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Starting the Software in the CBA Lab

First you will need to log in to the LAN. From the DOS prompt type "menu" and press [Enter]. From the CHIP Main Menu choose the Windows 3.1 option. Open the Program Manager window if it isn't already open. Find the Misc. Software group and open it. Within this group you should be able to find an Icon for Pegasus Mail similar to that shown to the right. Double click this icon to start the software.

Starting the Software From a Remote Site (home PC)

The process is the same as starting it in the CBA lab, except that the program icon will be in a different program group. The installation should have created a group called Pegasus Mail For Windows. Open it and double click the Pegasus Mail icon.

The first time you run the program, you will need to configure it for use with your account. You will need to specify how many users will use this copy of Pegasus, where your mail files will be stored, and if you want to configure the software for your Windows Sockets product. You should go ahead and configure now. If you don't, you will be able to do it later by choosing Network Configuration from the File pull-down menu. You will see the dialog (figure W-1) with fields for your POP3 and SMTP hosts as well as your POP3 username and password. Sometimes the POP3 and SMTP servers are the same, but are frequently different. SMTP is used for sending mail and POP is used to receive. Your POP3 username is usually the same as your account username. For example, if I usually log in to grove as "johndoe" then I would put "johndoe" in the User name field. You do not need to use the Advanced configuration options button at this time. After becoming familiar with the software and e-mail, you may wish to see what those options can do.

You should also choose Preferences from the File pull-down menu and then choose General settings in order to specify your personal name and put your e-mail address in the Default reply address: field. That should be enough to get you started using Pegasus.

The Pegasus Mail Interface

The Pegasus Mail window starts initially blank. (The notes in the middle where added to indicate the function of some of the buttons on the button bar.) You can use the button bar or pull-down menus at the top to issue commands. When the window is empty, there is no pull-down menu choice between the Extensions and Help pull-down menus. Whenever you do certain things, like create a message, a pull-down menu will be inserted between them with options appropriate to the current task. Pegasus will open "child" or "document" windows within this main window for each function you perform.

The status line at the bottom of the window has an informative box and also indicates that you are in single or multi-user mode. The box at the far right of the status line indicates how many new mail messages you have in your In Folder.

Setting and Changing Your Userid and/or Password

Pegasus Mail does not offer the ability to change your POP3 password from it's interface. You will need to check with your system administrator to change it.

If you have changed it, you will need to configure Pegasus Mail to know what the new password is. You can do this by choosing Network Configuration from the File pull-down menu. Enter your new password in the Password field, making sure to completely replace the old password marked as asterisks. See figure W-1.

Writing a Message

Now that you're familiar with the interface, you can create a message. Just click the Compose button, or choose New message from the File pull-down menu, or press [Ctrl-N]. You will be presented with the Editor window shown in figure W-3.

Click inside the large edit box in the lower portion of the Editor window to place the cursor there. You can type your message within this box. You can use normal Windows editing including Cut, Copy, and Paste. Only include standard ASCII text characters though. If you have something special to send, you will need to send it as an attachment which we'll cover later.

If you change your mind and decide not to complete and send the message, just click on the Cancel button. You will be asked if you're sure. Just click on Yes to cancel the mail message.

Sending Your Message

Make sure you have entered a valid Internet e-mail address or alias in the To: field. You can do this by typing it in, or by using the Address books button, or by using the ? button next to the To: field.

The ? button opens the Recently-used addresses dialog (figure W-4) which displays the addresses you've used most recently. Select an address by clicking on it with the mouse, then click the Paste button to enter it into the To: field. Click on Close to close this dialog and continue.

If you choose to use the Address books button, you will be presented with a dialog listing the available address books. Click on the Open button of this dialog box to open the selected address book. The book will open and you will be presented with another dialog listing all names in that book (figure W-5). Click on the name (alias) you want and use the Paste button to enter it into the To: field. Unlike the Recently-used addresses dialog, the address book can be left open while you continue to work with a message. This allows you to have it handy for use at any time.

Working with aliases and address books is discussed in the section entitled "Using Aliases and an Address Book" below.

