Getting Friends Information
Applies to: Office 2007 | Outlook 2010 | SharePoint Server 2010
The Microsoft Outlook Social Connector (OSC) calls the ISocialProvider::GetCapabilities method to determine the capabilities of the OSC provider for a social network. If the getFriends and cacheFriends elements in the returned capabilities XML indicate that the OSC provider supports getting friends and caching friends as Outlook contact items in a corresponding contacts folder, the OSC can make the following calling sequence. The OSC calls methods in this sequence to get information and pictures (as supported by the ISocialPerson interface) for friends on the social network.
Note
The OSC refreshes the cache at a default interval. If an error occurs during cache refresh, the OSC retries at another preset interval, which can also be controlled by specifying the contactSyncRestartInterval element in the capabilities XML. For more information about refreshing the contacts cache, see Synchronizing Friends and Activities.
ISocialSession::LoggedOnUserID—The OSC gets the user ID of the Outlook user who is logged onto the social network.
ISocialSession::GetPerson—Using the user ID of the Outlook user, the OSC gets an ISocialPerson object for that user.
ISocialPerson::GetFriendsAndColleagues—The OSC gets the user’s friend list on the social network.
ISocialSession::GetPerson—For each person in the XML returned by GetFriendsAndColleagues, the OSC gets an ISocialPerson interface.
ISocialPerson::GetPicture—For each person in the XML returned by GetFriendsAndColleagues, the OSC gets a picture resource.