.NET: Get all Outlook calendar items

Question

How can I get all items from a specific calendar (for a specific date). Lets say for instance that I have a calendar with a recurring item every Monday evening. When I request all items like this:

CalendarItems = CalendarFolder.Items;
CalendarItems.IncludeRecurrences = true;

I only get 1 item...

Is there an easy way to get all items (main item + derived items) from a calendar? In my specific situation it can be possible to set a date limit but it would be cool just to get all items (my recurring items are time limited themselves).

I'm using the Microsoft Outlook 12 Object library (Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook).

Answer 1

I've studied the docs and this is my result: I've put a time limit of one month hard-coded, but this is just an example.

public void GetAllCalendarItems()
{
    Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application oApp = null;
    Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.NameSpace mapiNamespace = null;
    Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MAPIFolder CalendarFolder = null;
    Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Items outlookCalendarItems = null;

    oApp = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application();
    mapiNamespace = oApp.GetNamespace("MAPI"); ;
    CalendarFolder = mapiNamespace.GetDefaultFolder(Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderCalendar);
    outlookCalendarItems = CalendarFolder.Items;
    outlookCalendarItems.IncludeRecurrences = true;

    foreach (Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.AppointmentItem item in outlookCalendarItems)
    {
        if (item.IsRecurring)
        {
            Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.RecurrencePattern rp = item.GetRecurrencePattern();
            DateTime first = new DateTime(2008, 8, 31, item.Start.Hour, item.Start.Minute, 0);
            DateTime last = new DateTime(2008, 10, 1);
            Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.AppointmentItem recur = null;



            for (DateTime cur = first; cur <= last; cur = cur.AddDays(1))
            {
                try
                {
                    recur = rp.GetOccurrence(cur);
                    MessageBox.Show(recur.Subject + " -> " + cur.ToLongDateString());
                }
                catch
                { }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            MessageBox.Show(item.Subject + " -> " + item.Start.ToLongDateString());
        }
    }

}

Answer 2

LinqPad snipped that works for me:

//using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook
Application a = new Application();
Items i = a.Session.GetDefaultFolder(OlDefaultFolders.olFolderCalendar).Items;
i.IncludeRecurrences = true;
i.Sort("[Start]");
i = i.Restrict(
    "[Start] >= '10/1/2013 12:00 AM' AND [End] < '10/3/2013 12:00 AM'");


var r =
    from ai in i.Cast<AppointmentItem>()
    select new {
        ai.Categories,
        ai.Start,
        ai.Duration
        };
r.Dump();

Answer 3

There is no need to expand recurring items manually. Just ensure you sort the items before using IncludeRecurrences.

Here is VBA example:

tdystart = VBA.Format(#8/1/2012#, "Short Date")
tdyend = VBA.Format(#8/31/2012#, "Short Date")

Dim folder As MAPIFolder
Set appointments = folder.Items

appointments.Sort "[Start]" ' <-- !!! Sort is a MUST
appointments.IncludeRecurrences = True ' <-- This will expand reccurent items

Set app = appointments.Find("[Start] >= """ & tdystart & """ and [Start] <= """ & tdyend & """")

While TypeName(app) <> "Nothing"
   MsgBox app.Start & " " & app.Subject
   Set app = appointments.FindNext
Wend

Answer 4

If you need want to access the shared folder from your friend, then you can set your friend as the recipient. Requirement: his calendar must be shared first.

// Set recepient
Outlook.Recipient oRecip = (Outlook.Recipient)oNS.CreateRecipient("[e-mail]");

// Get calendar folder 
Outlook.MAPIFolder oCalendar = oNS.GetSharedDefaultFolder(oRecip, Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderCalendar);

Answer 5

I believe that you must Restrict or Find in order to get recurring appointments, otherwise Outlook won't expand them. Also, you must Sort by Start before setting IncludeRecurrences.

Answer 6

I wrote similar code, but then found the export functionality:

Application outlook;
NameSpace OutlookNS;

outlook = new ApplicationClass();
OutlookNS = outlook.GetNamespace("MAPI");

MAPIFolder f = OutlookNS.GetDefaultFolder(OlDefaultFolders.olFolderCalendar);

CalendarSharing cs = f.GetCalendarExporter();
cs.CalendarDetail = OlCalendarDetail.olFullDetails;
cs.StartDate = new DateTime(2011, 11, 1);
cs.EndDate = new DateTime(2011, 12, 31);
cs.SaveAsICal("c:\\temp\\cal.ics");