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The Great Pretenders: MAPI Connectors To Trick Your Outlook
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July 24, 2003
By Ron Anderson
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Stalker Software CommuniGate Pro
We tested version 4.0.6 of CommuniGate Pro running on both Windows 2000 server and on Solaris 8 on a SPARC platform. We wanted to see if there were any differences in the basic functionality of the mail server and MAPI connector on different platforms. Happily, we didn't find any. CGPro has two primary management interfaces--a browser interface and a CLI (command-line interface) accessed with telnet. The CLI also serves as CGPro's API. Stalker provides libraries for PERL and Java for access to the CLI API. Unless you look at the general settings page on the Web interface, you won't know which platform is hosting the server software. We also examined the next version of CGPro, version 4.1, which was in beta (see "Beta Adds Calendar, Contacts,"). Version 4.1 brings CGPro more in line with the browser-based groupware features included in SLOX.
We tested Stalker's MAPI connector, version 1.0.60, with Outlook 2000 and Outlook 2002 using Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP as client operating systems. Neither the version of Outlook nor the underlying OS made any difference in the MAPI connector's functionality. Stalker's MAPI connector has been in development since early last year and has been available since the first shipment of version 4 in October of 2002. After more than a year and a half of development, the product has greatly matured. For instance, offline functionality has improved dramatically. In fact it's safe to say Outlook behaves as expected in off-line mode with the latest version. We viewed messages, deleted messages, moved messages from one folder to another, and wrote and queued-up new messages and replies for delivery when back online. There were zero glitches.
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CGPro is a standards-based mail server that supports POP, IMAP and Web clients out of the box. Stalker's intelligent approach to groupware design translates into cleverly incorporating calendar and contact standards as well. The MAPI connector sits as a shim between Outlook's MAPI interface and CGPro's "extended" IMAP interface. The connector translates MAPI requests into IMAP requests at the server and converts data objects into vCard and vCalendar data for storage and retrieval. With the latest release of the MAPI connector, Stalker has provided a slate of command-line options for the client installation that makes it possible to script the installation of the connector for your clients.
Stalker has engineered the connector in two parts. The Loader, which runs on the client, launches when Outlook starts and makes the initial connection to the CGPro server. The server then automatically sends the main part of the connector code to the client if the client code isn't up-to-date. This architecture lets administrators place updated code on the server that is implemented automatically on the client the next time the client fires up Outlook. Reinstallations of the client connector are necessary only if Stalker updates the Loader. We tested the MAPI connector over dial-up, broadband and LAN connections to make sure this didn't cause a problem with slow connections. The 56-Kbps dial-up connection was noticeably slower when loading but very responsive otherwise, and we had no trouble with the higher-speed connections.
Once everything is up and running you can do nearly everything in Outlook you could do if you were using an Exchange Server on the back end. We shared mail, contact and calendar folders with other users and connected to their shared content. We created group meetings using real-time free/busy searches that sent mail notification to requested attendees. When we received meeting requests from co-workers, we could accept or decline the meeting with the push of a button that automatically sent our reply to the originator via mail and put accepted meetings on our calendar. The connector supports ACLs (access-control lists) that let you give some users limited access while giving others full access to your folders. What's missing? Stalker's CGPro MAPI connector cannot sort contacts by category.
CommuniGate Pro, starts at $1,698 for 25 MAPI connections, Stalker Software, (415) 383-7164, (800) 262-4722. www.stalker.com
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