CHAPTER 3
Mail, sometimes called messages, allows you to send private items to other members. To see your mail, click on Mail Items on the homebase screen. You will be taken to the MAIL WAITING LIST screen which contains any messages that have arrived since the last time you used the system and any older items that you haven’t accepted yet. Each of your waiting mail items is listed on this screen as a one line ‘header’. A one line header includes the item number, author, date the item was sent, and the subject. If you have a large number of waiting messages you may have to scroll down the page to see them all.
3.1 Reading Mail
There are several ways to view (read) mail. If you wish to view one specific mail item from your list of waiting mail, simply click on the one line header. If you want to see all of your waiting mail, select View All from the menu bar. This will display all the items on one long page. If you have a large number of waiting items, this method of viewing will be slow. The recommended way to read all waiting mail, which is explained in detail here, is to click on the one line header of the first item. Your first mail item will be displayed and your screen will look something like this:
A new menu bar appears at the top of the screen (this menu also appears at the bottom of the page if the item you are viewing is longer than a typical screen). The full header of the message is presented, followed by the text of the message. See Section 3.1.1 for a detailed look at a full header.
If the item you are viewing is long you may need to scroll down the page to view the entire text.
Some mail items include additional information called attachments. If an item has an attachment, a button called Get Attachment will be displayed after the text. To view the attachment click on the Get Attachment button.
After the text of your mail is displayed, a number of tools are presented including a command box listing the Add Key command, a text box, a button labeled DoIt, and a link to "Personal Keys". These powerful tools allow you to file your items any way you wish.
Once you have viewed your mail a number of actions are available:
Accept - Moves the item you are currently viewing off your waiting (new) list and onto your accepted (old) list and sends a notification of acceptance to the author. The next waiting item is then displayed.
Next - Leaves the current item on the waiting list and displays the next waiting item.
Reply - Takes you to the Reply form where you can respond to the item you are currently viewing.
Compose - Takes you to the Compose Item form so that you can write a new item.
Waiting - Displays your list of currently waiting mail items. This list changes each time you accept a piece of mail.
Accepted - Displays your list of accepted mail items.
Search - Takes you to the Message Search form where you can look for an item based on the keywords, author, text, date or item number. Searches both waiting and accepted items.
Homebase - Returns you to the homebase screen.
Help - Takes you to the EIES help system which provides help for viewing mail and other topics.
3.1.1 A Closer Look At A Full Header:
Each EIES item begins with a full header which contains important information about the item. The following diagram describes the elements contained in the following header. The order in which the elemets are presented can vary.
M 85.2 Stuart Little (Mouse,1415) 7/16/96 11:23:46 AM 34 lines Replies: 1/2
Modified on 7/20/96 11:45:06 AM by Stuart Little (Mouse, 1415)
KEYS: Boat ride/this afternoon/sailing Subject: Meet me by the Riverside
TO: Harriet, Margalo
3.2 Writing Mail
To write a message about a new topic click on Compose. If you wish to respond to mail someone has sent to you select Reply while you are viewing that item (see section 3.3 for more information on reply).
When you select Compose the Compose Item Form will appear on your monitor: Compose Item Form
You can begin filling in any part of the form you wish. Many users prefer to type the text of their messages first, and then fill in the other fields later.
Field Name You type
Signature: The default signature type is your full name (normal).
(required) If you wish to send the item anonymously (or with a
pen name in future versions of EIES®), click on the
arrow next to the word normal and select the type of
signature you would like. Currently only normal and
anonymous signatures are available.
To: Type the name or number of the person to whom you
(required) would like to send the mail (for example, John or 110).
Separate multiple receipients with commas. The system
will check the validity of the addresses and give you the
option to modify this list when you submit the item.
Subject: The title or subject matter. Leave this field blank if you
do not want to include a subject.
Keys: Words or phrases seperated by slashes (/). EIES®
indexes all key words which makes it easier to find
particular items later. If you have no keywords leave
this field empty.
Please enter text below: Type the text of your message here.
Attached Item: Enter the number of any EIES® item you wish to include
as an attachment to your message. The reciepient of
your message will be able to view the item you attach.
Later versions of EIES® will support other types of
attachments such as binary files or text documents.
You may need to use your browser’s scroll bar to see the entire text box where you type your mail and to see the Attached Item: field. Additionally, the text box for typing your item has its own scroll bar.
