Welcome to Mark Logic,
    the power behind MarkMail

    MarkMail is a free service demonstrating the capabilities and power of MarkLogic Server using email as a content source. Each email is stored as an XML document, and accessed using XQuery. All searches, faceted navigation, analytic calculations, and HTML page renderings are performed on a single MarkLogic Server machine running against millions of messages. This community-focused searchable message archive can be accessed at:

    markmail.org

    Built on MarkLogic Server, the industry-leading XML content server, MarkMail combines sophisticated search functionality with a powerful faceted navigation interface and real-time analytics to deliver a new, state-of-the-art experience for interacting with large-scale message archives.

    How MarkMail works

    To provision the MarkMail service we:

    • store an archive of all sent email messages
    • enrich messages with inferred structure from headers, body content and attachments
    • build structured and full text search indices
    • dynamically render all results pages, including necessary analytics

    To build our indices, we simply subscribe to each mailing list, and as messages arrive the header content (such as the sender, recipient, date and message ID) is parsed and translated into XML. Each email is loaded and stored as an XML document, and accessed using the W3C standard XQuery language.

    Message bodies, which might seem like a single block of plain text, can actually be structured into meaningful chunks of XML: paragraphs of text, “quoted” or “included” sections of prior messages, signature blocks, etc. We use this XML – and its underlying structural implications – to increase the latent value of the message, allowing you to search for combinations of header and body content, or for information found only in footers, or for information that was original to an email, not just included in it.

    All the text searches, faceted navigation, analytic calculations, and HTML page renderings are executed instantly on a single MarkLogic Server running against millions of messages.

    Unlocking attachments

    MarkMail enables you to search inside of attachments and seamlessly navigate between message and attachment, taking you directly to the areas of the that match your search. The system has the advantage of breaking documents by page, paragraph, or slide, providing a fluid search experience that more quickly gets you to exactly what you were looking for.

    MarkMail works with these attached documents even when the native form isn't XML - Word, PowerPoint, PDF and more - demonstrating that even your non-XML content can be unlocked by our XML content server.

    What MarkMail shows you about our platform

    Developed and hosted by Mark Logic, the MarkMail searchable message archive demonstrates how MarkLogic Server can be used to unlock entirely new classes of content - in this case, e-mail.

    As a content source, e-mail is particularly difficult. Message headers appear highly structured (from, to, date, subject), yet message bodies appear completely unstructured. Attachments present even greater challenges, introducing various formats – both structured and unstructured – into the mix.

    Traditional tools, including relational databases or search engines, don't offer the combination of capabilities needed to tackle this class of content. A few minutes spent with traditional tools, when compared with a few minutes spent on MarkMail, make the point clear that the ability to leverage the structured elements along with full-text search can yield a remarkably better user experience.

    MarkLogic's ability to work with this type of semi-structured information is a key reason why customers across a variety of industry segments find that our server is well-suited to their content problems.

    Do you have content to unlock?

    MarkMail demonstrates how compelling a well-designed content application can be. But its secret sauce - MarkLogic Server - is no secret at all. You, too, can use this software to bring your own content to life.

    Get started:

    Or, return to the MarkMail site: