| Platform SDK: MAPI |
A profile is a collection of information about the message services and service providers that a user of a client application wants to be available during a particular MAPI session. Every user has at least one profile; many users keep several. For example, a user might have one profile to work with a server-based message store service and another profile to work with a message store service on the local computer. A user might want to access one set of messaging systems using the appropriate transport services for part of the day and another set for the rest of the day. Profiles provide a flexible way to select combinations of messaging system services.
Profiles can be given names up to 64 alphanumeric characters in length. The names can include accent characters, the underscore, and embedded spaces and cannot include leading or trailing spaces. Profiles can have passwords, but are not required to have them because not all operating systems support them. Currently, Windows NT and Windows 95 do not support passwords, but Windows version 3.1 does.
Profiles are organized hierarchically and divided into sections, with one section for each message service and one section for each service provider within a service. The related sections are linked, making it easier to navigate through the information. Each section contains a series of entries that MAPI or a client application uses for configuration.
The entries included in a profile vary from message service to message service. Some of the common entries include:
Profiles can be created at installation time, when MAPI or a message service is loaded onto a computer workstation, or at any time after. MAPI provides three programs for profile administration: the Control Panel applet, the Profile Wizard, and the NEWPROF utility.
The Control Panel applet is a full-featured configuration application, allowing a user to create new profiles and maintain existing profiles either by deleting them or adding, modifying, or deleting entries.
The Profile Wizard is an application that creates new profiles with a minimum amount of work. Default values for settings are used wherever possible, saving users time and effort. Users enter values only when absolutely necessary.
The NEWPROF utility is a tool for creating new profiles with a template file similar to MAPISVC.INF called DEFAULT.PRF. The entries that are placed in DEFAULT.PRF are written into the new profile as properties. NEWPROF can be invoked from the command line, a message service installation program, or from within a client application.