+--------------------------------------------------+
| If you are reading this after launching OLBreak, |
| it means you forgot the command-line parameters. |
| |
| See details below. |
+--------------------------------------------------+
OLBreak
~~~~~~~~
by Or Ben Shabat
(Version 1.5.3)
Brief
~~~~~~
OLBreak is a PST to MSG converter for Outlook.
It converts Outlook data store to its elements as MSG files, maintaining folders structure.
Features
~~~~~~~~~
* Duplicates filtering
* Differential conversion
* Invalid characters handling
* Command-line parameters
* Comprehensive exit codes
* Detailed logging
* Portable, open-source, and free for any use
Beta Features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Automatically acknowledge Outlook security warnings
* Exchange mailbox support
How To Use
~~~~~~~~~~~
OLBreak requires command-line parameters:
1) Source messages store name. Special characters can be used:
* Indicates the default messages store.
; Separates several messages stores.
2) Destination folder to store the files.
This is the "root" folder; within this folder, OLBreak creates subfolders
by the email of default account and the store name.
3) Log file name (optional).
If omitted, log file is placed in the destination folder.
Example:
Let's say your email is me@mail.com, You receive messages to "Personal Folders",
and you also have "Archive Folders". You want to extract it all to "F:\My Outlook Items".
Use the following syntax:
OLBreak.exe "*;Archive folders" "F:\My Outlook Items"
Your messages will be stored in the followng subfolders:
"F:\My Outlook Items\me@mail.com\Personal Folders"
"F:\My Outlook Items\me@mail.com\Archive Folders"
Within these folders, your messages will be stored in the exact folder structure as in Outlook.
Messages are named by the sender, recepient, time and subject;
Other items are named by their title.
NOTE:
if an Exchange account is set-up, then instead of 'email address' the CN (Common Name) is used
if no email account is set-up, then instead of 'email address' the reserved word "Unknown" is used
NOTE:
the 1above-root will be named after the email address of default email account
the root will be as param1
NOTE:
if it is important to keep careful distinction between Windows users,
then use something like:
C:\backup\Outlook\%USERNAME%
if there is a security issue, then create a distinct folder for every user, with specific permissions,
with the username somewhere in the folder name, so you can use %USERNAME%
NOTE:
log file when not specified by param3:
normal:
[2above-root filing folder]\[1above-root filing folder]\OLBreak.log
if email address can't be determined:
[2above-root filing folder]\OLBreak.log
if no access to [2above-root filing folder]:
%temp%\OLBreak.log
The Conversion Results
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can browse the filing folder with any file manager.
For best readability, use "Details" mode. In this mode, you can see the NAME of the file, and the TIME.
You can sort the folder contents by NAME or by TIME.
For files that store email messages:
The TIME of the file is the time of the message; so sorting by TIME in the filing folder is
equivalent to the same sorting in Outlook.
The NAME format is:
[sender_email -to- recipient_name] subject [at YYYYMMDDhhmmss].MSG
So if you sort by NAME, you actually sort by the sender's email address.
For the "Sent Items" folder, the sender's email address is idenical (yours),
so you actually sort by the recipient's name.
For other files (Contacts, Notes etc.):
The NAME is the title of the item.
The TIME is the last modify time of the item.
Exit Codes
~~~~~~~~~~~
OLBreak returns the following exit codes:
(devided to categories for better understanding)
----- program completed successfully
0 program completed successfully
----- program aborted before starting
1 invalid parameters
2 precheck issues (details in the log):
- Outlook is not running
- target folder does not exist and could not be created
- target folder is inaccessible
----- major error occured
3 filing folder is inaccessible
4 error connecting to Outlook
5 error retrieving email address
----- major action skipped
6 error finding store root object
7 error finding store root name
8 error parsing folder tree
----- minor action skipped
9 error creating folder
10 error getting Object and StoreID of a folder
11 error getting folder data
12 error saving an item
OLBreak and EVACopy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OLBreak was designed as a PREP phase for EVACopy, but is also usefull as a standalone program.
OLBreak complies with EVACopy PREP rules:
1) Portable
2) Accepts command-line parameters
3) No user input required at any time
4) Always terminates after reasonable time (all message boxes have timeout)
5) Appends to log file
6) Produces exit code
Open Source
~~~~~~~~~~~~
OLBreak is an Autoit v3.3.8.1 script, using customized version of the OutlookEx UDF v0.9.0.0
The following files are the source code components:
OutlookEx3Constants.au3 - aux data for the OutlookEx UDF
OutlookEx3.au3 - the customized OutlookEx UDF
OLWrnAck.au3 - aux program used to acknowledge Outlook security warnings (beta)
OLWrnAck.ico - icon file for OLWrnAck
ReadMe.txt - this file, displayed when command-line parameters are omitted
OLBreak.au3 - main program file
OLBreak.ico - icon file for OLBreak
Build Steps
~~~~~~~~~~~~
To compile OLBreak from the source, follow these steps:
1) download all of the above mentioned files into the same folder.
2) install AutoIt v3.3.8.1
3) build OLWrnAck.au3 into OLWrnAck.exe
4) build OLBreak.au3 into OLBreak.exe
Contact
~~~~~~~~
or.ben.shabat@gmail.com
enjoy!
