Create a recurring series by using EWS in Exchange
Learn how to create recurring meetings by using the EWS Managed API or EWS in Exchange.
Creating a recurring appointment or meeting isn't all that much different than creating a single instance appointment or meeting. You just need to assign values to a few additional recurrence-related properties. These are set on an ExchangeService.Appointment object's Recurrence object (if you're using the EWS Managed API), or the Recurrence child element of a CalendarItem element (if you're using EWS). One thing to consider when you create a recurring, rather than a single-instance meeting, is that the calendar item you create is the recurring master for a series. A number of properties are set only on a recurring master; these properties can help you find, modify, or delete individual instances in a series. For this reason, it might be useful to keep track of the ID of the recurring master when you create a recurring series.
Table 1. Properties set on recurring master calendar items
| EWS Managed API class or property | EWS XML element | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Recurrence class The Recurrence class is the base class for a derived pattern class, either IntervalPattern, RelativeYearlyPattern, or YearlyPattern. |
Recurrence (RecurrenceType) |
Contains recurrence-related information, including the recurrence pattern (daily, weekly, monthly, and so on), start and end date, number of occurrences, and so on. |
| FirstOccurrence property |
FirstOccurrence |
Contains the start and end times and the item ID for the first meeting in a series. |
| LastOccurrence property |
LastOccurrence |
Contains the start and end times and the item ID for the last meeting in a series. |
| ModifiedOccurrences property |
ModifiedOccurrences |
Contains the set of all meetings in the series that have been modified from the original recurrence pattern. |
| DeletedOccurrences property |
DeletedOccurrences |
Contains the set of all meetings in the series that have been deleted from the original recurrence pattern. |
Because meetings are essentially appointments that include attendees, the code examples in this article show how to create recurring meetings. If you want to create a recurring appointment, you can modify the examples by removing code related to attendees.
Create a recurring meeting by using the EWS Managed API
The following code example shows how to create a recurring meeting. First, assign values to the properties of an Appointment object used to create a meeting, then use the Save method to save the recurring series to your calendar folder, and send meeting requests to your attendees. Finally, use the Appointment.Bind method to look at the values set on the recurring master for the recurring series you just created.
This example assumes that you have authenticated to an Exchange server and have acquired an ExchangeService object named service. The method in this example returns the item ID of the recurring series' recurring master.
public static ItemId CreateARecurringMeeting(ExchangeService service)
{ Appointment recurrMeeting = new Appointment(service);
// Set the properties you need to create a meeting.
recurrMeeting.Subject = "Weekly Update Meeting";
recurrMeeting.Body = "Come hear about how the project is coming along!";
recurrMeeting.Start = DateTime.Now.AddDays(1);
recurrMeeting.End = recurrMeeting.Start.AddHours(1);
recurrMeeting.Location = "Contoso Main Gallery";
recurrMeeting.RequiredAttendees.Add("Mack@contoso.com");
recurrMeeting.RequiredAttendees.Add("Sadie@contoso.com");
recurrMeeting.RequiredAttendees.Add("Magdalena@contoso.com"); recurrMeeting.ReminderMinutesBeforeStart = 30;
DayOfTheWeek[] dow = new DayOfTheWeek[] { (DayOfTheWeek)recurrMeeting.Start.DayOfWeek };
// The following are the recurrence-specific properties for the meeting.
recurrMeeting.Recurrence = new Recurrence.WeeklyPattern(recurrMeeting.Start.Date, 1, dow);
recurrMeeting.Recurrence.StartDate = recurrMeeting.Start.Date;
recurrMeeting.Recurrence.NumberOfOccurrences = 10;
// This method results in in a CreateItem call to EWS.
recurrMeeting.Save(SendInvitationsMode.SendToAllAndSaveCopy);
// Retrieve the meeting subject and the properties that are set on a recurring master when a recurring series is created.
recurrMeeting = Appointment.Bind(service, recurrMeeting.Id, new PropertySet(AppointmentSchema.Subject,
AppointmentSchema.AppointmentType,
AppointmentSchema.Recurrence,
AppointmentSchema.FirstOccurrence,
AppointmentSchema.LastOccurrence,
AppointmentSchema.ModifiedOccurrences,
AppointmentSchema.DeletedOccurrences));
// Print out the recurring master properties.
