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Issue - Programmatically posting WSS 2007 Discussion List Items shows sender as "System Account" in Outlook 2007

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  • I have been working through some hardware issues so Part two of my SPSreport blog continues to hold , but I wanted to take a few minutes to share some findings from a recent case with you.

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  • In this case, our customer is a programmer who sent in some code wherein he was programmatically setting the Email Sender and From field in WSS Discussion list items using OM code like this:

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  •                 SPListItem discussion = SPUtility.CreateNewDiscussion(list.Items, "subject");

  •                 discussion[SPBuiltInFieldId.Body] = "body";

  •                 discussion[SPBuiltInFieldId.Categories] = "category";

  •                 discussion[SPBuiltInFieldId.EmailSender] = "SenderEmail@email.com";

  •                 discussion[SPBuiltInFieldId.MessageId] = "Server Internet Message ID";

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  • As most of you know, I describe myself as a "code toddler"; I can read some code, I can write "Hello World" in a couple of languages. So I didn't know if I would be able to help our customer… but I knew I needed to try to do so. And I can understand that the code above should be setting values on specific columns and fields for a Discussion Board item. So off we went!

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  • The above code shows the proper person, as pushed from the OM into each of the appropriate custom columns in WSS's UI. But from the other side of this issue, after a sync to Outlook the From column is the Creator of the post as shown in the Outlook UI, i.e., the person that ran the code in SharePoint. In our case, this was the system account.

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  • In my initial research, I found a couple of OOB reasons why we might see the System Account as the sender. First, of course, is if the Creator of the post is the system account (never discount the obvious!). Second, if you see content in the document library that is assigned to the system account, it sometimes means that the document library has treated the incoming mail as an anonymous user due to the inability to resolve the name in the list of users with rights to submit mail to the list. To check to see if this was the cause of our issue, we checked to see if  the library was set to accept mail from all senders. You check this from WSS by browsing to the Discussion list, then choosing Settings > Discussion Board settings > Incoming Email Settings (and then navigate to the bottom of the page). Neither of these was the case when we checked them…

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  • To reset: the code makes the "poster" looks good on the Discussion Board list item, but on the sync to Outlook, the From field is changed to the WSS System Account. Nothing left to do but break out the troubleshooting tools! For this issue, my weapons of choice were netmon, Outlook Spy and source code for SharePoint and Outlook (sorry, no links for these :)). 

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  • I set up an OOB Discussion list (modified the theme, thus the difference in color), added a column (blue), started netmon and performed an Action > Sync to Outlook from the list.

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  • In reviewing the netmon of the trace, I see two properties in the 

  • In reviewing the netmon of the trace, I see two properties in the XML going across the wire; these are ows_author and  ows_editor:

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  • 0000  00 08 74 15 39 b5 00 07 b3 0f 59 ca 08 00 45 00   ..t.9.....Y...E.

  • 0010  03 80 77 26 40 00 37 32 84 9e 9d 36 1a 25 41 35   ..w&@.72...6.%A5

  • 0020  4b f7 f7 9c 09 4a 00 00 00 8a 00 50 11 b0 4d d7   K....J.....P..M.

