MAPI Tables

• A MAPI table is a MAPI object that is used to view a collection of properties belonging to other MAPI objects of a particular type.

2) How the values are stored and can be used in MAPI table?

• MAPI tables are structured in a row and column format with each row representing an object and each column representing a property of the object.
• One of the properties usually included in each row is the PR_ENTRYID property, an identifier that can be used to open and modify the object.
• Rows contain property values, retrieving a row from a table is similar to getting a set of properties directly from the object that the row represents.
• Both operations result in the retrieval of a property value array.
• The main difference is in the handling of long string and binary properties.
• For inclusion in a table, some table implementers truncate these properties to 255 bytes.
• When retrieved directly from the object, the full value is always available.

3) In which way usage of MAPI tables are useful?

• MAPI tables enable client applications and service providers to readily access and manipulate the important properties of many types of objects.
• Even MAPI tables such as contents tables, provide an alternative way of accessing properties.

Take this case directly a client cannot access an attachment's PR_ATTACH_METHOD property by calling IMAPIProp::GetProps; it must always retrieve the attachment table of the message to which it is attached. PR_ATTACH_METHOD is a required column in all attachment tables.