Can I install a 'Filter' onto an Exchange Server?

Joseph Geretz · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

I'm designing a system which will integrate Exchange messaging with the
application messaging built into our application. What I'll need to do is be
able to monitor incoming / outgoing mail traffic on the Exchange server.
Certain of these messages will trigger specific actions within our
application and in some cases, we'll need to actually suppress the send of
the message or reroute it to a different Exchange mailbox or folder based on
our application defined rules. Is it possible to install a 'filter' on the
Exchange server to implement this sort of activity monitoring and message
management? If so, links to whitepapers and tutorials would be very much
appreciated.

Also, every message which is related to our application needs to be 'tagged'
to identify its context and metadata within our application. (Every such
message will originate with our application, and so we can 'tag' it at the
point of origin.) I'd like this tag to be hidden from the users to guard
against modification, since if the 'tag' is lost the connection to our
application is lost. Does messaging protocol (SMTP?) support user-defined
headers which could be used to encapsulate and transport this information
without revealing it to the users?

BTW, if you sense a lack of experience with Exchange, I will readily admit
as such. I won't be the one implementing the system, once we have the
initial design in place we'll find someone who can. I'm just trying to
determine whether the elements of my design are sound. Your advice will be
very much appreciated. BTW, if you'd like to get into technical details,
feel free. I'm fairly senior, I've got many years of experience in general
applications development; as I said I'm not an Exchange expert, but I am
certanly interested in learning!

Thanks!

Joseph Geretz

Archived from group: microsoft>public>exchange>development

Bharat Suneja [MVP] · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 1043

Responses inline.

--
Bharat Suneja
MVP - Exchange
www.zenprise.com
NEW blog location:
exchangepedia.com/blog
----------------------------

"Joseph Geretz" wrote in message
news:%23ijZ1MEZIHA.1132@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> I'm designing a system which will integrate Exchange messaging with the
> application messaging built into our application. What I'll need to do is
> be able to monitor incoming / outgoing mail traffic on the Exchange
> server. Certain of these messages will trigger specific actions within our
> application and in some cases, we'll need to actually suppress the send of
> the message or reroute it to a different Exchange mailbox or folder based
> on our application defined rules. Is it possible to install a 'filter' on
> the Exchange server to implement this sort of activity monitoring and
> message management? If so, links to whitepapers and tutorials would be
> very much appreciated.

You'll need to write a transport event sink. Information can be found on
MSDN.

>
> Also, every message which is related to our application needs to be
> 'tagged' to identify its context and metadata within our application.
> (Every such message will originate with our application, and so we can
> 'tag' it at the point of origin.) I'd like this tag to be hidden from the
> users to guard against modification, since if the 'tag' is lost the
> connection to our application is lost. Does messaging protocol (SMTP?)
> support user-defined headers which could be used to encapsulate and
> transport this information without revealing it to the users?

X-headers can be inserted in messages - but these are visible to users.
Users cannot, however, change message headers.

>
> BTW, if you sense a lack of experience with Exchange, I will readily admit
> as such. I won't be the one implementing the system, once we have the
> initial design in place we'll find someone who can. I'm just trying to
> determine whether the elements of my design are sound. Your advice will be
> very much appreciated. BTW, if you'd like to get into technical details,
> feel free. I'm fairly senior, I've got many years of experience in general
> applications development; as I said I'm not an Exchange expert, but I am
> certanly interested in learning!
>
> Thanks!
>
> Joseph Geretz
>

Joseph Geretz · Joined: 05 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

Thanks Bharat. Very helpful! X-Headers will be fine. If a user wants to peek
into the headers they'll see
X-MYAPP-MSGID(6B29FC40-CA47-1067-B31D-00DD010662DA) (or something like that)
but there's really nothing about this ID that needs to be absolutely hidden
from the users. I just need it in an out-of-the-way spot to protect against
inadvertant alteration.

Thanks!