  • 0030  80 23 a2 25 e3 b8 50 18 ff e9 d2 4f 00 00 33 34   .#.%..P....O..34

  • 0040  45 43 44 38 38 38 33 33 32 36 33 42 38 38 43 39   ECD88833263B88C9

  • 0050  43 34 42 26 67 74 3b 26 6c 74 3b 64 69 76 26 67   C4B><div&g

  • 0060  74 3b 26 6c 74 3b 2f 64 69 76 26 67 74 3b 26 6c   t;</div>&l

  • 0070  74 3b 2f 64 69 76 26 67 74 3b 27 20 6f 77 73 5f   t;/div>' ows_

  • 0080  54 68 72 65 61 64 49 6e 64 65 78 3d 27 30 78 30   ThreadIndex='0x0

  • 0090  31 43 39 45 46 30 35 34 31 43 41 46 34 45 37 35   1C9EF0541CAF4E75

  • 00a0  30 38 33 32 32 45 31 34 37 45 43 42 30 44 38 44   08322E147ECB0D8D

  • 00b0  41 36 34 45 34 43 35 36 39 34 43 27 20 6f 77 73   A64E4C5694C' ows

  • 00c0  5f 41 75 74 68 6f 72 3d 27 31 3b 23 53 63 6f 74   _Author='1;#Scot

  • 00d0  74 20 46 65 6c 6c 6d 61 6e 20 28 53 45 4b 49 57   t Fellman (SEKIW

  • 00e0  41 4b 45 29 2c 23 4e 4f 52 54 48 41 4d 45 52 49   AKE),#NORTHAMERI

  • 00f0  43 41 5c 73 66 65 6c 6c 6d 61 6e 2c 23 73 66 65   CA\sfellman,#sfe

  • 0100  6c 6c 6d 61 6e 40 6d 69 63 72 6f 73 6f 66 74 2e   llman@microsoft.

  • 0110  63 6f 6d 2c 23 73 66 65 6c 6c 6d 61 6e 40 6d 69   com,#sfellman@mi

  • 0120  63 72 6f 73 6f 66 74 2e 63 6f 6d 2c 23 53 63 6f   crosoft.com,#Sco

  • 0130  74 74 20 46 65 6c 6c 6d 61 6e 20 28 53 45 4b 49   tt Fellman (SEKI

  • 0140  57 41 4b 45 29 27 20 6f 77 73 5f 45 64 69 74 6f   WAKE)' ows_Edito

  • 0150  72 3d 27 31 3b 23 53 63 6f 74 74 20 46 65 6c 6c   r='1;#Scott Fell

  • 0160  6d 61 6e 20 28 53 45 4b 49 57 41 4b 45 29 2c 23   man (SEKIWAKE),#

  • 0170  4e 4f 52 54 48 41 4d 45 52 49 43 41 5c 73 66 65   NORTHAMERICA\sfe

  • 0180  6c 6c 6d 61 6e 2c 23 73 66 65 6c 6c 6d 61 6e 40   llman,#sfellman@

  • 0190  6d 69 63 72 6f 73 6f 66 74 2e 63 6f 6d 2c 23 73   microsoft.com,#s

  • 01a0  66 65 6c 6c 6d 61 6e 40 6d 69 63 72 6f 73 6f 66   fellman@microsof

  • 01b0  74 2e 63 6f 6d 2c 23 53 63 6f 74 74 20 46 65 6c   t.com,#Scott Fel

  • 01c0  6c 6d 61 6e 20 28 53 45 4b 49 57 41 4b 45 29 27   lman (SEKIWAKE)'

  • 01d0  20 6f 77 73 5f 50 65 72 6d 4d 61 73 6b 3d 27 30    ows_PermMask='0

  • 01e0  78 37 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 66   x7ffffffffffffff

