Chapter 3 - Maintaining User Mailboxes
In addition to maintaining the mail service, administrators can maintain user mailboxes. Administrators of a user's group can define mailbox settings (attributes), and administrators of the mail service can manage user mailboxes. Mailbox management includes emptying, moving, deleting, and renaming mailboxes plus other related functions.
Defining User Mailbox Settings
You can specify certain settings for a user's mailbox. To change mailbox settings, you must be an administrator of the user's group.
To Change the User Mailbox Settings Using StreetTalk Explorer
Begin this procedure from the StreetTalk Explorer.
1. Right-click the StreetTalk name of the user whose mailbox you want to access and select Properties on the shortcut menu. The User property sheet appears.
2. Click the Mailbox tab. The Mailbox page appears.
3. Make modifications as necessary. See Table 3-1 for a list of mailbox settings that can be modified.
4. Click Apply
5. Click OK.
To Change the User Mailbox Settings Using MUSER
1. Type MUSER at the command prompt and press ENTER. At the Manage Users menu, select the mailbox you want to manage.
or
Type MUSER and the user's StreetTalk name and press ENTER.
2. At the Manage a User menu, select Mailbox Settings. The Change Mailbox Settings screen appears.
You can modify the user mailbox settings shown in Table 3-1.
The sections that follow describe how to set each of the mailbox settings listed in Table 3-1.
Enabling and Disabling Mail Delivery
Once a mail service is started, mail delivery begins automatically for all users of that service. Those users can send and receive mail. Once you disable a user's mailbox, the user can send mail, but cannot receive it because delivery is disabled.
To Disable or Enable a User's Mailbox Using StreetTalk Explorer
Begin this procedure from the StreetTalk Explorer.
1. Right-click the StreetTalk name of the user and select Properties on the shortcut menu. The User property sheet appears.
2. Click the Mailbox tab. The user's Mailbox page appears.
3. Do one of the following:
- If the Mailbox enabled checkbox is selected, click the checkbox to de-select the checkbox and disable mail delivery for that mailbox.
- If the Mailbox enable checkbox is not selected, click the checkbox to select the checkbox and enable mail delivery for that mailbox
4. Click Apply.
5. Click OK.
To Disable or Enable a User's Mailbox Using MUSER
1. Type MUSER at the command prompt and then press ENTER. The Manage Users menu appears.
2. Choose Select from list below.
3. Select the user whose mailbox you are enabling or disabling. The Manage a User menu appears.
4. Select DISABLE/ENABLE user name. Depending on whether the user mailbox was already disabled or enabled, one of the following occurs:
-If the mailbox was enabled, the following message appears:
This will prevent the user from being able to log in.
Select YES to disable the mailbox.
-If the mailbox was disabled, the mailbox is enabled. The following message appears:
User account has been enabled.
5. Press ESC to exit.
The default message limit for each user's mailbox is 1000. To change the message limit, enter a value of 10 to 16,380 in the Message Limit field for user mailboxes on an Intelligent Messaging 4.2 mail service running on a VINES server. Use StreetTalk Explorer to modify the value to 16,380. Mail services running on Windows NT Servers also have a user mailbox maximum message value of 16,380.
Mail sent to a user whose message limit has been reached is not delivered. Instead, the intended recipient receives a mail message warning that the message limit has been exceeded, and the mail is returned to the sender as undeliverable.
If disk space is critical, consider setting a message limit lower than 1000. Otherwise, the default setting is adequate for most applications.
Managing the Use of Wildcards in Address Fields
By default, the use of wildcards (*) in address fields is unrestricted and allowed for every user. To limit mail for temporary employees or to control the number of miscellaneous messages received by any given mailbox, you can restrict the use of wildcards.
Once you restrict wildcards, users who attempt to send wildcard mail to the restricted mailboxes receive notices of undeliverable mail from the mail service.
Sending Mail with Wildcards
You can restrict the use of wildcard characters in StreetTalk addresses when users are sending mail. The setting for doing so varies according to whether you are using StreetTalk Explorer or MUSER to manage mail.
If You Are Managing Mail With StreetTalk Explorer
In StreetTalk Explorer, the "Permit wildcards on send" field has three checkboxes that allow you to restrict the use of wildcards when sending mail. Table 3-2 lists and describes each setting.
If You Are Managing Mail With the MUSER Program
Figure 3-2, the Change Mailbox Settings Screen, available through the MUSER program, contains the "Disable wildcards on receiving" field allowing you to restrict the use of wildcard characters when users are sending mail messages. Table 3-3 lists and explains the values for this field.
