Convert MSG files to XML

Let talk about converting Outlook Based MSG files to XML documents using a tool from Priasoft, the only tool I know of that can do this, called the MSG to XML conversion tool. I think this is a great way to solve lots of business requirements that seem to exist when Outlook Email is stored in MSG file formats.


First off, why would you want to convert an Outlook MSG file to XML?

Good question, the reasons are many and much to much to cover in full detail here, however here are a few reason that come to mind:

a) You want MSG files stored with all there related properties that can be consumed easily by any application that supports XML.
b) You want to store meta data about MSG files that exist on local and network server volumes
c) You want to archive MSG files to a open, standard format, like XML, that can viewed in most web browsers or consumed by applications that support XML
d) You want a complete representation of an Outlook MSG file in a format that can be indexed by search applications, since XML is, at its core, a structured text file.
e) You need to populate a database with an index of Outlook MSG files and there properties and you have quickly discovered that Outlook MSG files are in a proprietary undocumented Microsoft format that cannot be simply parsed as most properties are in a binary format.

And so on.....

So what is an XML file anyway?

An XML file, short for Extensible Markup Language, is a W3C-recommended general-purpose markup language that supports a wide variety of applications. XML languages or 'dialects' are easy to design and to process. XML is also designed to be human-legible, and to this end, terseness was not considered essential in its structure. XML is a simplified subset of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). Its primary purpose is to facilitate the sharing of data across different information systems, particularly systems connected via the Internet. To learn more about XML click here.

This post was to simply to let you know that this option exists to help solve some Outlook MSG file issues you may be facing and to cover at a high level why you would want to convert MSG files to XML and also what an XML file is. If you think you would like to explore this option, Priasoft offers a free download of the application so you can test scenarios and also review the XML output. Get it here.

Please also post any comments or question you have on the MSG file format of the XML format here for further discussion.