Microsoft KB Archive/77926

= PC DB: Description of Mail Database Subdirectories =

Article ID: 77926

Article Last Modified on 10/30/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Mail for PC Networks 2.1e
 * Microsoft Mail for PC Networks 3.0
 * Microsoft Mail for PC Networks 3.2

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This article was previously published under Q77926



SUMMARY
This article provides descriptions of each of the Mail database subdirectories. It also lists the versions of Mail in which that subdirectory exists.

If a customer is experiencing a problem, the Mail administrator should NEVER modify file sizes without first consulting with Microsoft Product Support Services.

The following is a brief description of the database subdirectories (where appropriate, default file sizes are listed): Subdir   Description                                            Version(s) ---

ATT      This subdirectory has 16 subdirectories that contain         All any attachment files that are used in the Mail system. Each of the 16 subdirectories contain encrypted attachment files. Files that have the .ATT extension are files that have been attached to a particular mail item. The reference to an attachment file is in the mail (.MAI) file itself. A single mail file can reference several attachments, but a single attachment file cannot be         referenced more than once.

CAL      This subdirectory stores the online calendar files when      3.0 Schedule+ is installed. The files are stored according      3.2 to a hexadecimal (hexid) number that is assigned when the Schedule+ user first logs on.

NOTE: The hexid number is NOT the same number as the one used by the Mail system!

FOLDERS  This subdirectory is used by the folders subsystem. All All folder files are stored here initially. Mail users may optionally move individual private folders to local storage. Individual private folders are stored in the FOLDERS\LOC\ subdirectory. Group and shared folders are stored in the FOLDERS\PUB subdirectory. This storage method is used by all versions of the MS-DOS client, OS/2 client, and Macintosh client. It is also used by the version 2.1 Windows client.

the .IDX file in the FOLDERS subdirectory is         4 bytes (fixed size). Individual .IDX files and the FOLDROOT.IDX file are (file size - 100 bytes) and should be divisible by 158.

GLB      The files in this directory are at the top of the            All hierarchy of the database and serve a variety of         purposes. These files contain the core of the postoffice configuration. The GLB directory also contains error message and other types of files that do not contain postoffice configuration information. This is also the default location for modem scripts.

File Sizes --

ACCESS.GLB should be divisible by 586. ACCESS2.GLB should be divisible by 69. ACCESS3.GLB should be divisible by 512.

The result for the three access files should be the same number.

CONTROL.GLB   8 bytes fixed size FLAG.GLB      2 bytes fixed size GLOBAL.GLB    512 bytes fixed size GROUP.GLB     (file size - 4 bytes) Should be divisible by 51 GRPMEM.GLB    (file size - 4 bytes) Should be divisible by 128 MASTER.GLB    176 bytes fixed size MODEM.GLB     64 bytes fixed size NETPO.GLB     (file size - 4 bytes) Should be divisible by 43 NETWORK.GLB   Should be divisible by 122 PROCESS.GLB   (file size - 512 bytes) Should be divisible by 197 REQCONF.GLB   512 bytes fixed size SERVER.GLB    Should be divisible by 181 SVRCONF.GLB   On directory synchronization server only 1024 bytes + (1024 bytes * total number of POs) TID.GLB       4 bytes fixed size

GRP      This subdirectory contains the group pointer files for       All public and private distribution lists.

The file size should be divisible by 8.

HLP      This subdirectory contains the Help files for the            All individual Mail programs. Help is opened when the F1         key is pressed.

INF      This subdirectory contains the information files that        All correspond to the postoffice-defined template files. The INF file contains template (&quot;about&quot;) information for every user defined in a .USR file. The .USR file is the user list for external Mail for PC Networks postoffices and has the same filename prefix as the postoffice's MBG file. The .INF file also has this same filename prefix. There may also be an ADMIN.INF file if the local postoffice administrator has defined a custom template. External postoffice .INF files only exist if another postoffice administrator exports templates. The record format of the .INF file is defined by the associated .TPL file. There is         always an associated .TPL file with every .INF file.

INI      This subdirectory is the default location for .INI files     3.2 used by the system; notably, by the Dispatch and External Mail programs.

KEY      This subdirectory contains the index files that are used     All to determine the location of the mail header in the individual user's mailbag (.MBG) file. There will always be a corresponding .MBG file in the MBG subdirectory. The .KEY file contains information such as the number of new mail items since the user last logged in, the amount of         unread mail in the user's mailbag, and a bitmap of deleted records in the corresponding .MBG file. The bitmap is used so that when mail is sent to a user, a vacant record position in the user's .MBG file can be found directly by         examining the bitmap rather than having to sequentially process the .MBG file looking for deleted records.

