DS006 - Multimedia Email: Marcel

Introduction

Electronic mail ('email') is one of the most popular applications used on the Internet worldwide computer network. Electronic messages can be as simple as a few words of text, or as complex as a compressed video movie or the contents of a whole disc directory. Now at last an easy-to-use multimedia email package is available on the RISC OS Desktop.

Multimedia email

ANT's email package Marcel complies with the MIME multimedia email standard, and can transport any kind of data including text, programs, graphics, sound and video between RISC OS and other MIME-compliant mailer software.

The MIME standard is supported by email software for other computers such as the Apple Macintosh, UNIX workstations and IBM-compatible PCs running Microsoft DOS or Windows, amongst others.

Marcel is suitable for use both within an organisation for internal communication and for exchange of email with international users of the Internet. So for instance a business or school can exploit Marcel for its day-to-day operations: a significant improvement over pigeonholes and in-trays since electronic data arrives nearly instantaneously and never needs to be committed to paper unnecessarily.

The power you need

A simplified variant of Marcel, Marcel Lite, is available for educational users at a reduced price. All the usual sophisticated multimedia email features of Marcel are included, but the user interface is simplified and control over the exact configuration for each user can be determined when the software is installed.

Marcel is the first member of a range of Internet tools under development by ANT Limited. Other tools under development or being considered include a News Reader, WWW/Mosaic Browser, FTP filer, Gopher, Archie etc. These tools will form a complete Internet Suite product.

Ease of use

Marcel makes using electronic mail easy: Sending an electronic mail message is as simple as dragging the file onto Marcel's pillarbox icon and entering the name of the recipient. When mail is received the Marcel pillarbox icon becomes 'fat', with an optional sound cue to indicate that mail has arrived.

A double-click with the mouse is all that is required to view a message. Any data attachments which are included with the message can be run directly or saved out for storage or use by other applications.

An address book of frequently-used names allows the user to enter a short name for any recipient and have Marcel expand it to a full international email address, thereby reducing mistakes in complex addresses. Any number of mail folders may be created by the user for long-term storage of mail messages within the limits of storage space available. Marcel can search mail folders to automate the retrieval of messages.

Resources

Marcel can be operated on a single computer (using a modem) or on a local area network using a shared modem or a 'live' (eg leased line) Internet service from commercial suppliers such as Demon, Pipex, IBMPCUG etc. Marcel can run on a local network without any Internet service at all, just providing local mail between users, or where access is limited by cost (perhaps in a school) Marcel can be configured to allow only authorised users to send mail outside the local network. The Marcel suite comprises a pair of applications:

Marcel Mailer, which runs on each user's Desktop and presents mail to the user in a simple, consistent way.
Marcel Server, which runs on at least one computer on the network and forms the connection to the Internet either using a modem connected to the same computer or via a leased line or other live connection.

Single-user installations do not require the Marcel Server, since they connect by modem to a remote server for mail transfers.

Marcel features

Marcel has been designed to make advanced multimedia email accessible to all RISC OS users. It's as easy to use as the familiar RISC OS filing system. Marcel's features include:

MIME-compliant electronic mail package
Requires minimum 2MB computer with RISC OS 3.0 or later
Available in Single User (Modem), Single User (Network) and Multi User (Network)
Supports MIME multimedia email, embedded binary data files
Uses IMAP mail server protocol, or mail on local disc
Double-click on embedded items to run them (presumes target app. available)
Drag and Drop user-interface for mail folder management

Control from RISC OS icon bar:

SELECT-click to view mail InTray
ADJUST-click to Send mail
Pillarbox icon: fat icon for pending mail, thin icon for none
Optional sounds on mail delivery
Edit user preferences
Connect to single or multiple mail servers
Disconnect from mail server(s)

Mail filer for easy management:

List-style view of mail
User-defined sorting by: order of arrival, date,sender, subject
User-defined display formats (script language)
Short-cut button bar: Send, Save, Delete, Tidy, File (to folder), Search, Address book
User-defined key short-cuts throughout
Read message text or delete and skip to next message
Reply to Sender, Reply to all
Save, delete and undelete messages
Forward message (commented)
Bounce message (unchanged)
Copy/move to mail folder
Print message text
Show binary attachments
Grab circulation list/aliases
Search for mail items by To, From, CCs, Subject, Date, Flags, Message body

Message display view:

Buttons: Next, Previous, Reply to, Delete, Save, Editor
Next/Previous buttons allow rapid reading
Quick Reply button for Reply to Sender/Reply to all
Quick Delete-and-read next
Set font and colour for mail display

Send mail dialogue:

Quick sending: only To and Subject must be completed (presumes dragged body text)
Intelligent Drag and drop appends text to body, adds non-text as attachments
File copy facility
Address book allows quick name lookup
Short name alias translation for common recipients
Data attachment formats supported include MIME, Acorn !EMail, UUencode, BtoA
Compress attachments
Fragment messages
Offline mail file

Address book:

Support aliases for Sites, Users and Lists of users
Click selection of recipients from menu
Options to Internet Finger or OSI X.500 lookup new recipients
Recipients may be captured from received mail

Availability

Marcel is expected to become available during the fourth Quarter of 1995. Marcel is under development and ANT Limited reserves the right to alter its specification and functionality without notice before it becomes available for sale. Marcel and Marcel Lite are available in Single User and Multiple User (Network) software licenses - ask for pricing details.