For instructions on how to modify the usage of wildcard characters when sending mail, refer to "To Change the User Mailbox Settings Using StreetTalk Explorer" or "To Change the User Mailbox Settings Using MUSER."
Receiving Mail with Wildcards
If you are using MUSER to manage mail and the "Disable wildcards on receiving" field is is set to No, the user can receive mail messages sent out with a wildcard (*) in any portion of their StreetTalk name. If you are using StreetTalk Explorer to manage mail and the "Permit wildcards on Receive" checkbox is checked, the user can receive mail messages sent out with a wildcard in any portion of their StreetTalk name.
To prohibit a user from receiving mail with wildcards (*), refer to "To Change the User Mailbox Settings Using StreetTalk Explorer" or "To Change the User Mailbox Settings Using MUSER.".
The setting to prohibit the use of wildcards when receiving mail is suitable for users who rarely look in their mailboxes or who are only interested in mail addressed directly to them.
By default, Normal is the highest priority class that users can specify when sending messages. This setting allows users to send Low and Normal priority messages but restricts users from sending High Priority messages.
Mail processes mail messages by their assigned priorities. More network resources may be used to process and send High priority messages than to process and send Normal or Low priority messages.
For instructions on how to set the the message priority, refer to "To Change the User Mailbox Settings Using StreetTalk Explorer" or "To Change the User Mailbox Settings Using MUSER."
User mailboxes are managed by an administrator of the mail service where the user's mailbox resides.
To Manage a User Mailbox Using StreetTalk Explorer
Begin this procedure from the StreetTalk Explorer with the StreetTalk name of the mail service in the right pane.
1. Right-click the mail service name and select Mail on the shortcut menu. The StreetTalk names of the users logged on to the mail service display.
or
Select the mail service name and choose Mail on the File menu.
2. Click the StreetTalk name of the user whose mailbox you are managing. The left pane displays the folders contained in that user's mailbox.
3. Right-click the mailbox folder you want to open. The message IDs for the user's mail messages in the selected folder display.
4. You can view or delete mail messages as follows:
- To view the envelope fields and Responsible Recipients List, right-click the message ID and select Properties on the shortcut menu.
- To delete a message, right-click the message ID and select Delete on the shortcut menu.
To Manage a User Mailbox Using MMAIL
1. Enter MMAIL at the command prompt. At the Select a Server menu, use the arrow keys to select the server where the user's mail service resides.
or
Enter MMAIL and the server name and press ENTER.
2. From the Manage Mail menu, select Manage a Mailbox.
3. Select the mailbox you want to manage.
Note To display the number of messages in the mailbox, press F3. The total message count and the number of unread messages for the highlighted mailbox appear at the bottom of the menu. The count excludes messages in the Wastebasket folder.
4. To manage the selected mailbox, press ENTER. The Manage Mailbox menu appears.
5. From the Manage Mailbox menu, you can browse a message, delete a message, or switch folders.
To Manage a User Mailbox Using MSERVICE
1. Enter MSERVICE at the command prompt. Search for and select the appropriate mail service.
or
Type MSERVICE and the complete StreetTalk name of the mail service. Press ENTER.
2. From the Manage a Service menu, select Control the Service. The Control a Service menu appears.
3. From the Control a Service menu, select Configure Service. The Manage Mail menu appears.
4. From the Manage Mail menu, select Manage a Mailbox. The Manage Mailbox menu appears.
5. Select the mailbox you want to manage.
Note To display the number of messages in the mailbox, press F3. The total message count and the number of unread messages for the highlighted mailbox appear at the bottom of the menu. The count excludes messages in the Wastebasket folder.
6. To manage the selected mailbox, press ENTER. The Manage Mailbox menu appears.
The Manage Mailbox menu shown in Figure 3-7, has two parts. The upper portion of the menu contains management functions and the lower portion contains a list of the mail messages in the General folder.
Within a mailbox folder, messages are listed in the following format:
Message ID. Size (in bytes) of the message, including its attachments. Intelligent Messaging allows for messages up to 32K in size. Number of attachments associated with the message. Intelligent Messaging 4.0 allows for a maximum of 10 attachments per mail message. Share count, which indicates the number of directory pointers to the mail message or its attachments. For example, when the mail service receives a mail attachment file that is destined for four users, the mail service maintains only one copy of the file and creates four directory pointers (one for each recipient) to the file. In this example, the share count is 4. Four users have access to the file, while disk use is kept to a minimum.
Age, which indicates in hours and minutes, the amount of time the message has been in the folder.
