Delete Emails

Author      : Didier Cadieu
Date        : 24-dec-2003
Version     : 3.0.0
Corrections : didec@wanadoo.fr

Detele-emails is a small application that allow you to consult the list of emails store in your provider's mailbox and delete them.

Content

1. Description
2. Installation
3. How it works
4. Usage
        4.1. Configuration window
                4.1.1. Accounts
                4.1.2. Appearance
                4.1.3. Behaviour
        4.2. Messages list window
                4.2.1. Top part
                4.2.2. Bottom part
                4.2.3. Middle part: the list
        4.3. Message header window
5. Greetings
6. History

1. Description

With this program, you can :

See the list of messages store in one or more POP mailboxes.
Delete the messages you don't want to download with your mail client.
See the full header of a message, and it's content in raw format.
Yes, ok, it seems not very powerfull, but you will find it usefull.
And this version help you to manage SPAM with :

A Blacklist of senders addresses. Messages from this addresses can be automaticaly selected.
A Whitelist of senders addresses. Messages from this addresses are never selected automaticaly.
An automatic SPAM detection based on the addresses of the sender's host. IP addresses are tested with one to three special DNS that maintain lists of hosts used by spammer. This method can detect 60 to 90% of SPAM messages.

2. Installation

Nothing to install, just copy the script where you want.

REMARK
After the first use a file named "delete-emails.cfg" will be create to store accounts and other parameters.

3. How it works

The program used 3 windows (plus 2 little one) :

The messages window that display the messages list. This is the main window.
The message header/content window, display the full header or raw content of a message.
The configuration window used, it's a surprise, to configure the application.
Let me describe briefly the main mechanism of the program.
When the message window opens, the program fetch the list of messages from the selected account(s).
Just after the fetch ends, messages received from people in Blacklist are selected (if enable).
Immediatly, but only if the option is checked (see configuration), the DNS check start and runs asynchronously. This means that it doesn't block the program, you can continue to use it while it runs.
During the check, a DNS logo turn into the From column header. When the check ends, the Ying Yang logo is display instead and messages identified as Spam by the DNS check are selected (if required : see configuration).

4. Usage

4.1. Configuration window

4.1.1. Accounts
First thing to do is to configure one or more POP accounts :

Click Add button to create a new account. In the account window, you must enter :

A name for the account. This name must be unik and will be used to identify the account.
The hostname or the IP address of the POP server for this account.
The user name used to identify the mailbox.
The password used to access the mailbox. You can uncheck the Save password checkbox if you don't want to store the password. But be aware that the program can't handle All accounts in the same list (see later) with empty password.

TIPS
If the account name begin with a "*" character, this account will not be include in the All accounts in the same list mode.
So, if you want to use this mode, but not with all accounts or if you don't want to store password for some accounts, begin the account name with an asterisk.

Click OK button to validate, or Cancel to... hum... cancel ;-)

Click Edit button to modify an existing account selected in the list.
Click Delete to remove the selected account in the list. You must confirm the deletion.
Click Default to move the selected account in the top of the list. This account will be used by default when the program start in Auto-connect to default account mode.
Check the All acounts in the same list to use all the accounts configured at the same time (except thus that begin with a "*"). If uncheck, the selected account will be used when fetching mails.
The next parameters modify the appearance of the program.

4.1.2. Appearance
First you can configure the colors used in the message list. Even and odd lines have differents colors, and when selected two others colors are used.

Click one of the color in the table to modify this color.
If you use a machine where Gigaflops are not the rule, in other words, if you use a low machine, you can uncheck the Use heavy graphics, lot of effects checkbox. This will remove effects and gradients used in the windows.
The number of lines in the message list can be modify here, take care to not use a too big value.
The next section modify the behaviour of the program.

4.1.3. Behaviour

When the Auto connect to default account is checked, the application start directly in the message window and fetch the mails list. If not, the application start with the configuration window.
Auto select E-mails from Blacklist : when checked, messages from senders in the Blacklist are selected just after the list fetch.
Auto check E-mails with DNS spam : if checked, the DNS spam check start just after the list is fetched.
The Auto select E-mails known as spam option allow or not the mails to be automaticaly selected after the DNS check ends.
The Confirm E-mails deletion determine if the program pops a requester when you hit the Delete button or not.

What is the DNS spam checked ?
SPAM is a the main problem for the Internet mail system. There is no complete solution to solve this problem, but there is some system to help you.
One of this sytem is some special sites that collect addresses of hosts used by spammers to send their messages.
This sites can be used as DNS servers : you ask them if an IP address is in their list, if yes, message issued by this host is probably a spam.
Take care, there is no real solution to the spam problem. So this system can't promise to find all spam, and more important than that, it can find some message that are not spam.
So, if it help you to select most of the spam, I recommand you to check by yourself before deleting them.

