MAPI is an acronym for Messaging Application Programming Interface. MAPI allows client programs to become (electronic mail) messaging-enabled, -aware, or -based by calling MAPI subsystem routines that interface with certain messaging systems and message stores (MAPI has its own temporary store in the MAPI spooler).
As well as the main MAPI client interface, programming links can be made indirectly through the API client interface Simple MAPI, or through the Common Messaging Calls (CMC) API client interface, or by the object-based CDO Library interface. These three methods are easier to use and designed for less complex messaging-enabled and -aware applications. The full MAPI interface is required for messaging-based applications.
MAPI was originally designed by Microsoft. The company founded its MS Mail team in 1987, but it was not until it acquired Consumers Software Inc in 1991 to obtain Network Courier that it had a messaging product. Reworked it was sold as MS PC Mail (or Microsoft Mail for PC Networking). The basic API to MS PC Mail was MAPI version 0. MAPI uses functions based on the X.400 XAPIA standard.
MAPI was the main e-mail data access method used by Microsoft until Exchange 5.5, by the Exchange Data Objects (EDO) and Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) interfaces. Exchange 2000 greatly expanded the supported services, notably with MAPI-compliant LDAP. Simple MAPI and CMC were removed from Exchange 2003.
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