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messages

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Revision as of 03:54, 24 February 2012 by Beau (talk | contribs) (added a little more information)
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iMessage is the built-in system application to send messages. Initially (in earlier iOS versions) this was only for sending and receiving SMS (text) messages. Support for sending and receiving MMS messages was introduced in iOS 3.0 The icon on the SpringBoard is named Messages, but Apple's official name is iMessage (see references). iMessages on iOS is activated in the same way as FaceTime, with a silent SMS being sent to a carrier defined number and a successful registration SMS being returned. This 'verifies' the phone number for sending and receiving iMessages. Email (AppleID) verification does not use silent SMS, and only sends an email containing a verification link. This is the only method for iMessages on the iPad, iPod touch and Mac OS X.

iMessage is deeply integrated and built around Apple's Push Notification Server over port 5223.

To backup or restore the data of this application without iTunes, the following information might be useful. Initial data for this analysis comes from an iPhone 3GS with firmware 3.1.3, which was later restored / upgraded to an iPhone 4 and finally to an iPhone 4S with iOS 5.0.1. On lower or higher firmware versions there are differences in the data.

In the folder /var/mobile/Library/SMS/ there are the following files:

  • sms.db
  • sms.db-shm
  • sms.db-wal
  • sms-legacy.db
  • folder Attachments
  • folder Drafts
  • folder Parts

The files which end in -shm and -wal are probably used for indexing and can be recreated if deleted (?). The legacy file was not on my iPhone, but another user claimed to have this file (see jbqa reference). So we're just looking at the file sms.db, this is an SQLite database with the following tables in it:

  • sqlite_master
  • _SqliteDatabaseProperties
  • msg_group
  • group_member
  • message
  • msg_pieces
  • madrid_attachment
  • madrid_chat

The following indexes are defined:

index name table name field name(s)
sqlite_autoindex__SqliteDatabaseProperties_1 _SqliteDatabaseProperties
message_group_index message group_id, ROWID
message_flags_index message flags
pieces_message_index msg_pieces message_id
madrid_attachment_message_index madrid_attachment message_id
madrid_attachment_guid_index madrid_attachment attachment_guid
madrid_attachment_filename_index madrid_attachment filename
madrid_guid_index message madrid_guid
group_id_index group_member group_id
madrid_chat_style_index madrid_chat style
madrid_chat_state_index madrid_chat state
madrid_chat_account_id_index madrid_chat account_id
madrid_chat_chat_identifier_index madrid_chat chat_identifier
madrid_chat_service_name_index madrid_chat service_name
madrid_chat_guid_index madrid_chat guid
madrid_chat_room_name_index madrid_chat room_name
madrid_chat_account_login_index madrid_chat account_login
madrid_roomname_service_index message madrid_roomname, madrid_service
madrid_handle_service_index message madrid_handle, madrid_service

The following triggers are defined:

trigger name criteria 1 criteria 2 action
insert_unread_message AFTER INSERT WHEN NOT read(new.flags) UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = new.group_id) + 1 WHERE ROWID = new.group_id;
mark_message_unread AFTER UPDATE WHEN read(old.flags) AND NOT read(new.flags) UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = new.group_id) + 1 WHERE ROWID = new.group_id;
mark_message_read AFTER UPDATE WHEN NOT read(old.flags) AND read(new.flags) UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = new.group_id) - 1 WHERE ROWID = new.group_id;
delete_message AFTER DELETE WHEN NOT read(old.flags) UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = old.group_id) - 1 WHERE ROWID = old.group_id;
insert_newest_message AFTER INSERT WHEN new.ROWID >= IFNULL((SELECT MAX(ROWID) FROM message WHERE message.group_id = new.group_id), 0) UPDATE msg_group SET newest_message = new.ROWID WHERE ROWID = new.group_id;
delete_newest_message AFTER DELETE WHEN old.ROWID = (SELECT newest_message FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = old.group_id) UPDATE msg_group SET newest_message = (SELECT ROWID FROM message WHERE group_id = old.group_id AND ROWID = (SELECT max(ROWID) FROM message WHERE group_id = old.group_id)) WHERE ROWID = old.group_id;
delete_pieces AFTER DELETE - DELETE from msg_pieces where old.ROWID == msg_pieces.message_id;

All defined triggers act on the table message, therefore this is not mentioned in this list with a separate column.

