Export or Print Outlook Emails to PDF - powershell

I am using PowerShell to loop through designated folders in Outlook and saving the attachments in a tree like structure. This works wonders, but now management has requested the email itself be saved as a PDF as well. I found the PrintOut method in object, but that prompts for a file name. I haven't been able to figure out what to pass to it to have it automatically save to a specific filename. I looked on the MSDN page and it was a bit to high for my current level.
I am using the com object of outlook.application.
Short of saving all of the emails to a temp file and using a third party method is there parameters I can pass to PrintOut? Or another way to accomplish this?
Here is the base of the code to get the emails. I loop through $Emails
$Outlook = New-Object -comobject outlook.application
$Connection = $Outlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")
#Prompt which folder to process
$Folder = $Connection.PickFolder()
$Outlook_Folder_Path = ($Folder.FullFolderPath).Split("\",4)[3]
$BaseFolder += $Outlook_Folder_Path + "\"
$Emails = $Folder.Items

Looks like there are no built-in methods, but if you're willing to use third-party binary, wkhtmltopdf can be used.
Get precompiled binary (use MinGW 32-bit for maximum compatibility).
Install or extract installer with 7Zip and copy wkhtmltopdf.exe to your script directory. It has no external dependencies and can be redistributed with your script, so you don't have to install PDF printer on all PCs.
Use HTMLBody property of MailItem object in your script for PDF conversion.
Here is an example:
# Get path to wkhtmltopdf.exe
$ExePath = Join-Path -Path (
Split-Path -Path $Script:MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path
) -ChildPath 'wkhtmltopdf.exe'
# Set PDF path
$OutFile = Join-Path -Path 'c:\path\to\emails' -ChildPath ($Email.Subject + '.pdf')
# Convert HTML string to PDF file
$ret = $Email.HTMLBody | & $ExePath #('--quiet', '-', $OutFile) 2>&1
# Check for errors
if ($LASTEXITCODE) {
Write-Error $ret
}
Please note, that I've no experience with Outlook and used MSDN to get relevant properties for object, so the code might need some tweaking.

Had this same issue. This is what I did to fix it if anybody else is trying to do something similar.
You could start by taking your msg file and converting it to doc then converting the doc file to pdf.
$outlook = New-Object -ComObject Outlook.Application
$word = New-Object -ComObject Word.Application
Get-ChildItem -Path $folderPath -Filter *.msg? | ForEach-Object {
$msgFullName = $_.FullName
$docFullName = $msgFullName -replace '\.msg$', '.doc'
$pdfFullName = $msgFullName -replace '\.msg$', '.pdf'
$msg = $outlook.CreateItemFromTemplate($msgFullName)
$msg.SaveAs($docFullName, 4)
$doc = $word.Documents.Open($docFullName)
$doc.SaveAs([ref] $pdfFullName, [ref] 17)
$doc.Close()
}
Then, just clean up the unwanted files after

Related

Powershell: Converting Headers from .msg file to .txt - Current directory doesn't pull header information, but specific directory does

So I am trying to make a script to take a batch of .msg files, pull their header information and then throw that header information into a .txt file. This is all working totally fine when I use this code:
$directory = "C:\Users\IT\Documents\msg\"
$ol = New-Object -ComObject Outlook.Application
$files = Get-ChildItem $directory -Recurse
foreach ($file in $files)
{
$msg = $ol.CreateItemFromTemplate($directory + $file)
$headers = $msg.PropertyAccessor.GetProperty("http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x007D001E")
$headers > ($file.name +".txt")
}
But when I change the directory to use the active directory where the PS script is being run from $directory = ".\msg\", it will make all the files into text documents but they will be completely blank with no header information. I have tried different variations of things like:
$directory = -Path ".\msg\"
$files = Get-ChildItem -Path $directory
$files = Get-ChildItem -Path ".\msg\"
If anyone could share some ideas on how I could run the script from the active directory without needing to edit the code to specify the path each location. I'm trying to set this up so it can be done by simply putting it into a folder and running it.
Thanks! Any help is very appreciated!
Note: I do have outlook installed, so its not an issue of not being able to pull the headers, as it works when specifying a directory in the code
The easiest way might actually be to do it this way
$msg = $ol.CreateItemFromTemplate($file.FullName)
So, the complete script would then look something like this
$directory = ".\msg\"
$ol = New-Object -ComObject Outlook.Application
$files = Get-ChildItem $directory
foreach ($file in $files)
{
$msg = $ol.CreateItemFromTemplate($file.FullName)
$headers = $msg.PropertyAccessor.GetProperty("http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x007D001E")
$headers > ($file.name +".txt")
}
All that said, it could be worthwhile reading up on automatic variables (Get-Help about_Automatic_Variables) - for instance the sections about $PWD, $PSScriptRoot and $PSCommandPath might be useful.
Alternative ways - even though they seem unnecessarily complicated.
$msg = $ol.CreateItemFromTemplate((Get-Item $directory).FullName + $file)
Or something like this
$msg = $ol.CreateItemFromTemplate($file.DirectoryName + "\" $file)

