new user, a couple of basic questions on mail import

[mlevin77]

I'm trying out EagleFiler on a 10.6 system to archive a ton (~20 Gigs-worth) of email from an Entourage 2004,2008 database. Some basic questions:

1) how does it deal with attachments - do they get into the database too? I tried to click on one in an email in the library, and it opened Outlook for some reason. Are the messages in the library self-contained or do they link back to the Entourage database somehow?

2) I'm not understanding the search feature. I have an email which I can see in the library - from Alex Kwong, but when I type "Kwong" into the search field, with "Records" selected and "Search: anywhere" under the field with the magnifying glass on it, nothing comes up (the list is empty). This is no good to me unless I can find specific pieces of text no matter where in the emails they are. What am I doing wrong - how come it can't see it?

3) I have some folders in my Entourage tree that contain subfolders. Hitting F1 with the parent folder selected doesn't work - it says there's nothing to import. I have to hit F1 on each of the subfolders, which is a pain. Is there any way to get them all at once? There's no way to select more than one in Entourage, and anyway, the new EagleFiler contextual menu doesn't come up on Entourage folders (only on files on the desktop for example). What's the easiest way to import a whole folder full of subfolders? If I hit F1 on one folder while another one is being imported, does it queue the request and handle them all properly one after the other (so that I can hit them all and leave it alone for 24 hours to import everything)?

thank you!!

Mike

[Michael Tsai]

1) how does it deal with attachments - do they get into the database too? I tried to click on one in an email in the library, and it opened Outlook for some reason. Are the messages in the library self-contained or do they link back to the Entourage database somehow?

EagleFiler imports the entire message source (as received from the server), including all the attached files. The messages in the library are self-contained. However, EagleFiler does not currently know how to view attachments (except via Quick Look) so if you try to open one it will send a copy of the message to your Mac’s viewer for .eml files (typically Apple Mail, Outlook, or Entourage).

2) I'm not understanding the search feature. I have an email which I can see in the library - from Alex Kwong, but when I type "Kwong" into the search field, with "Records" selected and "Search: anywhere" under the field with the magnifying glass on it, nothing comes up (the list is empty). This is no good to me unless I can find specific pieces of text no matter where in the emails they are. What am I doing wrong - how come it can't see it?

To avoid overwhelming you with all the messages (and slowing things down), EagleFiler only shows individual messages in Records if you have View ‣ Show ‣ Messages in Records Source checked. So you would either need to use that option, select one or more mailboxes before doing this search, or use a smart folder.

Secondly, the Anywhere search relies on EagleFiler’s search index, and it may take a while for EagleFiler to index all the messages after a big import. You can follow the progress in the Activity window.

3) I have some folders in my Entourage tree that contain subfolders. Hitting F1 with the parent folder selected doesn't work - it says there's nothing to import. I have to hit F1 on each of the subfolders, which is a pain. Is there any way to get them all at once?

The capture key imports the messages in the selected folder (non-recursively). If you want to import multiple folders at once you could create a mail via (a.k.a. saved search) that shows the messages from multiple folders, and then select them all. (EagleFiler will organize them according to which folder they came from; it doesn’t preserve the hierarchy, however.)

the new EagleFiler contextual menu doesn't come up on Entourage folders (only on files on the desktop for example).

This is because Entourage doesn’t support Mac OS X services.

If I hit F1 on one folder while another one is being imported, does it queue the request and handle them all properly one after the other (so that I can hit them all and leave it alone for 24 hours to import everything)?

Don’t change the Entourage selection or press F1 while you see the camera on EagleFiler’s Dock icon, because that indicates that it’s still processing the previous request (in this case, saving the messages to the temporary folder). After that, it is safe to queue additional imports.