PMMail FAQ

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(PMMail for OS/2 FAQ)
(PMMail for OS/2 FAQ)
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'''Q:''' ''I got errors while migrating from an earlier version of PMMail. What do I do?''
'''Q:''' ''I got errors while migrating from an earlier version of PMMail. What do I do?''
-
'''A:''' So far, this has always been caused by some error in the file system, that affects the old PMMail mail store. The fix has been to run CHKDSK /F, from a standalone boot, on the drive that contains the old PMMail. Note, that the CHKDSK that may run at boot time, will not always fix these errors, especially on JFS volumes.
+
'''A:''' So far, this has been caused by some error in the file system that affects the old PMMail mail store. The fix has been to run <tt>'''CHKDSK /F'''</tt> from a standalone boot on the drive that contains the old PMMail. Note: the CHKDSK that may run at boot time does not always fix these errors, especially on JFS volumes.
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'''Q:''' ''I was using the PMMBogoFilter package, with the old PMMail. After migration, I have, what appears to be, a left over folder, Bogo Spam, in each account. Can I delete that?''
+
'''Q:''' ''I was using the PMMBogoFilter package, with the old PMMail. After migration, I have what appears to be a left over folder, Bogo Spam, in each account. Can I delete that?''
-
'''A:''' Yes. It is not automatically deleted to be sure that no messages are lost in migration. The new Classifier (BogoFilter), uses other folders, as defined when you configure it.
+
'''A:''' Yes. It is not automatically deleted to be sure that no messages are lost in migration. The new Classifier (BogoFilter), uses other folders as defined when you configure it.
'''Q:''' ''Can I use a path with spaces in the name?''
'''Q:''' ''Can I use a path with spaces in the name?''
-
'''A:''' Yes, but this is not well tested, and it can introduce complications for those who use REXX exits, or filters with user hooks. The basic "problem" is that file names are passed, without quotes around them, so you need to be careful when parsing the arguments. What seems to work, is to take a single argument, which will contain all of the parameters that are passed. Then, parse that variable to extract the file name. REXX functions do not require quotes around file names with spaces in them, but, if you call an external program (the text editor, for instance), you must add the quotes.
+
'''A:''' Yes, but this is not well tested, and it can introduce complications for those who use REXX exits, or filters with user hooks based on REXX scripts. REXX does not acknowledge the special purpose of quoted arguments. Your REXX script must do that itself.
 +
<p>The basic "problem" is that message filename arguments are passed to the REXX scripts without quotes around them, so you need to be careful when parsing the arguments. What seems to work is to take the complete argument line which contains all of the parameters that are passed. Then parse that variable to extract the file name. REXX functions do not require quotes around file names with spaces in them.</p>
 +
<p>If you call an external program that is a binary executable (a text editor, for instance), you must add the quotes.</p>
'''Q:''' ''For some reason my wordlist.db file is over 3 MB.  What do I do to reduce the size to something more manageable?''
'''Q:''' ''For some reason my wordlist.db file is over 3 MB.  What do I do to reduce the size to something more manageable?''
-
'''A:''' First, make sure that the file maintenance is being run. PMMail-> Settings-> Advanced, and set Run classifier maintenance every x program exits, to something between 1 and 5. Then open, and close, PMMail, enough times that the maintenance will run, at least once.
