Scenario: After mailbox categories have mysteriously disappeared, you want to verify that the categories are not hanging around in the backend of your mailbox. The concern is that you re-add the categories and if they mysteriously show up, it would create a headache to clean it up.
Solution: The categories that is used throughout the mailbox is located in a hidden area in the calendar. Using MFCMapi, navigate to the PR_ROAMING_XMLSTREAM by following:
- Session –>Logon
- Select the mailbox profile for the user affected.
- Expand Top of Information Store
- Right click on Calendar and select ‘Open Associated Contents Table’
- Select the entry with Subject “IPM.Configuration.CategoryList”
- Locate and open the property “PR_ROAMING_XMLSTREAM”
- Copy the contents of the Text value into notepad and parse everything that starts with <category name =”…”
- Now you can see a list of every category that is associated with the mailbox.