The premiere graphical online services, America Onlineｪ and eWorldｪ, are terrific for the way they let you share with others worldwide. But after downloading your email, it can be a drag having to launch their huge applications just to read it. mAOL will turn those custom mail files into text any program can read, help you organize them with descriptive filenames, and sort them into preferred folders. You can view each file immediately, save it onto a disk, or import it into a word processor.
Who needs it?
Itﾕs true you can setup AOL or eWorld to save your mail as text, but that gives you a bunch of files all named by their sometimes useless ﾒSubject:ﾓ line and missing all of the fonts and styles the author used. And if you later double-click these files, youﾕll launch AOL or eWorld all over again anyway!
With mAOL, YOU decide:
･ what folders you keep all your mail in.
･ whether the saved copies are styled or not.
･ how the sending date and time the message appear.
･ what program launches when you double-click the icons.
･ how the files are named: using address, subject, date, and moreﾉ
You can also opt to ﾒlogﾓ all your mail, one after another, in one big text file. Great for archiving.
If youﾕre big into Forum or Internet posting and generate lots of text files, mAOL can help you too. By changing the application that runs when you double-click the files and storing them into separate folders, youﾕll spend less time organizing and and more time surfing. You can combine smaller files into one large one too.
NOTE: mAOL is a stand-alone product. It does not change the AOL or eWorld client software in any way. Use their programs to get your mail as usual, making sure the ﾒSave Flashmail as textﾓ preference is not selected. Then run mAOL to read and convert the files.
How do I do it?
Converting your mail files into text can be as easy as loading the files into mAOLﾕs Router window and clicking on a destination folder button. To make life this easy, you need to first configure the program for your personal preferences and system setup.
･ NOTE: Until you register your copy of mAOL, several features are disabled and you can only convert three files at a time. When you send your $10 to the author, youﾕll get the password ･
Launch mAOL by double-clicking it or dragging-and-dropping files and folders onto the icon. All dragged mail and text files will appear in the Router List. Double-clicking will, by default, open a blank list or you can set up the program to open a certain folder automatically. In any case, you can use Open in the File menu to add more files and folders to the Router List.
The List displays an icon showing the file type in front of each entry. Click on a name to select that file for conversion. Click and drag to select several names together, or Command-click to add/remove individual selections. You can also use Select All from the Edit menu (□A) to grab everything.
Browse your messages by double-clicking any name in the list. The message will appear in an editable window, to which you can make changes and save. You can also cut or copy portions of the message to the system clipboard, and then paste them into another application. Only one file at a time may be opened in the edit window.
Clicking one of the folder buttons in the Router window will convert the selected email messages to text, name them according to your preferences, and save them in the selected folder. Any text files will have their creator codes changed to the preference setting and, if up to 32K in size, saved to the selected folder (texts larger than 32K will not move).
Click on the ﾒLog Fileﾓ button and all the selected messages and texts will be put together in a single text file.
The other controls in the Router window include the ﾒ□ and delete originalsﾓ checkbox which, if marked, will erase the email and old text files as theyﾕre converted. The ﾒDeleteﾓ button will permanently remove unwanted files from your disk. If you wish to remove some file names from the Router list (but not the disk), select them and pick Clear from the Edit menu.
Speaking of menus, in File, youﾕll find several utilties. Delete Resource Fork is described in the Q&A section below. Selecting Auto Open Folderﾉ will show a dialog where you can specify a folder to grab files from every time you double-click the application. A checkmark will appear in the menu when this is active; pick this item from the menu again to deactivate this feature. When files are dragged onto mAOL, this setting is ignored. The Convert Flashboxﾉ option is used to convert old-style AOL mailbox files into separate email documents (This is a new feature without a lot of ﾒroad testingﾓ; if you have any problems, let me know!). While the editor window is open, you can choose Print from the File menu to hardcopy the message.
