ZideOne

Like the native Exchange Connector the ZideOne Connectors are real MAPI Message Store Providers.

When Outlook attempts to write an appointment or a contact, the Connectors immediately converts the MAPI representation to the external format, most likely iCalendar or vCard (XML and JSON are other possible formats). The plugin then attempts to store that representation to the server (eg using HTTP PUT or POST). If the server fails, the user is notified in realtime. If it succeeds the user can be sure that the item has been accepted and stored by the server.

To speed up query operations, to store client side information and to provide offline capability, the ZideOne Connectors maintain a write-through cache. The cache is implemented as a local SQLite SQL database in which MAPI messages are stored in a very efficient way in SQL tables. MAPI searches can be directly mapped to SQL queries leading to great query performance. All MAPI properties are preserved in the cache (not just the external representation) and can be queried by Outlook or Outlook AddIns.
The connectors automatically detect if the host is disconnected from the network and auto-switch to offline mode. Depending on the specific ZideOne Connector the user will still be able to read and write the cached data. Offline writes and deletes will be pushed to the server when the laptop is reconnected to the network.

Message Stores also shine specifically in the context of shared folders, for example team calendars or shared contact folders. The more users have read/write access to such folders, the more likely are concurrent edits which must be properly tracked. The ZideOne Connectors detect concurrent edits immediately and do not overwrite the changed server records unless requested by the user.