Powershell Writing to .XLSX is Corrupting the Files

I have a Powershell script that loops through .xslx files in a folder and password protects them with the file name (for now.) I have no problem looping through and writing to .xls, but when I try to open an .xlsx file after writing it with Powershell - I get the error:
Excel cannot open the file 'abcd.xlsx' because the file format or file
extension is not valid. Verify that the file has not been corrupted
and that the file extension matches the format of the file.
Here's the script:
function Release-Ref ($ref) {
([System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject(
[System.__ComObject]$ref) -gt 0)
[System.GC]::Collect()
[System.GC]::WaitForPendingFinalizers()
}
$e = $ErrorActionPreference
$ErrorActionPreference="continue"
foreach ($f in Get-ChildItem "C:"){
try{
$ff = $f
$xlNormal = -4143
$s = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($f)
$xl = new-object -comobject excel.application
$xl.Visible = $False
$xl.DisplayAlerts = $False
$wb = $xl.Workbooks.Open($ff.FullName)
$wb.sheets(1).columns("A:S").entirecolumn.AutoFit()
$wb.sheets(1).columns("N").NumberFormat = "0.0%"
$a = $wb.SaveAs("C:\Out\" + $s + ".xls",$xlNormal,$s) #works
#$a = $wb.SaveAs("C:\Out\" + $s + ".xlsx",$xlNormal,$s) #doesn't work
$a = $xl.Quit()
$a = Release-Ref($ws)
$a = Release-Ref($wb)
$a = Release-Ref($xl)
}
catch {
Write-Output "Exception"
$ErrorActionPreference=$e;
}
}
I've searched other questions but can't find any other examples of the same issues writing from Powershell. Thank you.
The problem is caused because Xls is different a format from Xlsx. Older Excels before version 2007 used binary formats. The 2007 Office introduced new formats called Office Open Xml, which Xslx uses.
Excel is smart enough to check both file extension and file format. Since saving a binary file with new versions' extension creates a conflict, the error message hints for this possibility too:
and that the file extension matches the format of the file.
Why doesn't Excel just open the file anyway? I guess it's a security feature that prevents unintentional opening of Office documents. Back in the days, Office macro viruses were a bane of many offices. One of the main infection vectors was to trick users to open files without precautions. Unlike classic viruses, macro ones infected application data (including default template files) instead of OS binaries, but that's another a story.
Anyway, to work in proper a format, use proper version value. That would be -4143 for Xls and 51 for Xlsx. What's more, Get-ChildItem returns a collection of FileInfo objects, and file extension is there in Extension property. Like so,
# Define Xls and Xlsx versions
$typeXls = -4143
$typeXls = 51
foreach ($f in Get-ChildItem "C:"){
try{
$ff = $f
...
# Select saveas type to match original file extension
if($f.extension -eq '.xsl') { $fType = $typeXls }
else if($f.extension -eq '.xslx') { $fType = $typeXlsx }
$a = $wb.SaveAs("C:\Out\" + $s + $.extension, $fType, $s)
Working with com objects is too complicated sometimes with excel. I recommend the import-excel module.
Install-Module -Name ImportExcel
Then you can do something like this.
function Release-Ref ($ref) {
$e = $ErrorActionPreference
$ErrorActionPreference="continue"
foreach ($f in Get-ChildItem $file){
try{
$filePass = gci $f
$path = split-path $f
$newFile = $path + "\" + $f.BaseName + "-protected.xlsx"
$f | Export-excel $newFile -password $filePass -NoNumberConversion * -AutoSize
}
catch {
Write-Output "Exception"
$ErrorActionPreference=$e;
}
}
}

