Microsoft releases programmer tools to look at the Outlook PST data file.
Microsoft has released two tools for developers to read Outlook PST files without needing Outlook to run or even be present on that computer.
PST Data Structure View
The .pst Data Structure View Tool is program to browse the internal data structures of .pst files. Get it from http://pstviewtool.codeplex.com/
The program is quite small and easy to use. Start the program then point to a PST or OST file – note that despite the name and documentation, the PST Data Structure View Tool will also examine an OST file. OST files are the same as PST files but connected to an Exchange Server backend.
The information displayed is for developers only, mere humans will find it quite unedifying.
Under the View menu there are some more options:
pst File Format SDK
The .pst File Format SDK is a cross-platform C++ library that lets developers read PST data into external programs. Microsoft promises that the ability to write data to .pst files will be added later but there’s no timeline for that. Get the SDK from http://pstsdk.codeplex.com/
A few months ago, Microsoft released the Outlook PST Specification a detailed guide to the PST format.
Between these three downloads, there’s a lot for developers to dig into. The ability to delve into Outlook data without the clumsy interference of Outlook itself should be a real timesaver. When the ability to write data is added to the SDK there is the risk that a program could put data into the PST that causes Outlook to misbehave or crash.
For the meantime, we can hope some innovative Outlook tools will appear. Some new versions of existing programs that have to work via Outlook as well as new tools.
We suggest a backup tool working at the Outlook record level. Current backups need to copy the entire PST file without Outlook running. It should now be possible to have an Outlook backup program that copies new or changed records only.
