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Chapter 15: The Training Application
Overview
You might remember the Training application from the second edition of this book. This comprehensive solution showed how to build an application that uses some of the features in Microsoft Exchange. Rather than force readers to learn an entirely new application, this edition has expanded and reworked the Training application for Exchange 2003. The application demonstrates how to build applications against Exchange 2003 using technologies such as XML, server events, workflow, instant messaging, calendaring, and other Exchange technologies. An addition, we will look at a number of samples of Microsoft .NET applications built using Exchange. Table 15-1 describes the new features in the expanded Training application.
Feature | Description |
|---|---|
Automated security settings | The Exchange Software Development Kit (SDK) has a security module that shows you how to set permissions using Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) or ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). The sample uses some of that code to set permissions for the folders in the application and shows how to use the security module in your own applications that need to set or get security settings. Security is discussed in more detail in Chapter 17. |
Messenger support for instant messaging (IM) | With the removal of IM technologies from Exchange and the release of the Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003, the application has been updated to take advantage of the new server and the Messenger IM client. Office Live Communications technologies are covered in Chapter 19. |
Ability to create new storage groups | To show how to create new storage groups and storage databases using Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) for Exchange Management, the sample application allows you to browse and create new places to store the application's data. |
Ability to run Web files directly from Exchange | Exchange supports the ability to access Web files directly rather than from the file system. The updated sample supports setting up Exchange virtual directories and running Web files directly from Exchange Server. |
Web Storage System (WSS) Forms support | The sample supports WSS Forms, which you will learn about in Chapter 20. |
RichEdit control support | The sample's support for the Outlook Web Access (OWA) RichEdit control allows you to type rich text in your browser for course descriptions. You can use the same technology in your own Web applications. |
Treeview control support | The sample supports OWA's treeview control so that you can easily display a list of Exchange folders without having to write all the code yourself. |
Free/busy lookup for students and conference rooms | The sample has added support for free/busy lookup through the OWA freebusy command (which is covered later in this chapter). |
Support for on-demand courses | Using WSS Forms file upload technologies, the sample supports the ability to upload videos and course materials directly through the browser. |
Exchange Conferencing Server support | The sample supports Exchange Conferencing Server so that you can schedule virtual classes. This topic is covered in Chapter 19. |
SharePoint Portal Server (SPS) support | The sample supports SPS 2001. The application can run on that product and can also use its document management and portal capabilities. These additional capabilities are provided through SPS folders and the built-in Web parts in the sample application. |
The Training application manages an internal training program site and provides a Web interface through which students and instructors can register for, critique, and discuss training courses. I created a setup program that makes it easier to get the application started and shows how to perform some administrative functions for Exchange Server 2003. The setup program also shows how to perform COM+, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), and Active Directory administrative tasks.
Before examining the code and technologies used in the Training application, we'll discuss exactly what the application does. That way, when we cover each of the application's implementation sections, you'll understand what each section does within the context of the entire application.
