Simple Mail
Handler is an Exchange service from Microsoft that
provides many of the same functions as Inbox
Assistant, but without the requirement that you
connect to Exchange Server.
SMH's automatic message processing features include:
Archiving of sent and/or deleted messages into
monthly folders
Updating of the Personal Address Book to add
recipients of outgoing messages
Filters (i.e. rules) that move incoming messages to
specified folders or generate an automatic reply or
forward, based on the recipient or sender, message
class, message text, or presence of attachments
Import and export of filters, so you can share them
with other users
Out of Office replies
Installation
To
install the Simple Mail Handler, follow these steps:
Install the correct version from the Resource
Kit for your operating system.
If there is an Smh.exe file, run it to extract the
setup files.
Copy the Smh32.dll version for your processer (I386,
Alpha, etc.) to the Windows\System or WinNT\System32
folder.
In the folder where you put the setup files, run
"mergeini.exe -m .\smh.inf"
to update Mapisvc.inf.
In Control Panel, Mail and
Fax (or Tools | Services in
Exchange), add the Sample [sic] Mail Handler service
to your profile.
Configure the Simple Mail Handler on the four tabs
provided.
You can also use Tools | Services in
Exchange and display the properties for Sample [sic] Mail
Handler whenever you want to change your filters or other
properties.
If you don't have an Smh.inf file,
make a backup copy of Mapisvc.inf,
then edit it to add the following line to the [Services]
section:
Sample Mail Handler=Sample Mail Handler
Then add these two sections to Mapisvc.inf:
[Sample Mail Handler]
Providers=SMH
PR_SERVICE_DLL_NAME=SMH.DLL
PR_SERVICE_DELETE_FILES=SMH.DLL
PR_SERVICE_SUPPORT_FILES=SMH.DLL
PR_SERVICE_ENTRY_NAME=ServiceEntry
PR_RESOURCE_FLAGS=SERVICE_SINGLE_COPY
WIZARD_ENTRY_NAME=WizardEntry
[SMH]
PR_PROVIDER_DLL_NAME=SMH.dll
PR_RESOURCE_TYPE=MAPI_HOOK_PROVIDER
PR_PROVIDER_DISPLAY=Sample Mail Handler
PR_RESOURCE_FLAGS=HOOK_INBOUND|HOOK_OUTBOUND
After you save the edited Mapisvc.inf, you should be
able to add SMH to your profile, as described in Step 5
above.
Usage
To
start processing messages, you need to set the properties
for the Simple Mail Handler. You can set the SMH to
perform the following:
Archive sent and deleted mail.
Add mail recipients to your personal address book
(PAB).
Filter incoming mail based on custom filters.
Send out-of-office messages.
Move filters from one computer to another.
To archive sent or deleted mail:
In Control Panel, choose the Mail and Fax icon.
Select the Services tab, and then select Sample Mail
Handler
Choose Properties, and then select the General tab.
To archive sent mail, under Sent Mail, select
Archive sent mail into monthly subfolders. If you want
monthly folders archived by year, also select Archive
sent mail monthly folders by year.
To archive deleted mail, under Deleted Mail, select
Archive deleted mail into monthly subfolders. If you
want monthly folders archived by year, also select
Archive deleted mail monthly folders by year.
A fully archived Sent Mail folder might have a
hierarchy that looks similar to the following.
Sent Mail
|-- 1994
| |-- 10 October
| |-- 11 November
| |-- 12 December
|-- 1995
|-- 01 January
To add mail recipients to your personal address book
(PAB):
In Control Panel, choose the Mail and Fax icon.
Select the Services tab, and then select Sample Mail
Handler
Choose Properties, and then select the General tab.
Under Sent Mail, select Add recipients to personal
address book.
To enable filtering of incoming mail:
In Control Panel, choose the Mail and Fax icon.
Select the Services tab, and then select Sample Mail
Handler
Choose Properties, and then select the General tab.
Under Incoming Mail, select Enable filtering of
inbound messages.
Create at least one filter as described in the
following procedure.
To create or edit a filter for inbound messages:
In Control Panel, choose the Mail and Fax icon.
Select the Services tab, and then select Sample Mail
Handler
Choose Properties, and then select the Filters tab.
Choose New or select an existing filter, and then
choose Properties.
In the Filter Name box, type a name for the filter.
In the Filter On box, select which message part to
search for the value. Most of these parts correspond
directly to the message boxes available in the
Microsoft Exchange Client message dialog box.
In the Value contains box, type a value that you
want the message to contain or not contain. If the
message should not contain the value, select Filter
messages that do not match this criteria.
In the Filter Target box, specify what to do with
the messages that meet the criteria specified.
Caution: The Filter
Target option Delete messages from store removes
the messages completely from the private information
store; it does not move them to the Deleted Items folder.
Setting a filter that, for example, specifies to delete
messages if the Subject does not contain the value
“Hello,” would delete all messages that don’t
contain that value.
You can also set the Simple Mail Handler to send an
automated response for messages meeting the filter
criteria using the Automated Response tab. You can set it
to play a sound when mail arrives using the New Mail
Sounds tab.
To set up out-of-office responses:
Choose Tools, Services, bring up the properties for
the Sample [sic] Mail Handler.
Select the Out-of-Office tab.
In the Out-of-office Message box, type your message.
This box supports full rich text formatting.
Select Enable out of office handling.
To move SMN filters to another computer:
Choose Tools, Services, bring up the properties for
the Sample [sic] Mail Handler.
Select the Filters tab.
Choose Export, then enter a file name for the filter
export file.
On the other computer, install the Simple Mail
Handler, and go to the Filters tab as described in
steps 1 through 2.
Choose Import, and then select the filter export
file created in step 3.
Unread Search Folders: Because the
Simple Mail Handler can filter unread messages deep into a
folder hierarchy, the Simple Mail Handler can also create
a search folder in the root of the IPM_SUBTREE that
searches the entire subtree for unread messages.
Known Issues
Here
are some known issues with the Simple Mail Handler:
The Simple Mail Handler archives are based on
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). This results in the archive
folders being created several hours before the actual
new month begins.
The Simple Mail Handler currently changes some of
the formatting of the out-of-office text.
