Deleted Items

[Rog]

Hey guys, I want to check if an item exists in the DeletedItems Folder,
but if I use item.Parent, it will show me the original folder of the
item. So if I delete a task through outlook UI, and then in my code
check the Parent it will still show as Tasks until I shutdown outlook
and restart. It is like it does not pick up the fact that this item is
in the Deleted Items folder until I restart outlook. I do not want to
enumerate through all of the deleted items each time, so do you have any
suggestions?
Thanks

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Please show the code you're using the access the item and explain what event you're using to run it.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Rog]

Thanks as always Sue:

Outlook.MAPIFolder mFolder
=(Outlook.MAPIFolder)HelperClass.GetPropertyHelper(item, "Parent");
string fname = mFolder.Name;

if(fname.IndexOf("Deleted") >= 0)
{

}

"fname" seems to be the original folder that the item was deleted from,
not the deleted items folder. If I close outlook and restart then it
picks up.
I am running this code on a button click not on any outlook event.
Rog

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

How does GetPropertyHelper work? And how -- and when -- is Item instantiated?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Rog]

public static object GetPropertyHelper(object targetObject, string
propertyName)
{
try
{
return targetObject.GetType().InvokeMember(propertyName,
System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Public |
System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance |
System.Reflection.BindingFlags.GetProperty,
null,
targetObject,
null,
System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);
}
catch(System.Exception ex)
{
GlobalConstants.Log(log, "Error", "GetPropertyHelper", ex);
return null;
}
}

and
object item =
this.OutlookApp.GetNamespace("MAPI").GetItemFromID(entryID, storeID);

Thanks so much.

 

[Rog]

I even tried using redemption and getting property 0x0E090102 but it
returns the entryid of the contacts folder (where it was deleted from)
not the entryid of the deleted items folder. but if I use OutlookSpy and
look at 0x0E090102 property then it shows the entryid of the Deleted
Items folder for that Contact.

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

Have you released all references to the original object and since you're
using .NET code also called Marshal.ReleaseCOMObject and called the garbage
collector? Outlook caches items and their properties and the fact that
things work if you close and restart Outlook makes it look like it's a
caching problem. As long as an item is cached it will return its original
properties back.

 

[Rog]

Thanks Ken for your help on this.
Only problem is I do not maintain a reference to this contact until I am
trying to find it when the button is clicked:
I use this code to get the object:
object item =
this.OutlookApp.GetNamespace("MAPI").GetItemFromID(entryID, storeID);
but I do not maintain a reference to item outside of this function call.

If I get the item as above and then call:
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(item);
GC.Collect();
GC.WaitForPendingFinalizers();

it does not seem to do anything about releasing the cache.
Any ideas?
Thanks so much as always

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

Well, I'm sorry to tell you nothing really looks wrong in your code

The only thing I can think of and it's a stretch, is that you might try
getting each component object as a separate object instead of using dot
operators, where Outlook always creates internal variables. So for example
set a NameSpace object and use that to call the GetItemFromID method. Also
see if you are doing anything further on in that code that might call a
procedure or item method that somehow might also be creating an implicit
object variable that isn't being released when expected.

I'd also be curious to see if you put up some button or something and waited
a while, like 5 minutes, before clicking it and seeing if the GetItemFromID
code worked then. Just for testing of course.

 

[Rog]

Yes it seems if I do wait some period of time after deleting an item
from the contacts folder it will be picked up that it has moved into the
Deleted Items Folder.
What is odd too is, I used OutlookSpy to look at PR_PARENT_ENTRYID and
it shows the deleted items folder enntry, but if I use the same in my code:
safeMailitem.get_Fields(235471106); it will return the entryid of the
Contacts folder.

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

All that means is that something is holding a reference to the original item
and it's taking a while for it to go away. That's classic behavior for
something that's finally getting hit by the garbage collector and not being
fully released until then. You're going to have to put your detective's hat
on to find what that is.

 

[Rog]

thanks Ken, do you have any suggestions or tools that may help me to
figure that out?

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

No, not really. It's a matter of looking over each line of your code with a
microscope and checking for creation of implicit variables (from using
compound dot operators instead of explicitly declared variables for each dot
operator), making sure everything is explicitly released instead of relying
on things to go out of scope and other best practices.

 

[Rog]

OK so for example if I get a list of contacts like
GetNamespace("MAPI").GetDefaultFolder(OlDefaultFolders.olFolderContacts).Items;
and I use it, do I need to release it when I am done with these items?
Also if I say:
object item = GetFolderFromId(entry, store);
do I need to release this item and garbage collect everytime when I am
done with it?
rog

 

[Rog]

Also do you have a place to go where I can learn these best practices?
Rog

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

I would break that up so no implicit object variables are created. In VB 6
syntax:

Dim oNS As Outlook.NameSpace
Dim oFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Dim colItems As Outlook.Items

Set oNS = oOL.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
Set oFolder = oNS.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts)
Set colItems = oFolder.Items

I would explicitly release objects as soon as they are no longer needed. I
would minimize the calls to the garbage collector until they are needed,
perhaps in the shutdown code and whenever you need to ensure that no cached
object references are being maintained.

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

Look at the information at
http://www.microeye.com/resources/res_outlookvsnet.htm

 

[Chris_Ribe]

Me too!

Hi Rog,

I too am experiencing the same problem but in C++. I have been going crasy over this!
Do any of you guys know how to do proper garbadge collection in C++?

On another note:
I run code to update my contacts but it takes 20 seconds to update 11 contacts (via MAPI). But if I run a VB Macro to update all contacts it takes 1/4 of a second??? Do you have an idea why this would happen am I missing something? I did notice that it's when the code goes to set the phone numbers that the bottleneck happens in C++ that is not in VB? Do I need to disable something before accessing the contacts to avoid outlook automation?

Thank you for any sugesstions!
Chris

 

[Rog]

As always thank you Ken.
I am wondering I tried adding:
try
{
while
(System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(contactItem) > 0);
contactItem = null;
}
catch(System.Exception ex)
{
GlobalConstants.Log(log, "Error", "ReleasingComObjects", ex);
}

but sometimes it seems that while I am trying to do my processing I lose
reference to my object even though it was created after this.
Any ideas?
Thanks,

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

I have no idea.