Working with Distribution Lists in PST File

A distribution list is a group of contacts that can be manipulated by automated software enabling the user to send emails to multiple recipients simultaneously.

Aspose.Email software allows users to create, manage, and manipulate distribution lists. This includes creating and saving members from the list, reading distribution lists, updating list properties, and other related operations.

Creating and Saving Distribution Lists

Create and save a distribution list as shown in the code sample below:

import aspose.email as ae

displayName1 = "Sebastian Wright"
email1 = "[e-mail]"

displayName2 = "Wichert Kroos"
email2 = "[e-mail]"

pst = ae.storage.pst.PersonalStorage.create("target.pst", ae.storage.pst.FileFormatVersion.UNICODE)

contactFolder = pst.create_predefined_folder("Contacts", ae.storage.pst.StandardIpmFolder.CONTACTS)

strEntryId1 = contactFolder.add_mapi_message_item(ae.mapi.MapiContact(displayName1, email1))
strEntryId2 = contactFolder.add_mapi_message_item(ae.mapi.MapiContact(displayName2, email2))

member1 = ae.mapi.MapiDistributionListMember(displayName1, email1)
member1.entry_id_type = ae.mapi.MapiDistributionListEntryIdType.CONTACT
member1.entry_id = strEntryId1.encode()

member2 = ae.mapi.MapiDistributionListMember(displayName2, email2)
member2.entry_id_type = ae.mapi.MapiDistributionListEntryIdType.CONTACT
member2.entry_id = strEntryId2.encode()

members = ae.mapi.MapiDistributionListMemberCollection()
members.append(member1)
members.append(member2)

distributionList = ae.mapi.MapiDistributionList("Contact list", members)
distributionList.body = "Distribution List Body"
distributionList.subject = "Sample Distribution List using Aspose.Email"
# Add distribution list to PST
contactFolder.add_mapi_message_item(distributionList)

import aspose.email as ae

displayName1 = "Sebastian Wright"
email1 = "[e-mail]"

displayName2 = "Wichert Kroos"
email2 = "[e-mail]"

pst = ae.storage.pst.PersonalStorage.create("target.pst", ae.storage.pst.FileFormatVersion.UNICODE)

contact_folder = pst.create_predefined_folder("Contacts", ae.storage.pst.StandardIpmFolder.CONTACTS)

one_off_members = ae.mapi.MapiDistributionListMemberCollection()
one_off_members.append(ae.mapi.MapiDistributionListMember("John R. Patrick", "[e-mail]"))
one_off_members.append(ae.mapi.MapiDistributionListMember("Tilly Bates", "[e-mail]"))

one_off_members_list = ae.mapi.MapiDistributionList("Simple list", one_off_members)
contact_folder.add_mapi_message_item(one_off_members_list)

Reading Distribution Lists from PST

To read a distribution list from a PST, use the following code sample:

import aspose.email as ae

pst = ae.storage.pst.PersonalStorage.from_file("my.pst")

folder = pst.get_predefined_folder(ae.storage.pst.StandardIpmFolder.CONTACTS)

for msg in folder.enumerate_messages():
    # Check if the message has the "IPM.DistList" message class
    if msg.message_class == "IPM.DistList":
        dist_list = pst.extract_message(msg).to_mapi_message_item()
        # Now, you can work with the distribution list
        # (e.g., access its members, display its properties, or make modifications)
        for member in dist_list.members:
            print(f"{member.display_name}")

Updating Distribution Lists in PST

To update a distribution list in a PST file, for example to add a new member, use the following code sample:

import aspose.email as ae

pst = ae.storage.pst.PersonalStorage.from_file("my.pst")

folder = pst.get_predefined_folder(ae.storage.pst.StandardIpmFolder.CONTACTS)

# add a new member to each distribution list in pst
for msg in folder.enumerate_messages():
    # Check if the message has the "IPM.DistList" message class
    if msg.message_class == "IPM.DistList":
        dist_list = pst.extract_message(msg).to_mapi_message_item()
        # Create new member to add
        member = ae.mapi.MapiDistributionListMember("Edward R. Manuel", "[e-mail]")
        dist_list.members.append(member)
        # update DL in PST
        folder.update_message(msg.entry_id_string, dist_list)