OutlookTools

This page is still a work in progress.

The OutlookTools UDF offers some often needed extended functionality to control and manipulate Microsoft Outlook. It is built on top of the OutlookEX UDF.

General

Callback function

Most of the functions provide a callback function. It gets called before an Outlook item is created.

You decide how the item is being handled by setting the return value:

Return value	Action
0	Create the Outlook item, continue processing the next record
1	Do not create the Outlook item, continue processing the next record
2	Do not create the Outlook item, cancel processing all remaining records and exit the _OLT_* function.

The function is called with a parameter describing the data being used to create the Outlook item. This parameter is read only. The full description of this data can be found in the corresponding function you find below.

Debugging

You can pass debugging flags to the OutlookTools functions. Possible values (can be a combination of one or more of the following values):

Flag	Action
$iOLT_DebugOff (0)	No debugging (default)
$iOLT_DebugConsole (1)	Writes debugging messages to the console
$iOLT_DebugFile (2)	Writes debugging messages to a file specified by parameter $sDebugFile
$iOLT_DebugProperties (4)	Writes the properties used to create the Outlook item to the debugging destination
$iOLT_DebugCreateOff (8)	Do not create the Outlook item. Allows to test the function without modifying Outlook

Functions

_OLT_iCal_VEventImport

Import iCal events from an ICS file to an Outlook calendar.

The function processes the following properties according to RFC 5545 (properties not listed will be ignored):

COMPONENT:PROPERTY	SECTION IN RFC 5545	OUTLOOK PROPERTY	COMMENT
VEVENT:CATEGORIES	Section 3.8.1.2	Categories
VEVENT:CLASS	Section 3.8.1.3	Sensitivity	olNormal, olPrivate or olConfidentional. olPersonal does not get set
VEVENT:DESCRIPTION	Section 3.8.1.5	Body
VEVENT:LOCATION	Section 3.8.1.7	Location
VEVENT:PRIORITY	Section 3.8.1.9	Importance
VEVENT:SUMMARY	Section 3.8.1.12	Subject
VEVENT:DTEND	Section 3.8.2.2	End	specifies the non-inclusive end of the event
VEVENT:DTSTART	Section 3.8.2.4	Start	Example
VEVENT:DURATION	Section 3.8.2.5	End	used to calculate the end property
VEVENT:TRANSP	Section 3.8.2.7	BusyStatus
VALARM:TRIGGER	Section 3.8.6.3	ReminderMinutesBeforeStart	Only the minutes section of the duration is processed

Limitations

Input for the function has been taken from the following standards:

• vCalendar 1.0: RFC 2445, 1998-11
• vCalendar 2.0: RFC 5545, 2009-09

This means that the function does not follow this standards. It just scans throught he input file and extracts as much information as possible. Means: What you get from the function is just an educated guess :-)

Example script

iCal_VEventImport.au3

• creates a test.ics file in the current directory
• this test file holds two events starting today with a duration of 1 and 2 days
• debugging is done to the console
• it uses a callback function to suppress all events with SUBJECT=Party
• an array holding Start, End and Subject of the created items is displayed

Callback function parameter

A one dimensional array holding the Outlook properties to create the item.

Format: Outlook-property-name=Outlook-property-value

_OLT_vCard_Import

Import vCard contacts to an Outlook contacts folder.

The function processes the following properties according to RFC 6350 (properties not listed will be ignored):

COMPONENT:PROPERTY	SECTION IN RFC 6350	OUTLOOK PROPERTY	COMMENT
VCARD:FN	Section 6.2.1	fullname
VCARD:N	Section 6.2.2	lastname, firstname, middlename, title	Family Names, Given Names, Additional Names, Honorific Prefixes, and Honorific Suffixes
VCARD:ADR TYPE=HOME	Section 6.3.1	HomeAddressPostOfficeBox, HomeAddress, HomeAddressStreet, HomeAddressCity, HomeAddressState, HomeAddressPostalCode, HomeAddressCountry
VCARD:ADR TYPE=WORK	Section 6.3.1	BusinessAddressPostOfficeBox, BusinessAddress, BusinessAddressStreet, BusinessAddressCity, BusinessAddressState, BusinessAddressPostalCode, BusinessAddressCountry
VCARD:TEL TYPE=HOME	Section 6.4.1	PersonalHomePage
VCARD:TEL TYPE=WORK	Section 6.4.1	BusinessHomePage
VCARD:EMAIL	Section 6.4.2	Email1Address
VCARD:ORG	Section 6.6.4	CompanyName
VCARD:TITLE	Section 6.6.1	JobTitle
VCARD:CATEGORIES	Section 6.7.1	Categories
VCARD:URL TYPE=HOME	Section 6.7.8	PersonalHomePage
VCARD:URL TYPE=WORK	Section 6.7.8	BusinessHomePage

Limitations

Input for the function has been taken from the following standards:

• vCard 2.1: vCard 2.1 specification, 1996-09-18 (https://web.archive.org/web/20120501162958/http://www.imc.org/pdi/vcard-21.doc)
• vCard 3.0: RFC 2426, 1998-09
• vCard 4.0: RFC 6350, 2011-08

This means that the function does not follow this standards. It just scans throught he input file and extracts as much information as possible. Means: What you get from the function is just an educated guess :-)

Example script

vCard_Import.au3

• creates a test.vcf file in the current directory
• this test file holds a single contact
• debugging is done to the console
• it uses a callback function to not import contacts that already exist
• an array holding all created items is displayed

Callback function parameter

A one dimensional array holding the Outlook properties to create the item.

Format: Outlook-property-name=Outlook-property-value

_OLT_CSV_Import

Imports data from a CSV file and creates Outlook items in a specified folder.

Callback function parameter

The index of the currently processed row in the $aCSVData array.