OAB Commands

OAB Commands Reference

Purpose

Complete command-line reference for all OAB (Offline Address Book) format operations. This document provides detailed syntax, options, and examples for the 3 OAB commands.

References

Getting Started Guide
OAB Format Guide
Ruby API Reference

Concepts

OAB commands operate on Outlook Offline Address Book files with LZX block-based compression. Commands support both full files and incremental patches for efficient synchronization.

Command Overview

Command	Purpose
oab-extract	Extract (decompress) OAB file
oab-create	Create compressed OAB file
oab-info	Show OAB file information

Command

Purpose

oab-extract

Extract (decompress) OAB file

oab-create

Create compressed OAB file

oab-info

Show OAB file information

oab-extract - Extract OAB File

Decompress an Outlook Offline Address Book file or apply an incremental patch.

Syntax

cabriolet oab-extract [OPTIONS] INPUT OUTPUT

Parameters

INPUT: (required) Path to the OAB file to extract (full or patch)
OUTPUT: (required) Path for the decompressed output file

Options

--base=FILE: Base file for incremental patch (required for patch files)
--verbose, -v: Show extraction progress

Returns

Exit code 0 on success
Exit code 1 on error
Exit code 2 if required base file not specified for patch
Exit code 3 if file not found
Exit code 4 if permission denied

Description

The oab-extract command decompresses OAB files. For full OAB files, it simply decompresses the content. For incremental patch files, it requires a base file and applies the patch to produce the updated output.

Examples

Extract full OAB file

cabriolet oab-extract full.oab address.dat

Output

Extracted full.oab -> address.dat (2,097,152 bytes)

Apply incremental patch

cabriolet oab-extract --base=full.oab patch.oab updated.dat

Output

Applied patch: patch.oab + full.oab -> updated.dat (2,105,344 bytes)

Extract with verbose output

cabriolet oab-extract --verbose full.oab address.dat

Output

Extracting: full.oab -> address.dat
Type: Full OAB
Version: 4.0
Block size: 32768 bytes
Target size: 2,097,152 bytes

Decompressing blocks...
  Block 1/64... OK
  Block 2/64... OK
  ...
  Block 64/64... OK

Extracted full.oab -> address.dat (2,097,152 bytes)

Apply patch with verbose output

cabriolet oab-extract --base=old.oab --verbose patch.oab new.oab

Output

Applying patch: patch.oab + old.oab -> new.oab
Type: Incremental Patch
Version: 4.0
Block size: 32768 bytes
Source size: 2,097,152 bytes
Target size: 2,105,344 bytes
Source CRC: 0x12345678
Target CRC: 0x9abcdef0

Validating base file...
  Base CRC: 0x12345678... Match!

Applying delta patches...
  Processing patch blocks...
  Progress: 100%

Verifying output...
  Target CRC: 0x9abcdef0... Match!

Applied patch: patch.oab + old.oab -> new.oab (2,105,344 bytes)

Common Errors

Invalid OAB header: File is not a valid OAB file
Source CRC mismatch: Patch doesn’t match the provided base file
Decompression failed: LZX decompression error
Missing base file: Patch requires --base option but none provided

oab-create - Create OAB File

Compress an address book file to OAB format or create an incremental patch.

Syntax

cabriolet oab-create [OPTIONS] INPUT OUTPUT

Parameters

INPUT: (required) Path to the uncompressed address book file
OUTPUT: (required) Path for the compressed OAB file

Options

--base=FILE: Base file for creating incremental patch
--block-size=SIZE: Block size in bytes (default: 32768)
--verbose, -v: Show compression progress

Returns

Exit code 0 on success
Exit code 1 on error
Exit code 3 if source file not found
Exit code 4 if permission denied

Description

The oab-create command compresses address book data to OAB format using LZX block-based compression. Without a base file, it creates a full OAB. With a base file, it creates an incremental patch.

