TB Delete Attachment Extension ( created !)

Talk about add-ons and extension development.
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MrWilloby
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Joined: May 19th, 2004, 3:40 pm
Location: SF Bay Area

Post by MrWilloby »

I'm glad to have found this topic too, since it's been something I've wanted for a while.

I'm not sure if it's related or can be worked into the same extention or not, but what about attachments of Forwarded Messages? Is there an easy way to make it so that we can move them off of an email into a folder of Thunderbird as messages in their own right? Sorry if this is too off-topic.
Old Ausdilecce
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 5:00 pm

Post by Old Ausdilecce »

MrWilloby,

Not only can we now do that.. we can now also import an eml file based on what this extension can do

Its not off topic ( much ) but something like that can and will be a separate extension ( does not tie in too well with 'delete attachments' )

Maybe if we change the extension to ' manage attachments' then it can be part of it. But I would think 'manage attachments' would have the following features

1) ability to delete all, one, or many attachments from one message
2) ability to do the above with a whole folder
3) ability to make new message from message attachment
4) ability to automatically save all (stripped) attachments to a directory
etc
TechFan
Posts: 88
Joined: September 6th, 2003, 10:03 pm

Post by TechFan »

I did verify that at least with my setup, trying to delete attachments in a message in a folder on the IMAP server. . .deleted the message (moved to Trash), but never put the cleaned message back in the folder. . .or anywhere that I could find.
Old Ausdilecce
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 5:00 pm

Post by Old Ausdilecce »

OK, just so you know, deleting attachments in a mesage in a folder on the IMAP server is probably NEVER gonna happen.

.. The message MUST exist on you machine ( or a nework share with a mapped drive letter )

No way around this ( that I currently know of :wink: )
TechFan
Posts: 88
Joined: September 6th, 2003, 10:03 pm

Post by TechFan »

That is too bad. This still will be a very useful tool. I am not sure what the technical limitation is though. . .because I just discovered this week that Outlook XP allows you to delete attachments by right-clicking the attachment and choosing delete. . .even on my current IMAP servers.

It also allows you to EDIT the message and convert the format to text, then save it again. . .great for removing MIME stuff. It seems Outlook must be taking a different approach. . .rather than copying to local folder, etc. . .what it does it created a new message right next to the old one without the attachment/other stuff and marks the old message to be deleted (which will be gone with the next IMAP purge/expunge)
Old Ausdilecce
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 5:00 pm

Post by Old Ausdilecce »

Once all the other stuff is done. I *might* look at that as a possible enhancement.

FYI.. I have made the following changes :
1) ability to delete one or more than one attachment ( by selecting attachments in the attachment box and right click 'delete attachment(s)'
2) ability to delete all attachments ( by right clicking the attachment bar and click 'Delete All Attachments' -- with confirm box)
3) ability to zap ( clear ALL indications of an attachment, including the paperclip - leaving just the message body and NO 'attachment deleted' footer
4) ability to customize the filename of attachments that have been stripped in C- like %s syntax ( no UI at the moment, just a pref )
5) progess bar for messages with many attachments

( updated XPI not avail yet )
Still working on being able to do many messages at once.

Cheers
TechFan
Posts: 88
Joined: September 6th, 2003, 10:03 pm

Post by TechFan »

Wow. You are making excellent progress! :-) I guess I will have to move large messages to be local so I can clean it and copy it back. Slight pain, but great that it is actually possible to not store the attachments and keep the message! Too much work to clean MIME parts (but that isn't an option right now anyway).

I switched to Thunderbird because I didn't like the way OE was handling IMAP. . .and wanted to keep my mail in a central place so I didn't have to process them at the 4 different computers (in three diff locations) I constantly work at, plus I get the same structure if I HAVE to use webmail.

I am looking forward to the updated XPI. . .:-)
Old Ausdilecce
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 5:00 pm

Post by Old Ausdilecce »

I have decided to shelve the many messages at once thing

Once I add the ability to make a rfc822 attachment a real message, I will release the XPI
What that means is that you can right click a eml attachment and click 'make real' (or some other label text) and it will make that attachment a real message

You will also have the ability to right click any message and click 'add a saved eml file to the database' (or some other label text).
You will then be given the browse dialog to select a eml file, the extension will then add it to your message folder
TechFan
Posts: 88
Joined: September 6th, 2003, 10:03 pm

Post by TechFan »

Getting quite advanced! :-) Might want to rename (generalize) this extension or split it. . .

split
Like AttachmentTools and MessageImport

or

combine
AdvancedMessageTools or AdditionalMessageTools
Old Ausdilecce
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 5:00 pm

Post by Old Ausdilecce »

How about 'AttachmentToolbox' for the combined extension ?

