Submitting Messages

  • File OutBox Folder
  • Text File Format
  • Putting Files into the OutBox
  • Since the process of sending a message from an application is actually the process of message receiving from the CommuniGate System point of view, we use the term submitting here.

    File OutBox Folder

    When the CommuniGate File module is installed, it creates the File OutBox folder inside the CommuniGate Folder on the server computer. The module scans that folder periodically and looks for a text file (i.e., a file with the file type TEXT). The module opens that file, reads it, and passes the content to the server kernel that processes Internet messages. After the kernel creates a message file and submits it to the system, the CommuniGate File module deletes the processed text file and rescans the File OutBox folder.

    Note: The File OutBox folder can be replaced with an alias to a folder located on any disk volume.

    Text File Format

    Since a message is processed by the same kernel routines that process Internet E-mail, the text file with a message should be created following the RFC822 standard (i.e., the first part of the message should contain the RFC822 headers, then the message body text separated with an empty line). The regular <Return> symbol should be used to separate lines. The plain text file can contain a MIME-encoded message, and it can contain encoded attachments in any format the CommuniGate Server supports: MIME attachments, BinHex, UUencode, AppleDouble/AppleSingle, etc.

    Note: if an application stores message texts using an extended character set (i.e. using characters that are not included into the US-ASCII set), the CommuniGate Server will decode those characters using the Default Internet Character Set server option. If the application uses the MacOS character set, it should store messages in the MIME format, and set the "charset" parameter to "us-ascii": this parameter value indicates that no decoding is required.

    Putting Files into the OutBox

    Since the File module opens any text file in the File OutBox folder as soon as it detects such a file, it is important that a message file is closed by the application before the module can find it. Two methods can be used:

    a) create a non-TEXT file in the File OutBox folder, fill it with the message text, close it and change the file type to TEXT.
    b) create a TEXT file in the Temporary Items folder on the same disk, fill it with the message text, close the file and move it into the File OutBox folder; this method is better since all files "forgotten" in the Temporary Items folder are automatically moved to the Trash the next time the system restarts.

    Note: All text files with names starting with X. are simply deleted without processing. This feature allows you to use the CommuniGate File module to process messages generated with some mailers (Eudora®, for example) that store couples of "uucp files": D-files with actual message data and X-files with addressing info.