Console.WriteLine("\nAppointment created: " + recurrMeeting.Subject);
Console.WriteLine("Appointment Type: {0}\n", recurrMeeting.AppointmentType);
Console.WriteLine("These property values are always null unless the item is a recurring master:\n");
Console.WriteLine("\tRecurrence pattern: {0}", recurrMeeting.Recurrence.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("\tRecurring series start Date: {0}", recurrMeeting.Recurrence.StartDate.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("\tRecurring series end Date: {0}",
recurrMeeting.Recurrence.EndDate == null ? "Null" : recurrMeeting.Recurrence.EndDate.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("\tHas end: {0}", recurrMeeting.Recurrence.HasEnd.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("\tNumber of occurrances: {0}", recurrMeeting.Recurrence.NumberOfOccurrences);
Console.WriteLine("\tLast 24 characters of the first occurrence's item ID:\t {0}",
recurrMeeting.FirstOccurrence.ItemId.ToString().Substring(144));
Console.WriteLine("\tLast 24 characters of the last occurrence's item ID:\t {0}",
recurrMeeting.LastOccurrence.ItemId.ToString().Substring(144));
Console.WriteLine("\tModified Occurrences: {0}",
(recurrMeeting.ModifiedOccurrences == null ? "Null" : recurrMeeting.ModifiedOccurrences.Count.ToString()));
Console.WriteLine("\tDeleted Occurrences: {0}",
recurrMeeting.DeletedOccurrences == null ? "Null" : recurrMeeting.ModifiedOccurrences.Count.ToString());
// Return the ID of the recurring master.
return recurrMeeting.Id;
}
Create a recurring meeting by using EWS
The request and response XML in the following examples correspond to calls made to create a recurring meeting by using the EWS Managed API. Note that other than setting recurrence-specific values on the Recurrence element, the request is essentially the same as one you would use to create a single-instance appointment. The following example shows the request XML when you use the CreateItem operation to create a meeting.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages"
xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types"
xmlns:soap="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<soap:Header>
<t:RequestServerVersion Version="Exchange2010" />
<t:TimeZoneContext>
<t:TimeZoneDefinition Name="(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US &amp; Canada)" Id="Pacific Standard Time">
<t:Periods>
<t:Period Bias="P0DT8H0M0.0S" Name="Standard" Id="Std" />
<t:Period Bias="P0DT7H0M0.0S" Name="Daylight" Id="Dlt/1" />
<t:Period Bias="P0DT7H0M0.0S" Name="Daylight" Id="Dlt/2007" />
</t:Periods>
<t:TransitionsGroups>
<t:TransitionsGroup Id="0">
<t:RecurringDayTransition>
<t:To Kind="Period">Dlt/1</t:To>
<t:TimeOffset>P0DT2H0M0.0S</t:TimeOffset>
<t:Month>4</t:Month>
<t:DayOfWeek>Sunday</t:DayOfWeek>
<t:Occurrence>1</t:Occurrence>
</t:RecurringDayTransition>
<t:RecurringDayTransition>
<t:To Kind="Period">Std</t:To>
<t:TimeOffset>P0DT2H0M0.0S</t:TimeOffset>
<t:Month>10</t:Month>
<t:DayOfWeek>Sunday</t:DayOfWeek>
<t:Occurrence>-1</t:Occurrence>
</t:RecurringDayTransition>
</t:TransitionsGroup>
<t:TransitionsGroup Id="1">
<t:RecurringDayTransition>
<t:To Kind="Period">Dlt/2007</t:To>
<t:TimeOffset>P0DT2H0M0.0S</t:TimeOffset>
<t:Month>3</t:Month>
<t:DayOfWeek>Sunday</t:DayOfWeek>
<t:Occurrence>2</t:Occurrence>
</t:RecurringDayTransition>
<t:RecurringDayTransition>
<t:To Kind="Period">Std</t:To>
<t:TimeOffset>P0DT2H0M0.0S</t:TimeOffset>
<t:Month>11</t:Month>
<t:DayOfWeek>Sunday</t:DayOfWeek>
<t:Occurrence>1</t:Occurrence>
</t:RecurringDayTransition>
</t:TransitionsGroup>
</t:TransitionsGroups>
<t:Transitions>
<t:Transition>
<t:To Kind="Group">0</t:To>
</t:Transition>
<t:AbsoluteDateTransition>
<t:To Kind="Group">1</t:To>
<t:DateTime>2007-01-01T08:00:00.000Z</t:DateTime>
</t:AbsoluteDateTransition>
</t:Transitions>
</t:TimeZoneDefinition>
</t:TimeZoneContext>
</soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<m:CreateItem SendMeetingInvitations="SendToAllAndSaveCopy">
<m:Items>
<t:CalendarItem>
<t:Subject>Weekly Update Meeting</t:Subject>
<t:Body BodyType="HTML">Come hear about how the Organized Observational Paradigm SkyNet project is coming along!</t:Body>
<t:ReminderMinutesBeforeStart>30</t:ReminderMinutesBeforeStart>
<t:Start>2014-03-08T13:21:32.868-08:00</t:Start>
<t:End>2014-03-08T14:21:32.868-08:00</t:End>
<t:Location>Contoso Main Gallery</t:Location>
<t:RequiredAttendees>
<t:Attendee>
<t:Mailbox>
<t:EmailAddress>Mack@contoso.com</t:EmailAddress>
</t:Mailbox>
</t:Attendee>
<t:Attendee>
<t:Mailbox>
<t:EmailAddress>Sadie@contoso.com</t:EmailAddress>
</t:Mailbox>
</t:Attendee>
<t:Attendee>
<t:Mailbox>
<t:EmailAddress>Magdalena@contoso.com</t:EmailAddress>
</t:Mailbox>
</t:Attendee>
</t:RequiredAttendees>
<t:Recurrence>
<t:WeeklyRecurrence>
<t:Interval>1</t:Interval>
<t:DaysOfWeek>Saturday</t:DaysOfWeek>
</t:WeeklyRecurrence>
<t:NumberedRecurrence>
<t:StartDate>2014-03-08-08:00</t:StartDate>
<t:NumberOfOccurrences>10</t:NumberOfOccurrences>
</t:NumberedRecurrence>
</t:Recurrence>
</t:CalendarItem>
</m:Items>
</m:CreateItem>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
The following example shows the response XML that is returned by the CreateItem operation.
