J.A.V.A. Mail Reader Design Document

The idea behind this project is to build a mail reader that will function independently of the platform it is being used on. Ideally, the only thing that the user will need to run this mail reader is a browser capable of using Java applets. The user should be able to go to any computer available to him and, given a Java capable browser, read his mail.

This mail reader should also allow the user to organize his mail in an orderly way. We propose to allow the user to be able to sort his mail into multiple folders, and allow him to move his mail between the folders as he wishes.

In addition, because many files that are sent over the network are not simply text files, we propose to include a way to handle files in the MIME Internet standard format. Although what the extent of this support will be has not yet been determined, some mechanism for the handling of these files will be available.

Finally, we wish to try and make this mail reader original. We want to distinguish it from the readers already out there and try to create an original format for it. Although this may not be possible, after all there's only so much you can do with mail, we will certainly try to create something original.

This mail reader will be built on an existing toolkit called JavaIMAP which implements the Interactive Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) version 4. JavaIMAP will provide the direct interface to the mail server, so we will not have to worry about this aspect of the project.

The JAVA applet is a means for users to gain access to their mailboxes from any location where they have access to the World Wide Web and Netscape 2.0 or other Java Beta capable browser. The benefit of using the IMAP architecture is that it allows you to read mail messages without downloading them to the local client. Therefore when a user switches between machines to check their mail, they don't have to worry about whether a certain message they need to read/reread is on that particular machine.

The users of the JAVA mail reader only need two things: Netscape 2 (Java capable browser) and the desktop metaphor JAVA mail applet. Whenever the user makes a request for the mail message information, the JAVA mail applet accesses Ian Smith's IMAP classes which actually produces requests for the IMAP server. The request travels through the NIC (Network Interface Card) to the network. When a response is received, the data is passed back to the JAVA mail interface throughthe IMAP classes. The data is then displayed to the user via the JAVA interface classes.

But what happens from the server's view? There are two type of requests to the server that we are concerned with: IMAP, and HTTP protocol requests. The HTTP requests that we are going to take advantage of are those that request the JAVA binary executable be sent to the client. When these are received, the server will send the executable to the Netscape client via the HTTP protocol. The IMAP requests that come in are handled by the IMAP daemon. When they are recognized, the IMAP daemon goes to the file system to retrieve the requested information. The server then returns the message information to the client. The server then waits for another request from any IMAP client.

Text_Window

• Constructors

  • public int Mime_Exist
  • public button cmdCancel
  
  

• Methods

  • public int create_form () This method creates the form and places all the widgets in their proper place on the window. The return value indicates status of completion of the form creation.
  • public int initiallize(string Subject, string Date, string Message, string From, int Mime_Exist) This method initiallizes the form and fills in the data fields: subject, from, date, message, and mime existence in the message text window. The integer return value reports successful completion of the form's initialization.
  • public int delete_form() This method deletes the text form from the screen and deletes any remnant information used by the window. The delete_form method returns a status of whether or not all of the procedure completed properly.
  • public int cmdCancel_Click() This method is the event handler for the cancel button. It should run the delete_form method.

List_Window

• Constructors

  • public string Mailbox_Name
  • public int Mailbox_ID
  • public button cmdOk
  • public button cmdCancel
  • public listbox lstMessages
    
    

• Methods

  (int return values report status of completion in each method)
  • public int add_item(int Mailbox_ID, int Message_ID)
  • add_item adds a Message_IDth item Mailbox_ID Mailbox and puts its information: subject, date, from, mime_exist into the listbox lstMessages.
  • public int initiallize(int Mailbox_ID) this method initiallizes the list box lstMessages by filling in all the message information for each message in the selected mailbox Mailbox_ID.
  • public int remove_item(int lstMessages_Index) remove_item removes an item in the list box lstMessages - in the case that it is deleted or moved to another Folder.
  • public int create_form(string Mailbox_Name) create_form builds the window with all required widgets. It also puts the name of the folder in the title bar.
  • public int delete_form() deletes the window from the screen and removes any extraneous data left remaining.
  • public int cmdCancel_Click runs the delete_form method to dismiss the Folder's list form.
  • public int cmdOk_Click Nothing occurs if a message in the lstMessages list box is not selected. If one is selected, then clicking the OK button causes the message to be opened and the information to show in the message Text_Window.
  • public int lstMessages_Click lstMessages_Click occurs when an item in the lstMessages list box is single clicked. This "selects" the indexed item in the list box.
  • public int lstMessages_DblClick lstMessages_DblClick is like depressing the cmdOk button (cmdOk_Click method) - it invokes the method in the Text_Window class to show the message.

Login Window

• Constructors

  • public String Server_Name
  • public String User_Name
  • public String Password
  • public button cmdOk
  • public button cmdCancel
    
    

• Methods

  (int return values report status of completion in each method)
  • public int create_form() create_form builds the form placing all the widgets in the correct place.
  • public int delete_form() delete_form removes the form from the screen and if not previously logged into a mail server - closes the JAVA email application.
  • public String hide_characters(String Password) hide_characters will place an asterik "*" in the password field for every character entered in that field on the login window. It also creates a running string of the actual value of the password in the Password Constructor. It exports the Password back out of the method.
  • public int cmdOk_Click() cmdOk_Click calls the read_input function and connects to the IMAP server and intiates communication with the server.
  • public int cmdCancel_Click() cmdCancel_Click calls the delete_form method. It cleans up any remaining data left from the form's existence.

Desktop_Window

• Constructors

  • public Vector FolderNames
  • public Vector FolderIDs
  • public Vector FolderLocation
    
    

• Methods

  (int return values report status of completion in each method)
  • public int create_form() create_form builds a new window on the screen that will serve as the desktop
  • public int initialize_physical(Vector FolderNames, Vector FolderIDs, Vector FolderLocation) initialize_physical will search the local filesystem for any existing mailboxes and if they exist will add them to the classes' vectors. When the mailboxes are found, the folder representation is shown on the desktop window.
  • public int initialize_virtual(Vector FolderNames, Vector FolderIDs, Vector FolderLocation) initialize_virtual will aquire the configuration email message and sort the messages in the inbox into their respective "Virtual Folders". When the mailboxes are found, the folder representation is shown on the desktop window.
  • public int delete_form() deletes the desktop from the screen, and cleans up the entire remaining data structures from the whole program. This is where the application exits completely.
  • public int refresh() refresh will go out and see if there are more messages in the inbox than there were before. If there in fact were, then it will re initialize_virtual to resort the inbox and show the user the updated information.

Folder

• Constructors

  • public String Name
  • public int Mailbox_ID

  Methods

  • public int drag() drag allows the physical representation of the folder (bmp) around to different locations on the Desktop.

Virtual_Folder

• Constructors

• Methods

  • public int create_folder() generates the bitmapped representation of the folder on the screen.
  • public int open_folder() opens the folder and displays the list of available messages on the List_Window.

Physical_Folder

• Constructors

• Methods

  • public int create_folder() create_folder generates the bitmapped representation of the folder on the screen.
  • public int open_folder() opens the folder and displays the list of available messages on the List_Window.

Virtual_Mailbox

• Constructors

  • public Vector Message_ID
    
    

• Methods

The User interface for the JAVA email reader is to resemble a desktop metaphor where the user can have multiple folders, and messages open all at the same time. The interface is going to be made to resemble the Macintosh OS more than any other type of Desktop. Prototypes for all of the windows except for the desktop have been prototyped under Unix in a GUI designer called XForms. The final interface will not look exactly the same because the widgets have a different appearance than the AWT widgets.