Once you have entered a valid address in the To: field, enter a descriptive line as the subject in the Subj: field. If you do not enter a subject, Pegasus will warn you before sending the file.

You can also set options for the current message regarding confirmation of receipt, urgency, security, and your signature. You may want to receive a confirmation message back by e-mail indicating that the receiver actually received this message. You may wish to keep a copy for yourself and you may want to mark this message as Urgent in order to expedite reception. These options are simple toggle switches and only apply to the current message. The Encrypt and Signature are toggles that require a dialog to specify parameters. Encryption is off by default and the default signature file (number 1) is blank which results in no signature being appended.

Once you have everything as you want it, click on the Send button to place the mail message in the outgoing queue. You can force Pegasus to send your message immediately by clicking on the Send button on the button bar, or by choosing Send all queued mail from the File pull-down menu. You can also use the Both button to check for new mail and send your queued messages at the same time.

Receiving a Message

To receive mail simply click on the Check button, or choose Check host for new mail from the File pull-down menu. You can also use the Both button to check for new mail and send your queued messages at the same time. Your POP3 host will be checked for any new mail. If you have any new mail, you will be presented with the New mail folder (figure W-6). Each new mail message will be listed showing who it's from, the subject, and the date it was sent. You may sort the messages by clicking on the heading you want to sort by. All the most common tasks have a button at the top of this window.

To read a message, highlight it and click on the Open button, or simply double-click the message. A new window will open displaying the message. Each mail message will have the header information displayed at the beginning of the message. There may be any different number of heading fields displayed depending on whether the sender included the information and/or whether their e-mail software writes all the fields to the header. Typical fields include the Date, To, From, and Subject fields.

To read another message, close the message window by double-clicking the upper left corner. You can now highlight another message and open it. A better way is to use the Prev and Next buttons within the dialog box displaying the current message. You can also use the Delete button to delete the current message and open the following one. When you've deleted the last one, the message window will be closed.

Messages that have been read (and not deleted) will have a check mark next to them in the New mail folder (figure W-6). If you've replied to a message, it will have a blue dot next to it.

When you're done reading all your new messages, you can close the New mail folder (figure W-6) by double-clicking the upper left corner. When you close the New mail folder all the read messages will be automatically removed to the Main folder. Pegasus assumes you want to keep them since you didn't delete them, but since they are no longer new, they are moved out of the New mail folder.

Replying to a Message

Sometimes you may want to reply to a question or comment in a message someone has sent to you. You could do this by writing a new message and entering the person's address, the subject, and maybe even some of their original message for reference. Rather than do all this manually, it can be done automatically just by clicking on the Reply button at the top of the New mail folder or the message window while reading it.

Initially you will see a small dialog that has some toggles you need to set. We will only address the two within the Original message box. If you want to include the original message within your message body for reference, check that item. Frequently when including that message, senders want to make it stand out from their reply. This is usually done by preceding each line of the original message with a ">" (greater than) character. To do this, check the second item to 'Comment out' the original message. Click on OK or press [Enter] to proceed.

You will now see the Editor window (figure W-3) with the To:, and Subj: fields already filled in. Depending on how you set the options for including the original message, you may or may not see the original message within the body of this message. Otherwise, replying is exactly the same process as writing your own original message. You send it the same way.

Reviewing and Deleting E-mail Messages

As you may have noticed, messages you have received do not automatically get deleted after you read them. They will be moved to the Main folder when you close the New mail folder if they have been read. This may seem like a waste of disk space, but it is very convenient to be able to review old messages. Sometimes you may find that you want to reply to or forward one of them.

You can open the Main folder by clicking on the Folders button on the button bar. You will be presented with the Folders window (figure W-7). This window shows all the folders besides the New mail folder and also displays the number of messages in each that have been read followed by the number which have not been read. You will always have at least a Main folder. If you've configured Pegasus to save deleted messages or to save copies for yourself, and there are messages that have been deleted and/or copied to yourself you will have folders for them as well. You may rename, delete, and create folders for your use, but we will not discuss those functions in this document. To open a folder, in particular the Main folder, highlight it and click on the Open button.

