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Create appointments and meetings by using EWS in Exchange 2013

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Learn how to create appointments and meetings by using the EWS Managed API or EWS in Exchange.

The essential difference between meetings and appointments is that meetings have attendees, and appointments don't. Both appointments and meetings can be single instances or part of a recurring series, but because appointments don't include attendees, rooms, or resources, they do not require a message to be sent. Internally, Exchange uses the same object for both meetings and appointments. You use the EWS Managed API Appointment class or the EWS [CalendarItem](https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/Title Topic ID Project Name Writer Editor Publish Preview.aspx) element to work with meetings and appointments.

Table 1. EWS Managed API methods and EWS operations for working with appointments and meetings

EWS Managed API method EWS operation
Appointment.Save
CreateItem operation (calendar item)
Item.Bind
GetItem operation (calendar item)

Create an appointment by using the EWS Managed API

The following code example shows how to use the Appointment object to create an appointment, the Save method to save it to your calendar folder, and the Item.Bind method to verify that the appointment was created.

This example assumes that you have authenticated to an Exchange server and have acquired an ExchangeService object named service.

Appointment appointment = new Appointment(service);
// Set the properties on the appointment object to create the appointment.
appointment.Subject = "Tennis lesson";
appointment.Body = "Focus on backhand this week.";
appointment.Start = DateTime.Now.AddDays(2);
appointment.End = appointment.Start.AddHours(1);
appointment.Location = "Tennis club";
appointment.ReminderDueBy = DateTime.Now;
// Save the appointment to your calendar.
appointment.Save(SendInvitationsMode.SendToNone);
// Verify that the appointment was created by using the appointment's item ID.
Item item = Item.Bind(service, appointment.Id, new PropertySet(ItemSchema.Subject));
Console.WriteLine("\nAppointment created: " + item.Subject + "\n");

After setting the properties on the appointment object, you save the appointment to the calendar folder by using the appointment object's Save method.

Note that in the verification step, you use the item Id associated with the appointment to verify that the appointment is in the calendar folder. As a best practice, limit the properties returned by the server to only what you need — in this case, the appointment's subject.

Create an appointment by using EWS

The request and response XML in the following examples correspond to calls made by the EWS Managed API code in Create an appointment by using the EWS Managed API. The request and response XML that verifies that the appointment items are in the calendar folder are shown as well.

The following example shows the request XML when you use the CreateItem operation to create an appointment.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
       xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" 
       xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
       xmlns:soap="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <soap:Header>
    <t:RequestServerVersion Version="Exchange2007_SP1" />
    <t:TimeZoneContext>
      <t:TimeZoneDefinition Id="Pacific Standard Time" />
    </t:TimeZoneContext>
  </soap:Header>
  <soap:Body>
    <m:CreateItem SendMeetingInvitations="SendToNone">
      <m:Items>
        <t:CalendarItem>
          <t:Subject>Tennis lesson</t:Subject>
          <t:Body BodyType="HTML">Focus on backhand this week.</t:Body>
          <t:ReminderDueBy>2013-09-19T14:37:10.732-07:00</t:ReminderDueBy>
          <t:Start>2013-09-21T19:00:00.000Z</t:Start>
          <t:End>2013-09-21T20:00:00.000Z</t:End>
          <t:Location>Tennis club</t:Location>
          <t:MeetingTimeZone TimeZoneName="Pacific Standard Time" />
        </t:CalendarItem>
      </m:Items>
    </m:CreateItem>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

The following example shows the response XML that is returned by the CreateItem operation.

Note

The ItemId and ChangeKey attributes have been shortened for readability.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Envelope xmlns:s="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <s:Header>
    <h:ServerVersionInfo MajorVersion="15" MinorVersion="0" MajorBuildNumber="775" MinorBuildNumber="7" Version="V2_4" 
 xmlns:h="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
 xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
 xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" 
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" />
  </s:Header>
  <s:Body xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <m:CreateItemResponse xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" 
  xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types">
      <m:ResponseMessages>
        <m:CreateItemResponseMessage ResponseClass="Success">
          <m:ResponseCode>NoError</m:ResponseCode>
          <m:Items>
            <t:CalendarItem>
              <t:ItemId Id="AAMkA" ChangeKey="DwAAA" />
            </t:CalendarItem>
          </m:Items>
        </m:CreateItemResponseMessage>
      </m:ResponseMessages>
    </m:CreateItemResponse>
  </s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

The following example shows the request XML that is generated when you use the GetItem operation to verify that the appointment was created.

