database used by OE?

  • Thread starter Thread starter WoodBeeProgrammer
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WoodBeeProgrammer

over the years i've been impressed at how good Outlook Express is at not
losing data. it seems to be amazingly resilient in the face of constant
use, laptop crashes, network glitches, etc. if i have a draft and save it,
the draft always seems to always get properly saved, ditto messages that are
downloaded etc.

does anyone know how OE gets its data reliability? is there anything
special about it's underlying database (jet?), etc? --or am i just easily
impressed??

Thanks in advance!
 
Hello,

Outlook Express saves its data in dbx files, that you can find here:

C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Local Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{0D8A4FCB-86E3-4C09-8BB9-DF93C190563E}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express

You have some information about the files here:
http://oedbx.aroh.de/index.html

If you search for dbx, together with "Outlook Express" on google, you will
find more information.


--
Regards,
Kristofer Gafvert - IIS MVP
Reply to newsgroup only. Remove NEWS if you must reply by email, but please
do not.
www.ilopia.com - FAQ and Tutorials for Windows Server 2003
 
Thanks Kristofer!

the first scary thing to notice in the google "Outlook Express dbx" is that
there are a whole bunch of freeware products claiming to repair damaged dbx
files-- perhaps i was overoptimistic in thinking OE is so reliable!!

so are there better or worse database engines one can use with an
application? assuming sql server or oracle isn't an option, that is an app
which needs a preexisting database engine in the os or in the app itself,
what does this group recommend for *rarely* corrupting data?

Thanks in advance!

oh, btw, should the registry or file system be used for this purpose?
presumably not, but other than the obvious capacity issues, why not?
 
Hi,

Well, the registry is not used for storing data, only key values.

I think it depends on how much data you are planning to solve. I use the
newsgroups daily, and that folder is over 300mb for me right now (i store
the messages so i can search in them quickly to find answers). If you plan
on storing this amount of data, i think MSDE is the way to go. It is alot
faster to search in, and is very reliable. So far, i have not had a SQL
Server crash, that destroys the data. And after all, MSDE and SQL Server are
the same (the engine).

--
Regards,
Kristofer Gafvert - IIS MVP
Reply to newsgroup only. Remove NEWS if you must reply by email, but please
do not.
www.ilopia.com - FAQ and Tutorials for Windows Server 2003
 
here's the link for more info.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/msde/default.asp

msde runs as a service rather than part of your app. would it be legitimate
in a relatively lightweight app like OE to use a database running as a
system service? also, does msde necessarily display its icon in the system
tray etc?

what do other database programs do, like windows address book? are they
just custom little database programs that have their own engine, or do they
use jet, or what?
 
I think that the Windows Address Book uses its own implementation, but i'm
not sure.

To be honest, i do not trust a jet database as much as i trust MSDE.


--
Regards,
Kristofer Gafvert - IIS MVP
Reply to newsgroup only. Remove NEWS if you must reply by email, but please
do not.
www.ilopia.com - FAQ and Tutorials for Windows Server 2003
 
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