The Main folder works just like the New mail folder except that messages which have been read do not get moved out of it. They will just stay in the Main folder until you delete them.

If you want to delete a message from any folder, just highlight it and click on the Delete button. This will result in a prompt to confirm that this is actually what you want to do. Pegasus will delete the message from disk and you will never be able to retrieve it.

If you want a little more security against accidentally deleting messages you can choose Preferences from the File pull-down menu and then choose General settings. Place a check mark next to Preserve deleted messages until exit by clicking on the check box. Now Pegasus will save all the deleted messages in a Deleted messages folder until you exit Pegasus. On exit the messages will actually be deleted.

Beyond the Basics:

Sending Copies to Multiple Receivers

Sometimes you want to send a message to someone and also send copies to others for reference. To do this place the valid e-mail addresses in the Cc: field separated by commas. You can either type in a valid address or alias, or you can use the address book or the Recently-used addresses dialog. Use the Address books button or the ? button, respectively. Use the Paste button to enter the selected address or alias into the Cc: field of the Editor window. See the section entitled "Sending Your Message" above for more information on these two options.

Working with aliases and address books is discussed in the section entitled "Using Aliases and an Address Book" below.

Sending Blind Copies

When you send a copy to multiple receivers, each receiver can see who other copies have been sent to. A blind copy does not include a list of all receivers. This allows you to keep the list of receivers private from each other.

In order to send a blind copy you need to click on the Special button of the Editor window, or choose Special message options from the Message pull-down menu, or press [F9]. You will be presented with the Special Options window for the current message. Enter the valid e-mail addresses in the Blind CC: field just as you would in the Cc: field of the Editor window (figure W-3).

You may send blind copies to some people and regular copies to others. You can return to the Editor window by clicking on the Editor button, or by choosing Message Editor from the Message pull-down menu, or by pressing [F8].

Forwarding Messages

Sometimes you may receive a message that you know a friend would like to read. If the sender didn't already send a copy to your friend, you can forward a copy. To do this, just click on the Forward button when you have a message highlighted in one of the folders. You can also use the Forward button at the top of the message window when reading it.

You will be presented with the Forward message to dialog (figure W-8). You need to enter a valid Internet e-mail address in the Forward to: field by typing it in, typing in an alias, or using the address book or Recently-used addresses dialog. Click on the OK button to send the message.

If you want to add your own comments to the message, you need to place a check mark in the Edit the message before forwarding checkbox. When you click on OK you will be presented with the Editor window (figure W-3). The To:, Subj:, and body of the message will be filled in. The cursor will be placed at the beginning of the message and you may edit it as you like. When you're finished click on the Send button of the Editor window (figure W-3) to send the message.

Using Aliases and an Address Book

Before you can use aliases or the Address Book, you will need to put some names and addresses in it. Use the Address book button, or choose Address books from the Addresses pull-down menu, or press [F3]. You will see the Select an address book dialog (figure W-9). If you have not yet created an address book for yourself, click on New to do so. You will be prompted for a descriptive name of the address book. You might call it "My address book" for example. Click OK to accept the name and now you will see it listed in the Select an address book dialog (figure W-9). Highlight it and click on Open to open it. You can add, delete, and edit entries in the address book by clicking on the appropriate button at the top of the address book dialog (figure W-5).

Editing or adding an entry involves filling in the Edit address book entry dialog (figure W-10). The only required field is the Name (alias): field, but you will be warned if you don't fill in the e-mail address. (Why would you be using this if you didn't enter an e-mail address?) Make sure you enter a valid e-mail address since your messages will never reach the receiver if it's wrong! Click OK after filling in all the information you want.

The address book (figure W-5) displays three columns of information for each entry: the alias (name), key, and phone number. When you select an entry, more detailed information will be displayed at the bottom of the dialog.

Once you have entries in the address book you can use the Paste button in the address book dialog (figure W-5) to enter the highlighted alias (with corresponding address) into any field requiring an address.

