Because of file size limitations in TeachText, the POPmail manual had to be divided into two separate files: BASIC STUFF and ADVANCED STUFF.
This document gives information about more POPmail II features: how to enclose and append files, how to use the find and spelling utilities, and how to use the Preview feature.
E-mail any comments, suggestions, or bug reports to
popmail@boombox.micro.umn.edu
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ORGANIZATION OF THIS DOCUMENT
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This document is divided into three parts.
PART 1: Including Files with E-Mail Messages
Gives information about enclosing or appending other files with E-mail messages.
PART 2: Utilities
Gives information about the find and spelling utilities.
PART 3: Preview Browser
Gives information about using the preview feature when you've designated either POP3 or IMAP2 as the POP protocol.
This TeachText documentation incorporates graphics depicting the different windows and buttons in POPmail II. When you print it, you may find weird page breaks.
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OTHER DOCUMENTATION
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Other files give more information about POPmail: READ ME FIRST, BASIC STUFF, and HOW TO EXPORT MSGS.
If you need to learn how to set up POPmail, refer to READ ME FIRST.
To learn about basic POPmail features -- how to send, receive, read, and archive E-mail messages -- refer to BASIC STUFF.
If you would like to learn how to export messages from a POPmail 1.X or TOPmail HyperCard stack, refer to HOW TO EXPORT MSGS.
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ON-LINE HELP WITH SYSTEM 7
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If you are running System 7 on your Mac, you can use Balloon Help to learn about POPmail.
This part gives you step-by-step instructions and an overview of the process when using the Enclose and Append features in POPmail.
ENCLOSING FILES WITH YOUR MESSAGE
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Sometimes you may wish to send a report, spreadsheet, or graphic file along with an E-mail message. In POPmail II, you can enclose one document per message.
You have two ways to select the Enclose feature:
1. Click once on the Enclose button in the Sender window.
2. Choose the Attach an Enclosure command from the Mail menu.
A dialog box resembling the standard Macintosh Open dialog box appears. Maneuver until you can select the file you wish to enclose and click on the Open button. The Sender window's Status box will list the file you selected as an "Attached enclosure."
Behind the Scenes
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The enclosed file is converted by POPmail to binhex and sent with your message. If your recipient is using POPmail, the binhex information is converted back to the original file format by POPmail. If, on the other hand, the recipient is using another E-mail program other than POPmail, your enclosed file will probably end up as unreadable garbage.
Enclosure Etiquette
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As a considerate user of E-mail, you first need to know what kind of computer your recipient is using before you enclose a message. Remember, Macs and IBM-compatibles handle files in different ways.
Secondly, even if your recipient has a Mac and is using POPmail II, you must consider another wrinkle when sending enclosures: Does your recipient have software that can read the file you're enclosing? If he or she does, then reading the enclosure is as easy as double-clicking on an icon. If not, then the annoying "application busy or closed" message appears. Be sure to indicate in the E-mail message which application you used to create the file you're enclosing.
Consider the following information before enclosing a file with an E-mail message.
RECIPIENT USING MAC AND POPMAIL: If your recipient is using POPmail to read mail messages, POPmail will automatically convert the binhexed file to its original application format and the file will appear in the recipient's Enclosures folder.
RECIPIENT USING MAC AND TOPMAIL OR ANOTHER E-MAIL APPLICATION: If your recipient has a Mac but is using TOPmail or another application to read mail messages, the file will appear in the body of the message in binhex (garbage). Your recipient will need to copy and paste the binhexed text into a word processing application, save the document as text, and then use Binhex version 4.0 (not version 5.0) to convert the file back to its original format.
A version of Binhex 4.0 can be obtained from the Mac Information file server in 152 Shepherd Labs. If connected to the University-wide network, select the MicroCenter AppleTalk zone and then the Mac Information file server, information volume. Look in the Utilities folder for a folder named "Binhex etc."
RECIPIENT USING IBM/COMPATIBLE AND PC POPMAIL: If your recipient has an IBM or compatible and is using POPmail PC, you need to be sure the enclosed file is in a format that can be used by a DOS or a Windows application. The best format to use is "text only." Word processing applications usually have a "save as text" command. However, many Microsoft DOS and Windows applications can open documents created using the same application on a Macintosh. Check your software manual to determine what you need to do so that a file can be read by using another application.
RECIPIENT USING IBM/COMPATIBLE AND ANOTHER E-MAIL APPLICATION: If your recipient has an IBM or compatible but is using an application other than PC POPmail to read mail messages, the enclosed file appears in the body of the message in binhex format. Your recipient will need to transfer the binhexed text into a word processing application, save the document as text, and then use a binhex utility to convert it into a format that can be read. A utility that converts binhex can be obtained from the Distributed Computing Services PC file server in 152 Shepherd Labs, University of Minnesota. It is also available via anonymous FTP from boombox.micro.umn.edu. Look in the /pub/pc subdirectory.