Examples

Create full OAB with default block size

cabriolet oab-create address.dat full.oab

Output

Created full.oab (1,048,576 bytes)

Create with custom block size

cabriolet oab-create --block-size=65536 address.dat full.oab

Output

Created full.oab (1,024,000 bytes)

Create incremental patch

cabriolet oab-create --base=old.dat new.dat patch.oab

Output

Created patch: patch.oab (131,072 bytes)

Create with verbose output

cabriolet oab-create --verbose --block-size=32768 address.dat full.oab

Output

Compressing: address.dat -> full.oab
Type: Full OAB
Block size: 32768 bytes
Uncompressed size: 2,097,152 bytes

Compressing blocks...
  Block 1/64 (32768 bytes -> 16384 bytes, 50.0%)
  Block 2/64 (32768 bytes -> 16384 bytes, 50.0%)
  ...
  Block 64/64 (32768 bytes -> 16384 bytes, 50.0%)

Writing OAB file...
  Header: 16 bytes
  Compressed data: 1,048,576 bytes

Created full.oab (1,048,592 bytes)
Overall compression: 50.0%

Create patch with verbose output

cabriolet oab-create --base=old.dat --verbose new.dat patch.oab

Output

Creating patch: new.dat (base: old.dat) -> patch.oab
Type: Incremental Patch
Block size: 32768 bytes
Source size: 2,097,152 bytes
Target size: 2,105,344 bytes

Computing CRCs...
  Source CRC: 0x12345678
  Target CRC: 0x9abcdef0

Creating delta patches...
  Analyzing changes...
  Changed blocks: 8 of 64 (12.5%)

  Compressing changed blocks...
  Progress: 100%

Writing patch file...
  Header: 28 bytes
  Patch data: 131,072 bytes

Created patch: patch.oab (131,100 bytes)
Patch size vs. full: 12.5%

Common Errors

Source file not found: Verify input file path
Cannot create output file: Check write permissions and disk space
Compression failed: Input file may be unreadable
Base file required: Specify --base when creating patch
Block size mismatch: Base and target must use same block size

oab-info - Show OAB Information

Display detailed information about an Outlook Offline Address Book file.

Syntax

cabriolet oab-info [OPTIONS] FILE

Parameters

FILE: (required) Path to the OAB file to analyze

Options

--verbose, -v: Show additional technical details

Returns

Exit code 0 on success
Exit code 1 on error
Exit code 3 if file not found

Description

The oab-info command displays metadata about an OAB file, identifying whether it’s a full file or incremental patch and showing compression details.

Examples

Full OAB file information

cabriolet oab-info full.oab

Output

OAB File Information (Full)
==================================================
Filename: full.oab
Version: 4.0
Block size: 32768 bytes
Target size: 2,097,152 bytes

Patch file information

cabriolet oab-info patch.oab

Output

OAB File Information (Patch)
==================================================
Filename: patch.oab
Version: 4.0
Block size: 32768 bytes
Source size: 2,097,152 bytes
Target size: 2,105,344 bytes
Source CRC: 0x12345678
Target CRC: 0x9abcdef0

Verbose information

cabriolet oab-info --verbose full.oab

Output

OAB File Information (Full)
==================================================
Filename: full.oab
File size: 1,048,592 bytes

Header:
  Version: 4.0 (hi: 4, lo: 0)
  Block max size: 32768 bytes
  Target size: 2,097,152 bytes
  Reserved: 0

Type: Full OAB file
Compression: LZX (block-based)

Statistics:
  Compressed size: 1,048,576 bytes
  Uncompressed size: 2,097,152 bytes
  Compression ratio: 50.0%
  Estimated blocks: 64

Check multiple files

for file in *.oab; do
  echo "=== $file ==="
  cabriolet oab-info "$file"
  echo
done

Common Errors

Invalid OAB header: File is not a valid OAB file
Not a valid OAB file: File header is corrupted or wrong format

Global Options

All OAB commands support these global options:

--verbose, -v: Enable verbose output with detailed progress
--help, -h: Display command help
--version: Show Cabriolet version

See Global Options for complete details.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	General error
2	Invalid arguments (e.g., missing required --base)
3	File not found
4	Permission denied
5	Corrupt file
6	Unsupported format

