WebDAV Search Folder Creation Protocol Command
Topic Last Modified: 2006-06-12
You create a search folder just as you would create a standard folder using the WebDAV MKCOL Method. However, along with the MKCOL Method request, you specify an XML request body containing a value for the folder's searchrequest Field. The value of this property is set to a Structured Query Language (SQL) query used to construct the contents of the persisted search folder. Note that when setting a value for the searchrequest Field, you specify the SQL statement within a DAV: sql subelement, as in the following example:
<a:searchrequest xmlns:a="DAV:">
<a:sql>select * from scope(...)</a:sql>
</a:searchrequest>
The following is an example of a persisted search folder WebDAV request. The XML portion has been formatted with extra spaces to aid readability and need not be formatted this way in your applications. See Constructing Exchange Store HTTP URLs and Authentication and Security Using WebDAV for more information.
MKCOL /folderpath/search_folder/ HTTP/1.1
Host: somedomain.example.com
Content-Length: XXX
Content-type: text/xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<a:propertyupdate xmlns:a="DAV:" >
<a:set>
<a:prop>
<a:searchrequest>
<a:sql>
Select "DAV:displayname"
FROM Scope('shallow traversal of
"/exchange/user1/inbox"')
</a:sql>
</a:searchrequest>
</a:prop>
</a:set>
</a:propertyupdate>
This topic contains Microsoft® Visual Basic® Scripting Edition (VBScript), Microsoft C#, and Visual Basic .NET code examples.
Example
VBScript
The following example uses the MKCOL Method to create a search folder.
Example
Option Explicit
' Variables.
Dim strSearchFolderURI ' As String
Dim strRootURI ' As String
Dim strUserName ' As String
Dim strPassword ' As String
Dim strBody ' As String
Dim req ' As Msxml2.XMLHTTP
' Initialize variables.
strSearchFolderURI = "https://server/TestStore/TestSearchFolder/"
strRootURI = "https://server/TestStore/Folder/"
strUserName = "Domain\user"
strPassword = "!Password"
' Build the search request body.
strBody = "<?xml version=""1.0""?><a:propertyupdate xmlns:a=""DAV:"" ><a:set>"
strBody = strBody & "<a:prop><a:searchrequest><a:sql>"
strBody = strBody & "SELECT ""DAV:displayname"" "
strBody = strBody & " FROM Scope('shallow traversal of """ & strRootURI & """')"
strBody = strBody & "</a:sql></a:searchrequest></a:prop></a:set></a:propertyupdate>"
' Create the XMLHTTP request object.
Set req = CreateObject("Microsoft.xmlhttp")
' Open the request object with the MKCOL method and
' specify that it will be sent asynchronously.
req.open "MKCOL", strSearchFolderURI, False, strUserName, strPassword
' Set request headers.
req.setRequestHeader "Content-Type", "text/xml"
req.setRequestHeader "Content-Length", "" & Len(strBody)
'Send the MKCOL method request.
req.send strBody
' An error occurred on the server.
If req.status >= 500 Then
wscript.echo "Status: " & req.status
wscript.echo "Status text: An error occurred on the server."
' Folder successfully created.
ElseIf req.status = 207 Then
wscript.echo "Status: " & req.status
wscript.echo "Status text: " & req.statustext
wscript.echo "Search folder successfully created."
Else
wscript.echo "Status: " & req.status
wscript.echo "Status text: " & req.statustext
End If
' Clean up.
Set req = nothing
C#
The following example uses the MKCOL Method to create a search folder.
Example
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Text;
namespace ExchangeSDK.Snippets.CSharp
{
class SearchFolderCreationWebDAV
{
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Variables.
System.Net.HttpWebRequest Request;
System.Net.WebResponse Response;
System.Net.CredentialCache MyCredentialCache;
string strRootURI = "https://server/TestStore/TestStoreFolder/";
string strSearchFolderURI = "https://server/TestStore/SearchFolder/";
string strUserName = "UserName";
string strPassword = "!Password";
string strDomain = "Domain";
string strBody = "";
byte[] bytes = null;
System.IO.Stream RequestStream = null;
try
{
// Build the search request body.
strBody = "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><a:propertyupdate xmlns:a=\"DAV:\" ><a:set>"
+ "<a:prop><a:searchrequest><a:sql>"
+ "SELECT \"DAV:displayname\" "
+ " FROM Scope('shallow traversal of \"" + strRootURI + "\"')"
+ "</a:sql></a:searchrequest></a:prop></a:set></a:propertyupdate>";
// Create a new CredentialCache object and fill it with the network
// credentials required to access the server.
