What's Better for Archiving Email: mbox or *.eml ?

J

JohnnyO

Hi Folks,

Anyone know which is a better way to backup/archive emails from
Entourage 2004?

I understand you can either take a local Entourage folder and drag it
to the desktop to create a mbox or identify and drag all emails to a
folder which creates an *.eml for each email.
Is either approach preferred or not and is there any difference wrt
restoring or searching between the two approaches?

Thanks--
 
D

Diane Ross

Anyone know which is a better way to backup/archive emails from
Entourage 2004?

I understand you can either take a local Entourage folder and drag it
to the desktop to create a mbox or identify and drag all emails to a
folder which creates an *.eml for each email.
Is either approach preferred or not and is there any difference wrt
restoring or searching between the two approaches?
Click to expand...

Under File --> Export you can select to export as an Entourage archive.
These are .rge files. They are small and it's quick.

Create a Custom View and then drag those emails to the desktop. This give
you specific emails and it's one step.

Duplicate your Identity and rename one. Then use Custom View to delete old
emails from your Main Identity. To view old emails, just switch Identities.

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
The Entourage Blog lists the EHP as one of the top five Microsoft Entourage
resources.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>
 
J

JohnnyO

Thanks for your reply. Actually, I have a multitude of Local
Folders/SubFolders that I use for email storage. I suspect that
exporting to a .rge format will not maintain the integrity of my Local
Folders/SubFolders structure. BTW, if it makes a difference, these are
not Project Center local folders.

So, I thought that the drag 'n drop approach, although cumbersome,
might be the most effective way to archive the older emails. I also,
want to create additional storage space on my hard disk and reimport
those emails (searchable by Spotlight on a CD/DVD) when required.

Any Thoughts?
 
D

Diane Ross

Thanks for your reply. Actually, I have a multitude of Local
Folders/SubFolders that I use for email storage. I suspect that
exporting to a .rge format will not maintain the integrity of my Local
Folders/SubFolders structure. BTW, if it makes a difference, these are
not Project Center local folders.
Click to expand...
To me storage is NOT in the same database.

The .rge format does keep mail in folders. The are imported in a single
folder that contains all of your folders and subfolders including your IMAP
accounts.

As a size comparison, I just archived my 466.6MB database to an .rge file
and it's 134.5MB.
So, I thought that the drag 'n drop approach, although cumbersome,
might be the most effective way to archive the older emails. I also,
want to create additional storage space on my hard disk and reimport
those emails (searchable by Spotlight on a CD/DVD) when required.
Click to expand...

Having messages that have to be imported to search will make searching
painful IMHO. Spotlight will not have them indexed quickly and it will be
time consuming.

If you need space, then there are other ways to trim your database.

Any Thoughts?
Click to expand...
If you are intent on drag and drop, at least use a script.

Export Folders 1.1

<http://scriptbuilders.net/files/exportfolders1.1.html>

This script will save ALL your folders, now matter how deep they are nested
(well, OK, there will be a limit, but it's more than 8 levels in tests I
have carried out)

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
The Entourage Blog lists the EHP as one of the top five Microsoft Entourage
resources.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>
 
J

JohnnyO

Thanks for the response--I do agree that storage is NOT the same as
database.

Just a couple of questions to clairfy my understanding:

A) I sense that the drag 'n drop approach is NOT adviseable due to
comments on Spotlight/searchability; however, are there any stability,
reliablity or other issues between DnD and creating a .rge?

B) If I adopt the .rge archive approach, why wouldn't I just create a
completely new identity - call it EVERYTHING BACKUP, archive it to
dvd/cd, delete any unwanted or old mails from the Main Identity? This
way, it seems that I have all the old mails that I want on dvd/cd
archived plus everything else? And, if ever in the future I need to
import EVERYTHING BACKUP to my then current identity--it would import
all the mails by folder/subfolder for a complete set.

Is my understanding correct or am I missing something?

Thanks for the pointers to the scripts, too, Diane.
 
D

Diane Ross

Just a couple of questions to clairfy my understanding:

A) I sense that the drag 'n drop approach is NOT adviseable due to
comments on Spotlight/searchability; however, are there any stability,
reliablity or other issues between DnD and creating a .rge?
Click to expand...

None that I am aware of.
B) If I adopt the .rge archive approach, why wouldn't I just create a
completely new identity - call it EVERYTHING BACKUP, archive it to
dvd/cd, delete any unwanted or old mails from the Main Identity? This
way, it seems that I have all the old mails that I want on dvd/cd
archived plus everything else? And, if ever in the future I need to
import EVERYTHING BACKUP to my then current identity--it would import
all the mails by folder/subfolder for a complete set.

