Capabilities XML Elements

Article
07/24/2014

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

In this article
Capabilities for Supporting Friends
Capabilities for Supporting Activities
Common Capabilities for Supporting On-Demand or Hybrid Synchronization of Friends, Non-Friends, and Activities
Capabilities for Supporting Authentication and Account Configuration

The tables in this topic describe child elements of the capabilities XML and are grouped by the areas they support. The default value of each capabilities element is false. If the element is not specified in the capabilities XML returned by the ISocialProvider::GetCapabilities method, the value of the element is equal to false.

For an overview description of capabilities XML, see XML for Capabilities. For an example of capabilities XML, see Capabilities XML Example. For a complete definition of the Microsoft Outlook Social Connector (OSC) provider XML schema, including which elements are required or optional, see Outlook Social Connector Provider XML Schema.

Capabilities for Supporting Friends

The following table shows elements that apply to any form of synchronization of friends or non-friends.

Element	Description
doNotFollowPerson	Indicates whether the provider supports the ISocialSession::UnFollowPerson method call. followPerson and doNotFollowPerson are independent features of an OSC provider. An OSC provider can indicate the capability of being able to add a person as a friend (setting followPerson to true) or being able to remove a person as a friend on a social network account (setting doNotFollowPerson to true). In general, being able to follow does not imply being able to stop following. followPerson is a capability, and it is not to be misinterpreted as an action to follow a specific person or every person on the social network account. followPerson being true does not imply doNotFollowPerson is false.
followPerson	Indicates whether the provider supports the ISocialSession::FollowPerson method call. The OSC checks followPerson if cacheFriends is true (cached synchronization of friends), dynamicContactsLookup is true (on-demand synchronization of friends and non-friends), or both cacheFriends and dynamicContactsLookup are true (hybrid synchronization of friends and non-friends). If the provider sets followPerson as true, the OSC displays a network badge in the People Pane for people that the user is following, and enables the on <NetworkName> command on the Add (+) menu in the People Pane. If the provider sets followPerson as false, the network badge is not displayed, and the on <NetworkName> command is hidden.
getFriends	Indicates whether the provider supports the ISocialPerson::GetFriendsAndColleagues or ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails method call. If the provider sets getFriends as true, the OSC uses the value of cacheFriends or dynamicContactsLookup to determine whether the social network allows storing friends as Outlook contact items or in memory. If the provider sets getFriends as false, the social network does not support friends and the ISocialPerson::GetFriendsAndColleagues and ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails methods, and the OSC ignores the values of cacheFriends and dynamicContactsLookup.

doNotFollowPerson

Indicates whether the provider supports the ISocialSession::UnFollowPerson method call.

followPerson and doNotFollowPerson are independent features of an OSC provider. An OSC provider can indicate the capability of being able to add a person as a friend (setting followPerson to true) or being able to remove a person as a friend on a social network account (setting doNotFollowPerson to true). In general, being able to follow does not imply being able to stop following. followPerson is a capability, and it is not to be misinterpreted as an action to follow a specific person or every person on the social network account. followPerson being true does not imply doNotFollowPerson is false.

followPerson

Indicates whether the provider supports the ISocialSession::FollowPerson method call. The OSC checks followPerson if cacheFriends is true (cached synchronization of friends), dynamicContactsLookup is true (on-demand synchronization of friends and non-friends), or both cacheFriends and dynamicContactsLookup are true (hybrid synchronization of friends and non-friends). If the provider sets followPerson as true, the OSC displays a network badge in the People Pane for people that the user is following, and enables the on <NetworkName> command on the Add (+) menu in the People Pane. If the provider sets followPerson as false, the network badge is not displayed, and the on <NetworkName> command is hidden.

getFriends

Indicates whether the provider supports the ISocialPerson::GetFriendsAndColleagues or ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails method call. If the provider sets getFriends as true, the OSC uses the value of cacheFriends or dynamicContactsLookup to determine whether the social network allows storing friends as Outlook contact items or in memory. If the provider sets getFriends as false, the social network does not support friends and the ISocialPerson::GetFriendsAndColleagues and ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails methods, and the OSC ignores the values of cacheFriends and dynamicContactsLookup.

