=================================================================== Mail Signature v1.7 - by: Chris Hall (hall@wei.sk.ca) Tags feature and fix for Win95 Exchange use added by Rocky Rapson (rapsonr@emh.kadena.af.mil) =================================================================== Disclaimer ========== This is most definitly a non Microsoft(R) product and is certainly not supported by Microsoft(R). Use this program at your own descretion, and test it in your own environment. Description =========== This program is used for adding your own personal text based signature message to the bottom of a mail message. In brief, this is basically a macro that inserts a text file from a location on the local C: drive. The program was developed in Visual Basic. It makes use of the Windows clipboard, and the SendKeys function in VB. It does not make use of MAPI, but very well could in future releases if I find a high demand for other features. Installation ============ This program requires two supporting files to run. VBRUN300.DLL - Visual Basic runtime library (available at most FTP sites) APPEXEC.DLL - Library to launch executables from MS Mail (Included in this Zip File) VBRUN300.DLL is generally placed in the \windows\system directory of the local PC. However, it can also be placed on a network drive that is part of every PC's path statement. It can also be placed in the same directory as the Visual Basic executable you are running. If you decide to run this application from a network drive, this can make installation quick and easy. APPEXEC.DLL can be placed in the \windows\system directory as well, but the same rules apply to it as the VBRUN300.DLL for locations. I have placed this file on the network, then I tell MS Mail where to find it in the settings described below. Here is the line you need to add to your MSMAIL.INI to add a new menu to the existing MS Mail menu selection. [Custom Menus] Tools=3.0;T&ools;Window;Tools - "Tools" is an identifier - "3.0" version of the development environment - "T&ools" is what will show up in the menu - "Window" indicates the position your new menu will show up. In this case, it will show up before the "Window" menu. - "Tools" don't remember what this is for. NOTE: This above is not needed when using MailSig with MS Exchange. I've provided a separate Custom Command entry to put the "Signature" option under the "Insert" menu. Here is the line you need to add to you MSMAIL.INI to add the new menu item to a menu. NOTE: this is all on one single line under the [Custom Commands] section. If your text editor wraps this line, make certain you turn wraping off. [Custom Commands] MailSig1=3.0; Tools;&Insert Signature;1;C:\MSMAIL\APPEXEC.DLL;C:\MSMAIL\MAILSIG.EXE;0010000000000000;Mail Signature;;; - "MailSig1" is just a label - "3.0" version of the development environment - "Tools" is the menu location you want to add the menu selection - "&Insert Signature" is what shows in the menu - "1" position in the menu from the top - "C:\MSMAIL\APPEXEC.DLL" is used for launching the executable from MS Mail - "C:\MSMAIL\MAILSIG.EXE" is the executable to run when this menu is selected. - "0010000000000000" are MS Mail event flags. This pattern tells the system to activate this menu item only when in the compose window of Mail - "Mail Signature" is the menu description that shows up in the bottom status bar of MS Mail If you are using MailSig with MS Exchange in Windows 95, I believe it makes more sense to put the "Signature" option under the "Insert" menu in the Compose window. If you agree, use the following line instead of the one above: MailSig1=3.0;Insert;&Signature;0;C:\MSMAIL\APPEXEC.DLL;C:\MSMAIL\MAILSIG.EXE;0010000000000000;Mail Signature;;; Network Installation ==================== If you use the global SHARED.INI then you can add these same lines to Shared.INI to make the changes global through an entire Post Office. Then you could place the VBRUN300.DLL, APPEXEC.DLL and MAILSIG.EXE files on a network drive somewhere. Example entries in my SHARED.INI: ----------------- [Custom Menus] Tools=3.0;T&ools;Window;Tools (Not needed with Exchange - Rocky) [Custom Commands] MailSig1=3.0; Tools;&Insert Signature;1;s:\mail\add\appexec.dll;s:\mail\add\MAILSIG.EXE;0010000000000000;Mail Signature;;; ----------------- We have a U:\ drive for all our network PC's and U:\ is in the path, so our VBRUN300.DLL is located there along with several other shared .DLL's, .EXE's and .BAT's. We have several VB programs and hundreds of PC's so this is the easiest method of implimentation for me. Options ------- To change the location where the insertion takes place, add the following entry to your MSMAIL.INI file: [MailSig] InsertAtEnd=0 0 - insert at cursur location (default) 1 - insert at the end of the message text SigFile=x:\dirpath\filename.ext (default is c:\msmail\mail.sig) TagFile=x:\dirpath\filename.ext (default is c:\msmail\tags.txt) Updates ------- v1.0 - first release v1.1 - fixed VB form Control, checked for missing sigfile v1.2 - allow for customized insertion point, setting in msmail.ini v1.3 - allow for variable location of signature text file, setting in msmail.ini (see options) v1.4 - allow for French or English MS Mail versions. (see options) v1.5 - fixed beeping problem. Uses clipboard to transfer data to mail message instead of SendKeys. Still not MAPI. There is no need for the "Lang=" line in MSMAIL.INI with this method, so the program no longer checks for it. (v1.4 removed) v1.6 - added random tag line insertion with signature file. If there is no tags.txt file, the option is skipped. (feature added by Rocky Rapson) v1.7 - fixed a small bug that caused the sig file lines to run together when used with Exchange. Changed the menu location to put a signature option under the Insert menu (Rocky Rapson) Documentation update to reflect Tool menu access to reflect ALT-O combonation rather than ALT-T. This was conflicting with ALT-T moving to the TO: text box. Thanks goes out to Oliver Kelly for this change. Author of this Deal ------------------- If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to send me a message. This is "freeware" and can be distributed, I can not make any promises for future enhancements. I did this strictly to help out my users, and I know there is a demand to have some other features in MS Mail. Hopefully this type of program will be obsolete in the next version of MS Mail. Chris Hall - Applications Technical Analyst Phone: (306)781-8217 Wascana Energy Inc. Fax: (306)781-8544 Regina, Saskatchewan CANADA Internet: hall@wei.sk.ca X.400: /C=ca/A=telecom.canada/P=wascana.mhs/O=wascana/Ou=regina/S=hall ========================================================================