  • 01f0  66 27 20 6f 77 73 5f 5f 4d 6f 64 65 72 61 74 69   f' ows__Moderati

  • 0200  6f 6e 53 74 61 74 75 73 3d 27 30 27 20 6f 77 73   onStatus='0' ows

  • 0210  5f 5f 4c 65 76 65 6c 3d 27 31 27 20 6f 77 73 5f   __Level='1' ows_

  • 0220  55 6e 69 71 75 65 49 64 3d 27 33 3b 23 7b 37 45   UniqueId='3;#{7E

  • 0230  41 34 43 38 41 44 2d 42 33 33 31 2d 34 36 44 46   A4C8AD-B331-46DF

  • 0240  2d 41 33 37 38 2d 42 37 35 36 46 31 34 41 38 35   -A378-B756F14A85

  • 0250  38 38 7d 27 20 6f 77 73 5f 46 53 4f 62 6a 54 79   88}' ows_FSObjTy

  • 0260  70 65 3d 27 33 3b 23 31 27 20 6f 77 73 5f 46 69   pe='3;#1' ows_Fi

  • 0270  6c 65 52 65 66 3d 27 33 3b 23 73 69 74 65 73 2f   leRef='3;#sites/

  • 0280  73 66 65 6c 6c 6d 61 6e 2f 4c 69 73 74 73 2f 44   sfellman/Lists/D

  • 0290  61 6c 6c 61 73 20 43 6f 77 62 6f 79 73 20 44 69   allas Cowboys Di

  • 02a0  73 63 75 73 73 69 6f 6e 2f 52 6f 6d 6f 20 72 6f   scussion/Romo ro

  • 02b0  63 6b 73 21 27 20 6f 77 73 5f 4d 65 74 61 49 6e   cks!' ows_MetaIn

  • 02c0  66 6f 5f 76 74 69 5f 76 65 72 73 69 6f 6e 68 69   fo_vti_versionhi

  • 02d0  73 74 6f 72 79 3d 27 62 66 65 32 66 37 36 34 66   story='bfe2f764f

  • 02e0  63 37 65 34 36 31 36 61 61 34 66 31 35 38 36 33   c7e4616aa4f15863

  • 02f0  37 31 35 38 61 34 63 3a 31 27 20 2f 3e 0d 0a 3c   7158a4c:1' />..<

  • 0300  2f 72 73 3a 64 61 74 61 3e 0d 0a 3c 2f 6c 69 73   /rs:data>..</lis

  • 0310  74 69 74 65 6d 73 3e 3c 2f 47 65 74 4c 69 73 74   titems></GetList

  • 0320  49 74 65 6d 43 68 61 6e 67 65 73 53 69 6e 63 65   ItemChangesSince

  • 0330  54 6f 6b 65 6e 52 65 73 75 6c 74 3e 3c 2f 47 65   TokenResult></Ge

  • 0340  74 4c 69 73 74 49 74 65 6d 43 68 61 6e 67 65 73   tListItemChanges

  • 0350  53 69 6e 63 65 54 6f 6b 65 6e 52 65 73 70 6f 6e   SinceTokenRespon

  • 0360  73 65 3e 3c 2f 73 6f 61 70 3a 42 6f 64 79 3e 3c   se></soap:Body><

  • 0370  2f 73 6f 61 70 3a 45 6e 76 65 6c 6f 70 65 3e 01   /soap:Envelope>.

  • 0380  01 06 78 2a 58 47 c6 34 92 6d f3 44 90 69         ..x*XG.4.m.D.i

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  • When I look at the same message as rendered in Outlook, and specifically the MAPI properties, with Outlooks Spy, I see this:

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  • In all, I see 4 MAPI properties with my name on them. I then went to a source search on each term. Ows_editor yielded one hit in Outlook source; he is responsible for conversion of the incoming ows_editor parameter. The conversion goes to the MAPI properties of PR_LAST_MODIFIER_NAME and PR_SENT_REPRESENTING_NAME; this

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  • In all, I see 4 MAPI properties with my name on them. I then went to a source search on each term. Ows_editor yielded one hit in Outlook source; he is responsible for conversion of the incoming ows_editor parameter. The conversion goes to the MAPI properties of PR_LAST_MODIFIER_NAME and PR_SENT_REPRESENTING_NAME; this is hard-coded. Searching source for ows_author yields that "Created By" in WSS maps to PR_ORIGINAL_AUTHOR_NAME_W. This is exactly confirmed by the Outlook Spy results above. So these are hard coded and cannot be modified simply by stamping a WSS property on them programmatically.

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  • I then went through that same set of steps after adding a column called blue. When I viewed the trace, there was no ows_ property associated with the column that would be translatable by Outlook. So again, another thought, and another dead end.

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  • Then my customer asked a question - "How do I add users to SharePoint that aren't in my domain". Having worked with contact lists in SharePoint, I knew that this is very simple; you just need to add a contact name and email address; there is no requirement from SharePoint that your contact be from your domain! And yes, from other work with our STSADM command line Administrative tool, I also knew that SharePoint will also recognize a local account of the SharePoint box as a valid user as well. This last piece of information is just what my customer needed.

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  • With this piece of information, he wrote the code in WindowsAccount.cs, tied that in with WSSAccount.cs, and boom! A solution is now in place that is allowing him to use SharePoint and Outlook interoperability to programmatically list SharePoint posts and have them sync to Outlook as he wishes. This is a fantastic example of a code toddler like myself using wide product knowledge in the Microsoft Office Family and troubleshooting tools to help an experienced programmer build a custom business solution. Everyone wins when this kind of synergy happens!

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  • Sample code attached with customer's permission! He reviewed ths blog before publishing as well; his desire here is that someone else might benefit from our work. All typical disclaimers apply, the code is not supported by Microsoft, nor myself - use at your own risk/benefit, etc...

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  • Have a safe and happy holiday!

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  • Scott

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ConsoleApplication1.zip

Comments

  • Anonymous
    December 17, 2007
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