The ItemId and ChangeKey attributes are shortened for readability.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Envelope xmlns:s="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<s:Header>
<h:ServerVersionInfo MajorVersion="15" MinorVersion="0" MajorBuildNumber="893" MinorBuildNumber="10"
Version="V2_10" xmlns:h="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" />
</s:Header>
<s:Body xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<m:CreateItemResponse xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages"
xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types">
<m:ResponseMessages>
<m:CreateItemResponseMessage ResponseClass="Success">
<m:ResponseCode>NoError</m:ResponseCode>
<m:Items>
<t:CalendarItem>
<t:ItemId Id="AAMkAD" ChangeKey="DwAAAB" />
</t:CalendarItem>
</m:Items>
</m:CreateItemResponseMessage>
</m:ResponseMessages>
</m:CreateItemResponse>
</s:Body>
</s:Envelope>
The following example shows the request XML that is generated when you use the GetItem operation and the ItemId for the series you created, and request properties only set on a recurring master to confirm that the ItemId returned by the server when creating a recurring series is for a recurring master.
The ItemId and ChangeKey attributes are shortened for readability.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages"
xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types"
xmlns:soap="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<soap:Header>
<t:RequestServerVersion Version="Exchange2010" />
</soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<m:GetItem>
<m:ItemShape>
<t:BaseShape>IdOnly</t:BaseShape>
<t:AdditionalProperties>
<t:FieldURI FieldURI="item:Subject" />
<t:FieldURI FieldURI="calendar:CalendarItemType" />
<t:FieldURI FieldURI="calendar:Recurrence" />
<t:FieldURI FieldURI="calendar:FirstOccurrence" />
<t:FieldURI FieldURI="calendar:LastOccurrence" />
<t:FieldURI FieldURI="calendar:ModifiedOccurrences" />
<t:FieldURI FieldURI="calendar:DeletedOccurrences" />
</t:AdditionalProperties>
</m:ItemShape>
<m:ItemIds>
<t:ItemId Id="AAMkAD" ChangeKey="DwAAAB" />
</m:ItemIds>
</m:GetItem>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
The following example shows the response XML that is returned by the GetItem operation.
The ItemId and ChangeKey attributes are shortened for readability.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Envelope xmlns:s="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<s:Header>
<h:ServerVersionInfo MajorVersion="15" MinorVersion="0" MajorBuildNumber="893" MinorBuildNumber="10"
Version="V2_10" xmlns:h="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" />
</s:Header>
<s:Body xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<m:GetItemResponse xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages"
xmlns:t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types">
<m:ResponseMessages>
<m:GetItemResponseMessage ResponseClass="Success">
<m:ResponseCode>NoError</m:ResponseCode>
<m:Items>
<t:CalendarItem>
<t:ItemId Id="AAMkAD" ChangeKey="DwAAAB" />
<t:Subject>Weekly Update Meeting</t:Subject>
<t:CalendarItemType>RecurringMaster</t:CalendarItemType>
<t:Recurrence>
<t:WeeklyRecurrence>
<t:Interval>1</t:Interval>
<t:DaysOfWeek>Saturday</t:DaysOfWeek>
</t:WeeklyRecurrence>
<t:NumberedRecurrence>
<t:StartDate>2014-03-08-08:00</t:StartDate>
<t:NumberOfOccurrences>10</t:NumberOfOccurrences>
</t:NumberedRecurrence>
</t:Recurrence>
<t:FirstOccurrence>
<t:ItemId Id="AAMkAD" ChangeKey="DwAAABY" />
<t:Start>2014-03-08T21:21:00Z</t:Start>
<t:End>2014-03-08T22:21:00Z</t:End>
<t:OriginalStart>2014-03-08T21:21:00Z</t:OriginalStart>
</t:FirstOccurrence>
<t:LastOccurrence>
<t:ItemId Id="AAMkAD" ChangeKey="DwAAABY" />
<t:Start>2014-05-10T20:21:00Z</t:Start>
<t:End>2014-05-10T21:21:00Z</t:End>
<t:OriginalStart>2014-05-10T20:21:00Z</t:OriginalStart>
</t:LastOccurrence>
</t:CalendarItem>
</m:Items>
</m:GetItemResponseMessage>
</m:ResponseMessages>
</m:GetItemResponse>
</s:Body>
</s:Envelope>