Mail folders are in standard *NIX format

O

obfus

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Here's a nifty thing I discovered:

The format used by OSX Mail is the same as the standard *NIX mail format.

This means that you can take the files from a UNIX or Linux mail account (such as Netscape or mail) and transfer it right into Mail without having to convert anything.

Just create a new folder with the .mbox extension in your Mailboxes folder and copy the Unix file that corresponds to that folder into it. Run Mail and open that folder. Mail does everything else.

I'm gonna figure out how to get my Linux Netscape and OSX Mail to share the same file :)
 
Actually, this is the format Netscape on Mac uses as well, and perhaps others. It's more or less the standard.
 
Originally posted by obfus

This means that you can take the files from a UNIX or Linux mail account (such as Netscape or mail) and transfer it right into Mail without having to convert anything.
Click to expand...

Just to add to the list, Pine and Eudora also use the Unix mailbox format! YaY! :)

Krishen
 
Originally posted by asterizk
Originally posted by obfus

This means that you can take the files from a UNIX or Linux mail account (such as Netscape or mail) and transfer it right into Mail without having to convert anything.
Click to expand...

Just to add to the list, Pine and Eudora also use the Unix mailbox format! YaY! :)

Krishen
Click to expand...

So then how do you get a Eudora (for mac) mailbox into the Mail program? I tried a straight drag from eudora to the relevant Mail mailbox and all it does when I launch Mail is quit immediately.

 
I had the same luck with trying to put Netscape for Mac mail folders under mail. If I tried to read a mail folder that came from Netscape, Mail ran for a while, then quit. Netscape mail folders under Mac OS 9 and earlier seem to have at least two components: <<foldername>> and <<foldername.snm>>. A folder which has subfolders gets an .sbd extension. I've been unable to figure out how to map these files to the corresponding Mail files, which seem to be comprised of a folder with the form <<foldername.mbox>>, containing the files mbox, mbox.index, table_of_contents, and info.plist.

Has anyone had any luck importing files from Netscape Macintosh into Mail?
 
so then would there be a way to use mail to access an existing pine account. Actually this is something i have been interested in. If anyone everheres of somesort of cgi that can access an existing pine account including folders through a bowser would you please let me know.
 
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