SimpleMail 3.1 User's Guide

 

 

This document contains information about the SimpleMail internete-mail transport.

 

¥ Installation

¥ Configuration

¥ Using e-mail

¥ Preferences

 

 

Installation

 

¥ Newton Internet Enabler

Your Newton must be Internet Enabled before you can useSimpleMail; you need the Newton Internet Enabler:

¥NIE1.1 for MP120, MP130

¥NIE2.0 for MP2000, MP2100, eMate

Follow the directions given on the webpage to download it to yourMessagePad.

Follow the directions in the NIE folder to set up a link to yourInternet Service Provider (ISP) using Internet Setup.

Apple didn't support NIE on the MP120 because ofthe limited system memory on that platform. (Adding card memorydoesn't help.) You can use NIE 1.1 with the MP120, but remember thislimitation.

 

¥ System Update

If you don't already have the latest MessagePad System Update, youshould install that too. (Tap the Extras drawer's Information button,then tap Memory Info in the list that appears, to open a slip whichdisplays your ROM Version.) The latest versions are:

MP120 2.0 (516263)

MP130 2.0 (526205)

MP2000 2.1 (717145)

MP2100 2.1 (717260)

eMate 300 2.1 (737041)

Getit here.

Follow the directions given on the webpage to download it to yourMessagePad.

 

 

¥ SimpleMail

Installing SimpleMail is easy. Just download the SimpleMail.pkgpackage to your MessagePad.

If you install SimpleMail on a PC card, the SimpleMail transportwill go away when the card is removed and return when it is replaced.However, owing to a feature of the approved installation process,SimpleMail will put the dreaded "Grip of Death" on the card.

For this reason it's recommended you installSimpleMail on the Internal store.

 

 

¥ Text Stationery

SimpleMail requires a "Text Stationery" extension to view textmessages in the In/Out Box and will install one automatically if itisn't already in the Extras drawer's Extensions folder. SimpleMailwill only work with its own version of the "Text Stationery"extension.

You should delete any existing "Text Stationery"item from your Extensions folder before installing SimpleMail 3.1 thefirst time.

This will not affect any items already in your In Box.

 

 

¥ Monaco

The Monaco.pkg contains a monospaced Monaco 9- and 12-point fontgood for viewing messages in the In/Out Box. Its use is optional -you don't need to download it if storage space is tight.

 

 

¥ Help

The Help.pkg contains a condensed version of this book. To accessit, tap SimpleMail Prefs' Information button and in the list thatappears tap Help. Its use is optional - you don't need to downloadit.

 

 

 

Configuration

 

You should have already created an Internet Setup and added it toyour worksite - see your NIE documentation. The Internet Setup holdsthe username and password used to log in to your ISP.

 

SimpleMail needs to know:

 

¥ Add an e-mail address

If you've already entered an E-Mail address, skip this section.

 

  1. Tap Owner Info.
  2. Tap your owner name.
  3. Tap Add and in the list that appears, tap E-Mail
  4. In the slip that appears, enter the appropriate information.
    • Enter the address people should reply to, for example simple@dial.pipex.com and set the type of address to E-Mail or Internet. Alternatively, if your ISP appears in the address picker, choose that and just enter your mailbox name (the part before the "@") in the address field.
    • Ignore the "Set E-Mail Password" button.

 

You can add several E-Mail addresses to your owner card.SimpleMail lets you choose which applies to your e-mail account. Thisallows you to use more than one e-mail transport, each with its ownindependent account details, in the one owner card.

However, if you want to do this be aware that most other e-mailtransports don't let you choose the E-Mail address for an account -they just use the first one you entered. If you want to use EnRoute'sinet, for example, you need to ensure the address for it occursfirst. The easiest way to do this is delete all E-Mail entries fromyour owner card, and re-enter first the inet address and then theSimpleMail address.

 

 

¥ Add mail server information

 

  1. Tap Owner Info.
  2. Tap your owner name.
  3. Tap Add and in the list that appears, tap SimpleMail
  4. In the slip that appears, enter the appropriate information.
    • Tap "E-Mail" to choose your e-mail address. You can only choose from E-Mail addresses you've already entered in this owner card.
    • Against "POP User" enter your e-mail user name, for example bell99.
    • If your account requires APOP login authentication, check the Use APOP box.
    • Tap the Set POP Password button and in the slip that appears enter your e-mail password.
    • Against "POP Host" enter your POP host's name, for example pop.isp.com.
    • Against "SMTP Host" enter your SMTP host's name, for example smtp.isp.com.

