HTML Forms and MS Exchange Server

• Via ISAPI extension DLLs. In this case forms collect information from users and send it for processing to a specified URL as I described in "Writing Form Processing ISAPI Extension DLLs" topic. Custom code in this DLL may use Exchange services by logging on to MAPI and doing things as a regular e-mail client would.
• Via Active Server Pages technology. In this case a form definition is included in an ASP file. This file may also contain scripted commands to be executed on the server. For example, VBScript or JavaScript may be used to instantiate and use CDO objects. An advantage of using scripts is that MAPI complexity is hidden deep inside CDO. MSDN library contains a lot of code examples showing how you could accomplish common tasks with relative ease.

An interesting case of using Active Server Pages technology is in Microsoft Outlook Web Access. It is an e-mail client of special kind. It comes with Exchange Server 5.5. It is installed on Microsoft Internet Information Server and allows web users (even those who are communicating to IIS via the Internet) to use Exchange services. For example, they can read and send mail, and have access to their calendars. Essentially Outlook Web Access is a collection of Active Server Pages (.asp) that interact with Exchange server via VBScripted CDO. An end user with only browser software can now access Exchange services such as e-mail and public folders. Examine .asp files that Outlook Web Access uses to get an idea of how everything works. You will be surprised to see JavaScript code in this Microsoft product. Outlook Web Access is using JavaScript to extend compatibility with Netscape Navigator clients in addition to Internet Explorer clients.
 

Installing Outlook Web Access

You install Outlook Web Access on Microsoft Internet Information Server. To install - use Microsoft Exchange Server setup disk and choose Outlook Web Access option. You don't need to install it on the same computer where Exchange server runs.