Joseph Geretz

"Bharat Suneja [MVP]" wrote in message @TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Responses inline.
>
> --
> Bharat Suneja
> MVP - Exchange
> www.zenprise.com
> NEW blog location:
> exchangepedia.com/blog
> ----------------------------
>
>
> "Joseph Geretz" wrote in message
> news:%23ijZ1MEZIHA.1132@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> I'm designing a system which will integrate Exchange messaging with the
>> application messaging built into our application. What I'll need to do is
>> be able to monitor incoming / outgoing mail traffic on the Exchange
>> server. Certain of these messages will trigger specific actions within
>> our application and in some cases, we'll need to actually suppress the
>> send of the message or reroute it to a different Exchange mailbox or
>> folder based on our application defined rules. Is it possible to install
>> a 'filter' on the Exchange server to implement this sort of activity
>> monitoring and message management? If so, links to whitepapers and
>> tutorials would be very much appreciated.
>
> You'll need to write a transport event sink. Information can be found on
> MSDN.
>
>
>>
>> Also, every message which is related to our application needs to be
>> 'tagged' to identify its context and metadata within our application.
>> (Every such message will originate with our application, and so we can
>> 'tag' it at the point of origin.) I'd like this tag to be hidden from the
>> users to guard against modification, since if the 'tag' is lost the
>> connection to our application is lost. Does messaging protocol (SMTP?)
>> support user-defined headers which could be used to encapsulate and
>> transport this information without revealing it to the users?
>
> X-headers can be inserted in messages - but these are visible to users.
> Users cannot, however, change message headers.
>
>>
>> BTW, if you sense a lack of experience with Exchange, I will readily
>> admit as such. I won't be the one implementing the system, once we have
>> the initial design in place we'll find someone who can. I'm just trying
>> to determine whether the elements of my design are sound. Your advice
>> will be very much appreciated. BTW, if you'd like to get into technical
>> details, feel free. I'm fairly senior, I've got many years of experience
>> in general applications development; as I said I'm not an Exchange
>> expert, but I am certanly interested in learning!
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Joseph Geretz
>>
>

Always Learning · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

Which version of Exchange? Exchange 2007 uses a very different API than
2000/2003 and requires the use of a managed language.

"Joseph Geretz" wrote in message
news:%23Iqh%23XQZIHA.4440@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
Thanks Bharat. Very helpful! X-Headers will be fine. If a user wants to peek
into the headers they'll see
X-MYAPP-MSGID(6B29FC40-CA47-1067-B31D-00DD010662DA) (or something like that)
but there's really nothing about this ID that needs to be absolutely hidden
from the users. I just need it in an out-of-the-way spot to protect against
inadvertant alteration.

Thanks!

Joseph Geretz

"Bharat Suneja [MVP]" wrote in message@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Responses inline.
>
> --
> Bharat Suneja
> MVP - Exchange
> www.zenprise.com
> NEW blog location:
> exchangepedia.com/blog
> ----------------------------
>
>
> "Joseph Geretz" wrote in message
> news:%23ijZ1MEZIHA.1132@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> I'm designing a system which will integrate Exchange messaging with the
>> application messaging built into our application. What I'll need to do is
>> be able to monitor incoming / outgoing mail traffic on the Exchange
>> server. Certain of these messages will trigger specific actions within
>> our application and in some cases, we'll need to actually suppress the
>> send of the message or reroute it to a different Exchange mailbox or
>> folder based on our application defined rules. Is it possible to install
>> a 'filter' on the Exchange server to implement this sort of activity
>> monitoring and message management? If so, links to whitepapers and
>> tutorials would be very much appreciated.
>
> You'll need to write a transport event sink. Information can be found on
> MSDN.
>
>
>>
>> Also, every message which is related to our application needs to be
>> 'tagged' to identify its context and metadata within our application.
>> (Every such message will originate with our application, and so we can
>> 'tag' it at the point of origin.) I'd like this tag to be hidden from the
>> users to guard against modification, since if the 'tag' is lost the
>> connection to our application is lost. Does messaging protocol (SMTP?)
>> support user-defined headers which could be used to encapsulate and
>> transport this information without revealing it to the users?
>
> X-headers can be inserted in messages - but these are visible to users.
> Users cannot, however, change message headers.
>
>>
>> BTW, if you sense a lack of experience with Exchange, I will readily
>> admit as such. I won't be the one implementing the system, once we have
>> the initial design in place we'll find someone who can. I'm just trying
>> to determine whether the elements of my design are sound. Your advice
>> will be very much appreciated. BTW, if you'd like to get into technical
>> details, feel free. I'm fairly senior, I've got many years of experience
>> in general applications development; as I said I'm not an Exchange
>> expert, but I am certanly interested in learning!
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Joseph Geretz
>>
>

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