OE Classic discussions and updates

Mailto works here (via Firefox and MS Edge after adding OE to the default email client in Windows). However, opening eml files in Windows Explorer does not work yet, so the default email feature does not seem to be fully implemented yet.

 

New version of OE Classic PRO v3.2 available (2021-03-24):

New features:
[2021-03-22] New localization file - Ukrainian
[2021-03-24] Improved HTML rendering using IE11 engine

Bugfix:
[2021-03-24] Tab key in preview pane no longer jumps through message viewer links

- I would have put the "improved rendering" in the column "Bugfixes/Improvements". Since Windows 10 still comes with Internet Explorer, I assume that OEC still will be using the IE 11 rendering engine for a long long time to come.
- Alas, no progress on the "Default Email Client" front.

 

Thanks. Some notes by me:

1.
OE Classic Pro 3.2 beta (24 Mar 2021)

2.
The following wording has been changed:
[+] [2021-03-14] Set as default program for "mailto:" links and "Email Link" option in some web browsers
It has been changed into:
[+] [2021-03-14] Set as default program for "mailto:" links and "Email Link" functionality in some web browsers

3.
I don't see yet the credits for the Ukrainian translation in the About Tab. Maybe that will come later. Maybe the translator doesn't want it. That's of course not up to me.

 

- OEC didn't contain an option to make OEC the default email client. So, the word "functionality " better describes what's going on.
- The ukrainian translation is "not complete".
- I brought the same "translation credfits" issue to the attention of the developers and they say that not every one wants his name mentioned in the "About"" tab.
- Previous post edited.

 

New features :
* [2021-03-14] Set as default program for "mailto:" links and "Email Link" functionality in some web browsers
Well, don't know what browsers, tried Firefox, Opera, Avast Secure Browser, none of them mailto works.

 

- One of the improvements in OEC v3.2 PRO released on March 9, 2021 was:

"Improved "mailto:" URI scheme parser supporting UTF-8 characters and the fields To/Cc/Bcc/Subject/Body/In-Reply-To"

For OEC to become the "Default Email Client" there are still a number of things to be done first. And this improvement is one of them.This information was buried deep in the OEC Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/oeclassic)

(Post updated at 16h25, March 27, 2021):
- New update available for OEC PRO v3.2 (March 27, 2021):

[+] [2021-03-27] Options/Advanced: Browser engine (IE7-legacy for obsolete stationery, IE-Edge for modern engine).

 

Ok, I missed the latest update today, see now only Edge can handle it so far, that works, no more browsers at the moment.
Still cannot set it as default e-mailclient in Windows, OE Classic is not in the list.

 

From the OEC Facebook page (dated 27-03-2021):

Spoiler

- Now you can set OE Classic as default client for mailto: links (soon also for .EML files).
- New IE11 (IE-Edge) engine will improve rendering of some newer emails like newsletters and other emails using modern HTML features like HTML 5. However, it also will create issues with 15-20 years old stationery. Since it is impossible to satisfy both worlds - have full compatibility with legacy stationery and render modern HTML, we've added this option to choose which engine OE Classic will use. "IE7 (legacy)" - acts exactly like before. "IE-Edge" - uses more recent HTML rendering engine.
- Our recommendation to stationery users is to rewrite legacy stationery to be compatible with the IE-Edge and Edge Chromium (web browser) engines. This way you ensure future compatibility and you don't depend on the obsolete browser engine. As IE engine will eventually be removed entirely from Windows by Microsoft (although when exactly, it is unknown), for us it is not possible to rely on obsolete technology. Which is why these transitioning steps are being done to allow moving into modern HTML rendering. This does not mean the end for stationery - quite the contrary - modern stationery using HTML5/CSS3/SVG can do all the things which obsolete engine is unable to do, but the old scripts have to be rewritten if you would like to use them. IE engine won't be in the operating system forever, so relying on old technology is not a great idea. Consider this as a challenge of learning something new, rather than being stuck with the same old.
The default value is IE-Edge, but can be changed through Options.
- When a received email message contains a "mailto:" link, clicking that link opens new Message Editor window with the email address automatically filled in for composing a new message. These links can contain To/Cc/Bcc/Subject/Body/In-Reply-To fields. Previously these fields were not supported, so basically only the To field was used. If there were Subject or other fields, these were all incorrectly placed into the To field. This is no longer the case - these fields are now properly separated into designated email message fields. International characters using UTF-8 (percent-encoding) are supported as well per RFC-6068 (original OE6 did not support this since it is a newer RFC). Special attention to details was done as well, for example, if a "mailto:" URI doesn't contain a subject, the text cursor is placed into the "Subject" field for quicker composition, otherwise if there is a subject present, then it is placed into the "To" field like before. This new decoder will very soon be used for clicking "mailto:" links in a web browser which will then open OE Classic message editor again.
- Percent-encoded URLs are decoded to show international characters in the status bar when hovering over links using the mouse pointer
Due to fact that modern URLs can contain international characters, not just ASCII, previously, when hovering with mouse pointer over such links you would see percent-encoded characters. These are now decoded to show you the URL using the international characters and make it easily readable. The same is done for mailto: and http/https URLs. Again, we took special care of the details but also security, for example, if URL contains CRLF (new line) characters which would normally make part of the URL invisible as it would be split in more lines while the status bar shows only one line, these are automatically converted into text [^r][^n] so they remain visible as a single line (and avoid potential abuse/misleading links using new lines in such links).