Figure 3-8 shows the Browse Envelope screen that displays when you select a message to browse on the Manage Mailbox menu.
Intelligent Messaging 4.0 supports an unlimited number of recipients for each mail message. Each recipient name is stored in its own field in the database. Unlimited recipients are supported when attribute 7:50 is enabled. Refer to "Unlimited Recipients List Attribute" (7:50) in Table 2-6 for information on setting this attribute.
Note Intelligent Messaging 3 has a 1000 character limit on recipients. An Intelligent Messaging 3 mail service can receive a message created on an Intelligent Messaging 4.0 mail service that supports unlimited recipients. The recipients field displays truncated at 1000 characters but all designated recipients receive the mail message regardless of whether the recipients name was truncated in the recipients list. Additionally, older mail clients that do not support unlimited recipients may display a truncated "To" field.
Field | Description |
To, Cc | StreetTalk names that the user specified when the message was addressed. You can specify an unlimited number of mail recipients when sending mail with IM 4.0. These fields can contain an address in the Remote Electronic Mail Address (REMA) format. The REMA format is a mail addressing scheme that is used when the message has been forced-routed. (Refer to Chapter 4 for more information on forced message routing.) |
From | StreetTalk name of the user who sent the message. |
Forwarder | StreetTalk name of the user who forwarded the message. |
Date | Date the message was created. Mail messages are stamped with the time of their creation, not with the time of their transmission. |
Defer Date | The date and time to which the message was deferred at the time the message was created. |
Trace | Name of the server through which the message was stored and forwarded. Typically, messages are stored and forwarded when they are force-routed. (Refer to Chapter 4 for more information on forced message routing.) The server names are separated by commas. |
Attach | Names of attachment files that are sent with the message. The filenames are separated by commas. |
Certified | If the message was certified, this field contains a Y. If the message was not certified, this field contains an N. |
Reply To | REMA-style address that is used when the message is an answer to a forced-routed message. (Refer to Chapter 4 for more information on forced message routing.) |
Priority | The priority setting for the message: Low, Normal, or High. For details on mail message priority, refer to "Managing Message Priority." |
Note Fields that are left blank do not apply to the message. For example, the Forwarder field is blank for messages that are not forwarded.
Mail moves deleted messages to the message owner's Wastebasket folder.
Note If you delete a message that does not belong to you, mail notifies the message owner that you have deleted the message. This special notification message can only be deleted by the message owner.
Moving a Mailbox to Another Server
When you move a mailbox, the mailbox is transferred from its current mail service location to the mail service on a specified destination server. All folders and messages in the mailbox are also moved. To move a mailbox, you must be an administrator of the mail service on the source server. You are not required to be an administrator of the server to which you move a mailbox. However, if you move a mailbox to a server where you do not have administrative privileges, you lose the ability to manage it.
Moving a user's mailbox from one server to another is necessary if you have renamed the user and the new username is in a StreetTalk group maintained on a different server than the group of the original name. You might also need to move a mailbox to balance the load among the mail services on your network.
StreetTalk Explorer lets you move one mailbox at a time, or move all of the mailboxes in a mail service at the same time. You cannot move an empty mailbox. For information on moving a mailbox that contains hierarchical folders, refer to "Moving a Mailbox Containing Hierarchical Folders."
If you rename a StreetTalk user to a StreetTalk group or organization maintained on the same server, you do not need to move the user's mailbox. If you rename a StreetTalk user to a StreetTalk group or organization maintained on a different server, you need to move the user's mailbox to the new server, using the procedure described in "Renaming a Mailbox" later in this chapter. Renaming the mailbox merges the original mailbox and the new mailbox under the same name.
Notes:
Before moving a user's mailbox, you must make the mail service on the destination server available to the user. To do so, edit the user profile of the user whose mailbox you want to move. In the SETMAIL command line, replace the old mail service name with the new service name. Save these changes. The SETMAIL command is described in "Making a Mail Service Available to Users" in Chapter 2. If the user's new mailbox is stored on the same server as the original mailbox, use the Rename command. If the user's new mailbox is stored on a different server, use the Move command first. Then, manage the mailbox on the new server and use the Rename command. The Rename command is described in "Renaming a Mailbox" later in this chapter.
To Move Mailboxes Using StreetTalk Explorer
1. Open StreetTalk Explorer, right-click the mail service and select Manage Mail from the shortcut menu. The Banyan Mail Management application opens and displays the names of the users who have mailboxes in this mail service.
2. To move a single mailbox, right-click the mailbox to move and select Move from the shortcut menu.
or
To move all mailboxes in the service, select Move All Mailboxes from the Mail menu.