Note

The ItemId and ChangeKey attributes have been shortened for readability.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
       xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" 
       xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
       xmlns:soap="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <soap:Header>
    <t:RequestServerVersion Version="Exchange2007_SP1" />
    <t:TimeZoneContext>
      <t:TimeZoneDefinition Id="Pacific Standard Time" />
    </t:TimeZoneContext>
  </soap:Header>
  <soap:Body>
    <m:GetItem>
      <m:ItemShape>
        <t:BaseShape>IdOnly</t:BaseShape>
        <t:AdditionalProperties>
          <t:FieldURI FieldURI="item:Subject" />
        </t:AdditionalProperties>
      </m:ItemShape>
      <m:ItemIds>
        <t:ItemId Id="AAMkA" ChangeKey="DwAAA" />
      </m:ItemIds>
    </m:GetItem>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

The following example shows the response XML that is returned by the GetItem operation.

Note

The ItemId and ChangeKey attributes have been shortened for readability.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Envelope xmlns:s="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <s:Header>
    <h:ServerVersionInfo MajorVersion="15" MinorVersion="0" MajorBuildNumber="775" MinorBuildNumber="7" Version="V2_4" 
 xmlns:h="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
 xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
 xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" 
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" />
  </s:Header>
  <s:Body xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <m:GetItemResponse xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types">
      <m:ResponseMessages>
        <m:GetItemResponseMessage ResponseClass="Success">
          <m:ResponseCode>NoError</m:ResponseCode>
          <m:Items>
            <t:CalendarItem>
              <t:ItemId Id="AAMkA" ChangeKey="DwAAA" />
              <t:Subject>Tennis lesson</t:Subject>
            </t:CalendarItem>
          </m:Items>
        </m:GetItemResponseMessage>
      </m:ResponseMessages>
    </m:GetItemResponse>
  </s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

Create a meeting by using the EWS Managed API

When you create a meeting, in addition to saving an item to the calendar folder, you also typically want to send meeting requests to attendees. The following code example shows how to create a meeting and send meeting requests.

This example assumes that you have authenticated to an Exchange server and have acquired an ExchangeService object named service.

Appointment meeting = new Appointment(service);
// Set the properties on the meeting object to create the meeting.
meeting.Subject = "Team building exercise";
meeting.Body = "Let's learn to really work as a team and then have lunch!";
meeting.Start = DateTime.Now.AddDays(2);            
meeting.End = meeting.Start.AddHours(4);
meeting.Location = "Conference Room 12";
meeting.RequiredAttendees.Add("Mack@contoso.com");
meeting.RequiredAttendees.Add("Sadie@contoso.com");
meeting.OptionalAttendees.Add("Magdalena@contoso.com");
meeting.ReminderMinutesBeforeStart = 60;
// Save the meeting to the Calendar folder and send the meeting request.
meeting.Save(SendInvitationsMode.SendToAllAndSaveCopy);
// Verify that the meeting was created.
Item item = Item.Bind(service, meeting.Id, new PropertySet(ItemSchema.Subject));
Console.WriteLine("\nMeeting created: " + item.Subject + "\n");

After setting the properties on the Appointment object, save the meeting to your calendar folder by using the Save method. When you set the SendInvitationsMode enumeration value to SendOnlyToAll or SendToAllAndSaveCopy, invitations are sent to attendees.

Use the item Id associated with the meeting to verify that it was saved in the calendar folder. As a best practice, limit the properties returned by the server to only what you need - in this case, the meeting's subject.

Create a meeting by using EWS

The request and response XML in the following examples correspond to calls made by the EWS Managed API code in Create a meeting by using the EWS Managed API. The request and response XML that verifies that the meeting items are in the calendar folder are shown as well.