Is my understanding correct or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Sure, but then you won't get the ability to use Spotlight right away.

Your needs to search for old mail seems more limited than what I normally
think about when I consider archiving mail thus the confusion is
suggestions.
Thanks for the pointers to the scripts, too, Diane.
Click to expand...

You're welcome.

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
The Entourage Blog lists the EHP as one of the top five Microsoft Entourage
resources.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>
 
M

Mickey Stevens

For a few messages, EML may be fine, but I'd stick with MBOX files since
users have had issues with creating EML files of many messages (over 200 or
so) with one drag-and-drop. Plus, a few MBOX files are easier to manage
than hundreds of EML files.
 
M

Mickey Stevens

Create a Custom View and then drag those emails to the desktop. This give
you specific emails and it's one step.
Click to expand...

Or, you can drag the Custom View itself to the Desktop to create an MBOX
file.
 
J

JohnnyO

While I prefer the ease of MBOX via DnD to the desktop, my experience
is that this approach does not maintain the folder/subfolder integrity.
A previous post suggested using a script such as "Export Folders 1.1".
I haven't tried it yet, though?

And, it appears that exporting to a .rge file does maintain
folder/subfolder integrity and compacts the export as well.

So, now I'm trying to determine whether using "Export Folders 1.1"
which presumes to maintain folder/subfolder integrity and uses the MBOX
or utilizing the file export of .rge.

My may objective now is to select an approach which will retain and
maintain the integrity, stability and reliability of archiving.

Any Thoughts?
 
B

Barry Wainwright [MVP]

So, now I'm trying to determine whether using "Export Folders 1.1"
which presumes to maintain folder/subfolder integrity and uses the MBOX
or utilizing the file export of .rge.
Click to expand...

It maintains the folder integrity - not the structure. Hat's something
that's been on the 'list of things to do' for the last couple of years :)
 
D

Diane Ross

So, now I'm trying to determine whether using "Export Folders 1.1"
which presumes to maintain folder/subfolder integrity and uses the MBOX
or utilizing the file export of .rge.

My may objective now is to select an approach which will retain and
maintain the integrity, stability and reliability of archiving.

Any Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I suggest doing both. Maybe not every time, but on a regular basis. If there
is a problem with one method then you have a second backup.

Tip: Use FolderOrgX to organize your backup files info folder by date.
FolderOrg is an AppleScript Folder Action that is organizes files and
folders by moving them into dated subfolders. This is helpful in keeping
files and folders organized by the day they were added, not created or
modified.

<http://homepage.mac.com/dougeverly/folderorg.html>

Entourage exports your data as " Main.rge". Adding additional archive files
to the same folder presents a naming problem. Using FolderOrgX will organize
your data into folder with date they were added.

I use this for my downloads folder, archive folder and my screen shots
folder. This is crucial for my downloads folder. If you are like me you
download way more than you have time to install. Having the downloads in a
dated folder tells me that I haven't found a need for this and it's really
old so I delete the folder and clear up space for more downloads. :)

This little Folder Action is easy to use and indispensable IMHO.

Installation
1. Drag "FolderOrg X" file into folder "/Library/Scripts/Folder Action
Scripts/".
2. Turn Folder Actions on with Folder Actions Switch.

How to Attach FolderOrg X to a Folder: Use contextual menu to add to any
folder.

What could be easier?

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
The Entourage Blog lists the EHP as one of the top five Microsoft Entourage
resources.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>
 
J

JohnnyO

Just got done trying Barry's Export Folders 1.1 script. It's a very
nice utility which provides an MBOX for each folder and subfolder in
Entourage. But, as Barry points out earlier, does not maintain the
integrity of the folder/subfolder structure.

I explored the approach to set-up special PROJECTS and CATEGORIES for
mails that I want to send to an .rge -- but this approach doesn't
appear to be particularly friendly.

BTW--I do like the FolderOrgX utility from what I see. Will need to
give it a try--thanks, Diane.

So, I'm experimenting between usng Barry's scripts and manually
maintaining the file structure (because I have a lot of subfolders) or
creating a second identiy just to maintain old mails.

Geez--I didn't think it would get this involved.... :)

Any other thoughts out there?
 
D

Diane Ross

So, I'm experimenting between usng Barry's scripts and manually
maintaining the file structure (because I have a lot of subfolders) or
creating a second identiy just to maintain old mails.
Click to expand...

I would use the second Identity as an easy way to quickly view old emails.
Just duplicate your current Identity then create a custom view in the
original Identity to view emails older than xxx days. Select these emails in
the custom view and delete them. Now you have a lean Entourage and all your
old mail in the same structure in the old.

I suggest doing this once a year.

This doesn't discount creating continuing backups of your data though.

--
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/>
 
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