Please note that all date values are stored as a number which means the number of seconds since 1 Jan 2001.

The word "madrid" was the codename for iMessage, before this was a product name (according to pytey, see reference).

Tables

sqlite_master

This table is contained in every SQLite database and contains general information about the content. It has these fields:

field name description
type either 'table' or 'index' or 'trigger'
name name of the table or index or trigger
tbl_name same as name for table, related table name for index and trigger
rootpage integer, internal id where to find the data (?), or 0 for trigger
sql creation statement

This is the content of this table:

type name tbl_name rootpage sql
table _SqliteDatabaseProperties _SqliteDatabaseProperties 3 CREATE TABLE _SqliteDatabaseProperties (key TEXT, value TEXT, UNIQUE(key))
table message message 5 CREATE TABLE message (ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, address TEXT, date INTEGER, text TEXT, flags INTEGER, replace INTEGER, svc_center TEXT, group_id INTEGER, association_id INTEGER, height INTEGER, UIFlags INTEGER, version INTEGER, subject TEXT, country TEXT, headers BLOB, recipients BLOB, read INTEGER, madrid_attributedBody BLOB, madrid_handle TEXT, madrid_version INTEGER, madrid_guid TEXT, madrid_type INTEGER, madrid_roomname TEXT, madrid_service TEXT, madrid_account TEXT, madrid_flags INTEGER, madrid_attachmentInfo BLOB, madrid_url TEXT, madrid_error INTEGER, is_madrid INTEGER, madrid_date_read INTEGER, madrid_date_delivered INTEGER, madrid_account_guid TEXT)
table sqlite_sequence sqlite_sequence 6 CREATE TABLE sqlite_sequence(name,seq)
table msg_group msg_group 7 CREATE TABLE msg_group (ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, type INTEGER, newest_message INTEGER, unread_count INTEGER, hash INTEGER)
table group_member group_member 8 CREATE TABLE group_member (ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, group_id INTEGER, address TEXT, country TEXT)
table msg_pieces msg_pieces 9 CREATE TABLE msg_pieces (ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, message_id INTEGER, data BLOB, part_id INTEGER, preview_part INTEGER, content_type TEXT, height INTEGER, version INTEGER, flags INTEGER, content_id TEXT, content_loc TEXT, headers BLOB)
table madrid_attachment madrid_attachment 13 CREATE TABLE madrid_attachment (ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, attachment_guid TEXT, created_date INTEGER, start_date INTEGER, filename TEXT, uti_type TEXT, mime_type TEXT, transfer_state INTEGER, is_incoming INTEGER, message_id INTEGER)
table madrid_chat madrid_chat 25 CREATE TABLE madrid_chat (ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, style INTEGER, state INTEGER, account_id TEXT, properties BLOB, chat_identifier TEXT, service_name TEXT, guid TEXT, room_name TEXT, account_login TEXT, participants BLOB)
trigger insert_unread_message message 0 CREATE TRIGGER insert_unread_message AFTER INSERT ON message WHEN NOT read(new.flags) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = new.group_id) + 1 WHERE ROWID = new.group_id; END
trigger mark_message_unread message 0 CREATE TRIGGER mark_message_unread AFTER UPDATE ON message WHEN read(old.flags) AND NOT read(new.flags) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = new.group_id) + 1 WHERE ROWID = new.group_id; END
trigger mark_message_read message 0 CREATE TRIGGER mark_message_read AFTER UPDATE ON message WHEN NOT read(old.flags) AND read(new.flags) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = new.group_id) - 1 WHERE ROWID = new.group_id; END
