**************************************** * Message Suite Companion Version 0.99 * * released 21-04-1998 * **************************************** Index ----- What's new Reactions Installation Files Current Users New Users Using MSC Thanx What's new ---------- This version is less buggy (only one kinda serious bug left... its a nasty one!)and overall is more userfriendly (at least i think so :-) The major update in functionality is the fact you can start editing an email in the Email application from within the macro. I used this version for a week or two now, and because of this feature i more and more reverted to starting writing an email without opening the Message Suite at all. Personally i think this is a big improvement. (Let me know if you agree...or not! :-) The other improvement is that you can now edit the signatures, without losing the test of the existing one in the dialog. This took some time programming since i'm still pretty much a beginner... The program still crashes when inserting a signature into an email, but by adding a pause it does not do so as often as it used to. It has something to do with the paste functionality in Switchtask. If a string is pasted to an open email there seems to be a problem when the screen needs updating (e.g. scroll). The pause helped to solve this, but not completely. The design has changed a little, i tried to make it more userfriendly for use with the pen or keyboard. I know my choice of shortcut keys might not be as good as it should be, i'm pretty bad at that :-) If someone has better ideas about this let me know... Reactions --------- I recieved a lot more reactions than i expected on this macro. Most were positive, so thanx to you all. I'm in doubt at the moment if i should continue developing MSC though. I have a lot of ideas (faxnumbers, email attachments, email archiving etc... see in the pipeline under the about menu) but since i have a very busy job too i don't have much time for developing MSC. I don't have acces to the EPOC development tools which means some of the ideas are pretty tough to implement. Also i know there are some similar programs around the corner (e.g. GSMman by Russ Spooner, who created Psuuencode) and who knows Psion will release an improved version of the Message Suite that will render my macro useless... Let me know your opinions about this... it might help me to decide to go on developing this :-) Installation ------------ You need SwitchTask by Pascal Nicolas to run this macro. I'm working on converting this macro to Backlite+ and maybe even a standalone version, but don't hold your breath. A copy of the excellent Switchtask program can be obtained on http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/1215/ SwitchTask is FREEWARE, so don't forget to send Pascal the email he definately deserves for making this software available for free!! Files ----- \{SwitchTask Macro directory}\MSC.OPO \{SwitchTask Macro directory}\EFM.MBM \SYSTEM\OPX\Message1.opx Current users ------------- If you are now using version 0.95b of Message Suite Companion you will need to convert your email database. This can be done using the convert.opo program provided in the ZIP archive. To install this version of MSC you need to copy the files in the ZIP archive into different directories. The file MSC.OPO and EFM.MBM need to go inside the SwitchTask macro directory. You can override the previous version, the database will not be overwritten. If you don't trust me enough (and why should you? :-) make a backup of your MSC.INI file, the email database (you choose the name and path during the first time you ran MSC) and the previous MSC.OPO file. The file MESSAGE1.OPX should be copied to a directory \SYSTEM\OPX on any drive. If you already have extra software installed on your Psion, this directory probably exists already. The existing shortcut key to MSC should now work as before. New users --------- Install the files MSC.OPO and EFM.MBM into the directory where all SwitchTask macros are (usually this is \MACROS). Copy the file MESSAGE1.OPX into a directory called \SYSTEM\OPX on any drive. If this directory does not exist create it first. Create a shortcut key that starts the MSC.OPO file as follows; In the main SwitchTask screen type the key you want to attach the MSC macro to or navigate to the appropriate button. Press ENTER and enter a description. Choose 'Macro' as type. Press ENTER to continue to the next screen. Select the MSC.OPO file and press ENTER to finish. MSC can now be started by typing the shortcut key. Using MSC --------- Using MSC is pretty straightforward. It gives you four seperate email or URL lists. You can add email addresses and URL's to these lists. Each lists can be of one of the types (email or URL) according to your preferences. You can have two email signatures available. In these signatures it is possible to use the SwitchTask variables (e.g. %%date%% and %%time%%). The maximum length of the signature is 10 lines of 80 characters wide each. There are 6 buttons on the main screen ***************** * Menu (CTRL-X) * ***************** Starts the menu from where you can configure MSC or read information. You can also quit MSC from here, but the ESCAPE key does just that from the main screen ********************* * Category (CTRL-C) * ********************* Gives a list of the categories. Picking one makes it the current category ***************** * Edit (CTRL-E) * ***************** Edits or deletes the current record. You can also add a new record here. ****************** * Paste (CTRL-P) * ****************** Pastes the current record into the active application (normally Email). If it is an email address you return to MSC so you can add additional email addresses, if it is an URL MSC is closed. ******************** * New mail (ENTER) * ******************** Starts a new email in the Email application using the current record for the To: field. You will be prompted for a subject. If Email is not running it will be started, if Email is running only a new message will be started. ********************** * Signature (CTRL-S) * ********************** Presents a choice between the two available signatures and pastes the chosen one into the email message (or any other application that you were in before starting MSC) Thanx ----- Thanks to all users who sent me email with suggestions, remarks etc. I'm surprised thissimple hobby project got so many reactions :-) I want to thank Pascal Nicolas for creating SwitchTask. A great tool to make the Series 5 behave just the way i want it to. Credits go to Otfried Cheong who wrote the library for accessing the Message Suite. Without his OPX it would have been really difficult to write an application like MSC in OPL.