Chapter 4 - Filing, Printing, and Deleting Mail
Filing Messages and Attachments
Mail receives messages and attachments and stores them automatically in your General folder, which is the default current folder. Unless you delete them or file them in other folders, your messages remain in the General folder.
When you delete a message, mail moves the message and any attachments to the Wastebasket folder, where they remain until 3 a.m. of the next day. You can retrieve messages and attachments from this folder until then. Afterwards, the mail "janitor" empties the folder.
The General folder may be the only folder you need for storing messages and attachments. However, you can organize your mail by creating new folders and by storing mail in disk files.
For example, you might want to create a new folder for a specific type of correspondence. Or, you might want to file an attachment in a DOS or OS/2 file that you can access with your word processing program.
There are two ways to file a message:
From the Mail Main menu, select the File function and then select one or more messages to file. When you finish reading a message, press F10 to display the Message Organizer menu. Select the File function.
If you chose the first method, you can select single or multiple messages for filing to a folder. To select a single message, use the arrow keys or type the message number to highlight the message. Press ENTER to select it.
To select multiple messages, highlight one of the messages you want to file and press CTRL-ENTER to indicate multiple selection mode. Continue to select messages by highlighting a message and pressing ENTER. An asterisk (*) marks each selected message.
To de-select a marked message, highlight the message again and press ENTER. When you have finished selecting multiple messages, press F10.
Once you have pressed F10, mail displays the File a Message menu.
Filing Messages in a New Folder
When your General folder starts to fill up and you want to file messages in mail folders, you can create new folders through the File function or through the Manage Folders function. When you want to create several folders, you may prefer to use the Manage Folders function, described in "Managing Folders" later in this chapter.
If you have one folder to create, use the File function:
1. From the Mail Main menu, select the File function and one or more messages to file.
Or, from a displayed message, press F10 to display the Message Organizer menu and select the File function.
2. At the File a Message menu, select the New Folder function.
3. At the prompt, enter a folder name of up to 13 alphanumeric characters and press ENTER.
If you enter a duplicate folder name, mail prompts you that the folder already exists. Repeat step 2. Then at the prompt, enter a different name.
If you select a single message to file, the message moves from the original to the newly created folder. You return to the Mail Main menu and the original folder.
If you select multiple messages to file, mail prompts you to confirm the file request. To cancel the file request, select NO from the confirmation screen. To confirm the file request, select YES. The messages move from the original to the newly created folder. You return to the main menu and the original folder.
In addition to creating folders, you can print, rename, and delete them, and you can change the current folder. For instructions, refer to "Managing Folders" later in this chapter.
Filing Messages in an Existing Folder
Once you have created mail folders, you can store messages in them through the File function:
1. From the Mail Main menu, select the File function and one or more messages to file.
Or, from a displayed message, press F10 to display the Message Organizer menu and select the File function.
2. At the File a Message menu, select the Folder Below function.
3. Select one of the folders listed on your screen.
If you select a single message to file, the message moves from the original to the newly selected folder. You return to the Mail Main menu and the original folder.
If you select multiple messages to file, mail asks you to confirm the file request. To confirm the file request, select YES. To cancel the file request, select NO. The messages move from the original to the newly selected folder. You return to the Mail Main menu and the original folder.
Storing Messages and Attachments in Disk Files
You can store messages and attachments that you want to keep or use in an application in disk files. You can access these files later from DOS or OS/2 or from within an application.
The following procedure explains how to store messages and attachments in disk files. In these steps, the "current" directory is always the directory you were in when you entered mail.
To store messages and attachments in disk files:
1. From the Mail Main menu, select the File function and a message to file. Or, from a displayed message, press F10 to display the Message Organizer menu and select the File function.
2. At the File a Message menu, select the Disk file function.
3. At the prompt, type a file name and press ENTER. Specify the complete pathname unless you want to store the file in your current directory.
To file only the attachments, press ESC and skip to step 4.
Once you press ENTER, the message is stored in the disk file.
If there are no attachments, you return to the Mail Main menu.
4. If you pressed ESC in step 3, mail displays a screen containing an attachment file name in a field labeled Attachment. Select the attachment you want to file by using the right arrow and left arrow keys to display the attachment name in the Attachment field.
If you want to store an attachment in the current directory under the file name that appears in this field, press ENTER.
If, however, you want to use a different file name or directory, enter the complete pathname at the prompt and press ENTER.
The attachment is stored in a disk file. For each attachment, the attachment prompt reappears with the next attachment file name. If there are no other attachments, you return to the Mail Main menu.
5. If you want to file all the attachments, repeat step 4 until all attachments are filed.
If you want to file only some of the attachments, repeat step 4 until all the attachments you want are filed. Then, press ESC to return to the Mail Main menu.
Filing messages and attachments does not delete them from a mail folder. If you want to delete a message and its attachment after filing them in a disk file, refer to "Deleting Messages" later in this chapter.
To cancel a filing request at any time from the attachment prompt press ESC.
To print attachments, follow the steps in the previous section, "Storing Messages and Attachments in Disk Files," with the following change:
Step 4: in place of a file name, enter an printer port identifier (LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3) at the prompt.
The following sample screen shows the identifier, LPT1.
Mail prints the attachment to the printer port you specified.
Mail lets you manage your folders. You can:
Change the current folder Create a new folder Print all the messages in a folder Rename an existing folder Delete an existing folder
To manage your folders, select the Manage Folders function from the Mail Main menu. The Manage Folders menu follows. The rest of this section explains how to use each of the functions in this menu.
By default, whenever you access mail, the contents of your General folder appear in the lower part of the Mail Main menu.