Block Size Guidelines

Choose appropriate block size based on address book size:

Block Size	Best For	Trade-off
16 KB	Small address books (<1 MB)	Faster random access, lower compression
32 KB	General purpose (default)	Balanced performance
64 KB	Large address books (>5 MB)	Better compression, slower access
128 KB	Very large address books (>20 MB)	Best compression, slowest access

Block Size

Best For

Trade-off

16 KB

Small address books (<1 MB)

Faster random access, lower compression

32 KB

General purpose (default)

Balanced performance

64 KB

Large address books (>5 MB)

Better compression, slower access

128 KB

Very large address books (>20 MB)

Best compression, slowest access

Base file and patch must use the same block size. Mismatched block sizes will cause patch application to fail.

Common Workflows

Initial Distribution

# Create full OAB for initial distribution
cabriolet oab-create \
  --block-size=32768 \
  address-book.dat \
  full-001.oab

echo "Full OAB created: full-001.oab"

Incremental Updates

# Create update chain
# Initial version
cabriolet oab-create address-v1.dat full-v1.oab

# First update
cabriolet oab-create \
  --base=address-v1.dat \
  address-v2.dat \
  patch-v1-to-v2.oab

# Second update
cabriolet oab-create \
  --base=address-v2.dat \
  address-v3.dat \
  patch-v2-to-v3.oab

echo "Created update chain: full + 2 patches"

Client Synchronization

# Download and apply updates

# First sync: Download full OAB
if [ ! -f local-address-book.dat ]; then
  echo "Downloading full address book..."
  # Download full-001.oab
  cabriolet oab-extract full-001.oab local-address-book.dat
  echo "Initial sync complete"
fi

# Later: Apply incremental updates
if [ -f update-002.oab ]; then
  echo "Applying update..."

  # Backup current
  cp local-address-book.dat local-address-book.bak

  # Apply patch
  cabriolet oab-extract \
    --base=local-address-book.bak \
    update-002.oab \
    local-address-book.dat

  echo "Update applied successfully"
  rm local-address-book.bak
fi

Optimize Distribution

# Decide between full and patch

old_size=$(stat -f%z old.dat)
new_size=$(stat -f%z new.dat)

# Create both
cabriolet oab-create new.dat full.oab
cabriolet oab-create --base=old.dat new.dat patch.oab

full_size=$(stat -f%z full.oab)
patch_size=$(stat -f%z patch.oab)

# Compare and choose
if [ $patch_size -lt $((full_size / 3)) ]; then
  echo "Use patch: $patch_size bytes (vs full: $full_size bytes)"
  echo "Bandwidth savings: $(((100 * (full_size - patch_size)) / full_size))%"
else
  echo "Use full file: patch not significantly smaller"
fi

Verify Patch Integrity

# Verify patch can be applied

echo "Verifying patch..."

# Get patch info
if ! info=$(cabriolet oab-info patch.oab); then
  echo "ERROR: Invalid patch file"
  exit 1
fi

# Extract source CRC
source_crc=$(echo "$info" | grep "Source CRC" | awk '{print $3}')

echo "Patch requires base with CRC: $source_crc"
echo "Verification: Patch file is valid"

# Note: Actual CRC verification of base would require
# computing CRC of the base file

Next steps

Review Basic Usage Guide for usage examples
Study Ruby API Reference for Ruby integration
Learn about LZX compression
Understand incremental patching

OAB Commands Reference

Purpose

References

Concepts

Command Overview

oab-extract - Extract OAB File

Syntax

Parameters

Options

Returns

Description

Examples

Common Errors

See Also

oab-create - Create OAB File

Syntax

Parameters

Options

Returns

Description

Examples

Common Errors

See Also

oab-info - Show OAB Information

Syntax

Parameters

Options

Returns

Description

Examples

Common Errors

See Also

Global Options

Exit codes

Block Size Guidelines

Common Workflows

Initial Distribution

Incremental Updates

Client Synchronization

Optimize Distribution

Verify Patch Integrity

Next steps

Bibliography