MyCredentialCache = new System.Net.CredentialCache();
MyCredentialCache.Add( new System.Uri(strSearchFolderURI),
"NTLM",
new System.Net.NetworkCredential(strUserName, strPassword, strDomain)
);
// Create the HttpWebRequest object.
Request = (System.Net.HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.Create(strSearchFolderURI);
// Add the network credentials to the request.
Request.Credentials = MyCredentialCache;
// Specify the MKCOL method.
Request.Method = "MKCOL";
// Encode the body using UTF-8.
bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes((string)strBody);
// Set the content header length. This must be
// done before writing data to the request stream.
Request.ContentLength = bytes.Length;
// Get a reference to the request stream.
RequestStream = Request.GetRequestStream();
// Write the SQL query to the request stream.
RequestStream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
// Close the Stream object to release the connection
// for further use.
RequestStream.Close();
// Set the content type header.
Request.ContentType = "text/xml";
// Send the MKCOL method request, get the
// method response from the server.
Response = (System.Net.HttpWebResponse)Request.GetResponse();
Console.WriteLine("Search Folder created at " + strSearchFolderURI + ".");
// Close the HttpWebResponse object.
Response.Close();
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
// Catch any exceptions. Any error codes from the MKCOL
// method request on the server will be caught here, also.
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
}
}
}
Visual Basic .NET
The following example uses the MKCOL Method to create a search folder.
Example
Option Explicit On
Option Strict On
Module Module1
Sub Main()
' Variables.
Dim Request As System.Net.HttpWebRequest
Dim Response As System.Net.HttpWebResponse
Dim MyCredentialCache As System.Net.CredentialCache
Dim strPassword As String
Dim strDomain As String
Dim strUserName As String
Dim strRootURI As String
Dim strSearchFolderURI As String
Dim strBody As String
Dim bytes() As Byte
Dim RequestStream As System.IO.Stream
Try
' Initialize variables.
strUserName = "UserName"
strPassword = "!Password"
strDomain = "Domain"
strRootURI = "https://server/TestStore/TestStoreFolder/"
strSearchFolderURI = "https://server/TestStore/TestSearchFolder2/"
' Build the SQL query.
strBody = "<?xml version=""1.0""?><a:propertyupdate xmlns:a=""DAV:"" ><a:set>" & _
"<a:prop><a:searchrequest><a:sql>" & _
"SELECT ""DAV:displayname"" " & _
" FROM Scope('shallow traversal of """ & strRootURI & """')" & _
"</a:sql></a:searchrequest></a:prop></a:set></a:propertyupdate>"
' Create a new CredentialCache object and fill it with the network
' credentials required to access the server.
MyCredentialCache = New System.Net.CredentialCache
MyCredentialCache.Add(New System.Uri(strSearchFolderURI), _
"NTLM", _
New System.Net.NetworkCredential(strUserName, strPassword, strDomain) _
)
' Create the MKCOL HttpWebRequest object.
Request = CType(System.Net.WebRequest.Create(strSearchFolderURI), _
System.Net.HttpWebRequest)
' Add the network credentials to the request.
Request.Credentials = MyCredentialCache
' Specify the MKCOL method.
Request.Method = "MKCOL"
' Encode the body using UTF-8.
bytes = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(strBody)
' Set the content header length. This must be
' done before writing data to the request stream.
Request.ContentLength = bytes.Length
' Get a reference to the request stream.
RequestStream = Request.GetRequestStream()
' Write the message body to the request stream.
RequestStream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length)
' Close the Stream object to release the connection
' for further use.
RequestStream.Close()
' Set the Content Type header.
Request.ContentType = "text/xml"
' Send the MKCOL method request and get the
' response from the server.
Response = CType(Request.GetResponse(), System.Net.HttpWebResponse)
Console.WriteLine("Search Folder created at " + strSearchFolderURI + ".")
' Close the HttpWebResponse object.
Response.Close()
Catch ex As Exception
' Catch any exceptions. Any error codes from the
' MKCOL method requests on the server will be caught
' here, also.
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message)
End Try
End Sub
End Module