Xelm

Xelm is an e-mail handler which feels like elm but has more features (hopefully :-). It has a Motif GUI. I developed Xelm all by myself. Xelm supports MIME format e-mail messages. It was originally developped and tested on NCR's SVR4 MP-RAS UNIX platform a couple of years ago. I am currently porting it to other popular UNIX platforms such as Solaris and HP.

Here is a list of some of the features of Xelm that other e-mail handler may not have:

	Ability of reading, sending, forwarding, replying, group-replying, and resending multiple messages at the same time
	Built-in Microsoft Word style spell checking functionality for sending messages
	Ability to customize personal message headers and signatures
	Ability to preview the feel and look of the message before sending it
	MIME compatibility
	Auto-reply functionality when you are away
	Ability of concatenating multiple message easily
	Alias functionality
	Extended xbiff-like functionality information arrival of new message with audio effects
	Configurable environment

You may download source code and an Imakefile (tar gz 167147 bytes) here.

A pre-compiled executable Xelm and a README file for Solaris (tar gz 97406 bytes) with X11R6.3 is available. You can also download a pre-compiled executable Xelm and the README file for HP-UX 9.05 (tar gz 123227 bytes) with X11R5.

In order to compile or run Xelm, you must have the following packages installed on your UNIX workstation:

X11R5 or later version
Motif 1.2 or later version
XPM Version 3 or later version
SVR4 compatible packages if your are using a BSD UNIX machine

Here is a picture of the main window of Xelm.

There is a list showning all e-mail messages in the current folder. You can either click the buttons or select menu items to send, reply, group reply, forward, and resend messages. You can also have multiple windows open at the same time, which allows you to send a message while reading another, etc.

You send messages in a window like this:

A Microsoft Word style spelling checker is built in Xelm. You can click the "Spelling..." button to check the spell. For typos, you can either change them, ignore them, or in the case they are correct words, you can add the words to your personal dictionary so the next time they will not be recognized as wrong words. You can also modify your personal message headers, signatures, attach files, and preview the message before sending it.

You have two ways to display received messages. If you enable MIME, messages will be displayed in a window like the one in the following picture. If there are XPM images, they will be displayed in line. Other images can be viewed using xv by pressed a button presenting the image. If MIME is disabled, the whole message will be displayed as text.

Using Xelm, you can set up an auto-reply function using the dialog in the following picture when you are away for an extended period of time. You can specify not to auto reply messages according to the subject and/or the sender of the message. You can also specify how often auto-reply should be performed and whether or not to inform the other people that receive the message has been cc'ed.

You can also use Xelm to maintain a list of aliases for frequently contacted friends.

There are many other functionalities in Xelm. You are welcome to use it and let me if you like it.

This page is still under construction.