Copyright: Copyright © Bob Andersson 2000


T_Main
Junk URL - an add-in for Outlook

Advanced users click here

What does it do?

It allows Microsoft Outlook's junk (or adult content) rules to detect more unwelcome e-mails.

When you receive unwanted e-mails in Microsoft's Outlook program you can right-click on the offending article and add the sender to the list of junk or adult senders. Outlook maintains these lists as two files (named "Junk Senders.txt" and "Adult Content Senders.txt").

The only problem is that the cunning little senders will often use a different name. It might be "123@naughty.place.com" today and "234@naughty.place.com" tomorrow (please see the disclaimer about the URL naughty.place.com below). Outlook does allow manual editing of these files and you can create an entry "naughty.place.com" which will delete all mail originating from that address.

Junk URL will do this for you automatically. It also extends this concept and can further prune "naughty.place.com" and create a new entry "place.com". If this is created then all mail from "place.com" will be deleted.

N.B.	This program is not of any help if you use Outlook Express.

Neither does it help until you have amassed a list of junk (or adult content) senders'.

Index

What does it do?	How does it do it?

How do I use it?	Running in Standalone Mode

Silent Running	Running from within Outlook

Use an Outlook Rule	Command Line Switch Summary

Summary	Disclaimer

Advanced Users	Visit the Web-Site

How does it do it?

Junk URL works with and will modify the same files ("Junk Senders.txt" and "Adult Content Senders.txt") as Microsoft's Outlook. It also creates one extra file of it's own (called "JunkURL Exceptions.txt") in the same folder. This file is created to maintain a list of senders whose full name and address you wish to keep in your list of junk or adult senders'. Without this file every time you ran Junk URL you would be prompted to create a new entry for this sender. You can edit this text file manually by clicking the Exceptions button in the program's main dialog box. #top

How do I use it?

Junk URL can be used as a standalone program. If you wish you can also add a "Junk URL" menu to the menus already provided by Outlook. From here you can either start Junk URL as a dialog box or you can run it "silently". In this mode it will process your junk or adult sender files without any user interface. Note that you still have to add new offending e-mails to your list of junk or adult senders' first (usually by highlighting an offending e-mail and right-clicking to bring up the context menu).

The first time you run the program it will probably take you a while to process all your entries. After that you will only be prompted when new senders are added to the list. #top

Running in Standalone Mode

Double click on the Start menu item or shortcut for "Junk URL (Display Dialog)". If you click on the "Junk URL" menu item the program's dialog box will not be displayed unless there are entries in the junk senders' list which need to be processed.

The first time you run the program it will offer to add its menu to Outlook. If you select "Yes" then the next time you start Outlook you will find a "Junk URL" menu item to the left of the "Help" menu. You will also find an additional menu item in Outlook's Help menu giving access to the Junk URL help file.

Having started the program it will, by default, scan Outlook's list of Junk senders' (use the menu item called "Junk URL (Adult Senders)" to process Adult senders'). If you get a message box saying that there are no new entries but you still want to see the program's main dialog box (say, to change the default senders' file name) then run the program with the /F switch ("Junk URL /F") or use the menu/shortcut item called "Junk URL (Display Dialog)". The command line switch summary gives more detail if you want to set up your own shortcuts.

With the program's dialog box displayed you may select "Junk" or "Adult" as required using the radio buttons. If you need to then override the default file name using the browse button, [image] , for the sender type selected. You will be presented with a list of new senders (if any). Carefully review the information presented for each sender, selecting or de-selecting the checkboxes as required, before clicking on the Accept button. At the last new entry clicking Accept (or Skip) will also close the dialog box. #top

Silent Running

If you run the program using the /S switch ("Junk URL /S") then it will not present any user interface at all unless an error condition occurs. If you use the /S switch then you also need to combine it as needed with the /A switch (to process Adult Content senders' rather than the default of Junk senders') and/or the /P switch (aggressively prune addresses - see What does it do? above) to achieve the best control. Note that the text file processed (junk or adult depending on your use of the /A switch) will be the last one that you used when you ran the program in Standalone mode. Remember that you can change this default using the browse button [image] . #top

Running from within Outlook

If you accepted the program's offer to add a menu in Outlook then you can run and control the program from there. If you did not accept the offer then you will need to run the program in Standalone Mode (using the command line "Junk URL /F" if necessary to bring up the dialog box when there are no new senders' to process). Then click on the System icon (top left) and add the Outlook menu item. Remember that you must restart Outlook for the change to come into effect.

If you have read the sections "Running in Standalone Mode" and "Silent Running" above then the menu structure will make sense. Remember that the Options sub-menu items allow selection of a new default behaviour - they do not say what the current default is! #top

Use an Outlook Rule

There is another way to run Junk URL from within Outlook which doesn't involve adding a JunkURL item to Outlook's main menu. You either need to modify (or create if you don't already have one) a rule to handle junk (or adult) mail using Outlook's "Rules Wizard".

