Not so long ago I described how to use the Find and FindNext methods to retrieve Outlook mail items from a folder. Today I am going to replace a mail item declaration with a contact declaration in the code. There is no difference between mail and contact items in case we use the Find and FindNext methods. To illustrate this I have modified the code a bit: replaced the MailItem class with the Contact one. And, of course, I changed the search criteria ;-)
The following code iterates over all contact items in the specified folder that has the CompanyName property set to “Add-in Express”. I look for my colleagues and output their first and last names to the debug window. You can use the DebugView utility to intercept the debug output.
C# and Add-in Express:
using System.Text;
using System.Diagnostics;
// ...
private void FindAllCoWorkers(Outlook.MAPIFolder folder)
{
string searchCriteria = "[CompanyName] = \"Add-in Express\" ";
StringBuilder strBuilder = null;
int counter = default(int);
Outlook._ContactItem contact = null;
Outlook.Items folderItems = null;
object resultItem = null;
try
{
folderItems = folder.Items;
if (folderItems.Count > 0)
{
strBuilder = new StringBuilder();
resultItem = folderItems.Find(searchCriteria);
while (resultItem != null)
{
if (resultItem is Outlook._ContactItem)
{
counter++;
contact = resultItem as Outlook._ContactItem;
strBuilder.AppendLine("#" + counter.ToString() +
"\tFirst Name: " + contact.FirstName+
"\tLast Name: "+ contact.LastName);
}
Marshal.ReleaseComObject(resultItem);
resultItem = folderItems.FindNext();
}
if (strBuilder != null)
Debug.WriteLine(strBuilder.ToString());
}
else
Debug.WriteLine("There is no match in the " +
folder.Name + " folder.");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
finally
{
if (folderItems != null) Marshal.ReleaseComObject(folderItems);
}
}
VB.NET and Add-in Express:
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Diagnostics
' ...
Private Sub FindAllCoWorkers(folder As Outlook.MAPIFolder)
Dim searchCriteria As String = "[CompanyName] = ""Add-in Express"" "
Dim strBuilder As StringBuilder = Nothing
Dim counter As Integer = 0
Dim contact As Outlook._ContactItem = Nothing
Dim folderItems As Outlook.Items = Nothing
Dim resultItem As Object = Nothing
Try
folderItems = folder.Items
If (folderItems.Count > 0) Then
strBuilder = New StringBuilder()
resultItem = folderItems.Find(searchCriteria)
While Not IsNothing(resultItem)
If (TypeOf (resultItem) Is Outlook._ContactItem) Then
counter += 1
contact = resultItem
strBuilder.AppendLine("#" + counter.ToString() + _
"\tFirst Name: " + contact.FirstName + _
"\tLast Name: " + contact.LastName)
End If
Marshal.ReleaseComObject(resultItem)
resultItem = folderItems.FindNext()
End While
If Not IsNothing(strBuilder) Then
Debug.WriteLine(strBuilder.ToString())
End If
Else
Debug.WriteLine("There is no match in the " + _
folder.Name + " folder.")
End If
Catch ex As Exception
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)
Finally
If Not IsNothing(folderItems) Then Marshal.ReleaseComObject(folderItems)
End Try
End Sub
C# and VSTO:
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Diagnostics;
// ...
private void FindAllCoWorkers(Outlook.MAPIFolder folder)
{
string searchCriteria = "[CompanyName] = \"Add-in Express\" ";
StringBuilder strBuilder = null;
int counter = default(int);
Outlook._ContactItem contact = null;
Outlook.Items folderItems = null;
object resultItem = null;
try
{
folderItems = folder.Items;
if (folderItems.Count > 0)
{
strBuilder = new StringBuilder();
resultItem = folderItems.Find(searchCriteria);
while (resultItem != null)
{
if (resultItem is Outlook._ContactItem)
{
counter++;
contact = resultItem as Outlook._ContactItem;
strBuilder.AppendLine("#" + counter.ToString() +
"\tFirst Name: " + contact.FirstName +
"\tLast Name: " + contact.LastName);
}
Marshal.ReleaseComObject(resultItem);
resultItem = folderItems.FindNext();
}
if (strBuilder != null)
Debug.WriteLine(strBuilder.ToString());
}
else
Debug.WriteLine("There is no match in the "
+ folder.Name + " folder.");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
finally
{
if (folderItems != null) Marshal.ReleaseComObject(folderItems);
}
}
VB.NET and VSTO:
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Diagnostics
' ...
Private Sub FindAllCoWorkers(folder As Outlook.MAPIFolder)
Dim searchCriteria As String = "[CompanyName] = ""Add-in Express"" "
Dim strBuilder As StringBuilder = Nothing
Dim counter As Integer = 0
Dim contact As Outlook._ContactItem = Nothing
Dim folderItems As Outlook.Items = Nothing
Dim resultItem As Object = Nothing
Try
folderItems = folder.Items
If (folderItems.Count > 0) Then
strBuilder = New StringBuilder()
resultItem = folderItems.Find(searchCriteria)
While Not IsNothing(resultItem)
If (TypeOf (resultItem) Is Outlook._ContactItem) Then
counter += 1
contact = resultItem
strBuilder.AppendLine("#" + counter.ToString() + _
"\tFirst Name: " + contact.FirstName + _
"\tLast Name: " + contact.LastName)
End If
Marshal.ReleaseComObject(resultItem)
resultItem = folderItems.FindNext()
End While
If Not IsNothing(strBuilder) Then
Debug.WriteLine(strBuilder.ToString())
End If
Else
Debug.WriteLine("There is no match in the " + _
folder.Name + " folder.")
End If
Catch ex As Exception
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)
Finally
If Not IsNothing(folderItems) Then Marshal.ReleaseComObject(folderItems)
End Try
End Sub
See you on our forums and in the e-mail support!
2 Comments
Hi,
I have been trying to search the address book of Outlook programmtically. For that if i use “Item” method, search query only matches with the Display name where as i would like to search for an “Alias” in the Address book. In the dialogue box while searching address book, there is an option of “More Columns”. But i really don’t understand how that can be accesses programmatically. Could you please tell me how can i search for a particular “Alias” in address book.
Hi Anand,
Please try to use the AdvancedSearch method of the Outlook Application class as shown in Advanced search in Outlook programmatically.