The following elements apply only to cached synchronization of friends or hybrid synchronization of friends and non-friends. For more information about synchronizing friends, see Synchronizing Friends and Activities.

Element	Description
cacheFriends	Indicates whether the OSC provider allows storing friends as Outlook contact items. The OSC checks cacheFriends only if getFriends is true. If the provider sets cacheFriends as true, the OSC synchronizes friends by caching, and creates a network-specific contacts folder in the user’s default store for friend contacts. The name of the network-specific contacts folder is the value of the ISocialProvider::SocialNetworkName property. If the provider sets cacheFriends as false, the OSC does not create a network-specific contacts folder for friend contacts to store friends.
contactSyncRestartInterval	Determines the retry interval, in minutes, between attempts to synchronize friends’ information from the social network, if a synchronization error occurs. The OSC uses this element only if the OSC provider supports cached synchronization or hybrid synchronization of friends to a social network-specific contacts folder (cacheFriends is true). The default retry interval is 30 minutes, unless the default is overridden by the ContactSyncRestartInterval key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\SocialConnector. If the provider sets contactSyncRestartInterval, the provider value will override the default retry interval of 30 minutes or the registry key value. For more information about synchronizing friends and non-friends information on demand, see Synchronizing Friends and Activities.

cacheFriends

Indicates whether the OSC provider allows storing friends as Outlook contact items. The OSC checks cacheFriends only if getFriends is true. If the provider sets cacheFriends as true, the OSC synchronizes friends by caching, and creates a network-specific contacts folder in the user’s default store for friend contacts. The name of the network-specific contacts folder is the value of the ISocialProvider::SocialNetworkName property. If the provider sets cacheFriends as false, the OSC does not create a network-specific contacts folder for friend contacts to store friends.

contactSyncRestartInterval

Determines the retry interval, in minutes, between attempts to synchronize friends’ information from the social network, if a synchronization error occurs. The OSC uses this element only if the OSC provider supports cached synchronization or hybrid synchronization of friends to a social network-specific contacts folder (cacheFriends is true).

The default retry interval is 30 minutes, unless the default is overridden by the ContactSyncRestartInterval key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\SocialConnector. If the provider sets contactSyncRestartInterval, the provider value will override the default retry interval of 30 minutes or the registry key value.

For more information about synchronizing friends and non-friends information on demand, see Synchronizing Friends and Activities.

The following elements apply to only on-demand synchronization or hybrid synchronization of friends and non-friends.

Element	Description
dynamicContactsLookup	Indicates whether the OSC provider supports the ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails call for on-demand synchronization of friends and non-friends. The OSC checks dynamicContactsLookup only if getFriends is true.The default setting for dynamicContactsLookup is false. This element is new in OSC 1.1. If the OSC provider specifies dynamicContactsLookup as true and getFriends as true, the OSC calls ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails every time the People Pane is refreshed. The People Pane is refreshed when the user selects another user in the People Pane or another item in the Outlook explorer window, or opens an Outlook inspector window. Dynamic contacts lookup ensures that the user always sees the latest user pictures and profile information in the People Pane, but increases the number of calls from the provider to the social network. If the provider sets dynamicContactsLookup as false, the OSC does not call ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails to refresh the People Pane.
showOnDemandContactsWhenMinimized	Indicates if the OSC should carry out on-demand synchronization for friends and non-friends when the People Pane is minimized. This element is new in OSC 1.1.

dynamicContactsLookup

Indicates whether the OSC provider supports the ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails call for on-demand synchronization of friends and non-friends.

The OSC checks dynamicContactsLookup only if getFriends is true.The default setting for dynamicContactsLookup is false.

This element is new in OSC 1.1.

