More Eudora FAQs, with Answers

1. How can I get Eudora to auto-respond or auto-forward?
2. How do I convert Eudora mailboxes from/to other formats?
3. How do I convert Eudora Nicknames/Address Book files to/from other formats?
4. How do I use multiple nicknames files with Eudora? or How can I store nicknames on a server?

A: Not very long ago the answer to this was simple "you can't get there from here, so set it up on the server end or use Pegasus". Now there are more possibilities.

• If you are using Eudora Light, or any version of Eudora Pro prior to Eudora Pro 3.0, there is no way you can do this using Eudora alone. See one of the following options.

• If you are using Eudora Pro 3.0 or later, you can auto-reply or auto-forward by using filters and stationery. You can even set up a mini mailing list server this way, although there are some idiosyncracies that make it less than ideal (just like trying to use a dime for a screwdriver -- it's not the right tool). See Pete Beim's Spam Filter for a good example of auto-replies in Eudora Pro 3.0. It is a little more complex than an ordinary auto-reply or auto-forward needs to be, but it covers the essentials.

• The shareware program Newman's Trombone, (US$ 15 registration fee) can filter, redirect, and auto-respond to messages, all without downloading the message from your POP server. It works independently of your main email program, so you can use it with email programs other than Eudora.

• In most cases, auto-forwarding and auto-replies are really something best done at the mail server, rather than the mail client. If you implement auto-forwarding or auto-replies at the client end (eg, Eudora) it means that you have to keep your pc running all the time with your POP password typed in. I consider that a security risk. If it's implemented at the server, you don't have to do this. Doing it at the server also reduces mail traffic on the network significantly. Andrew Starr has written up explanations on how to set up auto-forwarding and auto-replies on Unix mail servers.

• Finally, if you don't want to spend anything on Eudora or Newman's Trombone, and cannot or do not want to do it at the server, the freeware email program Pegasus Mail for Windows has many features, including auto-replies and auto-forwarding.

Q2: How do I convert my Unix, Netscape, or mailboxes from other email programs to Eudora, or vice versa?

A: In my opinion, this is where Eudora shines over most other email programs for the MS Windows world: Eudora mailbox files are in the standard Unix mailbox format (Jamie Zawinski, designer of the mail client in Netscape has written to complain that I don't mention that it, too, uses this standard format. Well, now I've mentioned it.) In addition to the information below, Roger Hill has written a General Guide on Converting to Eudora Format. It explains the main concepts clearly and gives some specific examples. There is a separate section of this page for those interested in converting Eudora Nicknames, rather than mailboxes.

Three general tips for mailbox conversions

1. If your mail program has a feature to compress or compact mailboxes, use it before attempting any conversions.
2. If you are moving from one computing platform to another, e.g., Unix to MS Windows or Mac to MS Windows, be sure that you make the appropriate end-of-line (EOL) conversion. The simplest way to do this is to transfer the files from the source computer to the destination computer using ftp in ASCII mode. If it is already too late for that, you may need to find a utility to do the conversion for you. Those converting from Unix to MS Windows might be glad to know that you can do the EOL conversion by opening the Unix file in the MS-DOS editor (edit.com) and saving it again.
3. If none of this works, you can always use the software you are switching from to email your store of saved messages to yourself, and then retrieve it using the software to which you are switching. It's not elegant, but it works. If switching from Eudora, use the Redirect option and it will preserve the header information for the original sender.

