EMAIL ARCHIVING STRATEGY (Part II)

J

JohnnyO

Hello,

I want to archive Entourage 2004 emails by creating several annual
identities (back to 2001) in addition to the Main Idenitity for each
previous years. This approach, I understand, will keep my current
year Entourage Database "lean". Also, as I create .rge files from
each of the previous annual identities...:

1) Does creating annual identities save any meaningful storage
savings (non-Main Identities compacted) or does this approach just
help keep the Main Identity lean?

2) I've tried to create .rge files for a few selected local folders
through File->Export, but to no avail. Appears that .rge must do all
files unless there is a specific "project" or "Category" selection.
So, I assigned one of the folders a category (without assigning any of
the emails within that local folder any category). Now, when I try to
create a .rge file through File->Export and selecting the category,
Entourage is not able to complete the task! Apparantly, the emails in
the folder need to be assigned the same category? Is this true or do
I need to do something else?

3) Based on the above, I tried then to then create a "custom view"
and select one critera that defines the folder I selected with a named
category that I assigned to that folder (not the mails within that
folder). Again, Entourage appears to require the emails within the
folder to have the same designated category assigned, too. Can a
"Custom View" be defined on a folder level only without defining the
emails in that folder with the same category?

4) I have been creating .rge files and then zipping to reduce storage
requirements. Is this a relible and okay practice or does this
practice create some risk to the integrity of the .rge file?

Overall, my objective is to free-up storage and maintain searchability
of emails. So, with annual identities and .rge files for each of
those identities which are then zipped and stored, are there any other
considerations or improvements in this approach?

Thanks for any/all feedback,

John
 
M

Michel Bintener

Hi John,
I want to archive Entourage 2004 emails by creating several annual
identities (back to 2001) in addition to the Main Idenitity for each
previous years. This approach, I understand, will keep my current
year Entourage Database "lean". Also, as I create .rge files from
each of the previous annual identities...:

1) Does creating annual identities save any meaningful storage
savings (non-Main Identities compacted) or does this approach just
help keep the Main Identity lean?
Click to expand...

The only benefit I can see in this method is that it helps you keep your
main identity smaller in size.
2) I've tried to create .rge files for a few selected local folders
through File->Export, but to no avail. Appears that .rge must do all
files unless there is a specific "project" or "Category" selection.
So, I assigned one of the folders a category (without assigning any of
the emails within that local folder any category). Now, when I try to
create a .rge file through File->Export and selecting the category,
Entourage is not able to complete the task! Apparantly, the emails in
the folder need to be assigned the same category? Is this true or do
I need to do something else?
Click to expand...

No, assigning a folder to a category won't do; a folder does not count as an
Entourage item when it comes to exporting data. You will need to assign a
category to every single item inside that folder, as the category of a
folder has no impact whatsoever on any of its contents. I have created an
"Archive" category just for that purpose.
3) Based on the above, I tried then to then create a "custom view"
and select one critera that defines the folder I selected with a named
category that I assigned to that folder (not the mails within that
folder). Again, Entourage appears to require the emails within the
folder to have the same designated category assigned, too. Can a
"Custom View" be defined on a folder level only without defining the
emails in that folder with the same category?
Click to expand...

Once again, no, you will need to categorise your messages. A custom view
allows you to regroup a couple of items based on several criteria. You can
then select all these items and assign a specific archive category to all
these items, which makes exporting these items as an Entourage archive quite
easy.
4) I have been creating .rge files and then zipping to reduce storage
requirements. Is this a relible and okay practice or does this
practice create some risk to the integrity of the .rge file?
Click to expand...

If you notice any substantial changes in file size (though I'd be surprised
if you did), no, there should not be any problems with this approach.
Overall, my objective is to free-up storage and maintain searchability
of emails. So, with annual identities and .rge files for each of
those identities which are then zipped and stored, are there any other
considerations or improvements in this approach?
Click to expand...

There is one more method which you may not be aware of, exporting as .mbox
postboxes. You can drag a folder from Entourage's folder list to the desktop
to create an .mbox file which contains all the messages inside that
Entourage folder, and this should also serve as adequate backup. The big
advantage that .mbox files have over Entourage's .rge archives is that they
are universal and can be read by most Mac and Unix e-mail clients.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***
 
J

JohnnyO

Hi John,



The only benefit I can see in this method is that it helps you keep your
main identity smaller in size.


