Stream notifications about mailbox events by using EWS in Exchange
Find out how to use the EWS Managed API or EWS to subscribe to streaming notifications and get events.
EWS in Exchange uses streaming notifications to receive notifications that are sent by the server through a connection that remains open for a specified period of time.
If you're subscribing to streaming notifications by using the EWS Managed API, you subscribe and get streaming notifications by using the SubscribeToStreamingNotifications method. You then create a connection to the subscription by using the StreamingSubscriptionConnection object.
To subscribe to streaming notifications by using EWS, you create a subscription by using the Subscribe operation, parse the response, and then get the streaming notifications by using the GetStreamingEvents operation request.
After the client receives notifications of items changed or created on the server, the next step is to synchronize the changes.
Subscribe to and get streaming notifications by using the EWS Managed API
The following code example shows how to use the SubscribeToStreamingNotifications method to subscribe to streaming notifications for all events in the Inbox folder. It then creates a connection for the subscription by creating a StreamingSubscriptionConnection object. In this example, we assume that service is a valid ExchangeService binding.
// Subscribe to streaming notifications in the Inbox.
StreamingSubscription = service.SubscribeToStreamingNotifications(
new FolderId[] { WellKnownFolderName.Inbox },
EventType.NewMail,
EventType.Created,
EventType.Deleted,
EventType.Modified,
EventType.Moved,
EventType.Copied,
EventType.FreeBusyChanged);
// Create a streaming connection to the service object, over which events are returned to the client.
// Keep the streaming connection open for 30 minutes.
StreamingSubscriptionConnection connection = new StreamingSubscriptionConnection(service, 30);
connection.AddSubscription(StreamingSubscription);
connection.OnNotificationEvent += OnNotificationEvent;
connection.OnDisconnect += OnDisconnect;
connection.Open();
After you have received events from the server, the next step is to synchronize those changes with the server. Use one of the unsubscribe methods listed in Table 4 to end the subscription with the server when the subscription is no longer needed.
Subscribe to streaming notifications by using EWS
The following example shows an XML request that is sent by the client to the server when the client calls the Subscribe operation to subscribe to all EventTypes in the Inbox folder. This is also the XML request that the EWS Managed API sends when you use the SubscribeToStreamingNotifications method to subscribe to streaming notifications.
<?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="Exchange2013" />
</soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<m:Subscribe>
<m:StreamingSubscriptionRequest>
<t:FolderIds>
<t:DistinguishedFolderId Id="inbox" />
</t:FolderIds>
<t:EventTypes>
<t:EventType>NewMailEvent</t:EventType>
<t:EventType>CreatedEvent</t:EventType>
<t:EventType>DeletedEvent</t:EventType>
<t:EventType>ModifiedEvent</t:EventType>
<t:EventType>MovedEvent</t:EventType>
<t:EventType>CopiedEvent</t:EventType>
<t:EventType>FreeBusyChangedEvent</t:EventType>
</t:EventTypes>
</m:StreamingSubscriptionRequest>
</m:Subscribe>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
The following XML example shows the SubscribeResponse message that is sent from the server to the client in response to the Subscribe operation request. The inclusion of the NoError value for the ResponseCode element means that the subscription was created successfully. The SubscriptionId element uniquely identifies the streaming notification subscription on the server.
<?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="785"
MinorBuildNumber="6"
Version="V2_6"
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:SubscribeResponse xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages"
xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types">
<m:ResponseMessages>
<m:SubscribeResponseMessage ResponseClass="Success">
<m:ResponseCode>NoError</m:ResponseCode>
<m:SubscriptionId>JgBibjFwcjAzbWIyMDIubmFtcHJkMDMucHJvZC5vdXRsb29rLmNvbRAAAADwXxVesOnHS5BxUHKwAW88SHjwd1iB0Ag=</m:SubscriptionId>
</m:SubscribeResponseMessage>
</m:ResponseMessages>
</m:SubscribeResponse>
</s:Body>
</s:Envelope>
After creating the subscription, you can now get the streamed events by using the SubscriptionId returned in the SubscribeResponse message.
Get streaming events by using EWS
The following XML example shows the GetStreamingEvents operation request message that the client sends to the server to get notifications for the SubscriptionId returned in the SubscribeResponse message. The GetStreamingEvents operation request indicates that the length of the connection is 30 minutes long.
