OL2000: Calendar Items that You Copied Do Not Allow Meeting Updates (278535)

SUMMARY

In Outlook 2000, every item is stored with a unique identifier that identifies the item in a variety of situations. Part of this unique identifier is a code that identifies what "store" the item is being stored in (for example, the store could be a Personal Folders (.pst) file, a Microsoft Exchange mailbox, or an offline address book). This unique identifier distinguishes between two identical items that have been copied into two different stores (for example, an appointment that you have copied in a Personal Folders (.pst) file). Because MAPI (the messaging application programming interface (API) that Outlook is written on) requires that all items have unique identifiers, the store ID must be in the unique identifier. This is the only way to verify that every item has a unique identifier.

You can use this unique identifier to locate an original meeting to update. However, when you move an item between stores, the item's unique identifier changes and Outlook treats the item as a different meeting. The unique identifier that is required for a meeting synchronization is set during the initial processing of the meeting request. Therefore, whether or not you use the Exchange mailbox or a Personal Folders (.pst) file, the calendar functions works properly. Outlook is designed to work with one message store for the calendar when meeting requests are processed throughout an organization. To change this behavior would require extensive design changes and rewrites throughout the entire object model.

If you copy an Exchange mailbox to a Personal Folders (.pst) file, and your meetings display a SEND button instead of a SEND UPDATE button, it is recommend that you write a Component Object Model (COM) Add-In or Exchange Client Extension to run on your client computers to remove the original meeting and replace it with the newly received meeting request.

If this is the result of a disaster recovery situation, the recommended standard procedure for a disaster recovery is to ensure that you back up the server based information stores. Also, in regard to disaster recovery plans, it is recommended to use the Exchange mailbox instead of a Personal Folders (.pst) file because it is easier to manage the back up and restoring of the data.