Messaging Application Programming Interface
Encyclopedia
Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) is a messaging architecture and a Component Object Model
based API
for Microsoft Windows
. MAPI allows client programmes to become (e-mail
) messaging-enabled, -aware, or -based by calling
MAPI subsystem routines that interface with certain messaging servers. While MAPI is designed to be independent of the protocol, it is usually used with MAPI/RPC, the proprietary protocol
that Microsoft Outlook
uses to communicate with Microsoft Exchange
.
Simple MAPI is a subset of 12 functions which enable developers to add basic messaging functionality. Extended MAPI allows complete control over the messaging system on the client computer, creation and management of messages, management of the client mailbox, service providers, and so forth. Simple MAPI ships with Microsoft Windows
as part of Outlook Express
/Windows Mail
while the full Extended MAPI ships with Office Outlook
and Exchange
.
In addition to the Extended MAPI client interface, programming calls can be made indirectly through the Simple MAPI API client interface, through the Common Messaging Calls (CMC) API client interface, or by the object-based CDO
Library interface. These three methods are easier to use and designed for less complex messaging-enabled and -aware applications. (Simple MAPI and CMC were removed from Exchange 2003.)
MAPI was originally designed by Microsoft
. The company founded its MS Mail team in 1987, but it was not until it acquired Consumers Software
in 1991 to obtain Network Courier that it had a messaging product. Reworked, it was sold as MS PC Mail (or Microsoft Mail
for PC Networking). The basic API to MS PC Mail was known as MAPI version 0 (or MAPI0). MAPI uses functions loosely based on the X.400
XAPIA standard.
MAPI includes facilities to access message transport
s, message stores, and directories.
, Kerio Connect, Scalix
, Zimbra
, HP OpenMail
, IBM Lotus Notes, Zarafa
, and Bynari
.
MAPI also had a service provider interface of sorts. Microsoft used this to interface MS Mail to an email system based on Xenix
, for internal use.
Extended MAPI is the main e-mail data access method used by Outlook, to interface to Microsoft Exchange
, via MAPI service providers shipped with Outlook.
"MAPI protocol" is a colloquial name for the MAPI/RPC. At times, Microsoft has also called it "Exchange RPC" and "Outlook-Exchange Transport Protocol".
libraries for use in other open source applications. This list includes the OpenMapi project, the Zarafa
's MAPI4Linux (also part of OpenMapi) and the libmapi subproject of the OpenChange project which is utilized in another OpenChange subproject called Evolution-MAPI. Evolution-MAPI is a connector provider that can be installed within the popular open source Evolution groupware client.
Component Object Model
Component Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
based API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. MAPI allows client programmes to become (e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
) messaging-enabled, -aware, or -based by calling
Remote procedure call
In computer science, a remote procedure call is an inter-process communication that allows a computer program to cause a subroutine or procedure to execute in another address space without the programmer explicitly coding the details for this remote interaction...
MAPI subsystem routines that interface with certain messaging servers. While MAPI is designed to be independent of the protocol, it is usually used with MAPI/RPC, the proprietary protocol
Proprietary protocol
In telecommunications, a proprietary protocol is a communications protocol owned by a single organization or individual.-Enforcement:Proprietors may enforce restrictions through patents and by keeping the protocol specification a trade secret...
that Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
uses to communicate with Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
.
Simple MAPI is a subset of 12 functions which enable developers to add basic messaging functionality. Extended MAPI allows complete control over the messaging system on the client computer, creation and management of messages, management of the client mailbox, service providers, and so forth. Simple MAPI ships with Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
as part of Outlook Express
Outlook Express
Outlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9...
/Windows Mail
Windows Mail
Windows Mail is an email and newsgroup client included in Windows Vista, that was superseded by Windows Live Mail. It is the successor to Outlook Express. Microsoft previewed Windows Mail on Channel 9 on October 10, 2005....
while the full Extended MAPI ships with Office Outlook
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
and Exchange
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
.
In addition to the Extended MAPI client interface, programming calls can be made indirectly through the Simple MAPI API client interface, through the Common Messaging Calls (CMC) API client interface, or by the object-based CDO
Collaboration Data Objects
Collaboration Data Objects , previously known as OLE Messaging or Active Messaging, is an application programming interface included with Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Exchange Server products...
Library interface. These three methods are easier to use and designed for less complex messaging-enabled and -aware applications. (Simple MAPI and CMC were removed from Exchange 2003.)