If the OSC provider specifies dynamicContactsLookup as true and getFriends as true, the OSC calls ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails every time the People Pane is refreshed. The People Pane is refreshed when the user selects another user in the People Pane or another item in the Outlook explorer window, or opens an Outlook inspector window. Dynamic contacts lookup ensures that the user always sees the latest user pictures and profile information in the People Pane, but increases the number of calls from the provider to the social network.

If the provider sets dynamicContactsLookup as false, the OSC does not call ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails to refresh the People Pane.

showOnDemandContactsWhenMinimized

Indicates if the OSC should carry out on-demand synchronization for friends and non-friends when the People Pane is minimized.

This element is new in OSC 1.1.

Capabilities for Supporting Activities

The following element applies to any form of synchronization of activities supported by the OSC provider.

Element	Description
getActivities	Indicates whether the provider supports the ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx or ISocialPerson::GetActivities method calls. If the provider sets getActivities as true, the OSC uses the value of cacheActivities or dynamicActivitiesLookupEx to determine whether the social network site allows storing activities as Outlook RSS items or as in-memory activities. If the provider sets getActivities as false, the social network does not support activities and the ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx and ISocialPerson::GetActivities methods, and the OSC ignores the values of cacheActivities and dynamicActivitiesLookupEx.

getActivities

Indicates whether the provider supports the ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx or ISocialPerson::GetActivities method calls. If the provider sets getActivities as true, the OSC uses the value of cacheActivities or dynamicActivitiesLookupEx to determine whether the social network site allows storing activities as Outlook RSS items or as in-memory activities. If the provider sets getActivities as false, the social network does not support activities and the ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx and ISocialPerson::GetActivities methods, and the OSC ignores the values of cacheActivities and dynamicActivitiesLookupEx.

The following element applies to only cached synchronization or hybrid synchronization of activities.

Element	Description
cacheActivities	Indicates whether the provider allows storing activities as Outlook RSS items in the hidden News Feed folder in the user’s default store. The OSC checks cacheActivities only if getActivities is true. If the provider supports cached synchronization of activities, it sets cacheActivities as true and dynamicActivitesLookupEx as false. The OSC stores activities as RSS items in the hidden News Feed folder. If the OSC provider supports hybrid synchronization of activities, it sets cacheActivities and dynamicActivitesLookupEx as true. The OSC stores activities for friends in the hidden News Feed folder, and caches activities for non-friends in memory and refreshes them on a 30-minute interval. If the provider supports on-demand synchronization of activities, it sets cacheActivities as false and sets dynamicActivitesLookupEx as true. The OSC synchronizes activities on-demand, and caches activities in memory. The activities memory cache is refreshed on a 30-minute interval.

cacheActivities

Indicates whether the provider allows storing activities as Outlook RSS items in the hidden News Feed folder in the user’s default store. The OSC checks cacheActivities only if getActivities is true.

If the provider supports cached synchronization of activities, it sets cacheActivities as true and dynamicActivitesLookupEx as false. The OSC stores activities as RSS items in the hidden News Feed folder.

If the OSC provider supports hybrid synchronization of activities, it sets cacheActivities and dynamicActivitesLookupEx as true. The OSC stores activities for friends in the hidden News Feed folder, and caches activities for non-friends in memory and refreshes them on a 30-minute interval.

If the provider supports on-demand synchronization of activities, it sets cacheActivities as false and sets dynamicActivitesLookupEx as true. The OSC synchronizes activities on-demand, and caches activities in memory. The activities memory cache is refreshed on a 30-minute interval.

The following elements apply to only on-demand synchronization or hybrid synchronization of activities.

