Simple Mail Handler

Simple Mail Handler is an add-in, distributed in the BackOffice or Exchange Resource Kit, for automatically processing incoming messages. It includes some features not supported in Inbox Assistant or Rules Wizard. Because it installs as a MAPI service provider, it is not compatible with Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 operating in Internet Mail Only mode.

Features | Installation | Usage | Known Issues | More Information

Features

SMH's automatic message processing features include:

Installation

1. Install the correct version from the Resource Kit for your operating system.
2. If there is an Smh.exe file, run it to extract the setup files.
3. Copy the Smh32.dll version for your processer (I386, Alpha, etc.) to the Windows\System or WinNT\System32 folder.
4. In the folder where you put the setup files, run "mergeini.exe -m .\smh.inf" to update Mapisvc.inf.
5. In Control Panel, Mail and Fax (or Tools | Services in Exchange), add the Sample [sic] Mail Handler service to your profile.
6. 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 archive sent or deleted mail:

1. In Control Panel, choose the Mail and Fax icon.
2. Select the Services tab, and then select Sample Mail Handler
3. Choose Properties, and then select the General tab.
4. 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.
5. 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):

1. In Control Panel, choose the Mail and Fax icon.
2. Select the Services tab, and then select Sample Mail Handler
3. Choose Properties, and then select the General tab.
4. Under Sent Mail, select Add recipients to personal address book.

To enable filtering of incoming mail:

1. In Control Panel, choose the Mail and Fax icon.
2. Select the Services tab, and then select Sample Mail Handler
3. Choose Properties, and then select the General tab.
4. Under Incoming Mail, select Enable filtering of inbound messages.
5. Create at least one filter as described in the following procedure.

To create or edit a filter for inbound messages:

1. In Control Panel, choose the Mail and Fax icon.
2. Select the Services tab, and then select Sample Mail Handler
3. Choose Properties, and then select the Filters tab.
4. Choose New or select an existing filter, and then choose Properties.
5. In the Filter Name box, type a name for the filter.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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:

1. Choose Tools, Services, bring up the properties for the Sample [sic] Mail Handler.
2. Select the Out-of-Office tab.
3. In the Out-of-office Message box, type your message. This box supports full rich text formatting.
4. Select Enable out of office handling.

To move SMN filters to another computer:

1. Choose Tools, Services, bring up the properties for the Sample [sic] Mail Handler.
2. Select the Filters tab.
3. Choose Export, then enter a file name for the filter export file.
4. On the other computer, install the Simple Mail Handler, and go to the Filters tab as described in steps 1 through 2.
5. 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

More Information

Updated Jul 15 2008

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