MAPI was originally designed by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. The company founded its MS Mail team in 1987, but it was not until it acquired Consumers Software
Consumers Software
Consumers Software is a computer networking company based in Canada. It was acquired by Microsoft on March 18, 1991 and merged its technology with Microsoft Windows....
in 1991 to obtain Network Courier that it had a messaging product. Reworked, it was sold as MS PC Mail (or Microsoft Mail
Microsoft Mail
Microsoft Mail was the name given to several early Microsoft e-mail products.-Mac Networks:The first Microsoft Mail product was introduced in 1988 for AppleTalk Networks. It was based on InterMail, a product that Microsoft purchased and updated. An MS-DOS client was added for PCs on AppleTalk...
for PC Networking). The basic API to MS PC Mail was known as MAPI version 0 (or MAPI0). MAPI uses functions loosely based on the X.400
X.400
X.400 is a suite of ITU-T Recommendations that define standards for Data Communication Networks for Message Handling Systems — more commonly known as "email"....
XAPIA standard.
MAPI includes facilities to access message transport
Mail transfer agent
Within Internet message handling services , a message transfer agent or mail transfer agent or mail relay is software that transfers electronic mail messages from one computer to another using a client–server application architecture...
s, message stores, and directories.
Service provider interface
The full Extended MAPI interface is required for interfacing messaging-based services to client applications such as Outlook. For example, several non-Microsoft e-mail server product vendors created "MAPI service providers" to allow their products to be accessed via Outlook. Notable examples include Axigen Mail ServerAXIGEN
Axigen, marketed as AXIGEN, is a mail server with groupware and collaboration functionalities. It supports SMTP/ESMTP, IMAP, POP3 and webmail services, and has an integrated mailing list server...
, Kerio Connect, Scalix
Scalix
Scalix is an e-mail and groupware server that runs on Linux, licensed under the Scalix Public License .Scalix provides e-mail, group calendaring and other collaborative software, which are standard in groupware...
, Zimbra
Zimbra
Zimbra Collaboration Suite is a groupware product created by Zimbra, Inc., located in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was purchased by Yahoo! in September 2007, and subsequently purchased by VMware on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. The software consists of both client and server components...
, HP OpenMail
HP OpenMail
HP OpenMail was an enterprise e-mail messaging and collaboration product from Hewlett-Packard.It was known for its ability to interconnect several other APIs and protocols, including MAPI, cc:Mail, SMTP and MIME, and was originally based on the OSI standards such as X.400...
, IBM Lotus Notes, Zarafa
Zarafa (software)
Zarafa is the name of an European open source collaborative software, developed in Delft, the Netherlands. The company that develops Zarafa, previously known as Connectux, is also called Zarafa. The Zarafa groupware provides email storage on the server side and brings its own Ajax-based mail client...
, and Bynari
Bynari
Insight Family of products is a collaboration suite of products that consists of open source components and proprietary development, by Bynari, that runs on Linux....
.
MAPI also had a service provider interface of sorts. Microsoft used this to interface MS Mail to an email system based on Xenix
Xenix
Xenix is a version of the Unix operating system, licensed to Microsoft from AT&T in the late 1970s. The Santa Cruz Operation later acquired exclusive rights to the software, and eventually superseded it with SCO UNIX ....
, for internal use.
Extended MAPI is the main e-mail data access method used by Outlook, to interface to Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
, via MAPI service providers shipped with Outlook.
MAPI/RPC protocol details
Microsoft has released full details of the MAPI/RPC protocol."MAPI protocol" is a colloquial name for the MAPI/RPC. At times, Microsoft has also called it "Exchange RPC" and "Outlook-Exchange Transport Protocol".
Open Source MAPI implementations
Up until recently Open Source implementations of MAPI have been scarce. But there are at least three open source projects working on implementing the MAPI protocol in free open source software (FOSS)Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
libraries for use in other open source applications. This list includes the OpenMapi project, the Zarafa
Zarafa (software)
Zarafa is the name of an European open source collaborative software, developed in Delft, the Netherlands. The company that develops Zarafa, previously known as Connectux, is also called Zarafa. The Zarafa groupware provides email storage on the server side and brings its own Ajax-based mail client...
's MAPI4Linux (also part of OpenMapi) and the libmapi subproject of the OpenChange project which is utilized in another OpenChange subproject called Evolution-MAPI. Evolution-MAPI is a connector provider that can be installed within the popular open source Evolution groupware client.