topic RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C# in Product Forum

Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

ChristianJuhl — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 13:34:00 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to develop a BP C# object that uses Exchange Web Services (EWS). I have written a working code in Visual Studio but I am struggling to make in work in Object Studio.

This is the code from Visual Studio:

using Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data;
using System;
using System.Net;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ExchangeService service = new ExchangeService();

service.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("userid", "password");

service.Url = new Uri("https://outlook.office365.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx");

service.ImpersonatedUserId = new ImpersonatedUserId(ConnectingIdType.SmtpAddress, "userid");

Folder inbox = Folder.Bind(service, WellKnownFolderName.Inbox);

Console.WriteLine($"Unread email in inbox: {inbox.UnreadCount}");

Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}

My code stage in Object Studio looks like this:

I have copied the Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices DLL to C:\Program Files\Blue Prism Limited\Blue Prism Automate\, and added Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.dll and System.Net.dll to External References and Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data and System.Net to Namespace Imports.

I get the following errors:

Can anyone see what I am doing wrong? I realize that the code stage errors are syntax related, but I won't be able to fix those until the namespace error is resolved, which I have no clue how to fix.

Thank you very much in advance!

------------------------------
Christian Juhl
Business Controller
Danske Commodities
Europe/Copenhagen
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

JerinJose — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 15:12:00 GMT

Hi Christian,

Try the namespaces given below.

------------------------------
Jerin Jose
RPA Product SME
EY
Asia/Kolkata
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

ChristianJuhl — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 16:32:00 GMT

Thank you, Jerin. I will try it out.

Have you developed any EWS objects i Blue Prism that you would be willing to share?

------------------------------
Christian Juhl
Business Controller
Danske Commodities
Europe/Copenhagen
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

AndreyKudinov — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 06:50:00 GMT

Here is basic EWS I made:
https://github.com/aikudinov/BlueprismVBO/blob/master/BPA%20Object%20-%20Exchange%20EWS%20API.xml

Search filter need to be redone - AQS searches are cached, but you can't reset it in managed api - not useable.
Using generic SearchFilter will be either limited or overcomplicated - I can just provide both options I guess.
There is only basic mail. Appointments etc are not hard, but don't have spare time to work on it.
Not sure if url autodiscovery will work with office365..
If you drop dlls in Automate folder instead of installing from msi - remove paths to dlls in the VBO.

Should get you started ...

p.s. About your code: you don't need program/main - code stage is basically a static function within a class (VBO). There is also no console. You also need to define your service in globals if you want to use multiple code stages.

------------------------------
Andrey Kudinov
Project Manager
MobileTelesystems PJSC
Europe/Moscow
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

ChristianJuhl — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 10:35:00 GMT

Thank you, Andrey. My code stage is working now. Can you explain what you mean by defining my service in Global Code? Why is this necessary if I want to use multiple code stages?

------------------------------
Christian Juhl
Business Controller
Danske Commodities
Europe/Copenhagen
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

AndreyKudinov — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 11:18:00 GMT

@Christian Juhl, basically if you are going to put all your logic into one code stage, you are good as it is.

However, if you want to create a generic VBO with multiple actions, you will either have to do initialization (ExchangeService service = new ExchangeService(); etc..) in each code stage, or you go in Initialization page (where you add dll references) - Global code and declare "ExchangeService service; " there, then use "service = new ExchangeService();" when you actually do init in a code stage.
This way that service variable will be persistent across different code stages within VBO (during process lifetime) and you'd only have to do init once.

------------------------------
Andrey Kudinov
Project Manager
MobileTelesystems PJSC
Europe/Moscow
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

PratyushGarikap — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 09:05:00 GMT

@Christian Juhl There is an existing asset in DX for Exchange Functions. Take a look and see if it serves your purpose. https://digitalexchange.blueprism.com/dx/entry/16835/solution/ms-exchange-functions---agilify

------------------------------
Pratyush Garikapati
ROM Architect
Blue Prism
Asia/Kolkata
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

ChristianJuhl — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 14:08:00 GMT

@AndreyKudinov Thank you for clarifying!

------------------------------
Christian Juhl
Business Controller
Danske Commodities
Europe/Copenhagen
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

ChristianJuhl — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 14:10:00 GMT

@Pratyush Garikapati Thanks a lot! This is exactly what I need.

------------------------------
Christian Juhl
Business Controller
Danske Commodities
Europe/Copenhagen
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

david.l.morris — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 03:24:00 GMT

Hi Christian,
I also just learned about the Exchange Functions VBO that Agilify made. It's mostly working for me as well, but did you find that the Search Folder action seems to ignore the Folder ID input?

I use the actions in this order:
1. Setup Service Office 365 -- works for me (not using Impersonated User ID)
2. Search Folder ID By Name -- seems to work since it returns a folder ID consistently and can even return folder IDs from shared mailboxes if I input the shared mailbox address in Alternate Mailbox Address.
3. Search Folder -- this seems to always return the Inbox, and I'm not sure but I think maybe it has something to do with the code seeming to bind arbitrarily to the inbox. However, this will throw an error if I provide no Folder ID, and it will still return the Inbox items if I provide a random value. So, it appears as though the code completely ignores the Folder ID.

Anyway, anyone else having the same result? I may attempt to edit the code, but it's annoying because it's code that is compiled into DLLs.

------------------------------
Dave Morris
3Ci @ Southern Company
Atlanta, GA
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

PratyushGarikap — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 12:10:00 GMT

Hi Dave,

Would you be able to give this feedback on the asset page (same link I shared above)? The developers can review and provide feedback/fixes accordingly.

------------------------------
Pratyush Garikapati
ROM Architect
Blue Prism
Asia/Kolkata
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

david.l.morris — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 12:16:00 GMT

Are you referring to 'Add your review'? I can add a note there if so. It seems like that is for giving my thoughts about the VBO, but it doesn't seem like the appropriate place for reporting possible bugs with the code.

Hmm... There needs to be an easy way to send a message to the owner of the asset.

------------------------------
Dave Morris
3Ci @ Southern Company
Atlanta, GA
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

PratyushGarikap — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 12:30:00 GMT

Yes, I was referring to 'Add your review'. You can also post a message in the DX Community page.

------------------------------
Pratyush Garikapati
ROM Architect
Blue Prism
Asia/Kolkata
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

AndreyKudinov — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 13:46:00 GMT

You might want to mention, they are using regex to filter out HTML from email, while you can actually ask server to return text:
PropertySet properties = new PropertySet(BasePropertySet.FirstClassProperties,...);
properties.RequestedBodyType = BodyType.Text; // pretty please!!
EmailMessage email = EmailMessage.Bind(service, (ItemId)Id, properties);

But maybe they are doing it intentionally...

------------------------------
Andrey Kudinov
Project Manager
MobileTelesystems PJSC
Europe/Moscow
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

ChristianJuhl — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 14:41:00 GMT

Hi Dave,

Did you find a solution to this problem? I am experiencing the exact same issue. It looks like the DX page was updated on 11/19/2019 but the downloadable version is still 1.1.

------------------------------
Christian Juhl
Business Controller
Danske Commodities
Europe/Copenhagen
------------------------------

RE: Exchange Web Services in BP using C#

david.l.morris — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 14:51:00 GMT

Nah, I didn't find a solution for it. I ended up deciding not to use the object in production. Instead, we'll probably just go to GRAPH API when I have time to set it up.

------------------------------
Dave Morris
3Ci @ Southern Company
Atlanta, GA
------------------------------