POPMail on the Macintosh desktop

R. Mark Fleming, fleming@qucdn.queensu.ca

Most people who use electronic mail (e-mail) at Queen's use the

mainframe or a Unix system because microcomputer desktop mail requires

network access.  With the expansion of networks at Queen's, it is now

possible to use e-mail without using the mainframe or Unix mail systems.

You can run an e-mail application program on the Macintosh which takes

advantage of the Macintosh graphical user interface.  Still in the

development stages, the POP-based e-mail systems are popular on the

Macintosh.  See "Electronic mail facilities at Queen's" on page 10 for

an overview of e-mail systems for microcomputers.

What is POP?

POP is an acronym for Post Office Protocol which works as a

client/server protocol used to talk to an e-mail host (MTA) which sends

and receives your mail.  The client side is used on a Macintosh or DOS

microcomputer to talk to the server which then receives and sends mail.

The server side is responsible for accepting and forwarding messages to

the addressee, and accepting and storing your e-mail until you request

it.   This means that servers require a large amount of disk space, and

must be running twenty-four hours a day so they can always receive new

mail.

On your Macintosh, the POP clients are designed to run in the background

(under MultiFinder or System 7); they will periodically check for new

mail, and notify you when new mail arrives.

All e-mail programs have three main functions: sending, receiving, and

organizing/storing messages.  The POP e-mail client software for the

Macintosh is no exception.  There are several POPMail clients on the

Macintosh and all have the same general commands. The functions listed

below, taken from one version of POPMail, show what capabilities POP-

based e-mail systems can do.

Sending functions

New opens the "Message Sender's window", and sends a new message.

Post sends the new message or reply you have composed.

Enclosure adds Macintosh documents to e-mail messages. By creating a

normal e-mail message and selecting "Enclosure", a Macintosh file

(document, application or archive file) is attached to the e-mail file.

The e-mail program the recipient uses determines what the recipient must

do to receive the enclosure.

Receiving functions

Fetch querys the POP server for any new e-mail messages, and retrieves

them. If the POP client is left running in the background, the server is

automatically queried at pre-set intervals in the background while you

are working.

Decode enclosures: a feature automatically included with the receive

mail program, or works in conjunction with another program to decode the

enclosure's format , ie. Binhex, atob/btoa, uuencode.

Receiving/Sending functions:

Reply sends replys to messages you have received.

Forward sends the current note to another e-mail address.

Organization/storing of message functions

Delete (Recycle) discards or moves messages to a special message archive

to keep things organized.

Print sends the current message to the selected Macintosh printer.

Save saves the currently selected message as a text file for importing

or editing in a word processing program.

Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the two main screens of the POPMail client

for the Macintosh (developed at the University of Minnesota).

Both of these windows can be open at the same time, and you can cut,

copy, and paste information from one note to another, or from the e-mail

system to/from your word processing program.

What do I need?

To run a POPMail program you need:

*  System 6.0.5 or later (and MultiFinder or System 7 for background

notification of new mail);

*  MacTCP TCP/IP networking software;

*  Network access to POP's server via GatorBox or EtherNet card;

*  An account and password (for security) on the POP server;

*  POP client software to run on the Macintosh (POPMail, TOPMail, and

Eudora are all examples of free POP clients with good e-mail

interfaces).

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