IMAPIContainer::SetSearchCriteria

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Establishes search criteria for the container.

HRESULT SetSearchCriteria(
  LPSRestriction lpRestriction,
  LPENTRYLIST lpContainerList,
  ULONG ulSearchFlags
);

Parameters

• lpRestriction
  [in] A pointer to an SRestriction structure that defines the search criteria. If NULL is passed in the lpRestriction parameter, the search criteria that were used most recently for this container are used again. NULL should not be passed in lpRestriction for the first search in a container.

• lpContainerList
  [in] A pointer to an array of entry identifiers that represent containers to be included in the search. If a client passes NULL in the lpContainerList parameter, the entry identifiers used most recently to search this container are used for the new search. A client should not pass NULL in lpContainerList for the first search in a container.

• ulSearchFlags
  [in] A bitmask of flags that control how the search is performed. The following flags can be set:

  • BACKGROUND_SEARCH
    The search should run at normal priority relative to other searches. This flag cannot be set at the same time as the FOREGROUND_SEARCH flag.

  • FOREGROUND_SEARCH
    The search should run at high priority relative to other searches. This flag cannot be set at the same time as the BACKGROUND_SEARCH flag.

  • NON_CONTENT_INDEXED_SEARCH
    The search should not use content indexing to find matching entries. This flag is only valid for Exchange stores.

  • RECURSIVE_SEARCH
    The search should include the containers specified in the lpContainerList parameter and all their child containers. This flag cannot be set at the same time as the SHALLOW_SEARCH flag.

  • RESTART_SEARCH
    The search should be initiated if this is the first call to SetSearchCriteria, or restarted if the search is inactive. This flag cannot be set at the same time as the STOP_SEARCH flag.

  • SHALLOW_SEARCH
    The search should look only in the containers specified in the lpContainerList parameter for matching entries. This flag cannot be set at the same time as the RECURSIVE_SEARCH flag.

  • STOP_SEARCH
    The search should be stopped. This flag cannot be set at the same time as the RESTART_SEARCH flag.

Return Value

• S_OK
  The search criteria was successfully set.

• MAPI_E_TOO_COMPLEX
  The service provider does not support the specified search criteria.

Remarks

The IMAPIContainer::SetSearchCriteria method establishes search criteria for a container that supports searches, typically a search-results folder. A search-results folder contains links to the messages that meet the search criteria; the actual messages are still stored in their original locations. The only unique data that is contained in a search-results folder is its contents table. The contents table of a search-results folder has the merged contents of the message store after the search restriction has been applied.

A search operation works only on this merged contents table; it does not search through other search-results folders. The search results return only the messages that match the search criteria; the folder hierarchy is not returned.

Control is returned to the client when the search has finished.

Notes to Implementers

Address book containers establish search criteria by applying restrictions to their contents tables. For more information about search criteria and address book containers, see Implementing Advanced Searching.

You should support open, copy, move, and delete operations on the messages within search-results folders, not on the search-results folder itself. Do not allow messages to be created within or copied into a search-results folder.

Notes to Callers

To search for message recipients, set lpRestriction to point to a subobject restriction with the ulSubObject member in the SSubRestriction structure set to PR_MESSAGE_RECIPIENTS (PidTagMessageRecipients). To search for attachments, set the ulSubObject member to PR_MESSAGE_ATTACHMENTS (PidTagMessageAttachments). Set the lpRes member to point to a property restriction that describes the search criteria for the recipients or attachments.

For example, to look for file attachments that have the extension .mss, set ulSubObject to PR_MESSAGE_ATTACHMENTS and lpRes to a property restriction that matches PR_ATTACH_EXTENSION (PidTagAttachExtension) with .mss.

Setting the FOREGROUND_SEARCH flag in the ulSearchFlags parameter could cause a decrease in system performance.

You can use SetSearchCriteria to change the search criteria of a search already in progress. You can specify new restrictions, new lists of folders to search, and a new search priority, such as upgrading a search to a higher priority. Changes in search priority do not cause an existing search to restart, but other changes to search criteria can.

When you are through using a search-results folder, you can either delete the folder or let it remain open for later use. If you do delete the search-results folder, only message links are deleted. The actual messages remain in their parent folders.

For more information about search-results folders, see MAPI Search Folders.

MFCMAPI Reference

For MFCMAPI sample code, see the following table.

See Also

Reference

IMAPIContainer::GetContentsTable

IMAPIContainer::OpenEntry

IMAPIFolder::CreateFolder

IMAPIFolder : IMAPIContainer

SPropertyRestriction

SRestriction

SSubRestriction

IMAPIContainer : IMAPIProp

Concepts

MFCMAPI as a Code Sample