Reading e-mail without Outlook app open

Question

Thats what I am using to read e-mail using C#:

outLookApp.NewMailEx += new ApplicationEvents_11_NewMailExEventHandler(outLookApp_NewMailEx);
            Outlook.NameSpace olNameSpace = outLookApp.GetNamespace("mapi");

olNameSpace.Logon("xxxx", "xxxxx", false, true);
Outlook.MAPIFolder oInbox  = olNameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderInbox);
Outlook.Items oItems  = oInbox.Items;
MessageBox.Show("Total : " + oItems.Count); //Total Itemin inbox
 oItems = oItems.Restrict("[Unread] = true");
 MessageBox.Show("Total Unread : " + oItems.Count); //Unread Items
 Outlook.MailItem oMsg;


 Outlook.Attachment mailAttachement;
 for (int i = 0; i < oItems.Count; i++)
 {
     oMsg = (Outlook.MailItem)oItems.GetFirst();

     MessageBox.Show(i.ToString());

    MessageBox.Show(oMsg.SenderName);
    MessageBox.Show(oMsg.Subject);
    MessageBox.Show(oMsg.ReceivedTime.ToString());
    MessageBox.Show(oMsg.Body);

The problem that I am facing is this application only works if the Outlook is open on the machine. If Outlook is closed it throws an exception:

The server is not available. Contact your administrator if this condition persists.

Is there anyway I can read e-mail with Outlook open?

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:48

2

You'll likely run into this when Outlook is closed.

Also following this tutorial will ensure you're doing all the right steps part and parcel.

Best of luck!

edited May 23 '17 at 11:48

Community

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1

answered Nov 19 '08 at 13:31

Mat Nadrofsky

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 19 '14 at 09:52

This is kind of an old question, but I am going to answer it since I struggled with the same issue for a long time and the previous answers on this page did not really help me.

I had to write a program and use outlook to send an email on different machines with different UAC-levels and this is what I came up with after a long time.

using Outlook = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook;

// Create the Outlook application.
Outlook.Application oApp = null;

// Check whether there is an Outlook process running.
int outlookRunning = Process.GetProcessesByName("OUTLOOK").Length;
if (outlookRunning > 0)
{
    // If so, use the GetActiveObject method to obtain the process and cast it to an Application object.
    try
    {
        oApp = Marshal.GetActiveObject("Outlook.Application") as Outlook.Application;
    }
    catch (Exception)
    {
        oApp = Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetTypeFromProgID("Outlook.Application")) as Outlook.Application;
    }
    finally
    {
        // At this point we must kill Outlook (since outlook was started by user on a higher prio level than this current application)
        // kill Outlook (otherwise it will only work if UAC is disabled)
        // this is really a kind of last resort
        Process[] workers = Process.GetProcessesByName("OUTLOOk");
        foreach (Process worker in workers)
        {
            worker.Kill();
            worker.WaitForExit();
            worker.Dispose();
        }
    }
}
else
{
    // If not, create a new instance of Outlook and log on to the default profile.
    oApp = new Outlook.Application();
    Outlook.NameSpace nameSpace = oApp.GetNamespace("MAPI");
    try
    {
        // use default profile and DO NOT pop up a window
        // on some pc bill gates fails to login without the popup, then we must pop up and lets use choose profile and allow access
        nameSpace.Logon("", "", false, Missing.Value);
    }
    catch (Exception)
    {
        // use default profile and DO pop up a window
        nameSpace.Logon("", "", true, true);
    }
    nameSpace = null;
}

// Done, now you can do what ever you want with the oApp, like creating a message and send it
// Create a new mail item.
Outlook.MailItem oMsg = (Outlook.MailItem)oApp.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem);

Vinzz · Answer 3 · 2008-11-19T14:14:01.000

0

Are you sure you want to use Outlook as a proxy?

people seems to deal low level with such a task in C# (surprising there isn't any built-in component in the framework...)

Concerning Mat's response, Redemption is indeed a fine product (used it to parse mails upon arrival in outlook), but I doubt it can work without outlook running.

edited Nov 19 '08 at 14:14

answered Nov 19 '08 at 14:05

Vinzz

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Steve Dunn · Answer 4 · 2011-11-19T18:25:35.027

0

I would personally not use Outlook as a proxy. If you're trying to ultimately monitor an Exchange store, then I'd use WebDav. Your Exchange server must support it - but if it does, it's a simple XML API. Well, the API bit is simple, but the XML is quite convoluted. But once you've encapsulated this in a bit of code, it's a doddle to use.

edited Nov 19 '11 at 18:25

answered Nov 19 '08 at 14:42

Steve Dunn

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I think it's not relevant to the question. – Samuel Nov 19 '11 at 16:27
Samuel, my answer is an elaboration on "No you can't". I thought it'd be a more helpful! – Steve Dunn Nov 19 '11 at 18:27

score 0 · Answer 5 · edited Feb 26 '16 at 22:38

0

Use the Redemption COM library for your code.

edited Feb 26 '16 at 22:38

Dmitry Streblechenko

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answered May 01 '09 at 04:06

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 21 '12 at 20:54

0

Use a MAPI client to retrieve the emails and a MIME decoder to read them. Both exists in the lumisoft framework:

http://www.lumisoft.ee/lswww/download/downloads/Net/

answered Feb 21 '12 at 20:54

jgauffin

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Reading e-mail without Outlook app open

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