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Description
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Domain Concepts
Post Office Protocol facilitates a user to retrieve
mail messages that the server is holding for the user. It lets a user
login to a POP3 server and retrieve mail messages from a remote
workstation. The user can access the a server on the Internet and run any
user agent that understands and speaks the Post Office Protocol. Normally
mail transport systems use SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) to send
mail messages and POP3 (Post Office Protocol) to receive mail messages.
The POP3 session passes through three stages :
authorization, transaction, and update.
- authorization - In this stage, the client
identifies itself to the server. The client's mailbox is opened if the
authorization is successful.
- transaction - The client requests the server to
provide information or perform an action (such as mail retrieval, mail
deletion etc.).
- update -The messages marked as deleted will be
removed from the server. At this stage, the connection terminates.
User Interface
This section provides a detailed description of the
POP3 Main Screen layout. It provides the user step-by-step instructions to
use each of the Main Screen components.
Note
: The POP3 UserInterfaceBean has been explained with respect to demo
application. This application provides the container for the bean and
interacts with it via menu options. It must be noted, however, that the
menu is not a part of the actual UserInterfaceBean. The user can implement
this interface according to the requirements of the application that will
be developed. e.g. the options in the menu of the demo application can
either be buttons or part of a toolbar in an application developed by an
application builder.
The POP3 Main Screen is as shown in
Figure 1.
Figure 1 - POP3 Main
Screen
The Main Screen contains five main components :
Menu Bar
The Menu Bar is located at the top of the Main
Screen. It contains two menu items File and Message.
File Menu - The File Menu is as
shown in Figure 2. The File Menu contains the following
options :
Figure 2 - File menu
- Configure - to configure the user
preferences, server preferences and other miscellaneous settings.
- Empty Trash - to clear the Trash folder
(explained below).
- Receive Message - to download mail
messages from the server.
- Abort - to abort the operation of
receiving mails while it is in pogress.
- Change Password - to change the user
login password.
- Exit - to exit the main menu.
- Save & Exit - to exit the application
after saving the configured preferences and messages in the folders.
Message Menu - The Message Menu
appears as shown in Figure 3. The Message Menu contains
the following two options :
Figure 3 - Message menu
- Delete selected - "deletes" the
selected mail from the current folder and moves it to Trash folder. If
the current folder is Trash, the message is (permanently) deleted from
the Trash.
- Move Selected To - This option contains
two sub options, Inbox and Trash.
- Inbox option is selected to move a
specified mail message from current folder to Inbox folder.
- Trash option is selected to move a
specified mail message from current folder to Trash folder.
Note
: - Currently Inbox and Trash are the only
two folders supported into which mails can be moved.
Folder Selection Area
The Folder selection consists of a drop-down list
box labelled Select Folder with two options Inbox and Trash.
- Inbox contains all the mail messages
downloaded from the POP3 Server.
- Trash contains the mail messages which
are marked for deletion. The messages in the Trash can be retrieved
using the Move To Folder option described above.
Figure 4 - Select Folder Drop-Down menu
To Delete a Mail
- Select the message to be deleted from the
Mail-List window.
- Select Message from the Menu Bar.
- Select Delete Selected from Message
drop-down menu.
Figure 5 shows a "deleted" message
in the Trash folder
Figure 5 - Mail List Window (Trash folder)
Message-Read Status
Message-Read Status area is to the right of Folder
Selection area. It gives the status of the number of mails in the current
folder and number of unread mail messages.
Mail-List Window
Mail-List Window is located just below the Folder
Selection area. It displays summary information for the messages in the
currently selected folder.
Body Window
Body Window is located below the Mail-List window.
It displays the content of the selected mail message, which consists of
the header information, subject, body of the mail etc.
Status Bar
Status Bar is located at the bottom of the Main
Screen. It displays the status information such as error messages, status
information from server etc.
Configuration
The POP3 suite of beans provides the facility to
configure certain preferences. Following are some of the preferences the
user can configure :
Configuring User
Preferences
To Configure user preferences
- Select File from the Menu Bar.
- Select the Configure option from the File
menu. The Configuration dialog box as shown
in Figure 6 appears.
- Type in the following:
- User Login Name - the name of the
user to receive the mail.
- Select / Deselect the following check boxes
depending on the requirement.
- Leave Messages On Server- option to
leave the messages on the server. By default, messages on the server
will be deleted after they are downloaded by the client.
- Remember My Mail Password- option to
store the password. By default, the user is prompted to enter the
password at the begining of each session.
- Display All Headers -option to
display the header information. If the check box is selected,
complete header information is displayed otherwise only the sender's
name, subject, and date will be displayed.
- Select the OK button to close the Configuration
dialog box and save the changes.
- Select the Cancel button to close the
Configuration dialog box without saving the changes.
Figure 6 - Configuration dialog box (User
tab)
Configuring a Server
To Configure Server Preferences
- Select File from the Menu Bar.
- Select the Configure option from the Filemenu.
This displays the Configuration dialog box
as shown in Figure 7.
- Select the Servers tab.
- Type in the following information :
- Select theOK button to close the Configuration
dialog box and save the information.
- Select the Cancel button to close the
Configuration dialog box without saving the information.
Figure 7- Configuration dialog box (Server
tab)
Configuring
Miscellaneous preferences
To configure Miscellaneous preferences
- Select File menu from the Menu Bar.
- Select the Configure option from the
drop-down File menu.
- Select Misc tab from Configuration
dialog box.
- Type in the absolute path of the directory where
all the messages are to be stored. It is important that the messages
and *.summary files created in this directory are not
tampered with, since it will result in the loss of stored messages.
If the specified path does not exist, an error
message dialog box appears with the following message, "The
configured folder directory does not exist. Create ?". To
create the specified directory select the OK button, or Cancel
to close the dialog box. If the path exists , it is checked if it is a
valid existing directory name. If it is not, the error dialog box
appears with the following message, "The folder directory
name is not valid . Please enter a valid name". This error
message will also be displayed if the folder directory has not been
set.
- Select the OK button to Close the Configuration
dialog box and save the changes.
- Select Cancel button to Close the
Configuration dialog box without saving the changes.
Figure 8- Configuration dialog box
(Miscellaneous tab)
Receiving
mail
To receive mail from the POP3 server to the
Inbox folder
- Select File from the Menu Bar.
- Select Receive Messages option from the
File drop-down menu.
- Mail messages will be listed as they are
received, as shown in Figure 9 .
Figure 9 - Mail-List Window (Inbox Folder)
To read the received mail
- Select the mail to be read from the Mail-List
area by clicking on its header.
- This displays the messages along with the header
information, attachments etc. in the Body Window .
Refer to Figure 10 a sample of a mail with
header, body part and attachment
Figure 10 - Mail Display Screen
To read the Attachment file
- Right click on the Attachment icon.
- The Save option pops up as shown in Figure
11appears.
- Click on the Save option.
- Select the directory, where the file is to be
saved.
- Start the application in which the file can be
opened.
Figure 11 - Attachment file