The Select a Destination Server dialog box appears.
3. Select the server to which you want the mailbox moved.
4. Click Yes when prompted to confirm the move.
To Move a User Mailbox to a Destination Server Using MMAIL
1. Enter MMAIL at the command prompt. At the Select a Server menu, select the name of the server on which the mail service resides.
or
Type MMAIL and the server name at the command prompt. Then, press ENTER.
2. From the Manage Mail menu, select Move a Mailbox.
3. When the cursor moves to the lower part of the menu, select the mailbox you want to relocate. The Select a Server menu appears.
4. From the Select a Server menu, select the target server on which you want the mailbox to reside.
The mailbox is moved from the source server to the target server, and mail informs you with a message.
5. Exit the Manage Mail menu. The user must log out and log in again to access the new mail service.
To Move the User's Mailbox to the Destination Server Using MSERVICE
1. Enter MSERVICE at the command prompt. Search for and select the appropriate mail service.
or
Type MSERVICE and the complete StreetTalk name of the mail service and press ENTER.
2. The Manage a Service menu appears. From the Manage a Service menu, select Control the Service. The Control a Service menu appears.
3. From the Control a Service menu, select Configure Service. The Manage Mail menu appears.
4. From the Manage Mail menu, select Move a Mailbox.
5. Select the mailbox you want to relocate. The Select a Server menu appears.
6. From the Select a Server menu, select the target server where you want the mailbox to reside.
7. Exit from the Manage Mail menu. The user must log out and log in again to access the new mail service.
To empty a user's mailbox, you must be an administrator of the mail service where the user's mailbox resides.
Emptying a mailbox is particularly important when you delete users. Once a mailbox is emptied, the mail service deletes the mailbox. For more information, refer to "Deleting the Mailbox of a Deleted User" in Chapter 2.
To Empty a User's Mailbox Using StreetTalk Explorer
1. From StreetTalk Explorer, right-click the mail service and select Manage Mail from the shortcut menu. The Banyan Mail Management application opens and displays the names of the users who have mailboxes in this mail service.
2. Right-click the mailbox to empty, and select Empty from the shortcut menu.
3. Click Yes when prompted to confirm that you want to delete the mailbox.
To Empty a User's Mailbox Using MMAIL
1. Enter MMAIL at the command prompt. At the Select a Server menu, use the arrow keys to select the server on which the user's mail service resides.
or
Type MMAIL and the server name and press ENTER.
2. From the Manage Mail menu, select Empty a Mailbox.
3. Select the mailbox you want to empty. The Empty Mailbox screen appears.
4. At the Empty Mailbox screen, the system asks for confirmation.
- Select YES to empty the user's mailbox.
- Select NO to cancel.
You return to the Manage Mail menu.
To Empty a User's Mailbox Using MSERVICE
1. Enter MSERVICE at the command prompt. Search for and select the appropriate mail service.
or
Type MSERVICE and the complete StreetTalk name of the mail service and press ENTER.
2. From the Manage a Service menu, select Control the Service. The Control a Service menu appears.
3. From the Control a Service menu, select Configure Service. The Manage Mail menu appears.
4. From the Manage Mail menu, select Empty a Mailbox.
5. Select the mailbox you want to empty. The Empty Mailbox screen appears.
6. At the Empty Mailbox screen, the system asks for confirmation.
- Select YES to empty the user's mailbox.
- Select NO to cancel this procedure.
You return to the Manage Mail menu.
Rename a user's mailbox to give it a new name within the same mail service. When you rename a user, Intelligent Messaging merges the original mailbox and the new mailbox under the same name. To rename a mailbox, you must be an administrator of the server on which the mailbox resides.
You need to rename a user's mailbox whenever you rename a user, so that the mailbox name matches the new StreetTalk name. If renaming the user results in the user becoming a member of a StreetTalk group that is on a different server, you also need to move the mailbox.
Note the following about renaming mailboxes:
The new name you assign to the mailbox must already exist in StreetTalk. That is, you must rename the user before you can rename the user's mailbox. If the user's new mailbox is stored on the same server as the original mailbox, use the Rename command. If the user's new mailbox is stored on a different server, move the mailbox first, and then rename it. For information about moving mailboxes, refer to "Moving a Mailbox to Another Server" earlier in this chapter.
To Rename a Mailbox Using StreetTalk Explorer
1. From StreetTalk Explorer, right-click the mail service and select Manage Mail from the shortcut menu. The Banyan Mail Management application opens and displays the names of the users who have mailboxes in this mail service.
