pocket outlook: how are records flagged when changed?

Hoping I'll get a bite with this question this time:

When a record is changed in Outlook or Pocket Outlook, how is ActiveSync
made aware of the changes that need to be mirrored? Is there a field in each
record that gets flagged as "dirty" when the record is new or has been
modified? Is there a timestamp that is compared against another timestamp
for the last time synchronization occurred? I need to know what the record
structure is that enables synchronization to occur without having to do a
field-by-field comparison of every record in Outlook each time you put the
device in the cradle.

What about deleted records? If I delete a contact in Pocket Outlook does it
get flagged as deleted first and only actually deleted after the flag is read
and cleared by ActiveSync so that desktop Outlook can be made aware of the
deletion on the handheld? If not, how is this done?

I need to know these things because I am helping to develop a desktop PIM
application that will sync with Pocket Outlook.

I haven't been able to find any information about the record structure for
Outlook or Pocket Outlook at all. Does anyone have a pointer to this?

--
David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com

Peter
Thu Aug 19 17:29:03 CDT 2004

It's not totally clear, though it appears that the outlook activesync
provider makes a fairly comprehensive cache of the device information and
looks for changes between this and the desktop. There are no per-item
timestamps recorded and no programmatic way to determine if an item has been
changed or when...

Peter

--
Peter Foot
Windows Embedded MVP
www.inthehand.com | www.opennetcf.org

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"David Beers" <DavidBeers@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:59399B89-E0AE-4B59-BC8D-5CA675230580@microsoft.com...
> Hoping I'll get a bite with this question this time:
>
> When a record is changed in Outlook or Pocket Outlook, how is ActiveSync
> made aware of the changes that need to be mirrored? Is there a field in
> each
> record that gets flagged as "dirty" when the record is new or has been
> modified? Is there a timestamp that is compared against another timestamp
> for the last time synchronization occurred? I need to know what the
> record
> structure is that enables synchronization to occur without having to do a
> field-by-field comparison of every record in Outlook each time you put the
> device in the cradle.
>
> What about deleted records? If I delete a contact in Pocket Outlook does
> it
> get flagged as deleted first and only actually deleted after the flag is
> read
> and cleared by ActiveSync so that desktop Outlook can be made aware of the
> deletion on the handheld? If not, how is this done?
>
> I need to know these things because I am helping to develop a desktop PIM
> application that will sync with Pocket Outlook.
>
> I haven't been able to find any information about the record structure for
> Outlook or Pocket Outlook at all. Does anyone have a pointer to this?
>
> --
> David Beers
> Pikesoft Mobile Computing
> www.pikesoft.com