Powershell downloading all possible files for a given day

I'm using Powershell for the first time to download the previous day's files from a webpage for a client. The web page is from a data logger than is on a vendor skid. The data logger always saves the files in the format yyMMdd##.CSV, where ## is the sequential number file for that given day (starting at 00). When viewing the webpage I have only seen the maximum number of CSV files for a given day as 1 (so, 8/31/17's file would be 17083100.CSV). I have got the Powershell code written to give me yesterday's file assuming that 00 is the only file for that day, but I was hoping there was a way I could either use a wildcard or for loop to download any additional files that may exist for the previous day. See the code below for what I currently have:
$a = "http://10.109.120.101/logs/Log1/"
$b = (get-date).AddDays(-1).ToString("yyMMdd") + "00.CSV"
$c = "C:\"
$url = "$a$b"
$WebClient = New-Object net.webclient
$path = "$c$b"
$WebClient.DownloadFile($url, $path)
try Something like this:
$Date=(get-date).AddDays(-1).ToString("yyMMdd")
$URLFormat ='http://10.109.120.101/logs/Log1/{0}{1:D2}.CSV'
$WebClient = New-Object net.webclient
#build destination path
$PathDest="C:\Temp\$Date"
New-Item -Path $PathDest -ItemType Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
1..99 | %{
$Path="$PathDest\{0:D2}.CSV" -f $_
$URL=$URLFormat -f $Date, $_
try
{
Write-Host ("Try to download '{0}' file to '{1}'" -f $URL, $Path)
$WebClient.DownloadFile($Path, $URL)
}
catch
{
}
}
$WebClient.Dispose()

Powershell not sending the right path for a file as argument

I'm trying to apply a hash function to all the files inside a folder as some kind of version control. The idea is to make a testfile that lists the name of the file and the generated checksum. Digging online I found some code that should do the trick (in theory):
$list = Get-ChildItem 'C:\users\public\documents\folder' -Filter *.cab
$sha1 = New-Object System.Security.Cryptography.SHA1CryptoServiceProvider
foreach ($file in $list) {
$return = "" | Select Name, Hash
$returnname = $file.Name
$returnhash = [System.BitConverter]::ToString($sha1.ComputeHash([System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($file.Name)))
$return = "$returnname,$returnhash"
Out-File -FilePath .\mylist.txt -Encoding Default -InputObject ($return) -Append
}
When I run it however, I get an error because it tries to read the files from c:\users\me\, the folder where I'm running the script. And the file c:\users\me\aa.cab does not exist and hence can't be reached.
I've tried everything that I could think of, but no luck. I'm using Windows 7 with Powershell 2.0, if that helps in any way.
Try with .FullName instead of just .Name.
$returnhash = [System.BitConverter]::ToString($sha1.ComputeHash([System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($file.FullName)))

Enumerate file properties in PowerShell

I have seen bits of this in other questions, but I am looking for a generic way to write a function that will take a file, and list its properties in such a way that they can be used. I am aware of the function called Get-ItemProperty but it does not list the properties that I am looking for (for example, given a .avi file, it will not tell me the length, frame width, etc).
Am I using the function wrong (all I am doing is: Get-ItemProperty file) or do I have to do this a different way?
I want to be able to say something like $a += $file.Length, or something like that for arbitrary properties.
Sounds like you are looking for extended file attributes. These are not stored in System.IO.FileInfo.
One way is to use the Shell.Application COM object. Here is some example code:
http://web.archive.org/web/20160201231836/http://powershell.com/cs/blogs/tobias/archive/2011/01/07/organizing-videos-and-music.aspx
Say you had a video file: C:\video.wmv
$path = 'C:\video.wmv'
$shell = New-Object -COMObject Shell.Application
$folder = Split-Path $path
$file = Split-Path $path -Leaf
$shellfolder = $shell.Namespace($folder)
$shellfile = $shellfolder.ParseName($file)
You'll need to know what the ID of the extended attribute is. This will show you all of the ID's:
0..287 | Foreach-Object { '{0} = {1}' -f $_, $shellfolder.GetDetailsOf($null, $_) }
Once you find the one you want you can access it like this:
$shellfolder.GetDetailsOf($shellfile, 216)
Another possible method which also uses the Shell.Application COM object but does not require you to know what the ID’s of the extended attributes are. This method is preferred over using the ID’s because ID’s are different in different versions of Window (XP, Vista, 10, etc.)
$FilePath = 'C:\Videos\Test.mp4'
$Folder = Split-Path -Parent -Path $FilePath
$File = Split-Path -Leaf -Path $FilePath
$Shell = New-Object -COMObject Shell.Application
$ShellFolder = $Shell.NameSpace($Folder)
$ShellFile = $ShellFolder.ParseName($File)
Write-Host $ShellFile.ExtendedProperty("System.Title")
Write-Host $ShellFile.ExtendedProperty("System.Media.Duration")
Write-Host $ShellFile.ExtendedProperty("System.Video.FrameWidth")
Write-Host $ShellFile.ExtendedProperty("System.Video.FrameHeight")
The code will display the title of the video (if it is set), duration (100ns units, not milliseconds), and the videos frame width and height.
The names of other extended properties can be found in the file propkey.h, which is part of the Windows SDK.
Additional information:
ShellFolderItem.ExtendedProperty method
Predefined Property Set Format Identifiers