Is OpenMapi.org an email protocol?

No. OpenMapi.org is an Application Programming Interface. We use different protocols to connect to different backends. We also use a custom protocol (which will be fully documented and is based on open standards) to connect from NMapi or JMapi to the Proxy Server, which could be considered to be an email protocol.

Is OpenMapi.org an email server?

No. OpenMapi.org is a collection of libraries for different programming languages to connect to a variety of different servers using the same API.

We do, however, provide an extensible proxy server which provides many features of a server like logging, authentication, load-balancing, etc. Additionally the Proxy Server can be used to run some local Mapi-Providers like the Maildir-Provider, thus acting as a stand-alone mail server.

Why should I use OpenMapi.org instead of some other Mail protocol like IMAP?

As mentioned above OpenMapi.org is not a protocol, but an API. Even if you want your application to connect to an IMAP server you will still be able to do that through NMapi. However you may also connect to a full-featured Mapi-Server like teamXchange, or Zarafa using the same API. When used with such a backend, OpenMapi.org supports many features not supported by less-capable protocols like IMAP, including subscriptions to notifications when properties of an object change (for example when a new mail arrives or the content of a calendar item is changed) or push-services to mobile devices.

What is NMapi?

NMapi is the name of the OpenMapi.org C# library. Besides the Core Mapi API it supports a simple abstraction layer on top of it, based on Smart C# Mapi-Objects and LINQ. For more information is available in the NMapi section. NMapi is also the only library that can directly call any openMapi.org backend without going through the proxy. The Proxy server itself is actually built on NMapi as well.

What is JMapi?

JMapi is a simple Java library to connect to the OpenMapi.org Proxy, providing full access to any OpenMapi.org backend.

What exactly is the purpose of the proxy server?

The main prupose of the proxy server is to enable access to any backend (which is usually written for NMapi) from any programming language supported by OpenMapi.org and it also makes it possible to change to a different backend without making any changes to the configuration of any client. Additionally it provides or will provide logging, load-balancing, authentication, offline support, etc.

Can I use openmapi.org with Microsoft Outlook®?

While we are working to make it possible for Outlook to connect to any openmapi.org provider, currently we do not support this. However some of out supported backends, including Zarafa and teamXchange offer direct access to their servers from Outlook. So you can use openmapi.org to connect to the same message store as Outlook.

Can I use openmapi.org with Mozilla Thunderbird, Apple Mail® or Novell Evolution?

Yes.

How does openmapi.org connect to mobile devices?

It depends. We provide an ActiveSync-Gateway that works with any backend supported by NMapi. This can be used to provide push-services for "Windows Mobile®" -based devices as well as the iPhone.

Some backends additionally have support to connect to the Blackberry Enterprise Server; There are also plans to include Blackberry-Connectivity in the OpenMapi.org Proxy Server.

Is openmapi.org the same as OpenChange?

Not at all. OpenChange basically attempts to reverse engineer the binary protocol that Outlook uses to talk to Exchange and provide a C library to communicate with it. They also plan to provide a Groupware server.

OpenMapi.org, however, is really about creating and expanding an open market for a wide range of groupware servers (including Exchange®) and clients and providing a modern, high-level API for different programming languages to access those, independent of the network protocol used.

We also have designed the architecture in a way that it's possible to adds value to all clients and servers supported, by plugging a new module into the proxy or adding a frontend. For example we provide push-services for many mobile phones (like windows mobile® based phones and the iPhone), POP- and IMAP access and logging, load-balancing, offline-support, etc. for all backends without any special support from them.

Additionally we hope to create a general framework for distributed objects, so use you use openmapi.org to work with twitter, RSS and many other applications where data objects are synchronized accross the network.

Finally, we currently provide access to two servers that have been developed, tested and run in real-world environments for years.

Which components are part of OpenMapi.org?

We currently provide or are working on the following components:

• NMapi C# library
• JMapi Java library
• OpenMapi SDK
• OpenMapi.org Proxy Server
• IMAP Gateway
• POP3 Gateway
• ActiveSync® gateway

We also currently provide the following backends:

• teamXchange backend
• Zarafa backend (in development)

Which components of openmapi.org are currently available?

NMapi (including the Proxy Server) is currently available from svn.

Can I use openmapi.org components in a commercial application?

Generally, yes. NMapi and JMapi are licensed under the GNU LGPL and therefore may be used in open source projects and in closed source (as long as changes to the library itself are shipped with your product.). Frontends are usually licensed under the LGPL or the GNU GPL.