View Add2Exchange Installation Guide (.pdf)

Awarded first runner up in the 2008 Readers' Choice Award for Exchange Mobility and Wireless solution,  Add2Exchange™ is an Exchange server add-on solution offering total 4-way replication & 8-way folder synchronization of all server-side Outlook Calendar, Contact, & Task folders. Add2Exchange contains three modules Add2Exchange for Calendars, Add2Exchange for Contacts, & Add2Exchange for Tasks. Add2Exchange has been optimized to work with BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). We have a free fully functional 21 day trial version available in our Downloads area.

Using “Information Relationships”, Add2Exchange can copy and sync information one-way or two-way back and forth between individuals or groups. Appointments, Contacts and Tasks are sent to public folders from users, to private folders from public folders and from private to private individuals so teams can access the information easily in Outlook or on the ever ubiquitous PDA and smartphones. Having this information automatically makes the team faster, more productive and more valuable.

• Sync 2 Outlook folders
• Sync Outlook personal folders with Exchange public folders
• Sync 2 public folders
• Sync information between public folders and Windows Mobile smartphones, pocket pcs, Blackberry handhelds, PDAs, & other mobile devices
• Sync Blackberry to Blackberry
• Sync public folder contacts or calendars with your Blackberry device wirelessly
• Shared Outlook calendars, contacts, tasks

Add2Exchange is a folder sync solution for synchronizing Outlook calendars, contacts, tasks between Microsoft Exchange public folders, Outlook personal folders, and/or Windows Mobile devices.  Add2Exchange copies the contents of one folder to another, then periodically determines whether changes to the source folder have occurred and synchronizes those changes.

Add2Exchange Key Points

Type of replication:

• Private to Public, AND
• Public to Private, AND
• Public to Public, AND
• Private to Private, AND
• OST (Offline Folder) Aware

Number of Relationships: One to Many (tied) and Many to One (tied)

Replicates New Items: 4 ways

Synchronizes Changes: 8 ways

Add2Exchange is a non-proprietary solution that will work with ANY manufacturer's mobile devices as long as the device syncs with Outlook. If it was proprietary, the sync solution would be designed to work specifically for one brand/type of mobile device. If a few months or years down the road your organization decides to trade in your BlackBerry devices for Treo smartphones (or vice versa), you would have to find and invest in a new sync solution.  With Add2Exchange, it doesn’t matter what brand your device is as long as it syncs with Outlook. Your organization can use the same devices, or have a mix of devices from one or multiple manufacturers and the system will work as expected. Also, when Microsoft or RIM change their infrastructure, the Rapid Application development technologies used by Diditbetter.com make Add2Exchange work as you expect.

Relationship Fundamentals

Relationships may be built between any combination of folders in the public folder store and private mailbox stores, provided that the folders contain the same type of items (e.g. contacts).

Add2Exchange can synchronize calender events (one-time and recurring), contacts, distributions lists and tasks.

Relationships synchronize only the contents of the specified source and destination folders and do not synchronize the contents of subfolders.  Synchronization of subfolders requires a separate relationship.

Folders in an active relationship are referred to as active folders.  Items created by regular users (i.e., not created by a relationship) in the active folders are called originating items or originals.  Items created by relationships are called either copies or replicas.

Items that are subject to a relationship include both originating items in the source folder as well as the replicas in the destination folder.  The relationship monitors these items for changes.

Items that originate in the destination folder are NOT subject to the relationship.  For example, contacts in a destination folder prior to a relationship being set up are not subject to the relationship.  A relationship does not monitor those items that it did not itself create in a destination folder, nor does it copy those items to the source folder.

In the following example, two folders both containing original items are made subject to a relationship.  The source is the public folder on left side with blue contacts and the destination is a contacts folder in a user's mailbox with pre-existing yellow contacts.  After synchronization, the user's folder contains the both the original yellow contacts and replicas of the blue contacts from the public folder.  However, only the blue contacts are subject to the relationship, since the yellow contacts are the original items in a destination folder.  The relationship will not monitor yellow contacts for changes, nor will they be copied to the public folder.

Triggers and Settings

Along with defining a source and destination, relationships also define the synchronization behavior in response to trigger events (or just triggers).  While there are a number of trigger events, they fall into three basic categories: addition of items (adds), changes to items (edits) and deletion of items (deletes).  Items being moved in or out of active folders trigger adds or deletes respectively.

Adds

Adds consist of either the creation a new item in a source folder or the movement of an existing item into a source folder from another folder.

The behavior of the add trigger is uniform for all types of relationships: the item is copied to the destination.  There is no relationship configuration setting for adds.

Since items originating in the destination folder are not subject to the relationship, there is no such thing as an add to a destination folder.

Upon setting up a new relationship, all of the items in the source folder are considered adds and are copied to the destination.

Because of the potential for duplication (see duplication), it is recommended that prior to the first synchronization of a new relationship you empty your destination folders by moving the contents to a side folder.  Then return any needed items from the side folder after synchronization.

