Re: [Fed-Talk] Re: Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 - flat file or database?!
Re: [Fed-Talk] Re: Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 - flat file or database?!
- Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] Re: Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 - flat file or database?!
- From: David Mueller <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:41:17 -0700
- Thread-topic: [Fed-Talk] Re: Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 - flat file or database?!
How do we know the database wasn't updated? All he said was the file size
didn't change. Looking at timestamps should provide a little more
information.
My guess would be that the email and attachment were marked as deleted, but
not actually removed from the database. This sort of technique isn't all
that unusual as it's faster; at some point in the future the database can be
rebuilt or updated and the deleted messages actually removed.
- David
On 10/14/10 9:31 AM, "Link, Peter R." <email@hidden> wrote:
> So you're saying the Outlook DB is something like features in Spotlight, which
> we already use for other things but is updated constantly. Don's email said it
> doesn't immediately update the DB when files are removed, requiring a manual
> step to bring it back. To me this means the DB can be out of sync with the
> actual email messages so I'm trying to figure out what value this is. To me it
> looks like Microsoft is having problems searching the email quickly (using
> some "cached" information) so it tries to fake people out by making it look
> like it's faster than it rally is with "real" data.
>
> When it comes to backing user data up, my assumption is the backup software
> will want to exclude this DB file since it can be recreated (anyone time how
> long it takes? Spotlight can take a long time as well.) when necessary. As to
> its final size, my Apple Mail folder (no attachments, these go to Downloads)
> is 4GB with 97K items. I have email going back to 1995. I do search back that
> far, especially for application procurements and serial numbers. If I were
> running Outlook, and it includes attachments within this DB, I can't imagine
> how large my DB would be. Yes, I know, I should clean out my mailboxes but I
> use Mail to track all sorts of things.
>
> Of course, I could be wrong on all of this.
>
> On Oct 14, 2010, at 9:14 AM, Nichols, Jared - 1170 - MITLL wrote:
>
>> During Beta, we were informed that this file is only used as an index to
>> speed up performance and other internal Outlook functions. Nothing
>> critical is stored in it and you can go ahead and whack the file and
>> really nothing bad happens. It rebuilds and you go on your merry way. Our
>> testing proved this out.
>>
>> Chill. Every once and awhile, Microsoft does actually do something of
>> value.
>>
>> j
>> --
>> Jared F. Nichols
>> Desktop Engineer, Client Services
>> Information Services Department
>> MIT Lincoln Laboratory
>> 244 Wood Street
>> Lexington, Massachusetts 02420
>> 781.981.5436
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 10/14/10 12:00 PM, "Don Montalvo" <email@hidden> wrote:
>>
>>> I confirmed that attachments are indeed stored in a monolithic database.
>>>
>>> I deleted that 5M message (completely). Then I checked the Database file,
>>> it was the same size.
>>>
>>> I rebuilt the Database (OPTION-open Outlook 2011) and that brought the
>>> Database file back to it's original 29M size.
>>>
>>> ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2011 Identities/Main
>>> Identity/Database
>>>
>>> Microsoft. Fail. Again.
>>>
>>> No wonder many of us were kept out of the Outlook 2011 Beta...we would
>>> have caught this. What a farce.
>>>
>>> We're facing yet another monolithic database in Outlook 2011. As
>>> attachments come in, watch it grow (and eventually implode).
>>>
>>> Not. Happy.
>>>
>>> Don
>>>
>>>
>>> On Oct 14, 2010, at 10:55 AM, Don Montalvo wrote:
>>>
>>>> Ok, so I finally got a chance to dig into the new "flat file" structure
>>>> used by Outlook 2011.
>>>>
>>>> I see individual files in these two directories:
>>>>
>>>> ~/Documents/Microsoft\ User\ Data/Office\ 2011\ Identities/Main\
>>>> Identity/Data\ Records/Message\ Sources/
>>>>
>>>> ~/Documents/Microsoft\ User\ Data/Office\ 2011\ Identities/Main\
>>>> Identity/Data\ Records/Messages/
>>>>
>>>> ...much to my surprise I also found a Database file that was 29M (used
>>>> a temporary account for testing so it was small):
>>>>
>>>> ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2011 Identities/Main
>>>> Identity/Database
>>>>
>>>> ...well, I decided to send myself a 5M attachment. Much to my dismay,
>>>> the database balooned up to 34M.
>>>>
>>>> Very scary.....
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Don
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