trigger delete_message message 0 CREATE TRIGGER delete_message AFTER DELETE ON message WHEN NOT read(old.flags) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = old.group_id) - 1 WHERE ROWID = old.group_id; END
trigger insert_newest_message message 0 CREATE TRIGGER insert_newest_message AFTER INSERT ON message WHEN new.ROWID >= IFNULL((SELECT MAX(ROWID) FROM message WHERE message.group_id = new.group_id), 0) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET newest_message = new.ROWID WHERE ROWID = new.group_id; END
trigger delete_newest_message message 0 CREATE TRIGGER delete_newest_message AFTER DELETE ON message WHEN old.ROWID = (SELECT newest_message FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = old.group_id) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET newest_message = (SELECT ROWID FROM message WHERE group_id = old.group_id AND ROWID = (SELECT max(ROWID) FROM message WHERE group_id = old.group_id)) WHERE ROWID = old.group_id; END
trigger delete_pieces message 0 CREATE TRIGGER delete_pieces AFTER DELETE ON message BEGIN DELETE from msg_pieces where old.ROWID == msg_pieces.message_id; END
index sqlite_autoindex__SqliteDatabaseProperties_1 _SqliteDatabaseProperties 4 NULL
index message_group_index message 10 CREATE INDEX message_group_index ON message(group_id, ROWID)
index message_flags_index message 11 CREATE INDEX message_flags_index ON message(flags)
index pieces_message_index msg_pieces 12 CREATE INDEX pieces_message_index ON msg_pieces(message_id)
index madrid_attachment_message_index madrid_attachment 14 CREATE INDEX madrid_attachment_message_index ON madrid_attachment(message_id)
index madrid_attachment_guid_index madrid_attachment 15 CREATE INDEX madrid_attachment_guid_index ON madrid_attachment(attachment_guid)
index madrid_attachment_filename_index madrid_attachment 16 CREATE INDEX madrid_attachment_filename_index ON madrid_attachment(filename)
index madrid_guid_index message 18 CREATE INDEX madrid_guid_index ON message(madrid_guid)
index group_id_index group_member 24 CREATE INDEX group_id_index ON group_member(group_id)
index madrid_chat_style_index madrid_chat 26 CREATE INDEX madrid_chat_style_index ON madrid_chat(style)
index madrid_chat_state_index madrid_chat 27 CREATE INDEX madrid_chat_state_index ON madrid_chat(state)
index madrid_chat_account_id_index madrid_chat 23 CREATE INDEX madrid_chat_account_id_index ON madrid_chat(account_id)
index madrid_chat_chat_identifier_index madrid_chat 22 CREATE INDEX madrid_chat_chat_identifier_index ON madrid_chat(chat_identifier)
index madrid_chat_service_name_index madrid_chat 21 CREATE INDEX madrid_chat_service_name_index ON madrid_chat(service_name)
index madrid_chat_guid_index madrid_chat 20 CREATE INDEX madrid_chat_guid_index ON madrid_chat(guid)
index madrid_chat_room_name_index madrid_chat 19 CREATE INDEX madrid_chat_room_name_index ON madrid_chat(room_name)
index madrid_chat_account_login_index madrid_chat 17 CREATE INDEX madrid_chat_account_login_index ON madrid_chat(account_login)
index madrid_roomname_service_index message 28 CREATE INDEX madrid_roomname_service_index ON message(madrid_roomname, madrid_service)
index madrid_handle_service_index message 29 CREATE INDEX madrid_handle_service_index ON message(madrid_handle, madrid_service)

Please note that the values for rootpage might differ in every database.

