Getting Started with Developing an Outlook Social Connector Provider

Article
07/24/2014

Applies to: Office 2007 | Outlook 2010 | SharePoint Server 2010

The Outlook Social Connector (OSC) Provider Reference describes how to develop an OSC provider by using OSC provider extensibility. If you are new to developing solutions for Outlook, see Selecting an API or Technology for Developing Outlook Solutions to identify the APIs and technologies that are most appropriate for your needs. This section gives an overview of the OSC, how an OSC provider can be useful, quick steps for learning to develop a provider, technical requirements, best practices for developing a provider, and what’s new in this release.

In This Section

Why Develop an Outlook Social Connector Provider
Describes how an OSC provider can be useful for common social network sites and other internal networking tools.
Relating the OSC with Outlook and Social Networks
Provides an architectural view of how the OSC connects Outlook users with social networks. Also defines the way that common terms, like "social networks," "friends," "non-friends," and "contacts" are used in the rest of this reference.
Quick Steps for Learning to Develop a Provider
Provides a summary of steps to learn to develop an OSC provider.
Technical Requirements
Describes the supported programming languages, COM visibility requirements, method return type requirements, and details of the OSC provider extensibility DLL.
Best Practices for Developing a Provider
Provides a list of best practices to follow while developing an OSC provider.
What's New for Providers
Compares OSC features in the previous and current release, and describes interface members and XML schema elements that have been added, changed, or deprecated in this release.