Introduction to Development Technologies

Topic Last Modified: 2008-09-02

This topic provides an introduction to the Exchange Server development technologies.

Technology	What is it?
Active Directory Services Interfaces (ADSI)	Active Directory Services Interfaces (ADSI) is a set of open interfaces that abstract the capabilities of directory services from different network providers to present a single view for accessing and managing network resources. Administrators and developers can use ADSI services to enumerate and manage resources in a directory service, no matter which network environment contains the resource. This can be an LDAP-based, NDS-based, or NTDS-based directory. It doesn't matter, as long as a service provider is available for that directory service.
Collaboration Data Objects for Windows 2000 (CDOSYS)	Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) for Windows 2000 (Cdosys.dll), which implements the 2.0 version of the Collaboration Data Objects API specification, is a Component Object Model (COM) component designed to simplify writing programs that create or manipulate Internet messages. CDOSYS is one in a suite of collaborative COM components referred to collectively as CDO. CDOSYS is an integral part of the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server series of operating systems. (The protocol events portion of this technology is described separately.)
CDOSYS SMTP/NNTP Event Sinks	The Windows 2000 Server Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) services provide architecture for the addition of customized software that responds to events. Applications can use CDOSYS to respond to messages as they are received by the SMTP and NNTP services.
Collaboration Data Objects for Exchange 2000 Server (CDOEX)	CDOEX provides the fundamental Component Object Model (COM) classes and interfaces that are used to manage most types of information in the Exchange store. CDOEX provides a superset of the functionality provided by CDO for Windows 2000.
Collaboration Data Objects for Exchange Management (CDOEXM)	CDO for Exchange Management (CDOEXM) provides the fundamental Component Object Model (COM) classes and interfaces that are used to manage the Exchange store. Before you can use the CDOEXM objects, the Microsoft Exchange Administrative Tools must be installed on the computer. Important   CDOEXM does not ship in, and is not supported for Exchange Server 2007. Use the Exchange Management Shell for performing management tasks.
Collaboration Data Objects for Exchange Workflow (CDOWF)	CDO for Workflow (CDOWF) is a built-in functionality provided with Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. By using CDOWF, which is driven by the Exchange store event architecture, you can design workflow applications without having to write the fundamental code that accesses, modifies, and controls data. CDOWF includes a workflow engine, modeling tools, and an event sink. Important   CDOWF does not ship in, and is not supported for Exchange Server 2007. Use the Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) for creating applications that use workflow and orchestration.
Exchange OLE DB Provider (ExOLEDB)	Through the Exchange OLE DB provider (ExOLEDB), programmers can access the Exchange store by using OLE DB and Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). ExOLEDB can be used on the local Exchange server to access Exchange store items.
Exchange Store Event Sinks	Exchange store events are used to build procedures that react to events in the Exchange store. There are three types of Exchange store events: synchronous events, asynchronous events, and system events.
Exchange Web Forms	An Exchange Web form is a Web page that is registered in the form registry of the Exchange store. Registering a form in the form registry enables Active Server Pages (ASP) and HTML pages to be associated with a specific type of data in the Exchange store and to replace the default Microsoft Outlook Web Access rendering when an HTTP request for the data is made. Important: Exchange Web Forms do not ship in, and are not supported for Exchange Server 2007. Use the ASP forms for custom applications.
Exchange Web Services	Use Exchange Web Services to develop messaging and calendaring applications. The Exchange Web Services (EWS) provides a set of operations used by client applications.
HTTP/Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)	Items in the Exchange store can be accessed remotely by using the WebDAV protocol, defined in RFC 2518. This protocol extends the HTTP 1.1 protocol, defined by RFC 2616, to provide additional methods and capabilities. It provides a means to access both the contents of an item and an extensible set of associated properties.
WebDAV Notifications	Exchange WebDAV notifications are a mechanism used for performing event-based processing in a Web-based document storage environment. WebDAV Notifications allow a client application to perform actions based on changes in the state of data stored on the server, including creating, updating, and moving documents, and processing new e-mail messages. Exchange WebDAV notifications help client applications display up-to-date information or inform the end user of document updates made by another user.
Incremental Change Synchronization (ICS)	Incremental change synchronization (ICS) provides a mechanism to monitor and synchronize changes to an information store hierarchy or content. The changes include creating, modifying and deleting folders and messages.
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)	The LDAP is a directory service protocol that runs directly over the TCP/IP stack, and provides a mechanism for connecting to, searching, and modifying Internet directories. The LDAP directory service is based on a client-server model. The function of LDAP is to allow access to an existing directory. Exchange 2000 Server messaging and collaboration application clients can use LDAP to access user and group information across a network or the Internet.
Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI)	MAPI can be used to access items and folders within public and private stores, as well as the properties stored along with each item. MAPI is used by various industry-standard e-mail clients, such as the Exchange client, all versions of Microsoft Outlook, and Outlook Express. Developers can create clients that use MAPI, as well as MAPI servers and MAPI forms handlers. The information here only applies to MAPI client applications that access Exchange.
Outlook Object Model (OOM)	Applications run on the client computer that can use the Outlook Object Model to programmatically access contacts, messages, calendar items, meeting requests, tasks and Outlook configuration information.
Outlook Web Access	Microsoft Outlook Web Access provides a rich messaging environment for use with Exchange that can be accessed over the Internet. The components that make up the Outlook Web Access display can be reused in other applications, and new features can be added. In addition, you can create custom display and data-entry forms by means of the Outlook Web Access forms registry.
Exchange Rules	Microsoft Exchange Server uses rules on mailboxes and other folders to automatically execute actions on objects in the folders. You can use rules to develop applications that carry out predefined or custom actions, even at times when the application is not running. Rules can be performed on the Exchange store (server-side) or on Microsoft Outlook (client-side, deferred action rules).
SMTP Event Sinks	The Windows 2000 Server SMTP and NNTP services provide a high performance, component-based event architecture for message processing, delivery, and relay. These services can be extended through event sinks that can process a message as it passes through the system.
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) providers for Exchange	Microsoft Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is the Microsoft implementation of Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM). WBEM provides uniform access to management information. Such management information includes details about the state of system memory, inventories of currently installed client applications, and other information about client status. The Exchange WMI providers supply information about the configuration and state of Exchange servers. Important: The Exchange 2003 WMI providers do not ship in, and are not supported for Exchange Server 2007. Use the Exchange Management Shell for performing management and monitoring tasks.
Exchange Backup and Restore API	The ESE backup and restore system supports backup and restore of entire storage groups, as well as individual databases within the storage groups. Because each storage group uses a single set of log files covering all of the databases in the storage group, the restore and recovery operations should be done over the entire storage group. Important   Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 disables remote streaming backup and restore by default. To enable remote streaming backup and restore, set the Windows registry key to 1: HKLM\System\CCS\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersSystem\Enable Remote Streaming Backup. When that registry key is not present, or is set to 0 (zero), remote streaming backup and restore is disabled.
Exchange writer for the Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)	The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) component of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and later coordinates the activities of providers, writers, and requestors for creating and using shadow copies. The VSS writer for Exchange Server 2007 enables applications to back up and restore Exchange storage groups that are stored on hardware that supports the VSS.