+
'''A:''' First, make sure that the file maintenance is being run. PMMail-> Settings-> Advanced, and set '''Run classifier maintenance every x program exits''' to something between 1 and 5. Then open and close PMMail enough times that the maintenance will run at least once.
'''Q:''' ''How can I prevent the wordlist.db file from growing?''
'''Q:''' ''How can I prevent the wordlist.db file from growing?''
-
'''A:''' It depends on why it is growing. If you get a lot of SPAM (100 per day), a 3 MB file is probably pretty normal. If you only get a dozen, or so, per day, normal would be about half that. Of course, the type of SPAM also makes a difference. If it is all pretty much the same thing, the word file will be smaller.
+
'''A:''' It depends on why it is growing. If you get a lot of SPAM (100 per day), a 3 MB file is probably pretty normal. If you only get a dozen or so per day, normal would be about half that. Of course, the type of SPAM also makes a difference. If it is all pretty much the same thing, the word file will be smaller.
'''Q:''' ''What file system is best for PMMail?''
'''Q:''' ''What file system is best for PMMail?''
-
'''A:''' It is advisable to run PMMail on a JFS, or HPFS386, volume, if possible. It will work on a HPFS volume, but the classifier will slow down drastically, after the word file gets big enough that it won't stay in the cache (max 2 MB on HPFS).
+
'''A:''' It is advisable to run PMMail on a JFS or HPFS386, volume, if possible. It will work on a HPFS volume but the classifier slows down drastically after the word file gets big enough that it no longer fits in the disk cache (max 2 MB on HPFS).
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'''A1:''' One way, is to set the entries in about:config to:
'''A1:''' One way, is to set the entries in about:config to:
 +
<pre>applications.mailto = <full/path/to/PMMail.EXE></pre>
 +
Typically:
 +
<tt>E:\PROGRAMS\PMMail\BIN\PMMail.EXE</tt>
-
applications.mailto = <full path to PMMail.EXE>. Typically:
+
<pre>applications.mailto.parameters = <the required parameters></pre>
-
E:\PROGRAMS\PMMail\BIN\PMMail.EXE
+
Typically:
 +
<tt>-cwd E:\PROGRAMS\PMMail\Accounts -s ACCT00.ACT</tt>
-
applications.mailto.parameters = <the required parameters>. Typically:
+
You may use the account's name itself instead of the directory name. Be sure to place it in double quotes if it has spaces in the name.
-
-cwd E:\PROGRAMS\PMMail\Accounts -s ACCT00.ACT
+
Typically:
 +
<tt>-cwd E:\PROGRAMS\PMMail\Accounts -s "My Excellent Mail"</tt>
-
'''A2:''' Another way, is to use Chuck McKinnis' Internet Application Integration program, to set the correct entries into the OS2.INI file (WPURLDEFAULTSETTINGS). Unfortunately, some browsers don't seem to set the working directory correctly, so PMMail ends up looking for it's accounts, in the root of the boot drive, and that causes an error. To work around that, you can add the -cwd <full path to the accounts> parameter to the Parameters entry. Typically, something like:
+
'''A2:''' Another way, is to use Chuck McKinnis' [http://www.7cities.net/~mckinnis/os2/ Internet Application Integration] program, to set the correct entries into the OS2.INI file (WPURLDEFAULTSETTINGS).
 +
<p>Unfortunately, some browsers don't seem to set the working directory correctly so PMMail ends up looking for its accounts in the root of the boot drive, and that causes an error. To work around that, you can add the <tt>-cwd <full/path/to/the/accounts></tt> parameter to the Parameters entry.</p>
-
-cwd E:\PROGRAMS\PMMAIL\ACCOUNTS [-s ACCT00.ACT]
+
Typically:
 +
<tt>-cwd E:\PROGRAMS\PMMAIL\ACCOUNTS [-s ACCT00.ACT]</tt>

