About Simple MAPI

Simple MAPI provides a set of functions that enables you to add a basic level of messaging functionality to Microsoft Windows-based applications.

Because Simple MAPI is only intended for the Microsoft Windows environment and offers limited functionality, it is recommended primarily for backward compatibility with older client applications. You are encouraged to use CMC or MAPI for development of new clients whenever possible.You should link Simple MAPI clients with either the MAPI.DLL or the MAPI32.DLL library, depending on whether you are writing for 16-bit or 32-bit Windows platforms.

Simple MAPI contains 12 high-level functions that enable a client application to send, address, receive, and reply to messages. Messages sent using Simple MAPI can even include file attachments and OLE objects. Windows-based clients that are not primarily used for messaging, such as spreadsheets, word processors, or applications that require only basic messaging can use Simple MAPI to provide messaging functionality quickly and easily.

Simple MAPI has several features that make it a good option for clients that do not have extensive messaging needs:

• By taking advantage of the MAPI subsystem, it maintains independence from the underlying messaging system and network.
• It enables your client to define message types as well as the content of messages, and enables flexibility in the management of stored messages.
• It includes an optional common user interface (dialog boxes), so with little effort you can make your clients look consistent with each other and with other Windows-based applications. Through these dialog boxes, your users can address, compose, and send messages. Using the common dialog boxes is not mandatory, however, so if your client does not need a user interface, it can call the Simple MAPI functions without displaying any dialog boxes.
• Although designed to be called from C programs, your client can call the functions with little or no parameter modification from application-specific and standalone scripting packages such as Visual Basic, Actor, Smalltalk, and ObjectVision.

If you are writing a new client, you should implement it using MAPI or CMC. However, using MAPI involves learning about objects, interfaces, and the Component Object Model, and your client might only need the limited messaging functionality available with Simple MAPI. In this case, you should use CMC because it has the same functionality as Simple MAPI and it works with Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.1, and Microsoft Windows 95. You should only use Simple MAPI for maintenance of older clients that were written using it.