Name

       mapi — Message Application Programming Interface

Description

       MAPI  is  a  programming  language  API  for storing and exchanging messages, contacts and
       calendars.

Data model

       The MAPI data model is a hierarchial one, similar to LDAP or a filesystem.

       A store is a container for a tree-based hierarchy of objects,  similar  to  a  filesystem.
       Each  object  in  the  hierarchy has an identifier by which it can be referred to, the so-
       called entry ID. The entry ID is unique within the scope of a store and can be thought  of
       something like a filesystem's inode number.

       Each object can have a number of attributes (key-value pairs), so-called properties.

Differences between MSMAPI and MAPI4Linux

       •   MAPI4Linux is a C++-only implementation. It is not binary compatible to MSMAPI, but it
           does remain source compatible to it, so that MAPI  programs  can,  with  little  extra
           code, compile with both MSMAPI and M4L.

       •   M4L uses multiple virtual inheritance.

       •   Many  MAPI functions in M4L have additional "const" qualifiers that MSMAPI is lacking.
           This allows programs to be sure memory is not unexpectedly modified behind the  scenes
           and allows them to pass pointers to read-only memory as well.