 

New version of OEC PRO v3.2 available:

New feature:
[+] [2021-04-06] Set as default program for opening external .EML files (also "Open with" shell menu).

 

It actually works. Thank you.

 

But what exactly do these words mean:

a - that is now the default setting
b - you have the option to set it that way

That is a difference! Sometimes words do matter.

 

Choosing the default program for opening .EML files is always up to the user, so it cannot be option a). Consequently, you now have the option to choose OE Classic as your default program to open .EML files.

Here's some background info from Facebook:

(Emphasis in bold type mine.)

 

IMHO the wording should be for example:
Option to set OE Classic as default program for opening external .EML files (also "Open with" shell menu)

 

Agreed. The word option makes it sufficiently clear that it is now possible to open external .EML files with OE Classic if the user makes this email client the default app for opening such files.

 

FINALLY! This is what I've been waiting for. OE Classic is just about perfect now. I'm glad I purchased the Pro. It was worth the wait.

 

- I would describe the new feature(s) as follows: Upon installation OEC automatically (!!!) - the user can't select this during the installation - adds to the Windows/Explorer shell the option to 1) open a *.EML file with OEC and 2) make OEC the default application for opening an *.EML file. But these new features hook into, use the existing (software) mechanisms already available in Windows.

 

Ok, I did that and now it works, click a mailto link and OEC opens but.... the new massage window is in the background. Not such a big problem.

Still cannot right click a file in explorer and choose sent to ( as attachment ) ?

 

You're right, this doesn't work (yet).

I would also like to be able to drag emails from OE Classic to Windows Explorer or to any other location on my computer (to my desktop, to different drives, etc.). This doesn't work, either. I know that you can save your OE Classic emails in Windows explorer, but dragging them from OE Classic right to your desktop, Windows Explorer, etc. would be much more convenient. This works with Outlook, but, unfortunateley, this does not work with OE Classic.

 

(April 14, 2021): New OEC PRO version v3.2 Beta available.

- No details about what has changed. But I noticed that the ukrainian translation has been updated.

 

Little fix on the 'set as default' feature, compability on some Windows versions.

(paraphrasing it)

 

(April 18, 2021): New OEC PRO Beta version v3.2 available.

Bugfix: Right-to-left document wasn't properly set when opening RTL drafts

This version has an extra file called "OecSMapi.dll". Does this mean that future support for "Simple MAPI" is planned / coming ?

MAPI:
https://www.remosoftware.com/info/imap-vs-mapi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAPI

 

Thanks @Willy2 !

This file: C:\Program Files (x86)\OEClassic\DLL\oecsmapi.dll
I still have to read at those links you gave.
I'm not sure why this file has no version number. I would have expected that ...

=====

OE Classic Pro 3.2 beta (20 April 2021) released

Alas, again no new changelog ...

That happened also for example for the 14 April 2021 update.
At that time I asked in private about it, got an answer. But I'm not going to quote from emails. Hence my paraphrasing in reply #445
Whether there is more info at social media for this latest update, I don't know; I refuse to use them.

 

- "OecSMapi.dll": Then OEC will be able to communicate with Microsoft Exchange. But it seems MAPI isn't updated by Microsoft anymore ......

 

I checked at Facebook.

(Short answer to the main reason for the update)

"The background pictures (Format / Background Picture... in the Message Editor) didn't show when "IE-Edge" engine was used, but they showed properly when "IE7-legacy" was selected. It was puzzling because [cont...]
The problem was noticed by stationery users as they use background pictures so this mostly applies to those users.
There was also another smaller bug with temporary files containing invalid data, but this was a minor problem and is now also fixed."

(Also from a comment)
I noticed a new file called "OecSMapi.dll". Is support for MAPI "around the corner" ??
Answer:
yes, that is what it is for. But it is not yet complete. It will be soon.

 

Thanks Willy2 and honey46222 for the info.