_SqliteDatabaseProperties

This seems to be a general-purpose table to store some configuration values.

field name type
key TEXT
value TEXT
UNIQUE(key)

These values are stored in the table:

key value description
counter_last_reset 0 ?
_UniqueIdentifier 960B6637-167E-44A1-86E5-90E3DFE768AC ?
_ClientVersion 21 ?
counter_out_all 254 ?
counter_out_lifetime 254 ?
counter_in_all 468 ?
counter_in_lifetime 468 ?
__CPRecordSequenceNumber 2835 ?

message

This is the main table where all messages are stored:

field name type value / description
ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT primary key
address TEXT NULL or a name or a phone number (with or without spaces)
date INTEGER message date
text TEXT message content
flags INTEGER unknown, possible values: 0, 2, 3, 5, 35, 16387.
replace INTEGER unknown, possible values: 0, 1, 2.
svc_center TEXT NULL
group_id INTEGER 0 or foreign key to group
association_id INTEGER normally 0, but sometimes a big value like 1268160928
height INTEGER always 0
UIFlags INTEGER unknown, possible values: 0, 4, 5.
version INTEGER always 0
subject TEXT always NULL
country TEXT NULL or 'ch'
headers BLOB always NULL
recipients BLOB normally NULL, one entry had an xml value in it
read INTEGER 0 or 1
madrid_attributedBody BLOB blob (?)
madrid_handle TEXT NULL or a phone number
madrid_version INTEGER NULL or 0
madrid_guid TEXT GUID or NULL
madrid_type INTEGER 0 or NULL
madrid_roomname TEXT NULL
madrid_service TEXT 'Madrid' or NULL
madrid_account TEXT NULL or 'p:' & own phone number
madrid_flags INTEGER unknown, poster says: NULL, 12289 (in), 45061 (?), 36869 (out).
madrid_attachmentInfo BLOB NULL or blob
madrid_url TEXT always an empty string
madrid_error INTEGER empty string or 0
is_madrid INTEGER value 0 or 1 (0=SMS, 1=iMessage)
madrid_date_read INTEGER empty string or 0 or an integer value
madrid_date_delivered INTEGER 0 or 1
madrid_account_guid TEXT GUID or empty

sqlite_sequence

This table does not define data types. This is the data in the table:

name seq
msg_group 71
message 784
group_member 71
msg_pieces 3
madrid_chat 3
madrid_attachment 3

msg_group

This defines a chat (SMS/text/message) conversation group.

field name type value / description
ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT primary key
type INTEGER always 0
newest_message INTEGER foreign key to message
unread_count INTEGER always 0
hash INTEGER signed 32-bit integer value (calculation?)

group_member

This defines the member of the chat (SMS/text/message) conversation group. As you currently cannot define groups, there is always only one member in each group, so the group_id and ROWID values match.

field name type value / description
ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT primary key
group_id INTEGER foreign key to msg_group, value matches the primary key from this table
address TEXT name or phone number (with or without spaces)
country TEXT 'ch' for Switzerland

msg_pieces

This table contains information about MMS objects. (?)

field name type value / description
ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT primary key
message_id INTEGER foreign key to message
data BLOB NULL
part_id INTEGER 0
preview_part INTEGER 0 or -1
content_type TEXT empty string or 'image/jpeg'
height INTEGER 0
version INTEGER 1
flags INTEGER 0
content_id TEXT NULL or 1
content_loc TEXT image file name without path (like 'IMG_0104.JPG')
headers BLOB NULL

madrid_attachment

field name type value / description
ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT primary key
attachment_guid TEXT GUID - this matches the subfolder name in the folder Attachments
created_date INTEGER unsigned integer value with the creation date
start_date INTEGER 0
filename TEXT complete filename (with path)
uti_type TEXT 'public.jpeg' or 'public.vcard'
mime_type TEXT 'image/jpeg' or 'text/vcard'
transfer_state INTEGER 5
is_incoming INTEGER 0
message_id INTEGER -1

madrid_chat

field name type value / description
ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT primary key
style INTEGER 45
state INTEGER 3
account_id TEXT GUID, always the same for me
properties BLOB NULL or a bplist (?)
chat_identifier TEXT like a phone number
service_name TEXT 'Madrid'
guid TEXT almost same as chat_identifier (leading '-')
room_name TEXT NULL
account_login TEXT almost same as chat_identifier (leading 'P:')
participants BLOB bplist (?)

References

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