How to use the Microsoft Outlook Object Library to retrieve a message by using Visual C# from the Inbox

• Applies to:

  Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

Introduction

This article describes how to use the Microsoft Outlook 2002 Object Library or the Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Object Library to retrieve a message from the Inbox by using Microsoft Visual C#.

More information

To use the Outlook 2002 Object Library or the Outlook 2003 Object Library to retrieve a message from the Inbox by using Visual C#, follow these steps:

1. In Microsoft Visual Studio .NET or Visual Studio 2005, create a new Console Application project:

   1. On the File menu, point to New, and then select Project.

   2. Under Project Types, select Visual C# Projects.

      Note

      In Visual Studio 2005, select Visual C#.

   3. Under Templates, select Console Application.

   4. Select OK. By default, a file that is named Class1.cs is created.

      Note

      In Visual Studio 2005, Program.cs is created by default.

2. Add a reference to either the Outlook 2002 Object Library or the Outlook 2003 Object Library. To do this, follow these steps:

   1. On the Project menu, select Add Reference.

   2. Select the COM tab.

   3. On the COM tab, select Microsoft Outlook 11.0 Object Library if you are using Outlook 2003, or select Microsoft Outlook 10.0 Object Library if you are using Outlook 2002.

   4. Select Select.

   5. In the Add References dialog box, select OK.

      Note

      If you receive a message to generate wrappers for the libraries that you selected, select Yes.

3. In the Class1.cs code window, replace all the existing code with the following code:

   using System;
   using System.Reflection; // to use Missing.Value
   
   //TO DO: If you use the Microsoft Outlook 11.0 Object Library, uncomment the following line.
   //using Outlook = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook;
   
   namespace ConsoleApplication1
   {
   public class Class1
   {
   public static int Main(string[]args)
   {
   try
   {
   // Create the Outlook application.
   // in-line initialization
   Outlook.Application oApp = new Outlook.Application();
   
   // Get the MAPI namespace.
   Outlook.NameSpace oNS = oApp.GetNamespace("mapi");
   
   // Log on by using the default profile or existing session (no dialog box).
   oNS.Logon(Missing.Value,Missing.Value,false,true);
   
   // Alternate logon method that uses a specific profile name.
   // TODO: If you use this logon method, specify the correct profile name
   // and comment the previous Logon line.
   //oNS.Logon("profilename",Missing.Value,false,true);
   
   //Get the Inbox folder.
   Outlook.MAPIFolder oInbox = oNS.GetDefaultFolder(Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderInbox);
   
   //Get the Items collection in the Inbox folder.
   Outlook.Items oItems = oInbox.Items;
   
   // Get the first message.
   // Because the Items folder may contain different item types,
   // use explicit typecasting with the assignment.
   Outlook.MailItem oMsg = (Outlook.MailItem)oItems.GetFirst();
   
   //Output some common properties.
   Console.WriteLine(oMsg.Subject);
   Console.WriteLine(oMsg.SenderName);
   Console.WriteLine(oMsg.ReceivedTime);
   Console.WriteLine(oMsg.Body);
   
   //Check for attachments.
   int AttachCnt = oMsg.Attachments.Count;
   Console.WriteLine("Attachments: " + AttachCnt.ToString());
   
   //TO DO: If you use the Microsoft Outlook 10.0 Object Library, uncomment the following lines.
   /*if (AttachCnt > 0) 
   {
   for (int i = 1; i <= AttachCnt; i++) 
    Console.WriteLine(i.ToString() + "-" + oMsg.Attachments.Item(i).DisplayName);
   }*/
   
   //TO DO: If you use the Microsoft Outlook 11.0 Object Library, uncomment the following lines.
   /*if (AttachCnt > 0) 
   {
   for (int i = 1; i <= AttachCnt; i++) 
    Console.WriteLine(i.ToString() + "-" + oMsg.Attachments[i].DisplayName);
   }*/
   
   //Display the message.
   oMsg.Display(true); //modal
   
   //Log off.
   oNS.Logoff();
   
   //Explicitly release objects.
   oMsg = null;
   oItems = null;
   oInbox = null;
   oNS = null;
   oApp = null;
   }
   
   //Error handler.
   catch (Exception e)
   {
   Console.WriteLine("{0} Exception caught: ", e);
   }
   
   // Return value.
   return 0;
   
   }
   }
   }
   

4. In this code, make any necessary changes where you see the "TO DO" comments.

5. Press F5 to build and then run the program.

References

For more information, see Microsoft Office Development with Visual Studio.