Smart exchange database index
A full-text index can be created for each mailbox of an EDB to facilitate the performance of complex queries to quickly search for email data. In this way, relevant email data can be identified and retrieved quickly and efficiently from the full-text index rather than from the EDB. To create such indexes, each email in a mailbox can be retrieved and processed to convert the email from its native format into textual name/value pairs which can then be submitted for indexing. This use of name/value pairs to index each email enables the emails across all mailboxes to be efficiently queried using any possible combination of values.
1. A method for creating a full-text index for each of a plurality of mailboxes stored in an Exchange database (EDB), the method comprising:
identifying a plurality of mailboxes stored in an EDB;
for each of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB, launching a database (DB) mailbox enumerator and an index writer such that each DB mailbox enumerator and each index writer corresponds with a particular mailbox of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB;
wherein each DB mailbox enumerator;
accesses the EDB to retrieve each email in the corresponding mailbox, at least some of the emails including content that is not formatted as plain text;
for each email that was retrieved from the corresponding mailbox stored in the EDB, converts content of the email that is not formatted as plain text into plain text and provides the content of the email formatted in plain text to the corresponding index writer,
wherein, for each email that was retrieved by the corresponding DB mailbox enumerator from the corresponding mailbox stored in the EDB, each index writer:
receives the content of the email formatted in plain text;
creates an indexing request that identifies a full-text index corresponding to the mailbox from which the email was accessed, the indexing request also including the content of the email, that was retrieved from the corresponding mailbox stored in the EDB, in plain text format; and
submits the indexing request to cause the content of the email to be stored in the corresponding full-text index such that the content that is not formatted as plain text in the email retrieved from one of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB is stored in plain text format in the full-text index that corresponds to the mailbox from which the email was accessed.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content that is not formatted as plain text comprises a body of the email.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content that is not formatted as plain text comprises an attachment of the email.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indexing request comprises an Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request that includes a name of the mailbox to identify the corresponding full-text index.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content of the email is included in the indexing request as name/value pairs.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the name/value pairs are structured in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the name/value pairs include a name/value pair for one or both of the following:
contents of a body of the email; or
contents of an attachment to the email.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein, for any email that includes an attachment, the indexing request is structured to cause the content of the attachment to be stored separately from but hierarchically associated with the content of the email.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of DB mailbox enumerators access the plurality of mailboxes in parallel.
10. A method for creating a full-text index for each of a plurality of mailboxes stored in an Exchange database (EDB), the method comprising:
identifying a plurality of mailboxes stored in an EDB;
launching, by a database (DB) worker pool and for each of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB, a DB mailbox enumerator such that each DB mailbox enumerator corresponds with a particular mailbox of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB;
launching, by an index writer pool, an index writer for each of the DB mailbox enumerators such that each index writer corresponds with a particular DB mailbox enumerator;
wherein each DB mailbox enumerator:
accesses the EDB to retrieve each email in the corresponding mailbox, at least some of the emails including content that is not formatted as plain text;
for each email that was retrieved from the corresponding mailbox stored in the EDB, converts content of the email that is not formatted as plain text into plain text and provides the content of the email formatted in plain text to the corresponding index writer;
wherein, for each email that was retrieved by the corresponding DB mailbox enumerator from the corresponding mailbox stored in the EDB, each index writer:
receives the content of the email formatted in plain text;
creates an indexing request that identifies a full-text index corresponding to the mailbox from which the email was accessed, the indexing request also including the content of the email, that was retrieved from the corresponding mailbox stored in the EDB, in plain text format; and
submits the indexing request to cause the content of the email to be stored in the corresponding full-text index such that the content that is not formatted as plain text in the email retrieved from one of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB is stored in plain text format in the full-text index that corresponds to the mailbox from which the email was accessed.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
creating a queue for each DB mailbox enumerator, wherein each DB mailbox enumerator provides the content of the emails formatted in plain text to the corresponding index writer via the corresponding queue.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein each DB mailbox enumerator accesses the corresponding mailbox via a DB controller.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein each index writer submits each indexing request via an HTTP request.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein, for any email that includes an attachment, the indexing request is structured to cause the content of the attachment to be stored separately from but hierarchically associated with the content of the email.
15. The method of claim 10 , wherein, for at least some of the emails, the indexing request is structured with a first portion that defines a folder, a second portion that defines a message, and a third portion that defines an attachment.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first portion defines an identifier that is used to identify the corresponding mailbox in the EDB.
17. A method for creating a full-text index for each of a plurality of mailboxes stored in an Exchange database (EDB), the method comprising:
for each of a plurality of mailboxes stored in an EDB, accessing the EDB to retrieve each email in the mailbox, at least some of the emails including content that is not formatted as plain text;
for each accessed email that was retrieved from one of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB:
converting content of the email that is not formatted as plain text into plain text such that the content that is not formatted as plain text of the email that was retrieved from one of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB is converted into plain text;
creating an indexing request that identifies a full-text index corresponding to the mailbox from which the email was accessed such that a full-text index is created for each of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB, the indexing request also including the content of the email, that was retrieved from the corresponding mailbox stored in the EDB, in plain text format; and
submitting the indexing request to cause the content of the email to be stored in the corresponding full-text index such that the content that is not formatted as plain text in the email retrieved from one of the plurality of mailboxes stored in the EDB is stored in plain text format in the full-text index that corresponds to the mailbox from which the email was accessed.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein, for any email that includes an attachment, the indexing request is structured to cause the content of the attachment to be stored separately from but hierarchically associated with the content of the email.
19. The method of claim 17 , wherein, for at least some of the emails, the indexing request is structured with a first portion that defines a folder, a second portion that defines a message, and a third portion that defines an attachment.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the first portion defines a first identifier that is used to identify the corresponding mailbox in the EDB and a second identifier that identifies the corresponding full-text index, and wherein the second portion defines the second identifier to link the second portion to the first portion.