RECIPIENT USING CENTRAL SYSTEM COMPUTER: If your recipient has an E-mail account on a central system computer, the enclosed file appears in the body of the message in binhex format. Your recipient will need to transfer the binhexed text into a text editor, save the document as text, and then use a binhex utility to convert it into a format that can be read. Consult with the support staff of the central system to find out the procedures for converting binhexed files to text.
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APPENDING A FILE TO AN E-MAIL MESSAGE
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This feature adds the contents of a file to the end of your message, after any signature that you have set up. If your recipient is not using POPmail on a Mac and you want to send a text file, you should consider appending rather than enclosing it.
You have two ways to use the Append feature:
1. Hold down the Option key and click once on the Enclose button in the Sender window.
2. From the Mail menu, choose the Append a Text File command.
A dialog box resembling the standard Macintosh Open dialog box appears. Maneuver until you can select the file you wish to enclose and click on the Open button. The Sender window's Status box will list the file you selected as an "Appended text file."
REMINDER: To override POPmail adding your signature, hold down the Shift key when you click on the Post button.
CAVEAT
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Although POPmail allows you to select any file on your hard disk, any character that isn't standard ASCII text will appear as a pound symbol (#). This means that graphic, spreadsheet, and other non-text files will appear as garbage. Be sure that any file you append has been saved in "text only" format.
This part gives information about the Find and Spelling Checker utilities available in POPmail.
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USING THE FIND UTILITY
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You can use the Find utility to search for a word or phrase in one of your messages. You can be in either the Message Browser or the Archive Browser.
1. Choose Find (Command-F) from the Edit menu.
2. A dialog box appears. Type in the text you would like to find.
The text is treated as a string and is not case sensitive.
3. Click once on OK.
4. POPmail begins searching at the currently selected message in the Browser and looks for the string until it finds it in a message. It highlights the message in the message list and displays the text in the Message box.
5. To continue searching, choose the Find Same (Command-G) from the Edit menu. POPmail will go to the next message and continue its search until it finds the string in another message.
LIMITATIONS
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If the string you are looking for is on two lines of text, Find will not recognize it as matching the string you are looking for. This is because there is a carriage return between the two lines, and Find is looking for an exact match of the string that was typed in the Find dialog box. Moral of the story: Keep it short!
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USING A SPELLING CHECKER
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If you want spelling-checking capability in POPmail II, you need to use a separate application to look for typos and misspellings before you send out a mail message.
First, you will need to purchase a stand-alone spelling checker application. One that has been tested and works with POPmail is Thunder 7, developed by BaseLine Publishing. You can obtain this program through mail order companies, such as MacWarehouse. Follow the instructions for installing Thunder 7, being sure to register POPmail as an application that uses the spelling program. A menu for the spelling utility will be added to the POPmail menus.
You can also use a HyperCard application called HyperSpeller, but the company has gone out of business and the program can no longer be purchased. If you have a copy of HyperSpeller and wish to use it with POPmail, contact the following e-mail address for assistance in installing it.
Sometimes you're in a situation when you want just want to look at a message rather than fetch it. You may be using POPmail with SLIP and don't want to tie up your phone line by fetching a large message. Or, you may be at a conference and just want to look at messages that are waiting for you at the office. Or, if you receive a large volume of mail, you may want to delete extraneous messages before fetching them.
In order to use this feature, you need to have either POP3 or IMAP2 selected as the Mail Server's POP protocol in the Set Username & Server dialog box (see READ ME FIRST, Setting up POPmail II for the First Time).
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HOW TO PREVIEW MESSAGES
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You can initiate the Mail Server Browser window in two ways:
1. Hold down the Option key as you click once on the Fetch button.
2. Choose the Preview command from the Mail menu.
POPmail checks the mail server and displays a portion of the messages waiting for you on the mail server in the Mail Server Browser window (shown below).
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THE MAIL SERVER BROWSER WINDOW
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The Mail Server Browser window looks a lot like the Message Browser and consists of three main sections: 1) a row of three buttons and a Status box, 2) a message list with information about the sender, subject, and date and 3) a section that displays the message. You can resize the message list and message section by dragging the line that separates the two.
If you are using POP3 fetch protocol, you'll see the header and the first ten lines of the selected message.
If you are using IMAP2, you'll see only the header.
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BUTTONS
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Get
Click here to fetch only the selected message. The message is deleted from the file server and the Message Browser window comes to the front so that you can read the entire message just as you would if you had just fetched mail. The message is saved in your Incoming Mail folder.
Click here to read the entire message in the Message Browser window, but have it remain on the server. The next time you do a standard fetch, the message will appear again in the list of messages.
WARNING: Be sure to set POPmail's RAM partition higher than normal if you are using the Preview feature (when in the Finder, from the File menu, choose Get Info).
