Palm Pilot Desktop Software ADDRESS.DAT and ADDRESS.ABA File Structure

• These formats apply to the Windows version of the Palm Desktop software.
• The information presented here may or may not be accurate, the author makes no representation as to the accuracy of any information supplied.
• Palm does not recommend that you program to the structure of the desktop data files. They have publicly stated that these files are subject to change at any time. Use this information at your own risk!

Field Name	Type	Size	Comments
Version Tag	Char	4*Byte	0x00 0x01 0x42 0x41 (AB10) for Address
File Name	CString		Fully Qualified Filename of file on PC
Table String	CString		Custom Names followed by a Custom show header
Next Free	Long	4*Byte	Next Free Category ID
Category Count	Long	4*Byte	Count - 1 of the number of category entries (does not include Unfiled category)
Category entries	Category-Entry		Occurs category count times
Resource ID	Long	4*Byte	Schema Resource ID
Fields per Row	Long	4*Byte	Schema Fields per row. Will be 30 for address.
Rec ID Pos	Long	4*Byte	Schema Record ID Position (index to field table entry that contains record id)
Rec Status Pos	Long	4*Byte	Schema Record Status Position (index to field table entry that contains record status)
Placement Pos	Long	4*Byte	Schema Placement Position (index to field table entry that contains record placement position)
Field Count	Short	2*Byte	Schema Field Count (number of fields in schema) Corrected April 19, 2000
Field Entry	Short	2*Byte	Schema field entry occurs field count times. For address the entries will be 1,1,1,5,5,5,5,1,5,1,5,1,5,1,5,1,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,6,1,5,5,5,5,1 Corrected April 19, 2000
Num Entries	Long	4*Byte	Record count * 30 (number of field entries in entire file, as noted, divide by 30 to arrive at actual record count)
Address entry	Address-Entry		Occurs with record count

Category-Entry

Field Name	Type	Size	Comments
Index	Long	4*Byte	Category Index
ID	Long	4*Byte	Category ID
Dirty Flag	Long	4*Byte	Category Dirty Flag
Long Name	Cstring		Long Category Name
Short Name	Cstring		Short Category Name

Address-Entry

Field Name	Type	Size	Comments
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Record ID	Long	4*Byte
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Status Field	Long	4*Byte	Bitwise Record Status: Pending = 0x08, Add = 0x01, Update = 0x02, Delete = 0x04, Archive = 0x80
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Position	Long	4*Byte
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Name	Cstring		Last Name text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
First	Cstring		First Name text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Title	Cstring		Title text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Company	Cstring		Company Name text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Phone 1 Label ID	Long	4*Byte
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Phone 1	Cstring		Phone 1 text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Phone 2 Label ID	Long	4*Byte
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Phone 2	Cstring		Phone 2 text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Phone 3 Label ID	Long	4*Byte
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Phone 3	Cstring		Phone 3 text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Phone 4 Label ID	Long	4*Byte
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Phone 4	Cstring		Phone 4 text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Phone 5 Label ID	Long	4*Byte
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Phone 5	Cstring		Phone 5 text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Address	Cstring		Address text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
City	Cstring		City text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
State	Cstring		State text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Zip	Cstring		Zip text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Country	Cstring		Country text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Note	Cstring		Note text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 6 Boolean
Private	Long	4*Byte	1 = True
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Category	Long	4*Byte
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Custom 1	Cstring		Custom 1 text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Custom 2	Cstring		Custom 2 text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Custom 3	Cstring		Custom 3 text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 5 Cstring
Padding	Long	4*Byte	Always 0x0000
Custom 4	Cstring		Custom 4 text
Field Type	Long	4*Byte	value 1 Integer
Display Phone	Long	4*Byte	index to display phone

Cstrings

Cstrings are stored as follows:

1. Strings less than 255 bytes are stored with the length specified in the first byte followed by the actual string.
2. Zero length strings are stored with a 0x00 byte.
3. Strings 255 bytes or longer are stored with a flag byte set to 0xFF followed by a short (2*Byte) that specifies the length of the string, followed by the actual string.

Field Types

The schema mechanism uses field types to identify the data. The meanings of the field types are in the table below.

Number	Meaning
0	None
1	Integer
2	Float
3	Date
4	Alpha
5	Cstring
6	Boolean
7	Bitflag
8	RepeatEvent

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Last updated: October 26, 2002

copyright 2007-2017 Scott W. Leighton