2. Right-click the mailbox to rename and select Rename from the shortcut menu. The Rename Mailbox dialog box appears.
3. Enter an existing StreetTalk name and click Yes when prompted to confirm the rename.
To Rename a Mailbox Using MMAIL
1. Enter MMAIL at the command prompt. At the Select a Server menu, use the arrow keys to select the server on which the user's mail service resides.
or
Type MMAIL and the server name and press ENTER.
2. From the Manage Mail menu, select Rename a Mailbox.
3. When the cursor moves to the lower part of the menu, select the mailbox you want to rename. The Rename Mailbox screen appears, prompting you to specify a new mailbox name.
4. At the Rename Mailbox screen, enter a new mailbox name. Mail renames the mailbox and returns to the Manage Mail menu.
To Rename a Mailbox Using MSERVICE
1. Enter MSERVICE at the command prompt. The Manage Services Menu appears. Search for and select the appropriate mail service.
or
Type MSERVICE and the complete StreetTalk name of the mail service and press ENTER.
2. From the Manage a Service menu, select Control the Service. The Control a Service menu appears.
3. From the Control a Service menu, select Configure Service. The Manage Mail menu appears.
4. From the Manage Mail menu, select Rename a Mailbox.
5. Select the mailbox you want to rename. The Rename Mailbox screen appears, prompting you to specify a new mailbox name.
6. Enter a new mailbox name. The name you enter must already exist in StreetTalk. Mail renames the mailbox and returns to the Manage Mail menu.
In Intelligent Messaging, all mail is stored in folders. In addition to the General folder and the Wastebasket folder that Intelligent Messaging creates the first time a user mailbox is accessed, users can create additional folders. In Intelligent Messaging 4.0, once a folder is created, a user can then create folders within that folder. These are called nested or hierarchical folders.
For additional information on the General and Wastebasket folders, refer to "User Mailbox Folders" in Chapter 2.
A folder that contains other folders is a parent folder; a folder that resides within another folder is a child folder. Each child folder has only one parent folder.
See Figure 3-10 to view a graphic of the parent/child hierarchical folder relationship.
A folder name can be used multiple times within a hierarchy, but must be unique within a parent folder. In addition, some clients may support display names up to 255 characters; some do not support display names at all.
The mail service supports folder names up to 14 characters.
Figure 3-10 illustrates the parent/child hierarchical folder relationship.
In Figure 3-10, the following parent and child relationships exist:
Project is the parent of two child folders: To Do and Save To Do is the parent of two child folders: Urgent and Not Urgent Urgent is the parent of two child folders: Accntg and Eng Save is the parent of two child folders: Accntg and Eng
Two folders are named Accnt and two are named Eng, but since they belong to two different parent folders, these duplicate folder names are allowed.
Mail users can use their mail client to create parent or child folders. For instructions, refer to the mail client documentation.
Moving a Mailbox Containing Hierarchical Folders
When you move a mailbox from one mail server to another, the mailbox, all folders and subfolders within that mailbox, and all mail messages are moved with the mailbox. Be aware of the following information when moving mailboxes:
If the source mailbox is from an Intelligent Messaging 4.0 mail service and is being moved to a mail service created with a previous version of Intelligent Messaging, all folders become top-level folders because previous versions of Intelligent Messaging do not support hierarchical folders. If you are moving a mailbox from an Intelligent Messaging III mail service to an Intelligent Messaging 4.0 mail service, all folders become top-level folders.
Deleting Hierarchical Folders and Backward Compatibility
If a mailbox created on an Intelligent Messaging 4.0 mail service contains hierarchical folders, and is viewed via a client that does not support hierarchical folders, all hierarchical folders appear as top-level folders, that is, as non-hierarchical folders. If you attempt to delete a folder that is actually a parent folder, and that parent folder contains one or more child folders, an error message appears and the folder is not deleted. Although a client not supporting hierarchical folders displays the folders as non-hierarchical, they actually remain hierarchical folders.
Defining Indices for User Mailboxes
Intelligent Messaging 4.0 supports indices on the envelope fields of all folders in a mailbox or on one or more individual folders in a mailbox. An index allows mail users to sort (display) the contents of a mailbox or folder according to a parameter that they specify, such as message creation date, last name of the sender, or other parameter.
Indices may be set by an administrator of the server where the mailbox is located or by the mailbox owner. A mail session must be started prior to setting indices.
Indices are set using the toolkit API calls or the mail client. Refer to the toolkit documentation for information on the specific API calls used to set, reset, remove, or list indices of folders or mailboxes. Refer to the mail client documentation for instructions on how to set, remove, reset, or list indices.