Element	Description
dynamicActivitiesLookup	Deprecated in OSC 1.1. Starting in OSC 1.1, the OSC no longer calls ISocialSession::GetActivities and ignores the value of dynamicActivitiesLookup. To support on-demand activities lookup, set cacheActivities as false and getActivities and dynamicActivitiesLookupEx as true, and the OSC will call ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx.
dynamicActivitiesLookupEx	Indicates whether the OSC provider supports the ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx call for on-demand or hybrid synchronization of activities. This element is new in OSC 1.1. If the OSC provider supports on-demand activities synchronization, it sets getActivities and dynamicActivitiesLookupEx as true, and cacheActivities as false. The OSC calls ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx every time the People Pane is refreshed. The People Pane is refreshed when the user changes the selected item in the Outlook explorer window or opens an Outlook inspector window. Dynamic activities lookup ensures that the user will always see the latest activities in the People Pane, but will increase the number of calls from the provider to the social network. If the OSC provider supports hybrid synchronization of activities, it sets cacheActivities and dynamicActivitesLookupEx as true. The OSC stores activities for friends in the hidden News Feed folder, and caches activities for non-friends in memory and refreshes them on a 30-minute interval. If the provider sets dynamicActivitiesLookupEx as false, the OSC does not call ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx for people displayed in the People Pane.
showOnDemandActivitiesWhenMinimized	Indicates whether the OSC should carry out on-demand synchronization for activities when the People Pane is minimized. This element is new in OSC 1.1.

dynamicActivitiesLookup

Deprecated in OSC 1.1.

Starting in OSC 1.1, the OSC no longer calls ISocialSession::GetActivities and ignores the value of dynamicActivitiesLookup. To support on-demand activities lookup, set cacheActivities as false and getActivities and dynamicActivitiesLookupEx as true, and the OSC will call ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx.

dynamicActivitiesLookupEx

Indicates whether the OSC provider supports the ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx call for on-demand or hybrid synchronization of activities.

This element is new in OSC 1.1.

If the OSC provider supports on-demand activities synchronization, it sets getActivities and dynamicActivitiesLookupEx as true, and cacheActivities as false. The OSC calls ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx every time the People Pane is refreshed. The People Pane is refreshed when the user changes the selected item in the Outlook explorer window or opens an Outlook inspector window. Dynamic activities lookup ensures that the user will always see the latest activities in the People Pane, but will increase the number of calls from the provider to the social network.

If the provider sets dynamicActivitiesLookupEx as false, the OSC does not call ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx for people displayed in the People Pane.

showOnDemandActivitiesWhenMinimized

Indicates whether the OSC should carry out on-demand synchronization for activities when the People Pane is minimized.

This element is new in OSC 1.1.

Common Capabilities for Supporting On-Demand or Hybrid Synchronization of Friends, Non-Friends, and Activities

Element	Description
hashFunction	Specifies the hash function that the OSC provider supports. To protect personally identifiable information of users who are not on the provider’s social network or line-of-business application, the OSC passes hashed email addresses to ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails and ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx. This element is new in OSC 1.1. If dynamicContactsLookup is set to true or dynamicActivitiesLookupEx is set to true, the provider must set hashFunction to one of the allowed values: SHA1, MD5, or CRC32MD5. If hashFunction is missing or specifies an incorrect value, the OSC returns an error. SHA1 is Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) US Secure Hash Algorithm 1 defined by [RFC3174]. For example, the SHA1 hashed value of email address melissa@contoso.com is bb81577b567262a21a4df5f6e335c1250acd7b50. MD5 is Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm defined by [RFC1321]. For example, the MD5 hashed value of e-mail address melissa@contoso.com is c8c39e61ca1662477b39b83d7b0a0615. CRC32MD5 is a combination of CRC32 and MD5 defined as follows: Normalize the email address by removing leading and trailing whitespace and converting all characters to lowercase. Compute the CRC32 value for the normalized email address and use the decimal integer representation of this value. If your implementation returns signed integers, you must convert the signed integer to an unsigned integer. Compute the MD5 value for the normalized email address and use the hex representation of this value (using lowercase for A through F). Combine these two values with an underscore. For example, the CRC32MD5 hashed value of email address melissa@contoso.com is 2149665315_c8c39e61ca1662477b39b83d7b0a0615.

hashFunction

Specifies the hash function that the OSC provider supports. To protect personally identifiable information of users who are not on the provider’s social network or line-of-business application, the OSC passes hashed email addresses to ISocialSession2::GetPeopleDetails and ISocialSession2::GetActivitiesEx.

This element is new in OSC 1.1.