To display a different folder:
1. Select the Manage Folders function from the Mail Main menu.
2. At the Manage Folders menu, select the Switch Folders function. An asterisk appears next to the function name, and the cursor moves to the lower part of the menu, highlighting the first folder name.
3. Select the folder you want displayed as the current folder. The Mail Main menu returns with the contents of the newly selected current folder displayed.
If your General folder becomes crowded and you want to save specific messages, you can create new folders using the File function or through the Manage Folders function. If you want to create several folders in which to file messages, use the Manage Folders function, which can be faster than using the File function.
To create a new folder:
1. From the Mail Main menu, select the Manage Folders function.
2. At the Manage Folders menu, select the Create function.
3. At the prompt, type in a folder name of no more than 13 alphanumeric characters, and press ENTER.
If you enter a duplicate folder name, mail informs you that the folder already exists. Repeat step 2. Then at the prompt, enter a different folder name.
After mail verifies the new name, the new folder is added to your list of folders. You return to the Manage Folders menu.
Printing All the Messages in a Folder
To print every message in a folder:
1. Select the Manage Folders function from the Mail Main menu.
2. Select the Print function from the Manage Folders menu.
3. Select a folder name from the list.
4. In the confirmation screen, YES is highlighted by default. Press ENTER to print every message in the folder.
To cancel the request, move the cursor with the right arrow key to highlight NO, and press ENTER.
Printing an entire folder may take some time. You may want to print one or more messages (refer to "Printing Messages" later in this chapter). This option may take a little more time in selecting; however, it frees your workstation to do other tasks.
When renaming folders, follow the same rules as when creating folders: 13 alphanumeric characters maximum and no duplicate names. You cannot rename the General and Wastebasket folders, because they are default folders.
To rename a folder:
1. Select the Manage Folders function from the Mail Main menu.
2. When the Manage Folders menu appears, select the Rename function.
3. Select a folder name.
4. At the prompt, type the new name of the folder, and press ENTER.
If you enter a duplicate folder name, mail informs you that the folder already exists. Repeat steps 2 and 3, and enter a different folder name.
The new name replaces the old in the Manage Folders menu.
To maximize the performance of mail, periodically delete mail you no longer require. You can delete one or more messages or delete entire folders. You can delete any folder except the General and Wastebasket folders.
To delete a folder:
1. From the Mail Main menu, select the Manage Folders function.
2. At the Manage Folders menu, select the Delete function.
3. Select the folder you want to delete.
4. When the confirmation screen appears, press ENTER to delete the folder and all the messages in it.
To cancel the delete request, press the right arrow key once to highlight NO and press ENTER.
Depending on the number of messages in the folder, the deletion may take some time.
There are two ways to print mail messages:
From the Mail Main menu, select the Print function. Then select one or more messages you want to print. After you finish reading a message, press F10. At the Message Organizer menu, select the Print function.
If you chose the first method, you can select single or multiple messages for printing. To select a single message, use the arrow keys or type the message number to highlight the message, and press ENTER.
To select multiple messages, highlight one of the messages you want to print and press CTRL-ENTER to indicate multiple selection mode. Continue to select messages by highlighting a message and pressing ENTER. An asterisk (*) marks each selected message. To de-select a marked message, highlight the message again and press ENTER. When you have finished selecting multiple messages, press F10.
If you selected a single message to print, mail prints the message at your LPT1 printer and returns to the Mail Main menu.
If you selected multiple messages to print, mail asks you to confirm the print request. To cancel the print request, select NO from the confirmation screen. To confirm the print request, select YES. Mail prints the messages at your LPT1 printer and returns to the Mail Main menu.
To conserve valuable disk resources, delete unnecessary mail on a regular basis. There are two ways to delete messages:
Select the Delete function from the Mail Main menu. Select the one or more messages you want to delete. After reading a message, press F10. At the Message Organizer menu, select the Delete function.
If you chose the first method, you can select single or multiple messages to delete. To select a single message, use the arrow keys or type the message number to highlight the message, and press ENTER.
To select multiple messages, highlight one of the messages you want to delete and press CTRL-ENTER to indicate multiple selection mode. Continue to select messages by highlighting a message and pressing ENTER. An asterisk (*) marks each selected message. To de-select a marked message, highlight the message again and press ENTER. When you have finished selecting multiple messages, press F10.
If you selected a single message to delete, mail deletes the message and returns to the Mail Main menu.
If you selected multiple messages to delete, mail asks you to confirm the delete request. To cancel the delete request, select NO from the confirmation screen. To confirm the delete request, select YES. Mail deletes the messages and returns to the Mail Main menu.
Remember, when you delete messages, mail moves them to the Wastebasket folder. Messages are stored in the Wastebasket folder for the remainder of the day, and can be retrieved within that time. Mail sends a "janitor" around at 3 a.m. each day to empty all the Wastebasket folders. If you delete a message from the Wastebasket folder, it cannot be retrieved.
Each mailbox can hold up to 1000 messages. Your system administrator can set this limit during mail setup.
While the mailbox can hold up to 1000 messages, mail displays only 200 message entries in each folder. The 201st message will be there; however, you will not be able to see it until you delete a message.
To save mail messages, use the Manage Folders function to create folders in which to store messages. If your mailbox reaches the limit set by your system administrator, you can free your mailbox for incoming messages by storing old messages as disk files. Keeping your General folder free to receive incoming messages will ease your task of locating and processing new messages.
You can use the File a Message menu to move messages from one folder to another. For example, to retrieve a deleted message from the Wastebasket folder (before 3 a.m.), you can display the Wastebasket folder and then file the message you need in a new or existing folder.
