Re: Email Lines Mess

["J. R. Fox" jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Robert Holmgren wrote:

> Now, of course, this assumes that your (supremely crummy) NS mailer isn't
> storing files in some proprietary format, as opposed to plain text.

Hi Robert,

I guess that depends on how one defines proprietary. It is the same format
maintained for many years, from NS 2.x up through the last of the 4.7x series.
(I also have Warpzilla / Mozilla, based on NS 6.0, though haven't gotten
around to installing it yet. I think it needs Java 1.3, so I'm waiting until I get
ECS going . . . real soon now.) Anyway, the NS mail client has two files for
every mail folder or sub-folder: a text file of the messages, which looks to be
plain text, and an index file for same. The index file is gobbledygook, so far
as people being able to read it goes.  I'm not sure exactly how the two synch
up, but it might be via the Message ID #. It is possible for this file system to
become corrupted in places, despite the ability to delete an index and have it
become automatically recreated. Right now, I have such corruption in one
or two folders, which doesn't affect the ability to access them or their contents,
but does cause the "Compact Folders" feature (for zapping all deleted messages
and saving space) to fail. I sort of assumed a structure like this was fairly
standard.

> There is no single "best" thing about Polarbar, but -- did I mention safety?
> It has a great tool that can "examine" attachments passively to find out what
> they are. It also has controls that limit incoming size, i.e. that warn you
> before you start to download a 3Mb family photo

That reminds me. One area where I guess NS might have the convenience
advantage is that if someone sends you a link you can just click on it and go
there, or immediately see the (hopefully non-gigantic) photo the sender attached.
Or does Polarbar just call the browser ? My browser (the Navigator component)
tends to be running most of the time.

Jordan