Copyright: Created by Val Ovechkin <vvo@geocities.com>


Welcome to Magic Mail Monitor !!!

Magic Mail Monitor is a POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3) compliant email notifier. It supports multiple email accounts and each mailbox can be configured independently to notify you of new mail. I hope you find the program handy and easy to use.

The current release (2.7) has a number of bug fixes and also adds a secure authentication scheme using POP3 command APOP, which eliminates the possibility of someone stealing your password.

The program has these useful features:

- low memory requirements;

- moderate CPU consumption;

- MCI-device playback notification for sound, video, etc.;

- shell open command notification;

- pop-up message notification;

- explorer-like interface design;

- thorough status reporting;

- support of (practically) unlimited number of mailboxes and messages;

- multiple mailbox property editing;

- secure information storing;

- reliable execution (I hope:)

- time elapsed since last successful check;

- QuickDelete;

- QuickView;

IMPORTANT NOTE:

This software is absolutely FREE, and you may re-distribute and promote the program as much as you like. However, the program’s source code is not public domain and the binary files provided in the package may NOT be modified under any circumstances. This software is NOT intended to cause any harm, and I take NO responsibility for any damage caused by the program usage.

Created by:	Valeriy Ovechkin <vvo@geocities.com>

My Homepage:	http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/2576/

Magic Homepage:	http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/2576/magic.html

Magic FAQ:	http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/2576/magic-faq.html


File Open dialog box

The following options allow you to specify which file to open:

File Name

Type or select the filename you want to open.  This box lists files with the extension you select in the List Files of Type box.

Drives

Select the drive in which Magic Mail Monitor stores the file that you want to open.

Directories

Select the directory in which Magic Mail Monitor stores the file that you want to open.


File Save As dialog box

The following options allow you to specify the name and location of the file you're about to save:

File Name

Type a new filename to save a document with a different name. To avoid limitation  filename extension of three characters, type in a full name, for example “sample.magic ”. The system adds “.mag ”extension if you specify only file title in the File Name edit box.

Drives

Select the drive in which you want to store the document.

Directories

Select the directory in which you want to store the document.


Command Notification properties page

The following options allow you to specify the default settings if this page was invoked by menu File\Preferences command:

Notification

None - no command will be executed for mailboxes, which have Default option selected in Notification field;

Default - Run and Command settings will be used for mailboxes, which have Default option selected in Notification field;

The following options allow you to specify the properties of a mailbox or a group of mailboxes you have selected if this page was invoked by menu Edit\Properties command:

Notification

None - no command will be executed for selected mailboxes;

Specific - enables Run and Command edit boxes and allows to set specific notification for selected mailboxes;

Default - settings from menu File\Preferences will be used for selected mailboxes;

Run

Normal Window - command typed in Command field will be started in normal window;

Minimized - command typed in Command field will be started in minimized window;

Maximized - command typed in Command field will be started in maximized window;

Hidden - command typed in Command field will be started in hidden window;

Command

Type a shell command, which will be started on new mail arrival. It can be any executable file or a document associated with executable file - syntax is exactly the same as that of Windows Explorer’s Start\Run dialog box.

Browse

Push this button to input a file name into Command dialog box by browsing your file system with help from a standard file dialog;

Test

This button lets you run command you have previously selected; after you have changed any settings on this page the button become grayed, to enable it press Apply button, thus saving changes.


General properties page

The following options allow you to specify the properties of a mailbox or a group of mailboxes you have selected:

Alias

Type an arbitrary user-friendly name you wish to assign to the mailbox. If you leave this string empty, it will automatically filled in a pattern “<user@host>”. This alias will also appear in popup message notification box.

User

Type a user name of the email account. For instance, if my email address is “vvo@geocities.com”, I would type “vvo” in this field. If you see “invalid password or user name!” in the status column you must have misspelled the User name or the Password.

Host

Type the Internet address of the host where your email account is located. For instance, despite that my email address is “vvo@geocities.com”, I would type “mail.geocities.com” or “204.7.246.132” in this field. Contact your system administrator whenever you observe “cannot connect!” or “invalid host!” in the status column.

Password

Type in the correct password here.

POP3 server port number

TCP/IP port decimal number of Post Office Protocol v3 server running on the host specified by Host field. Default number is 110. If you see ‘cannot connect’ in the Status column you should contact your system administrator to obtain correct port number for the POP3 service.

Poll period

The program’s primary feature is a periodic mailbox checking. This field allows to set a desired period of time in minutes. You may wish to set more often checking for ‘important’ mailboxes and vice versa.