<?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="Exchange2013" />
</soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<m:GetStreamingEvents>
<m:SubscriptionIds>
<t:SubscriptionId>JgBibjFwcjAzbWIyMDIubmFtcHJkMDMucHJvZC5vdXRsb29rLmNvbRAAAADwXxVesOnHS5BxUHKwAW88SHjwd1iB0Ag=</t:SubscriptionId>
</m:SubscriptionIds>
<m:ConnectionTimeout>30</m:ConnectionTimeout>
</m:GetStreamingEvents>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
The following XML example shows the GetStreamingEventsResponse message that is sent from the server to the client in response to the GetStreamingEvents operation request. It contains a CreatedEvent and a NewMailEvent for the item, and a ModifiedEvent for the folder, all of which occur when a new message is received.
<?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="785"
MinorBuildNumber="6"
Version="V2_6"
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>
<soap:Body xmlns:soap="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<m:GetStreamingEventsResponse xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types"
xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages">
<m:ResponseMessages>
<m:GetStreamingEventsResponseMessage ResponseClass="Success">
<m:ResponseCode>NoError</m:ResponseCode>
<m:Notifications>
<m:Notification>
<t:SubscriptionId>JgBibjFwcjAzbWIyMDIubmFtcHJkMDMucHJvZC5vdXRsb29rLmNvbRAAAADwXxVesOnHS5BxUHKwAW88SHjwd1iB0Ag=</t:SubscriptionId>
<t:CreatedEvent>
<t:TimeStamp>2013-09-16T04:31:29Z</t:TimeStamp>
<t:ItemId Id="AAMkADkzNjJjODUzLWZhMDMtNDVkMS05ZDdjLWVmMDlkYjQ1Zjc4MwBGAAAAAABSSWVKrmGUTJE+MVIvofglBwDZGACZQpSgSpyNkexYe2b7AAAAAAENAADZGACZQpSgSpyNkexYe2b7AAANGFYwAAA=" ChangeKey="CQAAAA==" />
<t:ParentFolderId Id="AQMkADkzNjJjODUzLWZhMDMtNDVkMS05ZDdjLWVmMDlkYjQ1Zjc4MwAuAAADUkllSq5hlEyRPjFSL6H4JQEA2RgAmUKUoEqcjZHsWHtm+wAAAgENAAAA" ChangeKey="AQAAAA==" />
</t:CreatedEvent>
<t:NewMailEvent>
<t:TimeStamp>2013-09-16T04:31:29Z</t:TimeStamp>
<t:ItemId Id="AAMkADkzNjJjODUzLWZhMDMtNDVkMS05ZDdjLWVmMDlkYjQ1Zjc4MwBGAAAAAABSSWVKrmGUTJE+MVIvofglBwDZGACZQpSgSpyNkexYe2b7AAAAAAENAADZGACZQpSgSpyNkexYe2b7AAANGFYwAAA=" ChangeKey="CQAAAA==" />
<t:ParentFolderId Id="AQMkADkzNjJjODUzLWZhMDMtNDVkMS05ZDdjLWVmMDlkYjQ1Zjc4MwAuAAADUkllSq5hlEyRPjFSL6H4JQEA2RgAmUKUoEqcjZHsWHtm+wAAAgENAAAA" ChangeKey="AQAAAA==" />
</t:NewMailEvent>
<t:ModifiedEvent>
<t:TimeStamp>2013-09-16T04:31:29Z</t:TimeStamp>
<t:FolderId Id="AQMkADkzNjJjODUzLWZhMDMtNDVkMS05ZDdjLWVmMDlkYjQ1Zjc4MwAuAAADUkllSq5hlEyRPjFSL6H4JQEA2RgAmUKUoEqcjZHsWHtm+wAAAgENAAAA" ChangeKey="AQAAAA==" />
<t:ParentFolderId Id="AQMkADkzNjJjODUzLWZhMDMtNDVkMS05ZDdjLWVmMDlkYjQ1Zjc4MwAuAAADUkllSq5hlEyRPjFSL6H4JQEA2RgAmUKUoEqcjZHsWHtm+wAAAgEJAAAA" ChangeKey="AQAAAA==" />
<t:UnreadCount>1</t:UnreadCount>
</t:ModifiedEvent>
</m:Notification>
</m:Notifications>
</m:GetStreamingEventsResponseMessage>
</m:ResponseMessages>
</m:GetStreamingEventsResponse>
</soap:Body>
After you have received events from the server, the next step is to synchronize those changes with the server. Use the Unsubscribe operation to end the subscription with the server when the subscription is no longer needed.
Next steps
After you've received notifications, you can sync the folder hierarchy or sync the contents of the folder that changed.