Mail Menu Help
Name:Mail Menu
Version:2.2
Last update:2019-11-27 14:12:54



This help file describes the Mail Menu. This package allows you to compose an e-mail message in Alpha, and then send it using one of the various mail handler services provided. Some sophisticated AlphaTcl mail handlers also allow you to read your e-mail in Alpha.

Introduction

Alpha allows you to compose your email using Alpha and then send it using one of the Mail Handler services provided. This Mail Example hyperlink will insert the Mail menu in the menu bar, and demonstrate the use of the New Message menu item.
To turn on the Mail Menu, select the Alpha ↣ Global Setup ↣ Menus item and click the checkbox next to Mail Menu. Click here to display the Menus Preferences dialog.
The default Mail Handlers in Alpha's standard distribution include:
Apple Mail
This mail handler allows you to send your new e-mail using Apple's Mail application.
Default Mailer
This is a very simple Mail Handler -- after you have composed a new Mail message you can compile its contents. It is sent using your default mailer client, that it to say to whichever mail application that is considered the default mail application by OS X. A new window is opened in the default mailer application and you must use this client's UI to actually send the new message.
Eudora
If you use the Eudora mail client (MacOS only), Alpha provides a reasonably complete mail handling system, communicating with Eudora by apple-events. You can view messages previously downloaded by Eudora, transfer them to different Eudora mailboxes, or delete them.
Alpha
This Mail Handler allows you to send your new e-mail internally from Alpha, provided that you have an smtp server account available.
To obtain more information about these different Mail Handlers, select this Mail Handler Help hyperlink.
You can also instruct Alpha to automatically open mailto:... hyperlinks in a new Mail Menu window. These hyperlinks appear in many Help files. Just adjust your Compose Email Using preference that appears in the dialog Alpha ↣ Preferences ↣ Global Preferences ↣ WWW.

Mail Menu

The Mail Menu always includes the items listed below. Some Mail Handlers will add more commands, as described in their Mail Handler Help windows. Note that some of the Keyboard Shortcuts associated with these menu items can be changed, select Mail Menu ↣ Mail Menu Prefs to open a dialog that includes the various options.
New Message
Create a new message. Use tabs to move between fields.
New Message To
This menu includes all previously e-mail addresses that you've saved using the Mail Menu ↣ New Message To ↣ Add New E-mail command. Selecting any one of them will open a new message window with the To: field filled in.
Add Cc
Create a Cc: line.
Add Bcc
Create a Bcc: line.
Select Next Field
Use the Keyboard Shortcut for this item (the default is Tab) to navigate the current Mail window fields, i.e. To:, Cc:, Subject: and the body of the message.
Send
Send the message using the protocol defined by your Mail Handler.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The Mail Menu includes a number of default Keyboard Shortcuts that you can change via the Mail Menu ↣ Mail Menu Prefs ↣ Menu Shortcuts dialog pane. All changes will take place immediately, without the need for a restart.
Important: These Keyboard Shortcuts are only available when the mode of the active window is Mail. Even if the Mail Menu has been turned on globally, you will have to select menu items manually using your mouse until the menu command has opened a window in Mail mode.

Mailbox Browser Windows

If your Mail Handler supports the reading of e-mail messages (and not just the sending of new ones you have composed), summaries of mailboxes and incoming messages are displayed in a Mailbox Browser Window, a read-only window that displays the originator and subject of each messages.
Move down the list by using the Down-Arrow, Control-N, or Space. Move up the list by using the Up-Arrow, Control-P, or Delete.
View the entire message by pressing Return or Enter.
While viewing messages, Space scrolls down the message, closing the window when the end is reached. Delete scrolls up the message.
You can change the default window parameters (geometry) of Mailbox browsing windows via the Mail Menu ↣ Mail Menu Prefs ↣ Mail Windows dialog pane. If the preference for Remember Window Geometry is turned on, then whenever you re-size the browsing window manually the new parameters will be used for all future browsing windows. Otherwise, the geometry preference is only changed when you do so explicitly via the preferences dialog.

Mail Viewing Windows

If your Mail Handler supports the reading of e-mail messages (and not just the sending of new ones you have composed), pressing Return or Enter in the Mailbox Browser Window will open a new viewing window in Mail mode. All of the relevant e-mail header fields will be listed at the top of the window, along with some handy hyperlinks to Reply/Reply To All and Trash the message in the active window. The body of the message is displayed beneath a divider line that looks like this: 
>========================================<
You can change the default window parameters (geometry) of Mail viewing windows via the Mail Menu ↣ Mail Menu Prefs ↣ Mail Windows dialog pane. If the preference for Remember Window Geometry is turned on, then whenever you re-size the viewing window manually the new parameters will be used for all future browsing windows. Otherwise, the geometry preference is only changed when you do so explicitly via the preferences dialog.
You can also change the default Font for viewing windows.

Composing and Sending Mail

Select the Mail Menu ↣ New Message menu item to open a New Mail window. If you want to postpone the composition, select Mail Menu ↣ Save As Draft to place the contents in your Drafts folder and close the window.
If you attempt to close a New Mail window that has not been sent, you will first be presented with the standard Save Changes before closing? dialog. If you press the Save button then you must select a folder in a local disk in which to save the message as a new file. If you press the Don't Save button in this initial dialog, then another one will appear asking if you want to save this message in your special Drafts folder. (Yes, this two-step dialog business is a bit awkward, we'll see if we can clean it up in a future release.)
After composing a new e-mail message, select Mail Menu ↣ Send to instruct your current Mail Handler to send the message. You have the option to save all sent e-mail messages in your Mail Mode Sent Folder and to automatically close the window.
Use the Mail Menu ↣ Sent Mail submenu to set any of the options associated with sending mail, or to open a previously sent message in a new window.

Remembered E-mail Addresses

The Mail Menu ↣ New Message To menu contains a list of e-mail addresses that you can automatically include in the To: field for new messages. You can assign a unique menu name for each address.
Turn on the Remember Recipient Email preference to add the sendee's address to the Mail Menu ↣ New Message To list of options whenever you send mail.
This list of remembered addresses will also be offered when you select the Mail Menu ↣ Add Cc / Add Bcc / Forward menu item.
Once you have created a list of remembered e-mail addresses, you can rename the menu item associated with them, edit the addresses, or delete them.

Mail Attachments

As of this writing, it is not possible to send attachments with your e-mails. When you receive e-mails that have attachments they will be displayed as a one-line message, but it is not possible to download or view/save them.

Summary

To send a message: To reply to a message (assuming a message is open and your Mail Handler supports the viewing of messages from your server):

Known problems

Please report any problem or bug you encounter in Alpha's Bug Tracker.

License and Disclaimer

Original Author: Pete Keleher.
Copyright (c) 1995-2019, Pete Keleher and Contributors.
Contributors: Vince Darley, Juan Falgueras, Jon Guyer, Craig Barton Upright.
All rights reserved.
The Mail Menu package is free software and distributed under the terms of the new BSD license:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL PETE KELEHER OR THE CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.