Automate Outlook Calendar Meeting Replies via Exchange Event Sink

[rusty]

Hi,
I'm trying to automate the processing of Outlook calendar meeting replies
using an server-side solution -- an Exchange event sink. I'm running into
problems when clients use outlook in 'cached exchange mode'.

The event sink processes meeting replies for the meeting owner: it applies
the response to the meeting (updates the 'tracking tab') then deletes the
calendar message if it's an acceptance or tentative. We've chosen to manage
the messages at the server side using cdoex and exoledb embedded within a
synchronous event sink rather than deploy this at the client side (outlook).

Everything worked well until we started to use Outlook in 'Cached Exchange
Mode'. When end users update meetings, or change a single occurrence of a
recurring meeting, they often see an Outlook Sync Issues "Conflicts".
message on the meeting ... "You made changes to another copy of this item.
This is the most recent version...."

We've tried playing with the timing of the event sink, eg wait 30 seconds
(until the Outlook has sync'd with exchange.). This resolves the conflict
some of the time, so it's not really a good solution.

How can I resolve this issue (turning off cached exchange mode is not an
option)??

I'm not sure where best to post this request...If this is not the correct
place, please direct me to another newsgroup or recommend a place where I
can research this issue ....

Thanks in advance for your perspective!
-Russ

 

[Wei-Dong XU [MS]]

Hi Rusty,

Currently I am finding one support professional for you regarding this
issue. If any update, we will reply at this thread at the first time.
Thanks!

Best Regards,
Wei-Dong XU
Microsoft Support

 

[Yan-Hong Huang[MSFT]]

Hello Rusty,

I am reviewing this issue thread. From the problem description, I think it
is exchange SDK dev issue. So the best newsgroup for it is
Exchange2000.development queue.

However, this queue is not a MSDN managed queue yet. That means you won't
be guranteed to get a reply in 2 business days there. So if the issue is
urgent for you, I think the best way is to use one of your MSDN subscriber
free support incident to contact our customer support service. There will
be one Exchange dev support engineer working specially with you on it.
Please visit the following page for how to submit it:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/support/default.aspx

If you have any more concerns, please feel free to post here. Thanks very
much for your understanding.

Best regards,
Yanhong Huang
Microsoft Community Support

Get Secure! ¨C www.microsoft.com/security
Register to Access MSDN Managed Newsgroups!
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/managednewsgroups/

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[rusty]

Thank you, Yan-Hong.

It would help me focus the support question if I understood a little bit
more about how Outlook using cached exchange mode works when it interacts
with Exchange. Is there a technical paper or document that describes this
process, what underlying Microsoft technologies are employed, etc?

-R

 

[Peter Huang [MSFT]]

Hi

As Yan-Hong suggested, this issue is more of an Exchange Server side issue.
Based on my research, it seems that there are no detailed public document
about the concrete implement of Cached Mode.
Here are some information for your refeference.

I think the main idea is that the feature will use a local copy.

When Microsoft? Office Outlook? 2003 is configured for Cached Exchange
Mode, the user enjoys a better online and offline messaging experience
because a copy of the user's mailbox is stored on the local computer. The
guidelines and procedures in this topic will help make the process of
configuring Outlook for Cached Exchange Mode go more smoothly.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011402591033.aspx

Description of Outlook 2003 with Cached Exchange Mode in an Exchange Server
2003 environment
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/870926

How to use the Cached Exchange Mode feature with extended MAPI applications
in Outlook 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=834496


Again, I suggest you post the issue in Exchange development newsgroup where
there are many exchange development experts which may helps you.

Thanks for your understanding!

Best regards,

Peter Huang
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.