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sr_erick
Senior Member
USA
1318 Posts |
 Posted - 05 May 2004 : 01:12:29
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redbrad0 and I are in the middle of creating (or trying to) create a webmail program. Right now we are using an ASP component called ASPpop3 to authenticate and gather e-mail from the pop server. For compatability with other mail server, this is the guaranteed way to go but it has a drawback, it is slow, and the more messages in an inbox, the slower it gets. A couple of proposed ideas we both have are the following.
1. Authenticate to the mail server using the ASPpop3 component, get the physical path the the mail (if it's on the same server) and using the file system to deliver the mail to the webmail interface. We would need to sort through some problems with this though, like for read and unread mail, etc. Personally I think this would be the best route. Additional folders can be created and maintained using the filesystem that the mail server uses for sent messages, and other misc folders.
2. We could use a MSSQL database. Upon opening up the webmail, the email would be copied over to the database and deleted from the mailserver file system. This would not allow the user to collect thier mail using a pop client installed on thier computers, but it would speed up things such as organizing, moving around in the program, and searching for mail...all that stuff.
3. Another option would be to leave the mail on the server and in the database, for external client reasons. When mail is deleted from the database, it is deleted from the filesystem, and visaversa.
One drawback is the duplication of information.
Either way, we are kind of stuck. The webmail where I work uses IMAP to authenticate, and SMB/CIFS to transfer the messages and display them to the user. Even the address book is stored in a text file, in that persons folder on the mail server and is grabbed using the IMAP protocal. The database interaction there is very little, but it seems to work well. Anyone have any suggestions of what the best way would be? I'm not worried about compatability so much, but I want speed, and to be able to use an external pop client. I think brad wants just speed and no external pop client. 
Here's a link to what we have so far...it uses the ASPpop3 to authenticate and pull the info to the application.
www.snitzbitz.com/webmail2 |
Erick
Snowmobile Fanatics
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Edited by - sr_erick on 05 May 2004 01:13:26 |
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redbrad0
Advanced Member
USA
3725 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 01:34:36
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| Erick basically described everything that is going on. I know there are web based apps out there, but we want to write it from scratch. I think the best option would be to insert it into the database while leaving it on the email server and then if its deleted using the webmail then it will delete it from the mail server. But what if its deleted from a pop3 client? |
Brad
Oklahoma City Online Entertainment Guide
Oklahoma Event Tickets |
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Doug G
Support Moderator
USA
6493 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 14:27:29
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It took MS a couple years and versions to get a decent Outlook Web Access to work right. This won't be a trivial task but if you have "too much time on your hands ..."
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Doug G
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Computer history and help at www.dougscode.com |
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DavidRhodes
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1222 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 15:06:11
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Out of interest, why did you choose to do it in ASP? I wrote a small system to retrieve mail from POP3 boxes at my last work-place using ASP.NET and .NET Windows Services and it was extremely fast.
Have a look at this for some inspiration, this has some nice features incorporated
http://www.smartertools.com/Products/SmarterMail/Overview.aspx
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The UK MkIVs Forum |
Edited by - DavidRhodes on 05 May 2004 15:08:49 |
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sr_erick
Senior Member
USA
1318 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 16:25:50
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David, are there any tutorials for something using the .NET Windows Services? I'm not sure I exactly understand what that is.
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Erick
Snowmobile Fanatics
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DavidRhodes
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1222 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 16:31:37
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.Net Windows Services are extremely easy, unfortunately I didn't "borrow"  my code before I left though. If you are using VS.NET it creates the appropriate templates for you.
It's easier than you think, trust me I was daunted at first! There are plenty of examples on the web. Mine used the timer class to call a function every x minutes eg. download email every 10 minutes |
The UK MkIVs Forum |
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DavidRhodes
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1222 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 16:33:31
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quote:
Originally posted by sr_erick
I'm not sure I exactly understand what that is.
Windows Services = run in the background without any use interaction |
The UK MkIVs Forum |
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sr_erick
Senior Member
USA
1318 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 16:34:54
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| I do have VS.NET on disk, I might have to install it and look at some things. This link you gave, this is a complete mail server and webmail application all in one? |
Erick
Snowmobile Fanatics
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DavidRhodes
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1222 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 16:38:19
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quote:
Originally posted by sr_erick
I do have VS.NET on disk, I might have to install it and look at some things. This link you gave, this is a complete mail server and webmail application all in one?
I think so, I haven't used that to be honest but I use several of there other products which are very good. |
The UK MkIVs Forum |
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DavidRhodes
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1222 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 16:41:23
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| All there products are free to a single domain so it's worth checking out. |
The UK MkIVs Forum |
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Classicmotorcycling
Development Team Leader
Australia
2084 Posts |
Posted - 05 May 2004 : 19:28:16
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| Have you tried Jmail Box? It is a freeware software and totally written in ASP. Nice and easy to get working. The only requirement is that Dimac Jmail be installed on the server. Just incase you wanted to know. |
Cheers,
David Greening |
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redbrad0
Advanced Member
USA
3725 Posts |
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Gremlin
General Help Moderator
New Zealand
7528 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2004 : 02:37:02
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Personally I quite like JMailbox as well, it's based on JMail, 100% ASP, simple to modify and free, it's pretty basic but I don't like anything flashy when it comes to webmail.
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Kiwihosting.Net - The Forum Hosting Specialists
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