If you have more than one mail account, for example at work oruniversity and home, you can add them all as SimpleMail items to yourOwner card. SimpleMail will check them all in turn when receivingmail, so you don't have to manually connect to each one.

 

 

 

Using Electronic Mail

 

Refer to your MessagePad User's Manual for guidance with e-mailand the InOut Box.

 

SimpleMail extends the usual set of e-mail functions. Firstly, itlets you address a message to an individual without having to createan entry for them in the Names application.

  1. Tap To:, Cc: or Bcc: in the routing slip, and in the list that appears tap Individual.
  2. In the slip that appears, enter the appropriate information.

 

SimpleMail adds a couple of items to the Tag button's popup list.

¥ Unwrap

Many e-mail applications hard-wrap text when sending it. (Theyinsert newline characters at the end of each line on the sender'sscreen.) This can make paragraphs appear broken or badly formatted tothe recipient if displayed on a smaller screen such as theMessagePad's.

To unwrap message text:

  1. Open the e-mail message, or check it in the overview.
  2. Tap the Tag button and in the list that appears tap Unwrap.

The text is unwrapped into paragraphs.

Tap Undo to restore the original message text.

 

¥ Select All

When replying to a message you can quote text from the original byselecting it before tapping Reply. However, selecting more than ascreenful isn't easy, so SimpleMail lets you select the entire textof a message. (You can delete unwanted text more easily in yourreply.)

To select all message text:

  1. Select some of the e-mail message text.
  2. Tap the Tag button and in the list that appears tap Select All.

(If you don't have a selection, Select All won't appear in thelist.)

 

 

When connecting to receive mail, SimpleMail lets you browse themail on your server rather than fetching each message immediately.See Preferences.

Browsing

When connecting : Browse mail

Just a summary of each message is fetched - you see the subject,sender, date, message size and Remote status in the In Box overview.

The progress slip disappears but SimpleMail remains connected. Ablinking star appears at the top of the screen.

You view a message by tapping its entry in the overview as usual -SimpleMail fetches just that message.

To fetch multiple Remote items:

  1. Tap the checkbox next to each item you want to fetch.
  2. Tap the Receive button and in the list that appears tap SimpleMail.

If your preferences are set to "Delete from In Box and server",Remote messages you delete from the In Box are also deletedimmediately from the server.

 

To disconnect from the server when you've finished browsing:

  1. Tap the star at the top of the screen and in the list that appears tap SimpleMail.
    SimpleMail's progress slip is re-opened.
  2. Tap the Stop button in the progress slip.
    Any messages which are still Remote are deleted from the In Box - but not from the server.

 

 

And finallyÉ

¥ If you have more than one e-mail address, remember to choose theappropriate owner in the routing slip when you mail something. Thatway the recipient will reply to the right address.

¥ When you reply to or forward a message, your e-mail address inthe new message will be the one which received the original messageunless you change it in the routing slip.

¥ There are a couple of problems you may experience if you havemore than one owner card.

1. Some shareware registration schemes naïvely assume youwill have only one owner card, and when you switch to anotherunregister your shareware. (Schemes like Foundation Systems' NewtonIDavoid this problem by registering shareware against a global(virtual) owner.)

2. You need to be able to distinguish your names in the senderpicker, for example:

Royce Walthrop (Home)
Royce Walthrop (Work)

but recipients of your messages may be confused by theseextraneous characters or words when they read your name in themessage's addressing information - for example:

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 12:32 +0100
   Subject: NS Objects
   From: Royce Walthrop (Work)

To help you out, SimpleMail will strip the first set ofparentheses in your owner name when addressing a message, so forexample:

Royce Walthrop (Home) -> From: Royce Walthrop

Royce Walthrop (Work) (x2117) -> From: Royce Walthrop (x2117)

 

 

Preferences

To set SimpleMail's preferences:

  1. Tap InOut Box.
  2. Tap the Information button and in the list that appears, tap SimpleMail Prefs.
    A slip appears.
  3. Select the appropriate information.

 

Available only with Newton 2.1

Check this if you want received items to be put away toapplications that can automatically receive them.

 

 

Check this if you want to leave messages on the server afterfetching them.

Otherwise messages are deleted automatically after being fetched.