You can channel the power of mAOL using the Set Up menu. The first item, Text Conversion, has many options:
･ Name files using: Suppose you had a message addressed like this:
From: SomeGal
To: JoeUser
Subj: Mikeﾕs party
Date: Friday, February 1, 1996
AOL or eW, by default, would have named this file ﾒMikeﾕs party". Here are examples of the nine file naming options mAOL gives you for the conversion:
Original fileﾕs Name: Mikeﾕs party (itﾕs already called this)
Address Information: From SomeGal (or ﾒTo ...ﾓ for what you write)
Subject Information: Mikeﾕs party
Long Address and Subject: (Fm SomeGal) Mikeﾕs party
Short Address and Subject: SomeGal>Mikeﾕs party
Address and Date: SomeGal 960201> (the dateﾕs in form: YYMMDD)
Date and Address: 960201 SomeGal>
Add Suffix --> [ text]: Mikeﾕs party text (you can change the suffix)
Rename using --> [Party]: Party (you can change the name)
･ Sequence Number Separator. If mAOL tries to write a file using the rules above, but finds that name already being used in the destination folder, it will start adding numbers to find a unique name (file001, file002, file003... up to file999). To set-off the numbers from the name, you can enter a separator in this field. For example, if you entered ﾒ #ﾓ (space, number sign), the names would be ﾒfile #001ﾓ, ﾒfile #002ﾓ, etc. Only one or two characters are allowed.
When you open a file in the edit window (double-click), you can name that window according to the rules above by marking: □Same for edit window.
･ □Use fonts & styles. The latest versions of AOL and eW let you hilight your email with varying fonts, styles, type sizes, and even a rainbow of colors. mAOL can copy all this information into the output files using the standard SimpleText format. The style information does add a few hundred bytes to each file, so you can turn it off. Note that if you move a styled text file (like this one) using the folder buttons and this preference is turned off, the style information will be stripped away. This setting is required to include any special characters (like ｣,ｴ,ﾒ,ﾓ) in the output file. When you save files to the text Log, fonts and styles are never used.
･ □Strip internet headers. If your message is received from someone outside AOL, each ﾒpostofficeﾓ leaves it mark upon your message. This information appears at the bottom of each note below the ﾒ----headers----ﾓ tag. It can take up a lot of space and is pretty useless, so you can choose to have it ignored in the conversions. Warning: With this option on, your message will cut off at anything that looks exactly like an AOL header section. This is likely only a problem with messages that have been forwarded several times across the net.
･ □Copy originalﾕs Finder dates. The Finder remembers two dates with every file: when it was created on your hard disk and when it was last changed. This option will give each new converted file the same dates as its original AOL/eW mail file. You can convert all your old messages, and theyﾕll still be ﾒoldﾓ in Finder views & sorts.
･ Set Default Fontﾉ If the sender of the message didnﾕt specify a typestyle in the message he/she sent, mAOL will normally translate & display that message in Geneva 12-point. To make it something else, click on this button. Point sizes between 1 and 127 are allowed. Font and size codes within the message itself will override this preference. This setting does not apply to any kind of text file.
･ Set Date & Time formatﾉ Each email message you receive is marked with when it was sent. When you hit this button, you can choose to include a short, medium, or long version of the date into the output file. You can also include the time, if desired. The original mail is saved using Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) also known as Zulu and UTM (itﾕs a world-wide standard used by the military and astronomers). To shift it into your local time, select your time zone from the pop-up menu. You can change the time label or adjust mAOL for other time zones using the edit fields.
･ Use ____ as text file creator code. You can change the application that ﾒownsﾓ the text files mAOL creates with this option, which is useful for quick double-click editing. The default is ﾒttxtﾓ which is for TeachText or SimpleText. Every application has itﾕs own ID code which you can type here. If you donﾕt know the code, click on the Same as button. You can select any document or application and that itemﾕs creator code will be inserted in the preference.
･ □Enable Drag-ﾕn-Quit mode. If you always convert your email using the same settings and into the same folder, you can check this box to enable a special mode. When you drag files onto the mAOL icon, they will be immediately converted into the default ﾒSave Toﾓ folder (described below) and the program will quit. Double-clicking the application will work normally. Useful Tip: If you hold down the Option key when files are dropped onto the icon, this setting temporarily toggles on or off.
Whew! That was a lot of ground to cover . . . but thereﾕs still more!
The next item in the Set Up menu is Favorite Folders. With this option, you can program three of the buttons in the main Router window for direct access to folders you want to save mail conversions into. Click one of the ﾒChangeﾓ buttons and select a directory for that preset.
