Sending Email through Outlook 2010 via C#

Question

I am trying to send an email from inside my C# console App. I have added the references and using statements but it seems I have not added everything I need. This is the first time I have ever attempted to do this so I figure there is something I have forgotten.

I got this code snippet from the MSDN site http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ms269113(v=vs.100).aspx

Here is the code that I am getting issues with in VS 2010

using System;
using System.Configuration;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using Outlook = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook;
using Office = Microsoft.Office.Core;

namespace FileOrganizer
{
    class Program
    {
        private void CreateMailItem()
        {
            //Outlook.MailItem mailItem = (Outlook.MailItem)
            // this.Application.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem);
            Outlook.Application app = new Outlook.Application();
            Outlook.MailItem mailItem = app.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem);
            mailItem.Subject = "This is the subject";
            mailItem.To = "[email protected]";
            mailItem.Body = "This is the message.";
            mailItem.Attachments.Add(logPath);//logPath is a string holding path to the log.txt file
            mailItem.Importance = Outlook.OlImportance.olImportanceHigh;
            mailItem.Display(false);
        }
    }
}

Heathen

Please simply post your code as text, rather than a screenshot of it. It gets shrunken down for those of us with lower-resolution monitors and is illegible without opening the image itself into a new tab... Then we have to re-type the if someone were to suggest a modification to your code, rather than copy-paste and change it. – Wort

OK Will do now.. Edit Inc. I only was trying to show the "red squigglies" so I will add code below screenshot – Heathen

this.application is a problem. 'this' is refering to your "Program" at that point of time. You need to create an instance of it or it might be a static method on (something like)Microsoft.Office.Outlook.CreateItem. – Edgebone

@MarvinSmit Could you provide an example? I have updated the code above to reflect what I currently have and this.application is the last issue I have. – Heathen

I had to remove the "Microsoft.Office.Tools.Outlook." from the assignment to "Importance" to get it to compile. – Isherwood

Don't look at his screenshot with references. It is wrong! To make his code compile you will need to add the following references: (1) From .NET tab add Microsoft.Office.Tools.Outlook for runtime v.4.0.*, then (2) again from .NET tab add Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook for version 14.0.0.0 in my case, and (3) COM object Microsoft Office 12.0 Object Library for Microsoft.Office.Core. – Meshuga

Answer 1

replace the line

Outlook.MailItem mailItem = (Outlook.MailItem)
this.Application.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem);

with

Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application app = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application();
Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.MailItem mailItem = app.CreateItem(Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem);

Hope this helps,

Edgebone

Any idea why I get an exception using this code unless Outlook is closed? {"Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {0006F03A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80080005 Server execution failed (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80080005 (CO_E_SERVER_EXEC_FAILURE))."} – Wearproof

Have a look at: social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/…. It's basically "You can't run 2 outlook instances on 1 machine". Link has a partial solve with restrictions. – Edgebone

Answer 2

This is how you can send an email via Microsoft Office Outlook. In my case I was using Office 2010, but I suppose it should work with newer versions.

The upvoted sample above just displays the message. It does not send it out. Moreover it doesn't compile.

So first you need to add these references to your .NET project:

Like I said in my comment to his OP:

You will need to add the following references: (1) From .NET tab add Microsoft.Office.Tools.Outlook for runtime v.4.0.*, then (2) again from .NET tab add Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook for version 14.0.0.0 in my case, and (3) COM object Microsoft Office 12.0 Object Library for Microsoft.Office.Core.

Then here's the code to send out emails:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

using System.Net;
using System.Configuration;
using System.IO;
using System.Net.Mail;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using Outlook = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook;
using Office = Microsoft.Office.Core;

public enum BodyType
{
    PlainText,
    RTF,
    HTML
}

    //....

    public static bool sendEmailViaOutlook(string sFromAddress, string sToAddress, string sCc, string sSubject, string sBody, BodyType bodyType, List<string> arrAttachments = null, string sBcc = null)
    {
        //Send email via Office Outlook 2010
        //'sFromAddress' = email address sending from (ex: "[email protected]") -- this account must exist in Outlook. Only one email address is allowed!
        //'sToAddress' = email address sending to. Can be multiple. In that case separate with semicolons or commas. (ex: "[email protected]", or "[email protected]; [email protected]")
        //'sCc' = email address sending to as Carbon Copy option. Can be multiple. In that case separate with semicolons or commas. (ex: "[email protected]", or "[email protected]; [email protected]")
        //'sSubject' = email subject as plain text
        //'sBody' = email body. Type of data depends on 'bodyType'
        //'bodyType' = type of text in 'sBody': plain text, HTML or RTF
        //'arrAttachments' = if not null, must be a list of absolute file paths to attach to the email
        //'sBcc' = single email address to use as a Blind Carbon Copy, or null not to use
        //RETURN:
        //      = true if success
        bool bRes = false;

        try
        {
            //Get Outlook COM objects
            Outlook.Application app = new Outlook.Application();
            Outlook.MailItem newMail = (Outlook.MailItem)app.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem);

