*** 13,23 ****
package require smtp
package require md4
*Design Philosophy*
This program is deliberately simple. It speaks POP3 and SMTP only.
! All email messages are stored in a single SQLite database for rapid
! indexing and searching.
Everything is shown in a single window. I find the usual 3-window
layout with folders on the left, a list of message on top, and the
--- 13,62 ----
package require smtp
package require md4
+ *The Problem To Be Solved*
+
+ I have several complaints with existing MUAs. They generally have
+ too much eye-candy for my taste. And I find them difficult to
+ configure and use. But my biggest complaint is that they do not
+ do a good job of managing historical mail archives.
+
+ I work on both fixed desktop systems and on my laptop. I would
+ like to be able to check email from any system I am working on
+ and yet have all my historical emails archived in the same database.
+ To be more specific, I want to use my desktop in my office and my
+ laptop when I'm travelling - I want to be able to check email from
+ either machine - and I want to have access to the (gigabytes) of
+ historical email from either system.
+
+ I have not found a good way to do that with previous MUAs.
+
+ My other big complaint is that it is difficult to find historical
+ email messages. I want the equivalent of a google search for
+ my email archives.
+
*Design Philosophy*
This program is deliberately simple. It speaks POP3 and SMTP only.
! All email messages are stored in a single SQLite database.
!
! The use of a single-file SQLite database allows me to easily move
! the data from laptop to desktop and back again as I move around.
! Furthermore, each email message is saved with a universally unique
! hash so that even if the two databases diverge, they can be easily
! resynchornized with each other.
!
! The use of an SQL database makes searching much easier as well.
! As each message is inserted into the database, every work of
! text in the message (and in the subject and several other header
! lines) is indexed. This makes searching for old emails using
! keywords very fast, even with thousands and thousands of messages
! consuming gigabytes of space.
!
! The current user interface will certainly not win any design awards.
! It is ugly. But it is functional. And functionality should come
! first. Beauty is nice to have too, and I would welcome any patches
! or suggestions to improve the appearence. But functionality needs
! to be the overriding principle.
Everything is shown in a single window. I find the usual 3-window
layout with folders on the left, a list of message on top, and the
***************
*** 31,35 ****
support text/html because I find that most HTML email is spam anyway.
Anybody with something interesting to say usually sends plain text.
! _I have lots more to say about this, but other tasks call me away.
! I hope to return an complete this wiki page soon..._
--- 70,91 ----
support text/html because I find that most HTML email is spam anyway.
Anybody with something interesting to say usually sends plain text.
! *Implementation Notes*
!
! Tcl/Tk was used with Tcllib to simplify development.
!
! The source code was original composed in multiple *.tcl files which
! are concatenated (in no particular order) to generate the finished
! program.
!
! You can interactively change the running Tcl/Tk code using
! the "Tcl Proc Editor" available under the "Debug" menu option.
! You can also interactively type Tcl/Tk commands using the built-in
! Tcl console, or interact with the SQLite database using the built-in
! SQL console. Both consoles are also available under the Debug menu.
!
! *Comments Welcomed*
!
! As of this writing, the program works well enough that I am now using
! it for all of my personal and business email. But there is, of course,
! much room for improvement. Suggestions and/or patches are welcomed.
Small. Fast. Reliable.
Choose any three.
Choose any three.
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