The file size should be 560 bytes (fixed size).

LOG      This subdirectory is the default location for the log        All files created by the External Mail, Dispatch, and other gateway programs. The creation of these files is         determined by the parameters that are specified when the various programs are started.

MAI      This subdirectory has 16 subdirectories that contain         All any message files that are used in the Mail system. Each of the 16 subdirectories contains encrypted message files.

MBG      This subdirectory contains the individual mailbag files      All that are used to store the Mail headers for an individual user. It is basically the file format of the first screen a user sees when he or she starts up the MS-DOS Mail or         Monitor program. There will always be a corresponding key index (.KEY) file in the KEY subdirectory.

The records contained in the mailbag (.MBG) file serve two purposes:

- A non-deleted record acts as an index pointer to a mail item. Thus, a single mail file can be pointed to by many mailbag records. Each of these mailbag records must reside in separate .MBG files because two records in a            single mailbag can never point to the same item of mail.

- .MBG records contain summary information about the particular mail item. This information is used by the user agent programs to display a list of mail headers in            the opening display of the user's mail. The mail file itself does not have to be read until the user selects it for processing (for example, by reading, deleting, and            so forth). There is no delete flag in the .MBG record structure. Deleted status is maintained in the .KEY file, which has the same filename prefix as the .MBG file.

There is a single .MBG file for every local user, of the format .MBG; there is a single .MBG file for every external postoffice or gateway that is defined; and there is an INQUEUE3.MBG file that is used to receive any mail from external sources and an INQUEUE.MBG file that is         used for directory synchronization (Dir-Sync).

Mail is delivered from the INQUEUE3.MBG file to individual mailbags via the Mailer process. The version 3.0 postoffice contains a special mailbag: SYSTEM.MBG. Mail addressed to         network/postoffice/$system will be put here. This mailbag is currently used for Dir-Sync mail, but in future versions it may also be used for other system mail functions.

The file size should be divisible by 116.

MEM      This subdirectory contains only the local members of         All global groups defined at this postoffice. External addresses are not part of the member list. Each record represents a user mailbag number. These files are only created for administrator-defined groups (that is,         postoffice groups) and are used for quick access by          Mailer for resolving groups.

The file size should be divisible by 4. The maximum size should 2000 bytes.

MMF      This subdirectory contains the Mail message files (.MMF)     3.0 used by the Windows clients in versions 3.0 and later. 3.2         These files are stored by user hexid number.

NME      This subdirectory contains the files for the postoffice      All address list (POL), the global address list (GAL), gateway address lists, and the individual personal address lists (PALs) used by all clients in version 2.1, and in         the MS-DOS, OS/2, and Macintosh clients in Mail versions 3.0 and later. The concept of these lists is to allow dissimilar address types to reside in the same address list.

The file size should be divisible by 45.

P1       This subdirectory is used by the External Mail program to    All store temporary mail files during a communications or         postoffice-to-postoffice (PO-to-PO) delivery session.

TPL      This subdirectory contains the template files used by the    All local postoffice and gateways.

USR      This file is the address list of users and groups for a      All particular postoffice. The postoffice that this list represents is an externally defined postoffice. If this file exists, its prefix filename will match the external postoffice's .MBG filename. This file can be created or         updated using the Mail Administrator program (ADMIN.EXE) or it can be created or replaced by the External Mail program when it receives an exported user list from this postoffice.

The file size should be divisible by 53.

XTN      This subdirectory contains the external postoffice           All definition files. Each .XTN file contains all of the postoffices that are defined at an individual network.

For each network that is defined in the NETWORK.GLB file, there is an associated .XTN file. This file is a series of records, where each record defines a different postoffice at this network. The purpose of this file is         to provide routing, naming, and sign-on information for external services/postoffices. Postoffice records also contain connection information, statistics, and various configuration options for that postoffice. Each postoffice record contains a file pointer reference to its mailbag. When an address list of users is created for this postoffice, there will also be a .USR file and, possibly, .TPL and .INF files with the same file prefix as the .MBG file.

The file size should be divisible by 698.

Additional query words: 2.10 2.10c 2.10d 2.10e 3.00 3.00b 3.20 3.20a

Keywords: KB77926

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