Chapter 17: Server Events, Workflow, and Security

Overview

The ability to capture and program events in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 opens up a world of possibilities for the applications you write. For example, you might want to add some workflow to your applications or validate items before they are put into the server. Because the events are on the server side, it doesn't matter which client puts items into the database ”the events will fire and your code will run. For example, if a user drags and drops a Microsoft Word document into Exchange Server using the new file system capabilities, your events will fire.

The Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) service of Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) offers two types of events: protocol events and transport events. Because Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 are built on the SMTP service in IIS, Exchange not only provides Exchange-specific events through its Information Store service but also inherits transport and protocol events. In fact, Exchange relies on those events extensively to extend the standard SMTP service with Exchange-specific functionality. We will discuss transport and protocol events after we discuss Exchange Server events.