Youﾕll also notice six buttons down the left edge of the window, one next to each of the three presets and the others labeled ﾒOther Folderﾓ, ﾒOriginal Folderﾓ, and ﾒLog Fileﾓ. These refer to the six buttons in the main Router window and let you decide which is the ﾒdefaultﾓ button, that is, which one activates with the Return key. These buttons will also determine which folder is used in the optional ﾒDrag-ﾕn-Quitﾓ mode.
Also, you can fill-in the name of the Log file on this screen. Instead of creating separate files for each message, you can put them all together into one big file. Enter the name of that big file here. To set which folder itﾕs in, press the ﾒChangeﾓ button, move into the directory, and press ﾒSelectﾉﾓ.
What can you do with a log? One option is to import it into ﾒLogﾕoﾕlogsﾓ, a program by bowerbird@aol.com. It will allow you to browse the messages, jumping easily from one to the next, following threads (subject lines), and previewing using headers only.
The third item in Set Up is Warnings. Most of these settings deal with preventing accidental erasure of information. Turn them off for speed as you get more confident.
Warn me before:
□ the log file exceeds 32K: Neither Teach/SimpleText nor mAOL can view a text file larger than about 32,000 characters. This option keeps you from going over. If youﾕre using ﾒTex-Editﾓ or another program that can open big files, then you can turn this off.
□ deleting mail with an attached file: mAOL does not erase attachments. However, if you view your email offline in AOL/eW and havenﾕt downloaded the attachment yet, their software gives you a ﾒDownload Laterﾓ button to grab it easily next time. If you convert your mail to text, this button goes away. Just be sure you download the attachments before converting the email message.
□ erasing files with the Delete button: the Delete button in the Router window gives you a quick way to purge files from your disk. Quick and dangerous if youﾕre not careful!
□ overwriting a mail file with its conversion: Youﾕll only see this warning if you tell mAOL to save a conversion using the originalﾕs name into the originalﾕs folder, but donﾕt check ﾒand delete original.ﾓ Since two files canﾕt have the same name in the same folder, leave this on to warn you. If itﾕs off, the old file will be overwritten with the new one.
The next two items in Set Up are for more advanced mAOL users and allow you to preserve additional sets of conversion preferences and reuse them later (one set is always remembered with the program). Make Preference Fileﾉ will create a small settings file which can be saved anywhere on your disk. These files can be later opened with the Open Preference Fileﾉ menu item which will reset all options in the Text Conversion and Favorite Folders dialogs. This process can take a minute and the cursor will change to indicate work in progress. You can also double-click or drag-n-drop a preference file (by itself) to start mAOL with those particular settings. This can be used to have access to more than three favorite folders, start with different auto-open folders, save to different logs, and more! Note that opening a preference file will change the saved settings of the program.
Lastly, the Register item rounds out the Set Up menu. Enter the shareware registration password youﾕll get from me and feel good about yourself!
Four menus to the right of Set Up allow you to change the font, size, style, and color of text in the Editor window. The results can be saved into a file, or cut-and-pasted into another application . . . including AOLﾕs Compose Mail window.
----------------------------------------
Some Questions and Answers:
Why does nothing happen when I drag email files over mAOL?
The Finder probably doesnﾕt know yet that mAOL ﾒlikesﾓ AOL/eW files. This can happen when the program is put on your disk by a decompression program (or AOL/eW module) that doesnﾕt alert the Finder to the presence of a new application. The fix is simple: rebuild your Desktop file. To do this, restart your Mac and hold down the Command and Option keys before the Finder draws itﾕs menu bar (or the whole boot time, if youﾕre not sure). A dialog box will appear asking ﾒAre you sureﾉﾓ to which you should answer ﾒOKﾓ.
If your system doesnﾕt support Apple Events, youﾕre limited to dragging 60 files at startup (no folders), and you canﾕt drag more over once the application is running. Use the Open menu item instead.
Why donﾕt the text/mail icons change when I convert something?
The Finder stores information about the files in a window when itﾕs opened. It doesnﾕt know when mAOL changes things behind itﾕs back, so the icons wonﾕt update right away. To see things properly, close the Finder window and reopen it, or ﾒGet Infoﾓ on the item.
What is the Delete Resource Fork item in the File menu for?