The Blacklist button, open a window with the list of the addresses in the blacklist.
The Whitelist button, do the same, but with the addresses in the whitelist.
To finish the visit of the configuration window, you have :

The Save configuration in file, if uncheck, disable the save function of the configuration. For example, you can create an account to use just one time and uncheck this option to not save it.
The Fetch Email button close the configuration window and open the messages list window.

4.2. Messages list window

This is the main window where awaiting messages on your POP server(s) are listed.
When the window opens, the program contacts the selected POP server(s) and fetch E-mails list from it. You can't use the program until it has finished. A box in the middle of the list indicate the current operation and disapear when it ends.

4.2.1. Top part
In yellow in the middle of the banner, is displayed the name of the account currently shown, followed by the corresponding username. If the "All accounts" mode is enable, the name is replaced by "<< All accounts >>".

Click this text to display the account chooser. It contain one line for each account declared followed eventually by a "<< All accounts >>" line, and terminate by a "Configuration..." line.

Click the account name line that you want to fetch.
Click the << All accounts >> line to fetch messages from all accounts in the same time.
Click the Configuration... line to close the window and open the configuration window.

Under the banner, you see three parts.
A Select: part that contain buttons to select/unselect lines in the list:

All select all messages.
None deselect all messages.
Blacklist select messages with a From address found in the Blacklist
DNS spam select messages identified as spam by the DNS function.
A Tools: part with one button : Check DNS spam.

Left click the button to check only messages not already identified as spam.
Right click to recheck all the adresses.
A third part that manage the update of the list :

The checkbox determine if the list is refreshed periodicaly or not.
The refresh word can be clicked to refresh the list immediately.
Enter in the field the number of minutes between each automatic refresh.
Before describing the list, just look the Selected mails: part, at the bottom. This part contains buttons that perform actions on the selected messages :

4.2.2. Bottom part

The Blacklist sender button adds the sender address of all selected messages in the Blacklist.
The Delete button delete all the selected messages on your POP server. If configured, it ask for confirmation before proceding.

!! Warning !!
When the Delete operation start, it can't be stopped !
Deletion is definitive, you can't recover deleted messages.
So take care to carrefuly check selected messages before clicking this button.

On the right you have the total number of messages in the list and the total size of this messages in kilo bytes.

4.2.3. Middle part: the list
The list is the interesting part.
It have 5 or 6 columns:

Account is shown only if you use the "All accounts" mode. It contain the name of the account from witch the e-mail was retrieved.

Subject show the subject (or object) of the message. Subject of each message allow 2 mouse actions :

Left click select/deselect the message. Subject of selected messages are displayed with a different color.
Right click open the "Header window" and display the full header of the message.

From contain the sender's address of each message. A small pictures on the left of this column indicate the status of this address :

Black hungry smiley indicate that this address is blacklisted.
White happy smiley indicate an address in the whitelist.
Dark yellow DNS indicate a message identified as SPAM by the "DNS spam checker".

Actions on an adress in this column are:

Left click add/remove the address to the Blacklist.
Right click add/remove the address to the Whitelist.

Date contain the sending date.
Time contain the sending hour.
Size contain the size of the message in Bytes.

4.3. Message header window

The message Header window display the full header of the message. It can also display the content in raw format.
It opens when you right click on a subject in the message list.
This window is resizable, and handle mouse wheel to scroll its content.
You can open as many Header windows as you want !

At bottom, the toggle Show: allow to switch between the message's header or content display.

Message content display
The first time you switch to display the message's content, the full message is loaded from the POP server.
During this operation the application is blocked and the main window display the Flash box "Reading message".

Close button simply close the message window.

5. Greetings

Thank's to Carl Sassenrath and the Rebol Tech Team for this wonderfull language: Rebol.
Thank's to Romano Paolo Tenca for his huge help in debugging, for the DNS async idea and code and all his requests that make me improved this tool a lot.
Thank's to all Rebolers on the Mailing List, on AltMe and on Codeur.org for their support.

Didier C.
"Enjoy the Rebolution"

6. History

v3.0.0 - Added "All accounts" mode, whitelist, DNS async check, configuration parameters, mousewheel, smileys...
v2.2.1 - Second stable public release. Multi accounts enable, but one at a time. Blacklist added.
v1.0.2 - First stable public release.