The rule description to modify will read something like "Apply this rule after the message arrives suspected to be junk e-mail or from Junk Senders delete it and stop processing more rules". Find this rule in the Rules Wizard and click the Modify button.

Under the "What do you want to do with this message?" section of the Rules Wizard click on the item in the listbox marked "perform a custom action". You will then need to click on a custom action in the lower listbox. This will bring up the "Select Custom Action" dialog box. You will have to drop down the listbox to "choose an action to be performed". Select "Run Junk URL".

Click on the "Change..." button to set up the way the program starts. Note that if you have more than one rule using "Run Junk URL" then using the "Change..." button to change the program start-up defaults will affect all rules. When you are happy with your selections click on "OK" to save your changes. You may have already spotted one or a drawback.

The program is only launched after a junk mail has been detected using the junk mail rule. However, if you make a habit of right-clicking on offending e-mails and adding them to the Junk Senders' list then the detection rate will increase and the program will run automatically often enough that you don't need to run it manually.

Note that at program start-up Junk URL (when it has been launched by an Outlook rule) checks to see if another copy of itself is already running on your computer. If it is and that copy is processing the same type of content (Junk or Adult) then the new copy will shut itself down. This prevents a situation occurring where you have a rule which runs Junk URL being triggered multiple times and filling your desktop with multiple copies of the Junk URL dialog box. #top

Command Line Switch Summary

Command Line	Result

JunkURL	Program processes Junk Senders' - Sender's name remove from each address

JunkURL /A	Program processes Adult Senders' - Sender's name remove from each address

JunkURL /F	Will force the dialog box to appear even if no new Junk Senders'

JunkURL /A /F	Will force the dialog box to appear even if no new Adult Senders'

JunkURL /S	As JunkURL above but no dialog so no chance to change your options

JunkURL /P /S	As JunkURL /S above but program will also aggressively prune the addresses

JunkURL /A /S	As JunkURL /A above but no dialog so no chance to change your options

JunkURL /A /P /S	As JunkURL /A /S above but program will also aggressively prune the addresses #top

Summary

That's it! The program should improve the "Hit Rate" for detection and deletion of nuisance e-mails. Take care though - if you let it then it will, for example, tell Outlook that it may delete all e-mails originating from "aol.com" unless you set up a rule, using Outlook's "Rules Wizard" which stops your friends e-mail addresses (myfriend@aol.com, say) from being checked to see if they are in the list of Junk or Adult Senders'.

If you want to find out more about "Junk E-Mail Filters for Outlook" then you could start with Microsoft's site at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/articles/junkmail.htm. To find a wealth of other solutions for Outlook you could also do a lot worse than visit the excellent Slipstick Systems site at http://www.slipstick.com/.

Upgrades and other downloads may be retrieved by visiting my web-site at http://www.andersson-design.com/.

Disclaimer

At the time this was written the URL "naughty.place.com" was not in use. It may subsequently be registered. The URL "naughty.place.com" has been used simply to illustrate the program operation and nothing connected with the program is meant to imply that anyone who uses "naughty.place.com" as their URL is anything other than a fine and upstanding pillar of society. #top


T_Advanced
Junk URL - an add-in for Outlook

What does it do?

It allows Microsoft Outlook's junk (or adult content) rules to detect more unwelcome e-mails. It does this by stripping out the "name@" part of a sender's address and, optionally, also most of the first part of what remains after the "name@" part has been stripped.

Use the program in one of three ways:-

1/	Run from the Start menu using the command line switches as needed.

2/	Run from the Outlook menu structure. If the JunkURL menu item is not present in Outlook then run Junk URL from the Start menu using "Junk URL (Display Dialog)". Click on the System icon (top left) and select the option to add the menu items to Outlook's menu structure.

3/	Run from Outlook's Rules Wizard using the Custom Action called "Run Junk URL"

Points to bear in mind:-

1/	Use the Prune option (command line switch /P) with care.

2/	Use the /S (silent running) switch with care especially when using the /P switch.

3/	If launching from an Outlook Rule remember that you can set up another rule, to be actioned earlier than the Junk Mail rule. Thus, if your friend's e-mails are being moved to the Deleted Items folder you can use this rule to "stop processing more rules".


T_Disclaimer
   At the time this was written the URL "naughty.place.com" was not in use. It may subsequently be registered.

    The URL "naughty.place.com" has been used simply to illustrate the program operation and nothing connected with the program is meant to imply that anyone who uses "naughty.place.com" as their URL is anything other than a fine and upstanding pillar of society.