The following example shows the request XML when you use the CreateItem operation to create a meeting.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" 
       xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" xmlns:soap="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <soap:Header>
    <t:RequestServerVersion Version="Exchange2007_SP1" />
    <t:TimeZoneContext>
      <t:TimeZoneDefinition Id="Pacific Standard Time" />
    </t:TimeZoneContext>
  </soap:Header>
  <soap:Body>
    <m:CreateItem SendMeetingInvitations="SendToAllAndSaveCopy">
      <m:Items>
        <t:CalendarItem>
          <t:Subject>Team building exercise</t:Subject>
          <t:Body BodyType="HTML">Let's learn to really work as a team and then have lunch!</t:Body>
          <t:ReminderMinutesBeforeStart>60</t:ReminderMinutesBeforeStart>
          <t:Start>2013-09-21T16:00:00.000Z</t:Start>
          <t:End>2013-09-21T20:00:00.000Z</t:End>
          <t:Location>Conference Room 12</t:Location>
          <t:RequiredAttendees>
            <t:Attendee>
              <t:Mailbox>
                <t:EmailAddress>Mack.Chaves@contoso.com</t:EmailAddress>
              </t:Mailbox>
            </t:Attendee>
            <t:Attendee>
              <t:Mailbox>
                <t:EmailAddress>Sadie.Daniels@contoso.com</t:EmailAddress>
              </t:Mailbox>
            </t:Attendee>
          </t:RequiredAttendees>
          <t:OptionalAttendees>
            <t:Attendee>
              <t:Mailbox>
                <t:EmailAddress>Magdalena.Kemp@contoso.com</t:EmailAddress>
              </t:Mailbox>
            </t:Attendee>
          </t:OptionalAttendees>
          <t:MeetingTimeZone TimeZoneName="Pacific Standard Time" />
        </t:CalendarItem>
      </m:Items>
    </m:CreateItem>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

The following example shows the response XML that is returned by the CreateItem operation.

Note

The ItemId and ChangeKey attributes have been shortened for readability.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Envelope xmlns:s="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <s:Header>
    <h:ServerVersionInfo MajorVersion="15" MinorVersion="0" MajorBuildNumber="775" MinorBuildNumber="7" Version="V2_4" 
 xmlns:h="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
 xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
 xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" />
  </s:Header>
  <s:Body xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <m:CreateItemResponse xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types">
      <m:ResponseMessages>
        <m:CreateItemResponseMessage ResponseClass="Success">
          <m:ResponseCode>NoError</m:ResponseCode>
          <m:Items>
            <t:CalendarItem>
              <t:ItemId Id="AAMkA" ChangeKey="DwAAA" />
            </t:CalendarItem>
          </m:Items>
        </m:CreateItemResponseMessage>
      </m:ResponseMessages>
    </m:CreateItemResponse>
  </s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

The following example shows the request XML that is generated by the GetItem operation when you verify that the meeting was created.

Note

The ItemId and ChangeKey attributes have been shortened for readability.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" 
       xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" xmlns:soap="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <soap:Header>
    <t:RequestServerVersion Version="Exchange2007_SP1" />
    <t:TimeZoneContext>
      <t:TimeZoneDefinition Id="Pacific Standard Time" />
    </t:TimeZoneContext>
  </soap:Header>
  <soap:Body>
    <m:GetItem>
      <m:ItemShape>
        <t:BaseShape>IdOnly</t:BaseShape>
        <t:AdditionalProperties>
          <t:FieldURI FieldURI="item:Subject" />
        </t:AdditionalProperties>
      </m:ItemShape>
      <m:ItemIds>
        <t:ItemId Id="AAMkA" ChangeKey="DwAAA" />
      </m:ItemIds>
    </m:GetItem>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

The following example shows the response XML that is returned by the GetItem operation.

Note

The ItemId and ChangeKey attributes have been shortened for readability.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Envelope xmlns:s="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <s:Header>
    <h:ServerVersionInfo MajorVersion="15" MinorVersion="0" MajorBuildNumber="775" MinorBuildNumber="7" Version="V2_4" 
 xmlns:h="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
 xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" 
 xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" />
  </s:Header>
  <s:Body xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <m:GetItemResponse xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types">
      <m:ResponseMessages>
        <m:GetItemResponseMessage ResponseClass="Success">
          <m:ResponseCode>NoError</m:ResponseCode>
          <m:Items>
            <t:CalendarItem>
              <t:ItemId Id="AAMkA" ChangeKey="DwAAA" />
              <t:Subject>Team building exercise</t:Subject>
            </t:CalendarItem>
          </m:Items>
        </m:GetItemResponseMessage>
      </m:ResponseMessages>
    </m:GetItemResponse>
  </s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

See also