ActiveSync Protocol Documentation

Hi,

I am looking for ActiveSync protocol documentation but so far with no
success at all.

WHAT I HAVE DONE SO FAR: is that i have searched internet for any
possible documentation for ActiveSync protocol but the only information
that is available (or i could find) is from the point of view of a
programmer who wants to implement an activesync service provider. In
order to study the protocol, i have setup Pocket PC 2003 emulator to
sync with my desktop computer. I can capture the packets exchanged
between the two when partnership is established and synchronization is
done. But these packets except for some of them do not make much sense
to me.

WHAT I WANT TO DO: is to understand how Pocket PC and desktop computer
communicate with each other using ActiveSync protocol (from connection
establishment and synchronization to disconnection). What are the
messages that are exchanged between the two to perform various
synchronization tasks? In other words where can i find a detailed
description of the protocol used by ActiveSync? May be something like
an RFC (which i think is not available for ActiveSync) available from
the internet and available free of cost (unlike The Windows CE
Technology Tutorial by Chris Muench). Any help would be highly
appreciated.

Thanks,

sarshah

r_z_aret
Wed Nov 23 14:21:59 CST 2005

If you are going to ask the same question in multiple newsgroups,
please post the question to all at once so everyone can see and/or
participate in the whole discussion. I at least tried to answer your
question in microsoft.public.pocketpc


On 23 Nov 2005 05:52:59 -0800, sarshah20@yahoo.com wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I am looking for ActiveSync protocol documentation but so far with no
>success at all.
>
>WHAT I HAVE DONE SO FAR: is that i have searched internet for any
>possible documentation for ActiveSync protocol but the only information
>that is available (or i could find) is from the point of view of a
>programmer who wants to implement an activesync service provider. In
>order to study the protocol, i have setup Pocket PC 2003 emulator to
>sync with my desktop computer. I can capture the packets exchanged
>between the two when partnership is established and synchronization is
>done. But these packets except for some of them do not make much sense
>to me.
>
>WHAT I WANT TO DO: is to understand how Pocket PC and desktop computer
>communicate with each other using ActiveSync protocol (from connection
>establishment and synchronization to disconnection). What are the
>messages that are exchanged between the two to perform various
>synchronization tasks? In other words where can i find a detailed
>description of the protocol used by ActiveSync? May be something like
>an RFC (which i think is not available for ActiveSync) available from
>the internet and available free of cost (unlike The Windows CE
>Technology Tutorial by Chris Muench). Any help would be highly
>appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>
>sarshah

-----------------------------------------
To reply to me, remove the underscores (_) from my email address (and please indicate which newsgroup and message).

Robert E. Zaret, eMVP
PenFact, Inc.
20 Park Plaza, Suite 478
Boston, MA 02116
www.penfact.com

Ahmed
Wed Nov 23 16:47:40 CST 2005

ActiveSync Connectivity protocol is not documented. While there has been
some effort to reverse engineer it, see
http://sourceforge.net/projects/synce, there is no official documentation
for such protocol. One thing to keep in mind, is that the protocol
ActiveSync uses to communicate with PPC 2003 is different from the one used
to communicate with PPC 2005.
--
Ahmed Smahi [MSFT]
Test@online.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
<sarshah20@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132753979.155052.12940@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
>
> I am looking for ActiveSync protocol documentation but so far with no
> success at all.
>
> WHAT I HAVE DONE SO FAR: is that i have searched internet for any
> possible documentation for ActiveSync protocol but the only information
> that is available (or i could find) is from the point of view of a
> programmer who wants to implement an activesync service provider. In
> order to study the protocol, i have setup Pocket PC 2003 emulator to
> sync with my desktop computer. I can capture the packets exchanged
> between the two when partnership is established and synchronization is
> done. But these packets except for some of them do not make much sense
> to me.
>
> WHAT I WANT TO DO: is to understand how Pocket PC and desktop computer
> communicate with each other using ActiveSync protocol (from connection
> establishment and synchronization to disconnection). What are the
> messages that are exchanged between the two to perform various
> synchronization tasks? In other words where can i find a detailed
> description of the protocol used by ActiveSync? May be something like
> an RFC (which i think is not available for ActiveSync) available from
> the internet and available free of cost (unlike The Windows CE
> Technology Tutorial by Chris Muench). Any help would be highly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> sarshah
>

sarshah20
Thu Nov 24 07:24:08 CST 2005

Robert thanks for the tip. I will keep it in my mind for the next time.

Ahmed
ActiveSync uses RAPI and its calls should be the same for both PPC 2003
and PPC 2005. Is that the case?
The link that u posted has a RAPI call example along with the packets
capture. What i am getting (in the packets that i captured for that
call) is different from the example. The request is different but the
response is the same. I guess that the example is from an older version
or something.

This means that anyone who wants to work with ActiveSync protocol is
own its own.

sarshah

Ahmed
Fri Dec 09 11:00:31 CST 2005

Inline


--
Ahmed Smahi [MSFT]
Test@online.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
<sarshah20@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132838648.185247.25300@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Robert thanks for the tip. I will keep it in my mind for the next time.
>
> Ahmed
> ActiveSync uses RAPI and its calls should be the same for both PPC 2003
> and PPC 2005. Is that the case?
The interfaces, as far as 3rd party developers are concerned, are the same
with exception of the addition of RAPI2 on WM5. The protocol used is
different.

> The link that u posted has a RAPI call example along with the packets
> capture. What i am getting (in the packets that i captured for that
> call) is different from the example. The request is different but the
> response is the same. I guess that the example is from an older version
> or something.
This is expected as the protocol has changed on WM5.

>
> This means that anyone who wants to work with ActiveSync protocol is
> own its own.

Yes, anybody who wants to work with RAPI protocol is on his own.

>
> sarshah
>