Announcing the PST File Format SDK

Love it! I had the displeasure of writing an Outlook add-in in the past, and all the confusing and poorly documents formats like PST and MSG made it a real pain.

Are you planning to have .net support ?

Alex, thanks for your interest. We have no plans for official .NET support. A user has started an open source .NET port of the SDK which you can find here: pstsdknet.codeplex.com. Please note that this port is not supported by Microsoft. Josh Meisels, Outlook Program Manager

Randy: [Please note: I've searched in vain for a sales phone or e-mail. I won't pay $99 to ask if bugs are fixed. I have posted this twice--wasn't logged in so may not have been sent.] It's all well and good you've got the SDK for the .pst files. But what bugs were fixed between the 2010 Beta (which I'm running) and the 2010 release? I see no reason to buy the new program now if the bugs I reported (such as the random loss of selected messages remaining selected after typing ctrl+q, occasionally the message screen becomes garbled after moving messages from inbox to other folders, apparently actually returning to the top entry but not refreshing the display; and the frequent crashes of Outlook, such as switching from calendar back to mail using the bottom left icons; look for about an hour ago: my entire 15GB .pst files were transmitted). I also suggested changing the print screen (at least the instruction message) so it makes clear that the large print button prints using whatever settings are in effect. When will printer duplexing be moved to the print menu, instead of properties (grayed out if not available)? Regretfully, I cannot tell you the Beta 2010 version, since "help about" has been removed. I do not find the new "ribbon" very helpful. The rearranging is as bad as AutoCad, when I had to send my engineers for training due to menu changes. Note also, inspite of protests from a Microsoft engineer, ALT+spacebar+N[minimize] no longer works in ANY Office applications (started with 2003 release). It's no longer "windows conforming". A useful tool would be the ability to add personal directories to the tool bar which would behave like "Inbox", "Sent" and "Draft" do now for fast, direct access (instead of using the vertical scroll bar). Failing that, put identified "tic" marks on the vertical bar, so the user can slide directly to (for example) "m" which is remembered to be near the target directory ("On Line Orders", etc.) While you're at it, please ask your Excel associate if there's a way to stop multiple task bar entries for each workbook. I'm sure the associate will be relieved to know that Adobe Acrobat 9.3.2 Pro has the same "problem" (at least I can locate the version using "Help About"). Brad

How about .rge format on Mac? How can I read .rge files?

How do I create a rule to selectively send emails frpm specific individuals or web sites straight to delete rather than just sending them to the junk file and then delete them from there. I don't want to do this with all junk email, because some I might want to review, but I do want to be able to do it with some very bothersome emails from different sites or individuals. Thank you.

Why the sudden interest in "Interoperability Principles" Microsoft? Where were these tools the last 10 years while developers, businesses, and lawyers were suffering trying to piece together ways of extracting accurate data from your PST file format? Now that people are finally moving beyond the desktop and plugging into the cloud with their mobile devices and tablets, all of a sudden we are getting tools that people have wanted for years. Sure, PST files are still pervasive today, but they are thankfully becoming a thing of the past. It's nice to see that Microsoft is testing the "open source" waters, but it would have been nice to have support like this back when I actually recommended your products to people...

I have been using MS outlook 2010 for a while now. Recently I am getting a error saying the data cannot be loaded. I can't see my mails or the contacts. I have looked in the menu options and found nothing useful. Then after doing search a bit I got this tool <a href="www.articlewritingclicks.com/.../Scanpstexe_Location_for_All_Outlook_Versions__PST_Repair_Tip.html" rel="nofollow">scanpst.exe</a> from a site, here it says there's a file named "scanpst.exe" somewhere in installation directory which can recover the damaged files. It also includes that it can't fix files larger than 2GB. I am not sure about my backup files size but really need to recover all. I am not getting any ways to recover those files, they are very important. Can you help me a bit. If I were to use the "scanpst.exe" tool where would I have to look for? Is there any other ways to do the same?

Sorry, link got wrong.......correct link is:

www.articlewritingclicks.com/.../Scanpstexe_Location_for_All_Outlook_Versions__PST_Repair_Tip.html

I have a project where I need to create new PST file and add generated mail items to it. Mail items currently do not exist and need to be generated from dabase records and added to PST file. Is PST SDK a right tool that will enable me to do this? Greately appreciate your reply.