Mailer Alpha Help
Name:Mailer Alpha
Version:2.1.1
Last update:2019-11-27 14:12:55




This package enables the browsing/viewing and sending of messages with the package Mail Menu using the Tcl-lib smtp and pop3 packages.

Introduction

This package turns Alpha into a very basic e-mail client, allowing you to read and send messages without switching to (or using the services of) any other program. Its features include Multiple Accounts and the trashing of messages on the remote server.
Alpha's internal Mail Handler is MIME-conformant, with respect to Appendix A of RFC 1521. It will handle multipart, mixed content-types and include messages about attached files without displaying them as raw text.

Basic Usage

Turn on the Mail Menu in the Alpha ↣ Global Setup ↣ Menus dialog. Click here to display the Menus Preferences dialog.
Then select Mail Menu ↣ Mail Handers ↣ Alpha to use this service.
Then select Mail Menu ↣ Open Inbox and fill in the account name, server address, and your password. A new dialog will appear telling you how many messages are in your remote Inbox, asking you which ones you would like to view. These will appear in a new Inbox Browsing Window.
Use the Arrow keys to navigate this browsing window, and then you can begin Viewing Received Messages by pressing Return or Enter. A new Mail window will be created displaying the contents of the e-mail.
Select Mail Menu ↣ Reply to open a new composition window, with the original contents quoted in the body of the message. When you are satisfied with your post, select Mail Menu ↣ Send and fill out any required information about your SMTP server, account name and password.

Inbox Browsing Window

Select Mail Menu ↣ Open Inbox to query the remote server for the messages in your main Inbox folder. A dialog will inform you how many messages are in the Inbox, and inquire about which ones you would like to download. Like any internet process, the time that this takes to complete will vary depending on your internet connection and other circumstances beyond Alpha's control. You should experiment to see how long it takes to download 10, 20, 100 messages.
Once the messages have been retrieved, they are presented in a new browser window in Alpha. You can navigate the listed e-mail headings in this window using the arrow keys. Press Return or Enter to view the selected e-mail in Alpha.
Closing the Mailbox browsing window closes the socket channel connection to your remote server. You will not be able to trash any open Mail windows that were created from the browsing window.
Note: As explained in the Keyboard Shortcuts section, all of the menu shortcuts for the Mail Menu are only work when the active window has been created by this package, even if the menu has been turned on globally. If you have turned on the package New Document then you will have access to a File ↣ New ↣ E-mail Inbox menu item, and you can assign a global Keyboard Shortcut to call this command.

Viewing Received Messages

Pressing Return or Enter in an Inbox browsing window to open the contents of the message in a new MAIL window. You can then select the menu command(s) Mail Menu ↣ Reply (To All) / Forward to open a new mail composition window.
If the Mail mode preference for Render Html Formatted Text is turned on then we attempt to ignore plain text alternatives and instead render html formatted messages using the WWW menu. You can adjust the colors used for the various mark-up tags by setting your WWW mode preferences with the Mail Menu ↣ Html Colors & Style menu item. Click here to display the WWW Mode Preferences
See the Preference Settings section for more options.

Deleting Remote Messages

Messages can be deleted from your remote server while the active window is a Mailbox browser or a viewer with Mail Menu ↣ Trash Message. If your preference for Confirm Before Trashing has been turned on (click here to display the Mail Mode Preferences) then you will be asked for confirmation before performing the operation. Once the message has been deleted, it cannot be recovered. Its listing will be removed from the Mailbox browsing window, and if a Mail view window is open it will display the contents of the next message.
Caveat: the socket channel connection must be explicitly closed for the server to remove the message. It it is closed prematurely, such as a time-out due to inactivity or some interruption in your internet connection, the messages will remain on the server. The socket channel is automatically disconnected gracefully when the Mailbox browsing window is closed.

Sending E-mail

After you have opened a composition window (by replying to a received e-mail or via the Mail Menu ↣ New Message (To) commands) you can send it using your smtp server. Just select the Mail Menu ↣ Send command and confirm your account information.
Currently this package supports authentication methods. The most secure method will be tried first and each method tried in turn until we are either authorized or we run out of methods. SMTP servers requiring stricter authentication methods, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), are not handled.

Multiple Accounts

Alpha allows you to define as many different identities as you want using the Mail Menu ↣ Mail Accounts menu. The name of each identity will appear in this menu, and you can use the utility items to rename or remove them as you wish. Each identity has its own Server Preferences and a separate password cache.

Server Preferences

Select the Mail Menu ↣ Mail Accounts ↣ default menu item to enter your email address and the name for your pop/imap and smtp servers.
For example, the preference values might be 
Email Address:          cupright@earthlink.net
Real Name:              Craig Barton Upright
Mail Server:            pop.earthlink.net

SMTP Account:           cupright@earthlink.net
SMTP Server:            smtp.earthlink.net
Reply To:               cupright@alumni.princeton.edu
or they could be 
Email Address:          cupright@alumni.princeton.edu
Real Name:              Craig B. Upright
Mail Server:            imap.princeton.edu

SMTP Account            cupright
SMTP Server:            smtp.earthlink.net
Reply To:               cupright@alumni.princeton.edu
Note that the Mail server is used to view new remote messages, and the smtp is required to send new messages. If for some reason only one of these server types is available, you will be able to use it to only read-remote/send-new e-mail messages. We have separate account name and password preferences for each type of server because some users find it necessary to use this arrangement to peacefully exist with their ISPs. You must fill in the values for each server type.
When you send mail, the Email Address and Real Name fields will be supplied as the From: address. You can also set a Reply-To: address for each identity.
If you need to set a Port Number (the default is 25), then simply append it to the end of the server name, as in 
SMTP Server:   smtp.earthlink.net:110
This port number will then be parsed out when messages are sent. Port numbers can also be specified for your incoming mail server. This is an advanced option, consult your mail server's documentation or system administrator if you need to determine the correct port to use.

Account Passwords

When you perform an action that requires authorization from the remote server you will be prompted to enter your password for the account in a dialog. The password will be retained throughout the rest of your Alpha editing session, but it will never be saved when Alpha quits. This is a security feature, since (as of this writing) none of Alpha's preference values are encrypted.
If the action you're performing fails or is aborted, the password you entered is forgotten just in case an incorrect value was the problem in the first place.

Preference Settings

This package offers several different preference settings allowing you to customize its behavior. See the Mail Menu ↣ Mail Menu Prefs dialog to change them. You can turn on the Mail Menu if you want to inspect them. Click here to display the Menus Preferences dialog.
Some of the more useful preferences include
Auto Float Mailbox Window Marks
Creates a floating palette with the start of each post's subject line for easy viewing/switching of Mail windows.
Semicolon Switches Windows
You can press the ';' key to toggle back and forth between the Inbox and Mail viewing windows.
Multiple Mail View Windows
Whenever you open a new Mail window from the Inbox, the contents of any pre-existing Mail windows can be replaced, or each message can be displayed in its own window.

Current Limitations

Known problems

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

License and Disclaimer

Copyright (c) 2004-2019, Craig Barton Upright.
All rights reserved.
The mailerAlpha 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 CRAIG BARTON UPRIGHT 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.