----------------------------------------------------------------------- AOL-Export 04/2003 by Volker Tanger ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This per script can kind of extract data from a (disrupted) AOL organizer. It is intended to support desperate rescue attempts i.e. when you are short of digging the values out of that binary junk with your bare hands - and maybe a toothpick (if you're lucky)... It does *NOT* - repair an organizer - safely export all contents an organizer - export your buddy list nor your address book - export it into a directly usable format (mbox, pst, ...) - safely separate messages/mails. Quite often you'll find more than just one message in a single file. To extract the text messages and (hopefully) separate them into logical parts, just make sure there is a writeable directory "parts" below the current one and run cat ORGANIZER | ./aolexport.pl where ORGANIZER is the name of your AOL organizer file. Beware: above command line works as typed under Unix-style OS (*BSD, Linux,Solaris, AIX, ...) only - to be functional you'll have to try to pry around with a Perl interpreter and a shell or DOS extensions to get it working. After the file is though, you can search for the important messages with your favourite TEXT search tool - even the MS-Windows search function. Remember: this is a tool of last resort. You will get data you can work with - but you won't get any guarantee. Neither for completeness nor for usability. But it will quite probably be better than nothing... For bug reports and suggestions or if you just want to talk to me please contact me at volker.tanger@wyae.de Other options and tools to mention are: http://aoleave.com/ a java-based export of bookmarks and contacts http://members.aol.com/adamkb/aol/mailfaq/imap/ You can im- and export your AOL mails (to some extent). Here's HowTo. AOL provides detailed documentation and examples at Keyword: Open Mail Access, at Postmaster.Info, and in the AOL Help article http://help.aol.com/help/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=http--helpchannelsaolcom-SearchData-kjumpadpcatId1sCId416sSCId4093articleId217449 "Can I read and send AOL e-mail using other e-mail applications?." http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/faq#aol Migration help from the ThunderBird mail application And just listed as companions in case you stumbled into another lock-in... http://outport.sourceforge.net/ SourceForge project for exporting addressbook etc. from MS Outlook 2000 and newer. http://mbx2mbox.sourceforge.net/ SourceForge project for exporting emails from MS Outlook 97 http://sourceforge.net/projects/ol2mbox/ SourceForge project for exporting emails from MS Outlook 2000 and newer. http://www.five-ten-sg.com/libpst Convert PST into standard Unix files: mbox, vCard, vCalendar ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Shortcut: Distributable under "Modified BSD" license ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 2003 Volker Tanger All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 3. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE -----------------------------------------------------------------------