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Setting Outlook 2003 Junk Email Options Programmatically

[If you are trying to do this using Exchange 2007 please see http://gsexdev.blogspot.com/2007/07/turning-on-filter-junk-email-in.html ]


The Outlook 2003 Junk email filter has a number of different options that can be configured through (tools-options) that determine how the filter will treat email it detects as spam in your inbox. The configuration settings are stored on a hidden extendedrule message in a user’s inbox. The options settings are held in two MAPI properties on this hidden message the first one being

http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x61010003 which stores a long value that sets that level of junk email protection you want the long values for each of the setting are

No Automatic filtering = -1
Low = 6
High = 3
Safe Lists only = -2147483648

The “Permanently delete suspected junk e-mail instead of moving it to the Junk E-mail folder” is stored in the http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x61020003 as

Disabled = 0
Enabled = 1

On a new mailbox or a mailbox where Outlook 2003 is not being used (and this setting hasn’t been turned on with OWA2003) this hidden message won’t exist in the user inbox (also the junk e-mail folder won't have been created). One way to create this rule (and folder) is to turn on “filter junk email” in OWA2003. You can do this programmatically using a Webdav post and some OWA commands. Eg

xmlstr = ""
xmlstr = xmlstr & "Cmd=options" & vbLf
xmlstr = xmlstr & "junkemailstate=1" & vbLf
xmlstr = xmlstr & "cmd=savejunkemailrule" & vbLf
Set ObjxmlHttp = CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")
ObjxmlHttp.Open "POST", "http://server/exchange/mailbox/", False,
"domain\user", "password"
ObjxmlHttp.setRequestHeader "Accept-Language:","en-us"
ObjxmlHttp.setRequestHeader "Content-type:","application/x-www-UTF8-encoded"
ObjxmlHttp.setRequestHeader "Content-Length:", Len(xmlstr)
ObjxmlHttp.Send xmlstr
Wscript.echo ObjxmlHttp.responseText

Once you know for sure that the rule message is going to be there you can go about using a script to modify the Outlook Junk-email settings. The script I use to do this is based on Exoledb (you could also use Webdav if you wanted to do it remotely). What the script does is searches the users inbox for any IPM.ExtendedRule.Message messages that has the http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x65EB001E property (which I’m not really sure does) set to JunkEmailRule. Once this message is identified it’s opened up using ADO/Exoledb and the two properties I mentioned above are modified. In the sample script it sets the junk email option to high. I’ve posted a copy of the two scripts in this article here

The code for the above script looks like this

mailbox = "yourmailbox"
Set Rs = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
Set msgobj = CreateObject("CDO.Message")
set Rec = CreateObject("ADODB.Record")
set Rec1 = CreateObject("ADODB.Record")
Set Conn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
mailboxurl = "file://./backofficestorage/yourdomain.com/MBX/" & mailbox & "/"
Conn.Provider = "ExOLEDB.DataSource"
Rec.Open mailboxurl, ,3
mailboxurl = "file://./backofficestorage/ yourdomain.com /MBX/" & mailbox & "/inbox/"
SSql = "SELECT ""DAV:href"", ""DAV:uid"", ""DAV:contentclass"" FROM scope('shallow traversal of """ & mailboxurl & """') "
SSql = SSql & " WHERE ""http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x65EB001E"" = 'JunkEmailRule' and ""http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/outlookmessageclass"" = 'IPM.ExtendedRule.Message' "
Rs.CursorLocation = 3 'adUseServer = 2, adUseClient = 3
Rs.CursorType = 3
rs.open SSql, rec.ActiveConnection, 3
if Rs.recordcount <> 0 then
Rs.movefirst
while not rs.eof
wscript.echo Rs.Fields("DAV:href").Value
rec1.open Rs.Fields("DAV:href").Value,,3
wscript.echo rec1.fields("http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x61010003").Value
wscript.echo rec1.fields("http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x61020003").Value
rec1.fields("http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x61010003").Value = 3
rec1.fields("http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x61020003").Value = 0
rec1.fields.update
rec1.close
rs.movenext
wend
end if
rs.close

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All sample scripts and source code is provided by for illustrative purposes only. All examples are untested in different environments and therefore, I cannot guarantee or imply reliability, serviceability, or function of these programs.

All code contained herein is provided to you "AS IS" without any warranties of any kind. The implied warranties of non-infringement, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are expressly disclaimed.