Business objects for Exchange Server

The adapter for Exchange Server supports application-specific business objects based on the Exchange Server for Outlook object model. The supported business objects include the following:

Note that the current release of the adapter does not support the Attachment business object.

If the Outlook object has no children, the WebSphere Business Integration Adapter business object represents the Outlook business entity. For example, an appointment without a recurrence pattern is represented by the AppointmentItem business object.

If the Outlook object has children, then the WebSphere Business Integration Adapter business object represents the parent business entity and the business object's attributes references the children. For example, a recurring appointment would be represented by the parent AppointmentItem business object and the RecurrencePattern child business object. The RecurrencePattern object is referenced by an attribute in the parent AppointmentItem business object.

Simple attributes in a WebSphere Business Integration Adapter business object correspond to the fields in the matching Outlook business entity.

Required fields for business objects

Table 8 describes the fields required for business objects.

Table 8. Required fields for business objects

Field Notes
StoreID Required for all business objects
MessageID Required for business objects with an Update or Delete verb
FolderID Required for business objects with a Create verb

Adding fields to a business object

You can add user-defined fields to any of the supported business objects through Microsoft Outlook. For example, you can add a field called Access_Passcode to a MeetingItem business object.

If you use Outlook to add a field to a business object, you must modify that business object's definition in Business Object Designer. Follow these guidelines when adding user-defined fields:

For more information on using Business Object Designer, see the WebSphere Business Integration Adapters Business Object Development Guide.

Attribute properties

The connector has various properties that you can set on its business object attributes. Table 9 shows the properties for simple attributes.

Table 9. Simple attributes for business objects

Attribute Description
Name Specifies the name of the attribute
Type Specifies the data type of the attribute (boolean, date, integer, or string)
MaxLength Specifies the maximum length allowed for attributes that have a string data type
IsKey Specifies whether the attribute is a key field
IsForeignKey N/A
IsRequired Specifies whether the attribute is a required field in the business object
AppSpecificInfo Specifies the Exchange-specific information used to access this attribute.
DefaultValue If specified, this value is used by the connector if one is not set in the inbound business object, and if the connector's UseDefaults property is set to true.

Table 10 shows the properties for child object attributes.

Table 10. Attributes for child business objects

Attribute Description
Name Specifies the name of the child business object
Type Specifies the data type of the child business object. The following data types are valid:
  • Recipient
  • RecurrencePattern
ContainedObjectVersion Specifies the version of the child business object.
Relationship If the child business object is a container attribute, the Relationship value is set to Containment.
IsKey N/A
IsForeignKey N/A
IsRequired Specifies whether the attribute is required for the business object.
AppSpecificInfo N/A
Cardinality Specifies the number of child records that can be chosen for a FolderID record. The value can be 1 (if only one record can be chosen) or N (if multiple records can be chosen).

Application-specific information

Application-specific information provides the connector with application-dependent instructions on how to process business objects. If you extend or modify a business object definition, you must make sure that the application-specific information in the definition matches the syntax that the connector expects.

Application-specific information can be specified on the business object and also on each business object attribute.

Application-specific text for business objects

The application-specific information for the business object handles one key property for the adapter: the Outlook message class. The OutlookMessageClass parameter specifies the name of the Exchange business object that corresponds to the current WebSphere Business Integration Adapter business object. Valid values include the following:

Application-specific text for simple attributes

The connector uses application-specific text for simple attributes, as described in Table 11.

Table 11. Application-specific text for simple attributes

Parameter Description
CdoPropTagName Set the value to CdoPropTagValue to specify the CDO property tag name and value that correspond to the current attribute.
PropertyName Set the value to PropertyNameValue to specify the Outlook property name and value that correspond to the current attribute.
Access Specifies whether the current attribute is read/write (Get/Put) or read-only (Get).

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