Resources, stored in a companion ﾒforkﾓ to a data file, are very important to many parts of the Mac OS and the applications you use. But simple data files, like email messages, donﾕt need them. I noticed that the AOL software saves ﾒemptyﾓ resource forks with each of its messages at a cost of 250 bytes of disk space. As they are useless, I put in this command to eliminate them. In all my testing, this has had no effect at all on AOL mail files, except to make them smaller. Deleting a fileﾕs resource fork changes its Finder modification date.
But wait a minute! The font and style information mAOL saves with some converted text files is stored in the resource fork and if you delete it, youﾕll be left with plain looking messages (if you want to strip all styles from a text file, this is the best way).
If you donﾕt know what Iﾕm talking about, just donﾕt use this command.
Why are my special characters (like ･, ｣, ｢, ｪ) turning into ﾒxﾓs?
You must have the ﾒUse fonts and stylesﾓ checkbox marked in the Text Conversion Set Up screen for mAOL to convert the 7-bit equivalents AOL inserts into your message back into Macintosh 8-bit characters. Files saved into a log never use styles and, as a consequence, any special characters are replaced with plain ones (the substitution is done by the AOL software).
How exactly does mAOL name my files?
If you select any of the naming modes that include an address, you will see the first addressee in the filename. If the name is longer than 12 characters, youﾕll see the first 11 plus ﾒﾉﾓ. Internet users are marked by leaving the ﾒ@ﾓ after their name, but clipping off all of the domain name. If your outgoing messages are addressed to more than one person, ellipses ﾒﾉﾓ, will be placed after the first name.
If you use the Address & Subject Short format, incoming messages will have a greater-than sign pointing from the person (ﾒColonel DJ>mAOL upgradeﾓ) and outgoing ones will have a less-than sign pointing to the person (ﾒmyFriend<Cool Beans!ﾓ). The two formats with dates also use ﾒ>ﾓ and ﾒ<ﾓ, but place it at the end of the name so it does not effect a sort by name.
Is it possible to add or change the colors in the Color menu?
Sure! Using ResEdit, you can change any entry in the Color menu or add your own. The first ten match the AOL defaults so you might want to leave them alone. While youﾕre at it, you can change the first nine entries in the Size menu too, so long as item #10 is always ﾒOtherﾉﾓ.
Can I change the date and time formats more then the five buttons allow?
We are getting picky arenﾕt we? The specific formats of the date and time are based on your ﾒDate & Timeﾓ control panel. Look there.
Is the ﾒmAOL default prefsﾓ file required by the program?
No. Itﾕs provided as a way for you to set mAOL back to ﾒfactory defaultﾓ settings. If you donﾕt feel you need it, you can delete it.
Where can I get the latest mAOL information?
Glad you asked! Just point your nearest WWWeb browser to URL:
http://users.aol.com/coloneldj/mAOL_info.html
-----------------------------------------
mAOL is SHAREWARE!
Youﾕre encouraged to convert a few files for free to see if this program works for you, but continued use obligates you to ﾒfinish the downloadﾓ by sending a mere $10 to the author:
Jeffrey Dickson
4745 Spiva Drive
Del City, OK 73115-4311
Please include your email address and youﾕll receive a password to enter into the Registration box allowing multiple file conversions. I welcome your suggestions for any future versions. Write me!
E-addresses: ﾒColonel DJﾓ on AOL // Internet: coloneldj@aol.com
Thanks to all my registered users for your support and honesty; the upgrade is free. A little encouragement has gone a long way!
Special thanks to: Joan (Diakeuast) for her support in MHM
Greg (GregNeagle) for a programming tip
Bowerbird for the log idea
Chris Charla of Mac Home Journal for the plug
T. Shreve for suggesting I program the Page keys
R. Leban, S. Hyde, C. Refuerzo, & R. Donnell: my beta testers
Andy G. for the tips and for making it all possible!
and most especiallyﾉ
my family, Debra and Jordan.
mAOL was written using the elegant and powerful FutureBASIC II compiler and ResEdit on a Macintosh PowerBook 160.
FutureBASIC II is a product of STAZ Software, who authored portions of this code.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The unaltered mAOL program together with this documentation may be distributed by all means provided the only charge is for media or transmission. Any bundling of this software in a commercial product must be cleared through the author.
Determination of the applicability of this software for any purpose is entirely the responsibility of the user. No warrany is expressed or implied.
This program is Copyright 1994-1996, Jeffrey Alan Dickson.
Can you find the egg? (This isn't it, but nice try!)