No, assigning a folder to a category won't do; a folder does not count as an
Entourage item when it comes to exporting data. You will need to assign a
category to every single item inside that folder, as the category of a
folder has no impact whatsoever on any of its contents. I have created an
"Archive" category just for that purpose.


Once again, no, you will need to categorise your messages. A custom view
allows you to regroup a couple of items based on several criteria. You can
then select all these items and assign a specific archive category to all
these items, which makes exporting these items as an Entourage archive quite
easy.


If you notice any substantial changes in file size (though I'd be surprised
if you did), no, there should not be any problems with this approach.


There is one more method which you may not be aware of, exporting as .mbox
postboxes. You can drag a folder from Entourage's folder list to the desktop
to create an .mbox file which contains all the messages inside that
Entourage folder, and this should also serve as adequate backup. The big
advantage that .mbox files have over Entourage's .rge archives is that they
are universal and can be read by most Mac and Unix e-mail clients.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I am aware of MBOX--however, my local folders are nested with
subfolders. I've used ExportFolders1.1 but it does not maintain the
directory structure.

1. Might you be aware of any script/utility which maintains the
directory/subdirectory structure?
2. Any advantage of archiving a Main Identity in it's entirity (a bit
concerned about the size over time) vs. splitting the Main Identity
into annual segements?

John
 
M

Michel Bintener

Hi John,

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I am aware of MBOX--however, my local folders are nested with
subfolders. I've used ExportFolders1.1 but it does not maintain the
directory structure.

1. Might you be aware of any script/utility which maintains the
directory/subdirectory structure?
Click to expand...

Well, if you back up the Microsoft User Data folder, you will preserve the
folder structure which you have set up. In addition, this kind of backup is
very easy to perform: just create a copy of the MUD folder in ~/Documents.
To be more specific, backing up the Office 2004 Identities folder inside the
MUD folder is already sufficient.
2. Any advantage of archiving a Main Identity in it's entirity (a bit
concerned about the size over time) vs. splitting the Main Identity
into annual segements?
Click to expand...

Size should not really be an issue with Entourage 2004:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/size.html>

Apart from that, I find it easier to work with one identity rather than
several, since there can only be one identity running at any given moment.
Of course, your mileage may vary, and there's nothing wrong with using
multiple identities.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***
 
J

JohnnyO

Hi John,





Well, if you back up the Microsoft User Data folder, you will preserve the
folder structure which you have set up. In addition, this kind of backup is
very easy to perform: just create a copy of the MUD folder in ~/Documents.
To be more specific, backing up the Office 2004 Identities folder inside the
MUD folder is already sufficient.


Size should not really be an issue with Entourage 2004:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/size.html>

Apart from that, I find it easier to work with one identity rather than
several, since there can only be one identity running at any given moment.
Of course, your mileage may vary, and there's nothing wrong with using
multiple identities.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***
Click to expand...

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the reply--I'm almost there....just a few questions:

1) My Main Identity is about 800 Mb. Although there is no size
limitation per your note, I'm still concerned. Is there a point where
the size becomes a performance and/or DB corruption issue risk?

2) I agee with the preference to work with one identity; however, wrt
to #1 above, I'm considering an approach as follows: I have 8 years
worth of emails and could take years 5-8 and create an "Old Identity"
where newer years 0-4 could be the Main Identity (years 5-8 would be
deleted from the Main Identity). I don't access years 5-8 very often,
if ever. However, both would then be indexed and searchable via
Spotlight, I believe? Would this approach improve searchability
performance and/or DB corruption risk versus one large Main
Identity?

3) I understand your suggestion about backing up in MUD. Is this a
preferred method vs. doing it by opening Entourage with the option key
held? I ask only because upon duplicating a Main Identity--the latter
method appears to allow for DB validation.

Thanks....

John
 
M

Michel Bintener

Hi John
1) My Main Identity is about 800 Mb. Although there is no size
limitation per your note, I'm still concerned. Is there a point where
the size becomes a performance and/or DB corruption issue risk?
Click to expand...