Edits and Deletes

Edits consist of any change to the fields of an item that is subject to the relationship.  The items in question include any item originating in the source as well as any replicas in the destination.  Edits to destination replicas may or may not affect the originating item in the source, depending on your relationship settings.

Similarly, deletes consist of either the deletion of an item that is subject to the relationship or movement of such an item from an active folder to another folder.  The relationship is defined by the folders being monitored, not the items, so movement of an item out of the active folder is indistinguishable from the item having been deleted.

How the relationship responds to edits or deletes is a configurable setting.

Synchronization Profiles

A synchronization profile is the collection of trigger settings that define the general behavior of a relationship. While relationship settings are independent of one another, they are generally set in coordination to achieve one of two kinds of behavior: one-way or two-way.  These are the possible synchronization profiles for a relationship.

A relationship is not required conform to a profile and there is no single "profile setting".  Profiles are a simply a concept to denote the general intent of the settings.

One-way and two-way profiles typically share the same behavior for adds, edits and deletes in the source folder.  Changes in the source are synchronized to the destination folder.

The profiles differ in how they treat edits and deletes to replicas in the destination folder.  (Adds to the destination aren't considered here because they are never subject to the relationship.)

One-way relationships prevent edits to and deletes of replicas in the destination from affecting the originating items.

Two-way relationships allow edits and deletes of replicas in the destination to be reflected in the originating items.

The following table summarizes typical profile behavior.  Note that a relationship may be configured to give a hybrid of the two behaviors.  The triggers shown are for replicas in the destination folder only.

One-way Behavior

One-way synchronization generally means that changes to destination replicas are prevented from affecting the originating items.  What happens to the modified replica depends on the relationship settings.

One-way behavior usually means that edits are discarded.

An example of an alternate setting that is still considered one-way is to preserve a modified replica and create a new copy.

When a replica is modified under this configuration, the originating contact and modified replica are dissociated from each other.  The copy is no longer considered a replica since it is not subject to the relationship and is no longer synchronized with the originating item. A new replica is made that follows the usual synchronization rules.

The delete trigger in a one-way relationship also has multiple settings.  The usual behavior is to recopy the originating item to the destination, effectively preventing the deletion.

An alternate setting that is still considered one-way is to allow the replica to be deleted.  The originating item is unaffected but will not be copied to the destination in the future, even if it is modified.  This is called pruning.

Two-way Behavior

Two-way synchronization means that changes (edits and deletes) of destination replicas are synchronized back to the originating item in the source.

Because a relationship creates and tracks its own replicas, if the destination folder already contains copies of any of the originating items there is the potential for duplication when setting up a new relationship.  The relationship does not try to discover and match destination items to the source.  Doing so would be performance prohibitive.  Instead, the relationship creates and tracks its own copies irrespective of the existing contents of the destination folder.

For this reason, you want to make sure that the destination folder is clear of copies prior to initial synchronization.  If the destination folder is a perfect copy of the source, you may simply delete the contents of the destination or move them to a side folder.  We recommend keeping the copies in a side folder until you are satisfied with the results of synchronization to be on the safe side.  A side folder may be created in the user's mailbox for this purpose, for example.

More than likely your destination is not a perfect copy of the source.  It may contain the user's personal contacts or local modifications to public contacts that are important to keep.  In this case we still recommend moving items to a side folder to preserve personal copies.  However, the user will need to determine which copies are important to return to the destination folder once synchronization has completed.

Mesh Relationships

Relationships are not transitive, that is, they do not chain together.  This has important implications for how many relationships are required to achieve synchronization if you are trying to make a set of folders to have an equivalent set of items.

Another way of saying this is that replicas made by one relationship are not subject to other relationships.  Copies are never copied further.  This simple rule prevents configurations that could lead to an infinite loop in relationship synchronization that could fill a mailbox or public folder with duplicates.

The following example illustrates what it means for relationships to not be transitive.  Imagine a private folder (yellow) with a relationship going to a public folder (blue).  The public folder also has a relationship going to another private folder (red).

Because of this property of relationships, if you want a set of folders to be equivalent, you have to build relationships directly from each folder to every other folder.  This is called meshing or a full mesh.

To be equivalent, a set of folders should contain the same set of items.  To be fully equivalent, changes to any of those items, including replicas, should be synchronized to the other folder.  Relationships can be configured to provide equivalent contents only or full equivalence depending on the relationship profiles used.

The following example shows this for two private mailbox folders.  A relationship is set up in each direction, giving the smallest possible example of a mesh.  This special case is also called a reciprocal relationship.

To provide full equivalence, two-way profiles are used on both relationships.  Adds, edits and deletes to either folder will be reflected in the other.

As more folders are added to the mesh, each new folder must have reciprocal relationships with every other folder.  This means a third folder will add four more relationships, a fourth will add six and so on.

