessageDeleted

IMPORTANT: Exchange Server 5.x scripts do not scale well if they are applied to multiple mailboxes. Performance varies greatly depending on many factors, but do not consider applying scripts to more than about 10 to 20 mailboxes.

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

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MORE INFORMATION

This same type of limitation affects the ItemAdd event. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

249156 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/249156/EN-US/ ) OL2000: ItemAdd Event Doesn't Fire in Some Scenarios

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REFERENCES

For additional information about available resources and answersto commonly asked questions about Microsoft Outlook solutions, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

146636 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/146636/EN-US/ ) OL2000: Questions About Custom Forms and Outlook Solutions

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