No, there isn't, at least not in theory. Too many emails in one single
folder might make Entourage slightly sluggish, but if you keep your emails
separate (and I believe you do, judging by the folders and subfolders you
mention), there's only the limitation mentioned on the Entourage Help Page.
2) I agee with the preference to work with one identity; however, wrt
to #1 above, I'm considering an approach as follows: I have 8 years
worth of emails and could take years 5-8 and create an "Old Identity"
where newer years 0-4 could be the Main Identity (years 5-8 would be
deleted from the Main Identity). I don't access years 5-8 very often,
if ever. However, both would then be indexed and searchable via
Spotlight, I believe? Would this approach improve searchability
performance and/or DB corruption risk versus one large Main
Identity?
Click to expand...

Spotlight indexes multiple identities; however, I'm not sure what will
happen if you have identity #1 open in Entourage and Spotlight finds an item
in identity #2. I would assume that Entourage will open the message anyhow,
but I'm not sure. Apart from that, your method seems quite acceptable. I
also keep email messages from the past two years in my identity, anything
older than that gets exported as .mbox folder and stored on an external
drive.
3) I understand your suggestion about backing up in MUD. Is this a
preferred method vs. doing it by opening Entourage with the option key
held? I ask only because upon duplicating a Main Identity--the latter
method appears to allow for DB validation.
Click to expand...

Backing up the folder and launching the Database Utility (by holding down
the option key when Entourage starts) are *not* the same thing. Backing up
the folder does just that ­ create a backup of the database. The Database
Utility, when run, automatically modifies your database (by compacting or
rebuilding it) while simply copying the database leaves it intact. I would
say that backing up the MUD folder is the preferred option, especially since
it is pretty easy to use backup software (or even Automator actions and/or
AppleScripts) to copy a folder from one location to another.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***
 
J

JohnnyO

Hi John


No, there isn't, at least not in theory. Too many emails in one single
folder might make Entourage slightly sluggish, but if you keep your emails
separate (and I believe you do, judging by the folders and subfolders you
mention), there's only the limitation mentioned on the Entourage Help Page.


Spotlight indexes multiple identities; however, I'm not sure what will
happen if you have identity #1 open in Entourage and Spotlight finds an item
in identity #2. I would assume that Entourage will open the message anyhow,
but I'm not sure. Apart from that, your method seems quite acceptable. I
also keep email messages from the past two years in my identity, anything
older than that gets exported as .mbox folder and stored on an external
drive.


Backing up the folder and launching the Database Utility (by holding down
the option key when Entourage starts) are *not* the same thing. Backing up
the folder does just that ­ create a backup of the database. The Database
Utility, when run, automatically modifies your database (by compacting or
rebuilding it) while simply copying the database leaves it intact. I would
say that backing up the MUD folder is the preferred option, especially since
it is pretty easy to use backup software (or even Automator actions and/or
AppleScripts) to copy a folder from one location to another.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***
Click to expand...

Thanks to you all for good advice. Here's the strategy--would
apprerciate any comments:

Objective:

1. Archive all emails prior to 2004,
2. Ensure those emails are still searchable through Spotlight, and
3. Ensure the "Old Emails" can be incremented annually
4. Create a compact, efficient archive for storage on external media
5. Current Main Identity is about 800 Mb

SOLUTION:

1. Copy the Main Identity in the MUD and call it Main Copy.
2. Open Entourage and Switch Identities to Main Copy.
3. Customer View all Emails newer than 12/31/2003 and delete.
4. Rename Identity Main Copy to "Old Emails Identity 2003-Earliest"
5. Go into MUD and copy "Old Emails Identity 2003-Earliest. Make an
Archive/Zip copy, store it on external media, delete the copy just
made. Ensure the original "Old Emails..." is not deleted.
6. PS-->My test shows an archived/zip is smaller (400 Mb) than
exporting an .rge file (490 Mb). Also, the latter does not export
group Address Book entries.
7. Now delete all emails older than 12/31/2003 from the Main
Identity.
8. Now you have a leaner, Main Identity, Spotlight searchable of all
emails, and an external copy of the old emails just in case.
9. A year later from now, go to your Main Identity, make a copy of
that identity, delete all emails new than 12/31/2004. Do whatever
local folder clean-up is necessary. Export as an RGE file and Import
the RGE file to "Old Emails...". A separate folder is set-up, imports
all 2004 rge emails and the subdirectory structure is maintained.
Just need to drag n drop from the rge directory into the appropriate
folders.
10. Gp into Entourage to validate the DB integrity and create a zip
for Backup.
11. Do this on an annual basis.