The following table summarizes the number of relationships required to build a mesh between the given number of folders.  Both private and public folders count the same for this purpose.

As can be seen, the number of relationships required by a full mesh grows quickly.  Because of this, you should only consider using a full mesh for a small number of folders.

What's New with Add2Exchange

With Add2Exchange, you now can:

• New! Try each module (Calendars, Contacts, and Tasks) for 20 days! Each trial begins when the first relationship is built for that module.
• New! Upgrade the number of relationships for any licensed module. Need to add more relationships for your licensed solution, click here to buy now.
• New! Recopy previously deleted items in the destination folder. The new copy of the item in the destination folder will then function correctly during the synchronization process. 
• New!  Flexible settings for each relationship when creating a two-way relationship. Now, the Add2Exchange relationship wizard does not assume that the second (of the 2-way) relationship’s settings are the same as the first relationship and offers the ability to select the second relationship’s settings as a separate option.
• New! Replicate Outlook reminders from the source folder to the destination folder – once they are dismissed in the destination, they never come up again.
• New! Place Deleted Text before or after a synchronized message’s Subject or File As.
• Improved! For trial users, you can create unlimited relationships during each module’s trial period.
• Improved! Place Auto Population Text “:” before or after a synchronized message’s Subject or File As.
• Improved!  Select Auto Population Text “:” specific to each relationship.
• New! Add2Exchange Relationship Cloning Module- The Add2Exchange Relationship Cloning Module was developed for organizations with many relationships to create but who do not have time to create each entire relationship individually. The cloning module uses the specific settings based on the first relationship you manually create and then all you have to do is pick each user and the destination folder.
  
  The Add2Exchange Relationship Cloning Module works with a one-to-many folder relationship configuration and saves around 1.5 minutes per relationship!  For example, if you needed to create 150 relationships, you would save 225 minutes (close to 4 hours); for 250 relationships, save around 375 minutes (over 6 hours); for 500 relationships save 750 minutes (12.5 hours); for 1000 relationships save 1500 minutes (25 hours).  The module does not create destination folders, the folders have to already exist before the relationship is created.  Because the Module can create relationships to default and non-default folders, it does not create relationships based on distribution lists.  Add2Exchange Relationship Cloning Module is sold separately from any Add2Exchange software license. 

Easier Installation!

•  If installed before, Add2Exchange takes the previous settings.
•  Automatically capture the current logged in user’s name if the service account name registry value cannot be found or is empty within the registry.
• Add2Exchange Setup Initialize will now create a registry entry for Show Security Page in Microsoft Exchange System Manager (2000 = EXAdmin; 2003 = MSExchangeAdmin) to enable administrative access to the entire store.

Better Exception Handling!

• Add2Exchange initial messages restriction will process fully even if an exception error is experienced/received and will note the exception error in the application Event Log, if one was experienced.
• Add2Exchange will reset messages if the relationship has been deleted and/or if there has been the moving of mailboxes, public folders or disabled or deleted accounts - (access changes.) being deleted. If there is an exception, it will be noted in the application Event Log, if one was experienced.  

Easier Support!

• Add2Exchange export setup feature now includes additional fields of: name of the current machine, name of the current user, product installation location, service startup type and the Windows operating system plus builds and service packs.
• Add2Exchange suppresses any events in the Event Log for terminated relationships.

• Add2Exchange removes old Profile # Registry Values under the software header as these backups are no longer required.
• Dropped support for Windows NT 4.0 with Exchange 5.5.  The Add2Exchange Service will work with Windows 2000, not verify that the Add2Exchange Console is open, will not stop the service and Exchange 5.5 will not restart the Add2Exchange Service after 10 instances if the Operating System is Microsoft Windows NT v4.0.
• Add2Exchange Console’s service utility screen now explains the FALSE for the Add2Exchange Service on the screen and the N/A for the Microsoft Exchange Exchanger Service and the Add2Exchange Service if the OS is Microsoft Windows NT v4.0.
• Add2Exchange Setup Initialize will now create a registry entry for MMP files Created by MAPI and CDO - Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q166599 - Create Profile Directory Value for Windows Temp Path for programs that have inadvertently modified the default location.
• Add2Exchange Setup Initialize will now create a registry entry for Show Security Page In Microsoft Exchange System Manager (2000 = EXAdmin ; 2003 = MSExchangeAdmin).

Behind the Scenes Enhancements for All You Techies!

Add2Exchange offers:

Avoiding Duplication

• Sync 2 Outlook folders
• Sync Outlook personal folders with Exchange public folders
• Sync 2 public folders
• Sync information between public folders and Windows Mobile smartphones, pocket pcs, Blackberry handhelds, PDAs, & other mobile devices
• Sync Blackberry to Blackberry
• Sync public folder contacts or calendars with your Blackberry device wirelessly
• Shared Outlook calendars, contacts, tasks

• Select from the Microsoft Exchange Server’s name or enter a cluster name manually.