 

 

Check this if you want to delete a message from the server whenyou delete it from your In Box.

If you're connected for browsing mail, Remote messages are deletedimmediately. If you're not connected, or the message belongs toanother server, it will be deleted next time you log in to theserver.

When "Delete from In Box and server" is not checked, the routingbutton's Delete action has no effect on messages on the server.

 

 

Check this if you want to disconnect immediately after sending thecontents of your Out Box.

Otherwise SimpleMail looks for mail for your In Box after sending.

 

 

Check this if you want to remove internet addressing informationfrom the start of received messages, and decode text and attachments.

Otherwise messages are left in their raw form.

 

 

Tap "Put Away text to" to specify where multiple selections shouldbe put away to. In the list that appears, tap your choice.

 

 

Tap "When connecting" to choose how you want to receive messages.

 

 

Tap "Receive" to choose what kind of messages you want to receive.

 

 

Tap "When Sending" to set when you want to send an item.

 

 

Tap "After sending" to select what to do with an item after it issent. In the list that appears, tap your choice.

 

 

Tap "File read items in" to choose where to file received itemsthat you have already read. In the list that appears, tap yourchoice.

NOTE Items aren't actually filed until youclose then re-open the InOut Box.

 

 

Tap Mail Font to choose the font used for displaying your messagetext. In the slip that appears, select the appropriate information.

 

Tap Auto Delivery to set the schedule when you want yourMessagePad to send and receive mail. In the slip that appears, selectthe appropriate information.

Tap Add to add the specified time and days to the schedule.

To remove a scheduled time, tap the time in the window then tapRemove.

Tap Enabled to turn on or off the automatic delivery of mail.

 

Remember to set your preferences not to "Disconnect after sending"if you want to receive messages automatically.

 

 

 

Limitations & Known Problems

 

¥ If your preference is When connecting : Browse mail:

  1. If you've created multiple SimpleMail items in your owner card, only the first account will be browsed.
  2. Tapping Receive/SimpleMail in the In Box overview with no selection will always re-fetch all message summaries.
  3. Any attempt to Send will be queued for later execution; you can't change hosts while connected.

¥ Text attachments will replace the original body of a message.

¥ SimpleMail will not forward attachments.

¥ The Preferences slip is too tall for the MP1x0 display inlandscape orientation.

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

If your question isn't answered here, re-read the NIE Users Guide,particularly the Troubleshooting section.

 

Q: SimpleMail sends an attachment with every message, whichrecipients can't read. How can I disable this "feature"?

A: The attachment is Newton data, readable by otherSimpleMail users. For example, you can mail a note including ink andsketches. If you want to send text only, check the "Text Only" box inthe routing slip when you mail a message.

 

Q: When I try to connect I get a message saying "You needto set your owner SimpleMail information before you can connect tothe mail server." but I'm sure it's all filled in correctly. What'smissing?

A: You're probably not connecting as the right owner. Theowner name shown in the routing slip (top left corner) must be theone you've set up for SimpleMail. You can run the Diagnostic packageto check whether you really have set everything correctly.

 

Q: When I'm trying to receive SimpleMail, everything seemsokay until the status slip says "Checking for mail" and then I'malerted to a "POP -ERR". Why?

A: The POP host rejected your login information. Re-checkyour POP username and password in the Owner card's SimpleMail setupslip.

 

Q: When I'm trying to receive SimpleMail, my modem justhangs up when the status slip says "Looking up host...", but there'sno error message. What's going on?

A: Your POP host couldn't be found on the net. Check thePOP Host info in your owner card.

 

 

 

Feedback

 

If you find some aspect of SimpleMail not up to snuff, or if youhave helpful suggestions, please feel free to let me(Simon Bell) know.

Visit my website forthe latest version, related packages, and links to other usefulsites.

 

 

 

Acknowledgements

 

Thanks and kudos go to Jason Harper for ViewFrame. Debugging hasnever been so painless.

This document was inspired by one created by Peter Woodbury RandusingNewt'sCape2.0. Thanks Peter!

 

 

 

Legal

 

While I have done extensive testing to make sure SimpleMail iswell-behaved, I cannot take responsibility for its use or misuse. Ifyou don't like being responsible for trying SimpleMail, don't!

SimpleMail is copyright ©1997-98 by Simon Bell. All rightsreserved.

Apple, MessagePad and Newton are trademarks of Apple Computer,Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.