            //Parse 'sToAddress'
            if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(sToAddress))
            {
                string[] arrAddTos = sToAddress.Split(new char[] { ';', ',' });
                foreach (string strAddr in arrAddTos)
                {
                    if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(strAddr) &&
                        strAddr.IndexOf('@') != -1)
                    {
                        newMail.Recipients.Add(strAddr.Trim());
                    }
                    else
                        throw new Exception("Bad to-address: " + sToAddress);
                }
            }
            else
                throw new Exception("Must specify to-address");

            //Parse 'sCc'
            if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(sCc))
            {
                string[] arrAddTos = sCc.Split(new char[] { ';', ',' });
                foreach (string strAddr in arrAddTos)
                {
                    if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(strAddr) &&
                        strAddr.IndexOf('@') != -1)
                    {
                        newMail.Recipients.Add(strAddr.Trim());
                    }
                    else
                        throw new Exception("Bad CC-address: " + sCc);
                }
            }

            //Is BCC empty?
            if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(sBcc))
            {
                newMail.BCC = sBcc.Trim();
            }

            //Resolve all recepients
            if (!newMail.Recipients.ResolveAll())
            {
                throw new Exception("Failed to resolve all recipients: " + sToAddress + ";" + sCc);
            }


            //Set type of message
            switch (bodyType)
            {
                case BodyType.HTML:
                    newMail.HTMLBody = sBody;
                    break;
                case BodyType.RTF:
                    newMail.RTFBody = sBody;
                    break;
                case BodyType.PlainText:
                    newMail.Body = sBody;
                    break;
                default:
                    throw new Exception("Bad email body type: " + bodyType);
            }


            if (arrAttachments != null)
            {
                //Add attachments
                foreach (string strPath in arrAttachments)
                {
                    if (File.Exists(strPath))
                    {
                        newMail.Attachments.Add(strPath);
                    }
                    else
                        throw new Exception("Attachment file is not found: \"" + strPath + "\"");
                }
            }

            //Add subject
            if(!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(sSubject))
                newMail.Subject = sSubject;

            Outlook.Accounts accounts = app.Session.Accounts;
            Outlook.Account acc = null;

            //Look for our account in the Outlook
            foreach (Outlook.Account account in accounts)
            {
                if (account.SmtpAddress.Equals(sFromAddress, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase))
                {
                    //Use it
                    acc = account;
                    break;
                }
            }

            //Did we get the account
            if (acc != null)
            {
                //Use this account to send the e-mail. 
                newMail.SendUsingAccount = acc;

                //And send it
                ((Outlook._MailItem)newMail).Send();

                //Done
                bRes = true;
            }
            else
            {
                throw new Exception("Account does not exist in Outlook: " + sFromAddress);
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("ERROR: Failed to send mail: " + ex.Message);
        }

        return bRes;
    }

And here's how you'd use it:

List<string> arrAttachFiles = new List<string>() { @"C:\Users\User\Desktop\Picture.png" };

bool bRes = sendEmailViaOutlook("[email protected]",
    "[email protected], [email protected]", null,
    "Test email from script - " + DateTime.Now.ToString(),
    "My message body - " + DateTime.Now.ToString(),
    BodyType.PlainText,
    arrAttachFiles,
    null);

Meshuga

I get this error: Unable to cast COM object of type 'Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.ApplicationClass' to interface type 'Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook._Application'. This operation failed because the QueryInterface call on the COM component for the interface with IID '{00063001-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}' failed due to the following error: Error loading type library/DLL. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80029C4A (TYPE_E_CANTLOADLIBRARY)). – Douglassdougy

Answer 3

You need to cast the
app.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem)
object in
Outlook.MailItem mailItem = app.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem)
to
Outlook.MailItem type
since no implicit casting is available.

Replace

Outlook.MailItem mailItem = app.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem); 

with

Outlook.MailItem mailItem = (Outlook.MailItem)app.CreateItem(Outlook.OlItemType.olMailItem);

Bryner

This doesn't work in Outlook 2016, it gives invalid cast exception '...ApplicationClass to interface type Outlook._Application' – Douglassdougy