If you make a mistake in any of the fields simply re-type the information. If you have changed your mind and do not wish to send the item you press the BACK button (on your browser) or click on any of the menu choices located at the top and bottom of the page.
Once you have completed all the fields, click on the Submit Item button to send your mail. EIES® will now display the uesr (or list of users) the mail will be sent to. Each receipient will be listed with a checked box in front of their name. If the list of receipients is correct press the submit button to send the mail item. If you wish to remove someone from the list, click on the checked box (the X will disappear). If you wish to add someone to the list, type their name or EIES® LoginId in the field labeled "Additional". If you wish to add several additional people to the list, separate their addresses with commas. Press the submit button when you have completed making changes to the list of receipients.
A new screen will be displayed indicating that the item has been sent and the message number assigned to it. A notification will automatically be sent to you when the item is received. The item is preserved in the system as an Accepted item. You may see this message again by searching for it by the number it was assigned or by scanning through your accepted mail. Important Note: You MUST click on the Submit button to send your item, otherwise it will not be sent.
3.2.1 Subject vs. Keys
The subject is normally used to give a title to an item. Keys are important topics that are discussed in the text. For example, Moby Dick could be the subject of an item, and whale could be the key word. Keys help you keep track of mail or conference comments. When you or anyone else enters a new item, mail, or conference comment, the system prompts for a key word. Later, you can use the Search command to locate items with this key.
3.3 Reply
If you wish to respond to mail that someone has sent to you, view the item and then select Reply from the menu bar. EIES® will display a Reply form with the number of the item you are replying to at the top of the form. The Reply form is similar to the Compose Item form used to send new items (see section 3.2 for details on compose). The Subject and Keys fields are already filled in with the subject and keys, if any, of the item you are replying to. You can change the subject and keys if you wish. Type your reply in the field labeled Please enter text here:. If you wish to attach information, enter the attachment in the Attached Item: field. The Anchor at: field allows you to anchor your reply within the item you are replying to. This function is most useful in conferences and is explained in detail in section 4.4.
When you have finished typing your reply, click on the Submit Item button. EIES® will send the reply to the author and all other receipients of the mail item you have replied to. A submission screen will be displayed indicating that the item has been sent and the number assigned to it. Your reply will be numbered to associate it with the message you replied to. For example, if you replied to mail item M658, your reply would be given number M658.1. After replying to a waiting item an Accept button will be displayed at the end of the submission screen. Click on the Accept button is you wish to move the item to your accepted list.
If you have replied to a waiting item EIES® will ask if you want to accept the waiting item before listing any additional conference comments.
3.4 Reading Accepted (old) Mail
Once you have accepted mail (by clicking on Accept or Accept All or by replying) the item is moved to your accepted mail list. You can switch back and forth between your waiting (new) and accepted (old) items using the Accepted and Waiting menu choices. Any mail item that you author is automatically stored as accepted mail. If you wish to access an item that has been accepted, select Accepted. This will display the one line headers of mail that you have accepted or mail that you authored. This list displays the most recent items first. You can view these items as you would with Waiting mail.
3.5 Internet mail
The Internet is a large computer network which links together many organizations around the world. Internet mail is sent using an address. All Internet addresses follow the same basic format:
UserId@host.site.domain.
Host is the name of the machine an account is on, site is the location of the host computer, and domain is a three letter name which describes the type of organization.
3.5.1 Sending Internet Mail
EIES® users can easily send mail to people on the Internet. To do so you must first obtain the Internet address of the person to whom you wish to send mail. Follow the instructions for sending mail in section 3.2. Enter the Internet address in the To: field. You may send the same mail item to a number of different Internet addresses and EIES® users by seperating the userId’s and/or addresses by commas.
For example, if you were sending Internet mail to John Doe on a machine named "Pluto" at Jersey College the address would look like this:
Members to send to > john@pluto.jersey.edu
Internet does not give a confirmation that mail items have been accepted, so you will not receive a notification that the Internet mail item has been received.
3.5.2 Receiving Internet Mail
If you wish to have someone send Internet mail to your EIES® account, you first need to find out your address. Your Internet address depends upon the EIES® system you sign on. You can get this information from your account manager. The first part of your Internet address is your EIES® UserId or nickname (you can use either one) followed by the name of the particular EIES® system. For example, to send Internet mail to Mary Jones (mary, 55555) on the VC system at NJIT the address would look like this:
mary@vc.njit.edu or 55555@vc.njit.edu
Once you receive Internet mail on your EIES® account, it is treated like any other EIES® mail item.