Revision as of 05:03, 21 March 2008

PMMail for OS/2 FAQ

Q: I got errors while migrating from an earlier version of PMMail. What do I do?

A: So far, this has been caused by some error in the file system that affects the old PMMail mail store. The fix has been to run CHKDSK /F from a standalone boot on the drive that contains the old PMMail. Note: the CHKDSK that may run at boot time does not always fix these errors, especially on JFS volumes.


Q: Can I install the new PMMail over top of the old PMMail?

A: You can install PMMail 3.0 over top of PMMail that has been installed using WarpIn. You should NOT install over top of a PMMail that has not been installed by WarpIn.


Q: I was using the PMMBogoFilter package, with the old PMMail. After migration, I have what appears to be a left over folder, Bogo Spam, in each account. Can I delete that?

A: Yes. It is not automatically deleted to be sure that no messages are lost in migration. The new Classifier (BogoFilter), uses other folders as defined when you configure it.


Q: Can I use a path with spaces in the name?

A: Yes, but this is not well tested, and it can introduce complications for those who use REXX exits, or filters with user hooks based on REXX scripts. REXX does not acknowledge the special purpose of quoted arguments. Your REXX script must do that itself.

The basic "problem" is that message filename arguments are passed to the REXX scripts without quotes around them, so you need to be careful when parsing the arguments. What seems to work is to take the complete argument line which contains all of the parameters that are passed. Then parse that variable to extract the file name. REXX functions do not require quotes around file names with spaces in them.

If you call an external program that is a binary executable (a text editor, for instance), you must add the quotes.


Q: For some reason my wordlist.db file is over 3 MB. What do I do to reduce the size to something more manageable?

A: First, make sure that the file maintenance is being run. PMMail-> Settings-> Advanced, and set Run classifier maintenance every x program exits to something between 1 and 5. Then open and close PMMail enough times that the maintenance will run at least once.


Q: How can I prevent the wordlist.db file from growing?

A: It depends on why it is growing. If you get a lot of SPAM (100 per day), a 3 MB file is probably pretty normal. If you only get a dozen or so per day, normal would be about half that. Of course, the type of SPAM also makes a difference. If it is all pretty much the same thing, the word file will be smaller.


Q: What file system is best for PMMail?

A: It is advisable to run PMMail on a JFS or HPFS386, volume, if possible. It will work on a HPFS volume but the classifier slows down drastically after the word file gets big enough that it no longer fits in the disk cache (max 2 MB on HPFS).


Q: How do I get Firefox, or SeaMonkey, to open PMMail when I click on a Mailto: link?

A1: One way, is to set the entries in about:config to:

applications.mailto = <full/path/to/PMMail.EXE>

Typically: E:\PROGRAMS\PMMail\BIN\PMMail.EXE

applications.mailto.parameters = <the required parameters>

Typically: -cwd E:\PROGRAMS\PMMail\Accounts -s ACCT00.ACT

You may use the account's name itself instead of the directory name. Be sure to place it in double quotes if it has spaces in the name.

Typically: -cwd E:\PROGRAMS\PMMail\Accounts -s "My Excellent Mail"

A2: Another way, is to use Chuck McKinnis' Internet Application Integration program, to set the correct entries into the OS2.INI file (WPURLDEFAULTSETTINGS).

Unfortunately, some browsers don't seem to set the working directory correctly so PMMail ends up looking for its accounts in the root of the boot drive, and that causes an error. To work around that, you can add the -cwd <full/path/to/the/accounts> parameter to the Parameters entry.

Typically: -cwd E:\PROGRAMS\PMMAIL\ACCOUNTS [-s ACCT00.ACT]


Q: My registration won't work.

A: There are actually four ways to do it:

1) Open the mail, with the code in it, and follow the directions, and it should automatically register itself.

2) Create a file, with the registration information in it. Just copy, and paste it into a file called pmm-regn.key and put that into the Accounts directory. Include everything between, and including:

===BEGIN PMMAIL UNLOCK CODE BLOCK===
xxxxx
===END PMMAIL UNLOCK CODE BLOCK===


PMMail will find it, and register itself (this is the preferred method, since you can save the file somewhere safe, and put it back, if you mess it up, for one reason or another).

3) You can create a file, as in #2, go to Help, and select the Register selection (that selection disappears after registration, and in some other cases too, I think, so it may not be there). Then, you can type:

file:x:\path\pmm-regn.key

in the Registration name field, and imports the file.

4) You can open the Registration input (not the same as the Registration display), and type the whole thing in (definitely NOT recommended).

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