Sending Attachments

Sometimes you may want to send something besides a simple message, like a graphics file or a spreadsheet file. Rather than try to convert it to ASCII text in the Editor window (figure W-3), you can simply attach it as a separate file. Normally, since e-mail must be only ASCII text, a graphics file could not be sent to someone by e-mail. It would arrive in a corrupted and unusable form. Pegasus has a great deal of flexibility and options for encoding any binary file (like a graphic file) in an ASCII format which can be decoded by the receiving e-mail software. The default method used by Pegasus is a Basic MIME format. This is one of the most common and useful encoding formats, and most e-mail packages can read and decode it.

To attach a file just click on the Attach button on the left side of the Editor window, or choose Attachments from the Message pull-down menu, or press [F7]. You will be presented with the Attachments window (figure W-11) for this message. Initially no files will be listed and the Filename: field will have '*.*' in it to indicate that no filename is specified. Use the Files list box and the Directories list box to navigate to a directory and select a file. When you click on a file in the Files list box it will be placed in the Filename: field. To add it to the list of attachments for this message, just click on the Add button at the top right of the Attachments window. Likewise, you can remove a file from the list by clicking on the Remove button.

You don't need to change the settings of the File Type and Encoding: fields. The File Type field is mainly used for information only and Pegasus will, by default, choose MIME encoding which should work in most cases.

You can return to the Editor window by clicking on the Editor button, or by choosing Message Editor from the Message pull-down menu, or by pressing [F8].

It may be a good idea to include some explanation of the types of file(s) you've attached and their filenames so the receiver will not be confused. Even though Pegasus sends all the information, the receiving e-mail software may not put it all together in the same easy to read format.

Before sending an attachment to someone else, you might want to try sending a message with attachments to yourself.

Receiving Attachments

Pegasus Mail deals with attachments by creating a multi-part mail message. It's treated as one message, but it's more like separate messages. When you receive a multi-part message with Pegasus it will have a small black, square bullet next to the entry in your New mail folder. You can open it as you would a normal message, but you will not see the usual message window. Instead you will see a special message window (figure W-12) which has the usual Prev and Next buttons and an Open button. The Prev and Next buttons work as usual, letting you select a different mail message in your New mail folder (or other folder) to read. They do not select the individual parts of a multi-part message. The Open button is used to open the highlighted part of the multi-part message.

Each part of the message will be listed in this special multi-part message window showing the type of contents (usually text or binary), and a description of what that part contains. The original message body you created will be the first part described as "Mail message body". Each attachment will have two parts. The actual attachment will be preceded by a "Plain text" part labeled as "Information about this message". You can open and read this part to get more detailed information about the attachment.

The attachment part will be labeled as "File ?????, type ?????", where the question marks represent the filename and the file type specified in the Attachments window (figure W-11). When you open the actual attachment part you will be presented with a dialog (figure W-13) to tell Pegasus what you want to do with it. You can save the file to your disk or try to open the file in a normal message window. If the file does not contain only ASCII text, opening it will not be very useful. However, if you know that the file is an ASCII text file which Pegasus did not recognize as such, you can open it as a mail message with no problem.

The buttons to View or Save & Edit are only available if you have configured Pegasus to associate a specific file type with another application which can open and/or edit the file. By choosing one of these options, the application will be started with the attached file. In order to use this feature, the mail message needs to be created by Pegasus and the File Type field of the Attachments window must be properly filled in.

You can always change your mind and click on Cancel to do nothing with the attached file.

The only exception to having each attachment as two parts, a description and the actual file, is when you send an ASCII text file with an extension Pegasus recognizes as a text file. Pegasus will then assume the file is "Plain text" and only create one part described as "Text from file '?????'". Opening this part will not result in the dialog shown in figure W-13, but will open the message window and allow you to read it.

Getting Help On-line

On-line help is built in to Pegasus Mail so you do not need to be logged in to your account to use it. You can get context-sensitive help about the current window, option, or selection by pressing [F1], or by choosing Specific help from the Help pull-down menu. You can also see a comprehensive list of help topics by choosing Index from the Help pull-down menu.

There are a few more help options on the Help pull-down menu which you may find useful.

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