If dynamicContactsLookup is set to true or dynamicActivitiesLookupEx is set to true, the provider must set hashFunction to one of the allowed values: SHA1, MD5, or CRC32MD5. If hashFunction is missing or specifies an incorrect value, the OSC returns an error.

SHA1 is Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) US Secure Hash Algorithm 1 defined by [RFC3174]. For example, the SHA1 hashed value of email address melissa@contoso.com is bb81577b567262a21a4df5f6e335c1250acd7b50.

MD5 is Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm defined by [RFC1321]. For example, the MD5 hashed value of e-mail address melissa@contoso.com is c8c39e61ca1662477b39b83d7b0a0615.

CRC32MD5 is a combination of CRC32 and MD5 defined as follows:

Normalize the email address by removing leading and trailing whitespace and converting all characters to lowercase.
Compute the CRC32 value for the normalized email address and use the decimal integer representation of this value. If your implementation returns signed integers, you must convert the signed integer to an unsigned integer.
Compute the MD5 value for the normalized email address and use the hex representation of this value (using lowercase for A through F).
Combine these two values with an underscore.

For example, the CRC32MD5 hashed value of email address melissa@contoso.com is 2149665315_c8c39e61ca1662477b39b83d7b0a0615.

Capabilities for Supporting Authentication and Account Configuration

Element	Description
createAccountUrl	If the provider sets hideHyperlinks as false, when the user clicks Click here to create an account in the Account configuration dialog box, the URL specified by createAccountUrl opens in the default browser. This element is new in OSC 1.1.
displayUrl	Indicates whether the OSC should display the URL Address text box for the social network in the account configuration dialog box.
forgotPasswordUrl	If the provider sets hideHyperlinks as false, when the user clicks Forgot your password? in the Account configuration dialog box, the URL specified by forgotPasswordUrl opens in the default browser. This element is new in OSC 1.1.
hideHyperlinks	Indicates whether the OSC should hide the Click here to create an account and Forgot your password? hyperlinks in the account configuration dialog box. OSC 1.0 ignores this setting, and the hyperlinks are always hidden. OSC 1.1 observes the value of this setting.
hideRememberMyPassword	Indicates whether the OSC should hide the Remember my password check box in the account configuration dialog box. This element is new in OSC 1.1. If the provider sets hideRememberMyPassword as true, the OSC will act as if the Remember my password box is unchecked and will not save the password. If the provider sets hideRememberMyPassword as false, the OSC will display the Remember my password check box in the account configuration dialog box.
supportsAutoConfigure	Indicates whether the OSC should call the GetAutoConfiguredSession function on the ISocialProvider interface to attempt automatic configuration of the network for the user.
useLogonCached	Indicates whether the OSC provider supports the ISocialSession2::LogonCached call to log on with cached credentials. This element is new in OSC 1.1. If the provider sets useLogonCached as true, the OSC ignores the setting for useLogonWebAuth and the OSC calls ISocialSession2::LogonCached for authentication. If the provider sets dynamicActivitiesLookupEx as false, the OSC does not call ISocialSession2::LogonCached for authentication.
useLogonWebAuth	Indicates whether the OSC should use forms-based authentication and the ISocialSession::LogonWeb method. If the provider sets useLogonWebAuth as false, the OSC uses basic authentication and calls the ISocialSession::Logon method. If the provider sets useLogonWebAuth as true, the OSC uses forms-based authentication and calls ISocialSession::LogonWeb.

Depending on the capabilities XML returned by the provider in the ISocialProvider::GetCapabilities method, the account configuration dialog box changes. For example, Figure 1 shows the account configuration dialog box for the TestProvider sample.

Figure 1. TestProvider sample in the account configuration dialog box

TestProvider example configuration information

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Capabilities XML Elements

Capabilities for Supporting Friends

Capabilities for Supporting Activities

Common Capabilities for Supporting On-Demand or Hybrid Synchronization of Friends, Non-Friends, and Activities

Capabilities for Supporting Authentication and Account Configuration

See Also

Concepts

Additional resources