NOTE:

A yellow key showing over the mailbox icon designates that the mailbox was last checked using a secure authentication scheme (APOP command), which eliminates the danger of someone stealing your password by simply intercepting a packet on the network that carries the authentication request to the mail server. If the yellow key is not showing then the password is transmitted in clear text. Ideally, you would want that all your mailboxes are showing with yellow keys. Otherwise, please insist that your mail server organization install such a POP3 server that supports the APOP command, since it will make your account much safer.


Header properties page

The following fields allow you to see properties of a message excerpt or a group of excerpts you have selected (if some fields of a group of selected excerpts differ - the value is shown as ellipsis):

Mailbox - alias of the mailbox containing this message within;

From - email address or name of the person who the message is from;

Subject - topic of the message;

Date - date when the message was sent (local time);

Size - size of the message in bytes or kilobytes (KB).


Server properties page

The following fields allow you to see detailed info about the POP3 server, that a specific mailbox is connecting to:

Server Greeting – this is the first response line from the server. It usually contains the POP3 software name and version, and some informal greeting;

IP Address – the server’s IP address in decimal notation;

APOP Support – whether the server allows authentication via APOP command. Note that some servers appear to support APOP, however always respond negatively to APOP requests. Some servers may disconnect after an unsuccessful APOP response;

UIDL Support – this command allows the program to easily identify email messages stored on server. This command is optional;

Burst Writes Support – whether the server responds to multiple requests, sent at once; i.e. when a command is sent before receiving the server’s response to a preceding command. For example, if a client sends two requests at once, some servers respond to the first command and ignore the rest. Magic Mail Monitor uses “burst writes” to reduce the number of round-trips during a conversation with the server. To detect “burst writes” support, the program sends two consecutive “no-operation” (NOOP) commands, and examines the server’s response.


Message Notification properties page

The following options allow you to specify the properties of a mailbox or a group of mailboxes you have selected:

Notification

None - no pop-up message will appear for selected mailboxes;

Specific - enables pop-up message notification for selected mailboxes;

Test

This button allows you to test pop-up message appearance; it becomes disabled if you change Notification setting, to enable the button you need to select Specific Notification option and press Apply button.


Options properties page

The following options allow you to specify the program options:

Hide main window when started

Checked  - when you start the Magic Mail Monitor it always hides its main window;

Not Checked - main window show mode will be inherited from the shortcut you use to launch the program;

Refresh automatically on document open

Checked  - the program checks mailboxes immediately after the document was opened;

Not Checked - the program doesn’t check immediately after the document was opened;

Confirm message deletion

Checked  - confirmation dialog box will appear as you remove messages from the server;

Not Checked - the program accomplishes message deletion immediately after the command was issued;

Pop up main window on new mail arrival

Checked  - the main window restores its position on the screen if new messages arrive;

Not Checked - the window retains its position (hidden or minimized) even if new messages were detected;


Playback Notification properties page

Playback notification is implemented using the system’s interface called MCI, which stands for Multimedia Control Interface. Usually, if your system features a sound card, it is capable of playing sound files, i.e. wave audio (.wav), midi (.mid, .rmi). Video files of .avi type are supported by default. If you have previously installed ActiveX controls, etc., your system may be capable of playing MPEG files of both video and audio types. If you are not sure of supported types, go to Control Panel \ Multimedia \ Advanced \ Media Control Devices and have a look on what you got there.

The following options allow you to specify the default settings if this page was invoked by menu File\Preferences command:

Notification

None - no playback will occur for mailboxes, which have Default option selected in Notification field;

Default - MCI Device and Path settings will be used for mailboxes, which have Default option selected in Notification field;

The following options allow you to specify the properties of a mailbox or a group of mailboxes you have selected if this page was invoked by menu Edit\Properties command:

Notification

None - no playback will occur for selected mailboxes;

Specific - enables MCI Device and Path edit boxes and allows to set specific notification for selected mailboxes;

Default - settings from menu File\Preferences will be used for selected mailboxes;

MCI Device

File - allows you to set a path for a file you wish to be played;

CD Audio - if your system is capable of playing audio compact disks, one will be played;

Path

Type a valid path of a mutimedia file you wish to be played; you need also to set MCI Device to File option; you may wish to browse your file system with a standard file dialog, so push Browse button;

Browse

Push this button to input a file name into Path dialog box by browsing your file system with help from a standard file dialog;

Test

This button lets you test playback of the file you have previously selected; after you have changed any settings on this page the button become grayed, to enable it press Apply button, thus saving changes.


No Help Available

No help is available for this area of the window.


No Help Available

No help is available for this message box.

<< If you wish to author help specific to each message box prompt, then remove the AFX_HIDP_xxx values from the [ALIAS] section of your .HPJ file, and author a topic for each AFX_HIDP_xxx value.  For example, AFX_HIDP_INVALID_FILENAME is the help topic for the Invalid Filename message box. >>