How to do FindItem and GetItem Operations of Exchange Web Services using VB.net

  • Article

It does seem to be a bit of a dearth of VB.net samples for Exchange Web Service. So here is a sample Vb.net code which demonstrates:

  • FindItem(How to perform FindItem Operation to list all items from the inbox folder of a use mailbox)
  • GetItem (How to perform GetItem Operation to get an item with all properties)

NOTE: Following programming examples is for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This sample code assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. This sample code is provided for the purpose of illustration only and is not intended to be used in a production environment. 

 'List all the items from the inbox folder

  Private Function ListFolderItems(ByRef esb As ExchangeServiceBinding) As List(Of MessageType)

         Dim Messages As New List(Of MessageType)

         Messages = Nothing

  

         ' Form the FindItem request

         Dim findRequest As FindItemType = New FindItemType()

         findRequest.Traversal = ItemQueryTraversalType.Shallow

  

         ' Define which item properties are returned in the response

         Dim itemProperties As ItemResponseShapeType = New ItemResponseShapeType()

         itemProperties.BaseShape = DefaultShapeNamesType.AllProperties

  

         ' Add properties shape to request

         findRequest.ItemShape = itemProperties

  

         ' Identify which folders to search to find items

         Dim folderIDArray() As DistinguishedFolderIdType = New DistinguishedFolderIdType(1) {}

         folderIDArray(0) = New DistinguishedFolderIdType()

         folderIDArray(0).Id = DistinguishedFolderIdNameType.inbox

  

         ' Add folders to request

         findRequest.ParentFolderIds = folderIDArray

  

  

         'Send the listing (find) request and get the response

         Dim findResp As New FindItemResponseType

         findResp = esb.FindItem(findRequest)

  

         ' Get the response messages

         Dim responseMessage As ResponseMessageType

         For Each responseMessage In findResp.ResponseMessages.Items

             ' Cast to the correct response message type

             Dim findItemResponseMessage As FindItemResponseMessageType = responseMessage

             If findItemResponseMessage.ResponseClass = ResponseClassType.Success Then

  

                 ' Get the actual payload of items

                 Dim realItems As ArrayOfRealItemsType = findItemResponseMessage.RootFolder.Item

                 If Not realItems.Items Is Nothing Then

                     ' Initialize list of messages and fill

                     Messages = New List(Of MessageType)(realItems.Items.Length)

                     Dim message As MessageType = Nothing

                     Dim item As ItemType = Nothing

                     For Each item In realItems.Items

                         If TypeOf item Is MessageType Then

                             message = item

                             Messages.Add(message)

                         End If

                     Next

                 End If

             End If

         Next

         Return Messages

     End Function

  

 'To get a specific item based on ItemId

 Public Shared Function GetItem(ByVal serviceBinding As ExchangeServiceBinding, ByVal itemID As String) As ItemType

         ' Form the GetItem request

         Dim getRequest As GetItemType = New GetItemType()

  

         ' Define which item properties are returned in the response

         Dim itemProperties As ItemResponseShapeType = New ItemResponseShapeType()

         itemProperties.BaseShape = DefaultShapeNamesType.AllProperties

  

         ' Add properties shape to request

         getRequest.ItemShape = itemProperties

  

         ' Set the itemID of the desired item to retrieve

         Dim id As ItemIdType = New ItemIdType()

         id.Id = itemID

  

         getRequest.ItemIds = New ItemIdType() {id}

         ' Send the listing (find) request and get the response

         Dim getResp As New GetItemResponseType

         getResp = serviceBinding.GetItem(getRequest)

  

         ' Get the response message

         If getResp.ResponseMessages.Items(0).ResponseClass = ResponseClassType.Success Then

             Dim iirmt As ItemInfoResponseMessageType = getResp.ResponseMessages.Items(0)

             If iirmt.Items.Items.Length > 0 Then

                 Return iirmt.Items.Items(0)

             Else

                 Return Nothing

             End If

         Else

             Return Nothing

         End If

     End Function

  

  

Here are the few link related to EWS for basis understanding :

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