PART II - Maintain

The major archiving is complete and just needs to be maintained on an
annual basis. A leaner, Main Identity exists, too. Per Diane's
suggestions, I would say:

1. Validate, Back-up and Compact the Main Identity on a rolling
Monthly basis.
2. Make a copy of the MUD Main Identity, Validate it, weekly or even
every few days to ensure a valid and stable copy exists.
3. If desired, do Export Folders 1.1 in lieu of or currently with
making MUD copy every few days to ensure valid emails.

Whew! Feedback Appreciated....
 
D

Diane Ross

Thanks to you all for good advice. Here's the strategy--would
apprerciate any comments:

Objective:

1. Archive all emails prior to 2004,
2. Ensure those emails are still searchable through Spotlight, and
3. Ensure the "Old Emails" can be incremented annually
4. Create a compact, efficient archive for storage on external media
5. Current Main Identity is about 800 Mb

SOLUTION:

1. Copy the Main Identity in the MUD and call it Main Copy.
2. Open Entourage and Switch Identities to Main Copy.
3. Customer View all Emails newer than 12/31/2003 and delete.
4. Rename Identity Main Copy to "Old Emails Identity 2003-Earliest"
5. Go into MUD and copy "Old Emails Identity 2003-Earliest. Make an
Archive/Zip copy, store it on external media, delete the copy just
made. Ensure the original "Old Emails..." is not deleted.
6. PS-->My test shows an archived/zip is smaller (400 Mb) than
exporting an .rge file (490 Mb). Also, the latter does not export
group Address Book entries.
7. Now delete all emails older than 12/31/2003 from the Main
Identity.
8. Now you have a leaner, Main Identity, Spotlight searchable of all
emails, and an external copy of the old emails just in case.
9. A year later from now, go to your Main Identity, make a copy of
that identity, delete all emails new than 12/31/2004. Do whatever
local folder clean-up is necessary. Export as an RGE file and Import
the RGE file to "Old Emails...". A separate folder is set-up, imports
all 2004 rge emails and the subdirectory structure is maintained.
Just need to drag n drop from the rge directory into the appropriate
folders.
10. Gp into Entourage to validate the DB integrity and create a zip
for Backup.
11. Do this on an annual basis.

PART II - Maintain

The major archiving is complete and just needs to be maintained on an
annual basis. A leaner, Main Identity exists, too. Per Diane's
suggestions, I would say:

1. Validate, Back-up and Compact the Main Identity on a rolling
Monthly basis.
2. Make a copy of the MUD Main Identity, Validate it, weekly or even
every few days to ensure a valid and stable copy exists.
3. If desired, do Export Folders 1.1 in lieu of or currently with
making MUD copy every few days to ensure valid emails.

Whew! Feedback Appreciated....
Click to expand...

I think the hardest part will be validating the data. Because of this, I
would like to stress having multiple backups types. I also suggest storing
in multiple locations.

1. create copies of the Identity folder
2. export as Entourage archive (.rge file)
3. export as MBOX files

Having the MBOX files will allow for use in any email application.

Validate and not rebuild. It is not recommended that you rebuild your
database as regular maintenance. Rebuilding can damage your data if things
so wrong. You can select in Entourage 2004 to have the database utility
verify in the background. If you do select to rebuild your database, make a
duplicate before as insurance. The rebuild does make a backup, but if the
rebuild goes bad the backup can also be corrupted leaving you with a huge
mess.

If you need access frequently, leave the Identity in your 2004 Identities
folder so you can easily switch Identities to view.

To keep current Identity lean, I suggest removing incoming attachments with
one of the "remove attachment" scripts. They will save, remove and link the
saved files to the message, so you can open the file directly from the
message.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/script/fav_scripts.html#favscript17>

<http://scriptbuilders.net/files/saveattachments20041.0.0.html>

Also remove your outgoing attachments with a rule. This is assuming your
outgoing attachments are stored elsewhere on your computer. No need to have
them duplicated and filling up your database.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/rules/example/rule001.html>
--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>
 
B

Barry Wainwright [MVP]

Yes, I am aware of MBOX--however, my local folders are nested with
subfolders. I've used ExportFolders1.1 but it does not maintain the
directory structure.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sorry about that - reworking this script is on my list of things to
do...
 
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