You are right that it might need to be split for the message import thing but the code is so similar..

anyway.. ROck ON
TechFan
Posts: 88
Joined: September 6th, 2003, 10:03 pm

Post by TechFan »

I would suggest something even more general if you are going to keep them combined.

Maybe MessageToolbox would work. . .too general maybe. . .

AttachmentToolbox is a good name if you want to split them into two. . .but the second function of importing messages doesn't have much to do with attachments. I guess if you are talking about taking a forwarded attachment and making it a message, it does. . .but not if importing from a standalone file.

Hm. AttachmentToolbox sounds good actually. . .except that it doesn't make it obvious you can import a new message from a file. . .I would think that would be best if found under the built-in "Import. . ." menu. . .or just immediately under it. . .like "Import from .eml file. . ."- of course, what would actually be best would be able to just drag a eml file into thunderbird. . .:-) I don't do much with that. . .but that would be a nice way. Of course, I would rather all these fancy tools work with IMAP if I had a choice. ;-)
jimmy73
Posts: 47
Joined: May 1st, 2004, 1:25 am

Post by jimmy73 »

ausdilecce wrote:Once I add the ability to make a rfc822 attachment a real message, I will release the XPI. What that means is that you can right click a eml attachment and click 'make real' (or some other label text) and it will make that attachment a real message


Please get this to work soon! Waiting desperatly!! You are about to kill the last drwaback that thunderbird has in comparison to Outlook Express! GREAT!!!
MrWilloby
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Joined: May 19th, 2004, 3:40 pm
Location: SF Bay Area

Post by MrWilloby »

Wow, I really appreciate how fast you are working on all these things ausdilecce, they will be a real benefit to me and many others I'm sure.
Old Ausdilecce
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 5:00 pm

Post by Old Ausdilecce »

OK .. all is working ... Local Folders ONLY ( meaning folders that exist on your harddrive, as opposed folders that exist on IMAP server )

We now have the ability to :
1) Delete all attachments ( the cause of all this ! ) -- you can select from menu or right click a message or right click attachment box
2) delete one or many attachments
...hold ctrl and select attachments in the attachment box then right click n choose 'Delete Attachment(s)'
.... obviously one message at a time
3) ZAP all attachments ( this will leave the message with NO TRACE of any attachments -- except text and rfc822 )
...right click attachment box n choose 'ZAP All Attachments'
4) 'Add message Attachment to this folder' ( will add a message attachment as a real message in the current folder )
...is a choice on right click menu of attachment box
5) Import and email file ( ability to choose a .eml file and import it into the current folder )
...right click one any message pane n choose .. 'import Eml File'

The name of the extension has changed to 'TB AttachmentTools' and version is set at 0.4.0


Extension is available for immediate download here --> www.supportware.net/mozilla/AttachmentTools.xpi
but website text is not updated yet.

EDIT: thought better of version number jump ( I initially posted version change to 1.0.1 )

2nd EDIT : Website is updated..
Last edited by Old Ausdilecce on May 21st, 2004, 5:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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TriEnt
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Post by TriEnt »

Two issues (for the 0.2.1 version but they probably also apply to the new one):

1. Bug: when deleting an attachment, during the process (probably when the MSF is deleted) the folder column sorting preferences are lost. For example, I like to keep all my folders sorted by date in descending order (as opposed to the default ascending mode). When I use the extension I get the layout reset to default. Can you "save" the folder view preferences & restore them when the process is complete?

2. (Slightly offtopic but maybe less now, now that the extension is doing more than originally planned): is it possible to add another feature: replacing an attachment (eg the original file with an archived version)? I'd like for example that, if somebody sends me a big Word document to be able to save the attachment, RAR/ZIP it, and then reattach it to the document so that it takes less space but still preserve it in the message?

TIA
LF
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