How to send a message on behalf of another user (239568)

MORE INFORMATION

Sometimes a message needs to be programmatically created and sent with a different user - other than the current user - listed as the sender. This is also referred to as sending "on behalf of" another user.

By default the Sender property of the Message object is the CurrentUser of the MAPI Session object. Setting the Sender property to a different AddressEntry object will cause the message to be sent as if that other user had sent it.

The actual sender (CurrentUser) must be listed as a delegate of the "on behalf of" sender for the code sample below to work properly. Administrative policies on the messaging server may also prevent this code from working.

The following sample code demonstrates sending a message on behalf of somebody else.

Warning Any use by you of the code provided in this article is at your own risk. Microsoft provides this code "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

Step-by-step example

1. Create a new project (Standard EXE) in Microsoft Visual Basic.
2. Add a project reference to the Microsoft CDO (1.2, 1.21) Library.
3. Add a command button to the default form.
4. Add the following code to the form module:

   Option Explicit
   
   Sub Command1_Click()
      Dim oSession As MAPI.Session
      Dim MsgNew As MAPI.Message  'uses early binding
      Dim Recip As MAPI.Recipient
      Dim AddEntries As MAPI.AddressEntries
      Dim OnBehalfSender As MAPI.AddressEntry
   
      Set oSession = CreateObject("mapi.session")
      oSession.Logon     'use existing session
   
      'create new message
      Set MsgNew = oSession.Outbox.Messages.Add
   
      'set on behalf sender
      Set AddEntries = oSession.AddressLists(1).AddressEntries
      AddEntries.Filter = Nothing    'reset
      'TODO: Change on behalf user name
      AddEntries.Filter.name = "<joe user>"
      Set OnBehalfSender = AddEntries.GetFirst
      Set MsgNew.Sender = OnBehalfSender  'set on behalf address
      Set MsgNew.Sender = oSession.CurrentUser  'optional, the actual sender
   
      'set message recipient
      'TODO: Change recipient name
      Set Recip = MsgNew.Recipients.Add ("<Mary Otheruser>",,cdoTo)
      Recip.Resolve
   
      'set other message properties and send
      With MsgNew
         .Text = "Message body"
         .Subject = "Test mesage"
         .Update    'optional, leaves unsent mail in Outbox if Send fails
         .Send
      End With
   
      'release objects
      Set MsgNew = Nothing
      Set OnBehalfSender = Nothing
      Set Recip = Nothing
      Set AddEntries = Nothing
      oSession.Logoff
      Set oSession = Nothing
   
   End Sub
   					

5. Set the names of the recipient and OnBehalf sender to appropriate values.
6. Run the project. A message should be sent to the recipient with the OnBehalf sender listed as the sender.