6 Appendix A: Product Behavior

The information in this specification is applicable to the following Microsoft products or supplemental software. References to product versions include updates to those products.

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2003

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2013

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2016

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2019

  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

  • Microsoft Outlook 2010

  • Microsoft Outlook 2013

  • Microsoft Outlook 2016

  • Microsoft Outlook 2019

  • Microsoft Outlook 2021

  • Microsoft Outlook 2024 Preview

Exceptions, if any, are noted in this section. If an update version, service pack or Knowledge Base (KB) number appears with a product name, the behavior changed in that update. The new behavior also applies to subsequent updates unless otherwise specified. If a product edition appears with the product version, behavior is different in that product edition.

Unless otherwise specified, any statement of optional behavior in this specification that is prescribed using the terms "SHOULD" or "SHOULD NOT" implies product behavior in accordance with the SHOULD or SHOULD NOT prescription. Unless otherwise specified, the term "MAY" implies that the product does not follow the prescription.

<1> Section 2.2.1.3.1.3: The Exchange 2007 implementation uses bit flags 0x00000080 and 0x00000100 to store information about Out of Office functionality; these bit flags are ignored by Office Outlook 2003 and Exchange 2003. Bit flag 0x00000080 is used to disable a specific Out of Office rule on Exchange 2007. Bit flag 0x00000100 has the same semantics as the ST_ONLY_WHEN_OOF bit flag on Exchange 2007. The rest of the flags are reserved for future use.

<2> Section 2.2.1.3.1.5: Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, Office Outlook 2003, and Office Outlook 2007 define the following well-known rule provider strings:

"MSFT:TDX Rules", which is used by public folder rules

"MSFT:TDX OOF rules", which is used by Out of Office rules in the Inbox folder

"RuleOrganizer" + user defined string, which is used for user-defined rules in the Inbox folder

"Schedule+ EMS Interface", which is used to assist with delegates

"JunkEmailRule", which is a rule that is created to help with Junk E-mail filtering

"MSFT:MR", which is a rule that assists the "Moderator" role on a public folder

"MSFT:Public.Folder.FormRestrictions", which is used by public folder rules

"ExchangeMailboxRules14", which is for rules that are specific to Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, and Exchange 2019; rules with this provider string are not processed by Office Outlook 2003 or Office Outlook 2007.

<3> Section 2.2.2.1:  Exchange 2007 ignores the x bits and does not return an error for nonzero values.

<4> Section 2.2.5.1: Office Outlook 2003, Office Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2016, and Outlook 2019 set the ActionFlags field to 0x00000000.

<5> Section 2.2.5.1.1:  Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 do not support forwarding messages as SMS text messages.

<6> Section 2.2.5.1.1:  Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, and Exchange 2019 send a reply message if the ActionType is "OP_OOF_REPLY".

<7> Section 2.2.5.1.2.4.1:  Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 also require the PidTagEntryId property for action "OP_FORWARD".

<8> Section 2.2.5.1.2.4.1:  Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 set this value to 0x01. Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, and Exchange 2019 set this value to 0x00.

<9> Section 2.2.5.1.2.7: Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, and Exchange 2019 perform a hard delete, as described in [MS-OXCFOLD], but this is not required for the protocol.

<10> Section 2.2.7.6:  Exchange 2007 returns "ecNotFound" .

<11> Section 2.2.7.7:  Exchange 2007 returns "ecNotFound".

<12> Section 2.2.8.1:  The server behavior is undefined in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

<13> Section 3.1.4.2.1: Office Outlook 2003 and Office Outlook 2007 are only adding, modifying, and deleting rules on the following folders and ignore rules set on any other folder or folders.

  • The Inbox folder, as described in [MS-OXOSFLD].

  • Any public folder, as described in [MS-OXCSTOR], where the user has access permissions; extended rules are not set or evaluated on public folders.

<14> Section 3.2.5.1: Exchange 2003 by default will only process the first extended rule it encounters per folder. Other extended rules are ignored. Exchange 2007 by default will process the standard rule for a message but will only process the first two extended rules it encounters per folder. These settings are configurable by the administrator.

<15> Section 3.2.5.1: When Office Outlook 2007 creates a Reply template, it requests that the server set the prefix to "IPM.Note.rules.OofTemplate.Microsoft".

<16> Section 3.2.5.1:  Exchange 2007 forwards messages that have been forwarded to the sender.

<17> Section 3.2.5.1:  Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3 (SP3) does not send a reply message.

<18> Section 3.2.5.1:  In Exchange 2007 SP3, the message appears in the user's mailbox.

<19> Section 3.2.5.1.1:  Exchange 2013 SP1 evaluates the rule if the sender is on the list of recipients.

<20> Section 3.2.5.2:  Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, and Exchange 2019 limit the total aggregate size of standard rules (2) stored by a user to between 32 kilobytes (KB) and 256 KB; the exact limit is configured by the server administrator. Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010 also enforce a limit of 500 disabled rules. Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, and Exchange 2019 do not enforce a limit on disabled rules. Exchange 2003 limits the total aggregate size of all rules to 32 KB.

<21> Section 3.2.5.2:  Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, and Exchange 2010 do not save any of the changes when the changes push the rules (2) beyond the limit.

<22> Section 3.2.5.3:  Exchange 2007 ignores the x bits and returns ecSuccess in this case.