Web Services Link Exchange to .NET

The new Exchange 2000 XML Web Services Toolkit delivers documentation and code samples for creating Web services that access Exchange data. Web services—software components that communicate using XML data formats and standard Internet protocols—can provide a relatively simple and future-proof way to integrate Exchange e-mail, calendaring, or contact management into applications, particularly applications created with the new .NET development platform. However, companies must be ready to reengineer any Web services they create on Exchange even with the toolkit, because of changes coming to the Exchange development platform in two to three years.

SDK for Web Services, .NET Code

The toolkit updates the existing Exchange SDK, adding material on building Web services that expose Exchange functions, and on building applications that use such Web services. In addition to code samples and documentation, the kit includes a Web service development video from the 2001 Microsoft Exchange Conference. Samples include a Web service for retrieving an Exchange user’s free/busy information and scheduling appointments with the user, and a SQL Server–based customer tracking application that uses a Web service to work with Exchange contacts.