1. Transfer the mailbox files/folders from your Unix box to your PC, taking care to make the usual Unix<-->DOS end-of-line conversion. Using FTP in ASCII mode is perfect for this.
2. Put the files in the directory where you keep your Eudora mailboxes. By default, this is the same directory as the Eudora program, although it is configurable on the command line.
3. Rename the file to have an extension of .mbx
4. Restart Eudora. Eudora will automatically recognize the mailbox, and build a corresponding .toc file for you.
5. If you are transferring Pine "sent-mail*" folders, then your name will show up in the "Who" column in Eudora, rather than the recipient's name. You can avoid this by re-doing steps 2-4 above, with the following modifications:
   1. within Eudora, empty your Out mailbox, transferring messages to another mailbox as needed (you can transfer them back later),
   2. exit Eudora,
   3. name your Pine sent-mail folder out.mbx, and put it in the directory where your out.mbx file normally goes,
   4. delete out.toc in that directory (it should be 104 bytes in size),
   5. open Eudora, and your messages from the Pine sent-mail folder should appear in the Out mailbox. From here you can transfer them elsewhere, or leave them alone. You can also transfer back any saved outgoing messages that you transferred out in step (a).
   Alternatively, you can fix the name problem within Eudora by the following method, but it leaves the date field blank in the Eudora mailbox window:
   1. transferring the messages to Eudora's Out mailbox (responding "Yes" to the prompt about losing header information),
   2. transferring them back to the original mailbox (only if you don't want to keep them in the Out mailbox).
   As another alternative to dealing with the outgoing mail issue, you could edit Eudora's Out.toc file. You can learn about the mysteries of Eudora's .toc files in my compilation of notes on .toc file structure, which includes some utility programs for manipulating .toc files.

I also find this technique useful for keeping track in Eudora of messages that I have replied to using Pine, since I use both mail programs. That is, if I've replied to a message using Pine before downloading the message using Eudora, my Eudora filter will set the Eudora status to "R" as soon as it downloads it (and change the label to let me know that I replied in Pine, so I won't do a futile search all over my Eudora mailboxes trying to find my reply!). But I digress.

To convert from Eudora to Pine or others, simply do the same thing in reverse, noting that the other programs (or at least Pine) allow you to name the mailbox file/folder anything you want, so you can leave the .mbx extension as is or change it.

1. Follow the same steps as above for Unix to Eudora, noting that you want the Netscape files without any extension, (eg, Sent, Inbox, etc.), and not the files with .snm extensions (these appear to be analogous to Eudora's .toc files).
2. If you are transferring Netscape outgoing mail messages (e.g., the "Sent" folder), then your name will show up in the "Who" column in Eudora, rather than the recipient's name. You can avoid this by following the same method described for Pine sent-mail folders, namely:
   1. within Eudora, empty your Out mailbox, transferring messages to another mailbox as needed (you can transfer them back later),
   2. exit Eudora,
   3. name your Netscape Sent folder out.mbx, and put it in the directory where your out.mbx file normally goes,
   4. delete out.toc in that directory (it should be 104 bytes in size),
   5. open Eudora, and your messages from the Netscape Sent folder should appear in the Out mailbox. From here you can transfer them elsewhere, or leave them alone. You can also transfer back any saved outgoing messages that you transferred out in step (a).
   
   Alternatively, you can deal with outgoing Netscape messages by the following method, but it leaves the date field blank in the Eudora mailbox window:
   1. transferring the messages to Eudora's Out mailbox (responding "Yes" to the prompt about losing header information),
   2. transferring them back to the original mailbox (only if you don't want to keep them in the Out mailbox).
   
   For yet another alternative, you can deal with with Netscape outgoing messages by the following method. I think this one displays the date OK, but instead shows the wrong name, or no name, in the "Who" column of the mailbox display. I don't really remember any more, because I've been doing it by the first method listed for a long time, as it retains all of the correct name and date information.
   1. Close Eudora.
   2. Copy Netscape's Sent (or equivalent) mailbox to Sent.mbx and put it in the directory where your Eudora mailboxes reside.
   3. Open Eudora.
   4. Open Sent.mbx, select all messages (mouse, Ctrl-A, or shift key and cursor keys) and transfer to the Out mailbox. Say "Yes" when Eudora asks if you want to do this even though you will lose status information.
   5. If you want to transfer the messages back to Sent.mbx you can do so, and the headers should display correctly in the mailbox window.

If you want to go the other way, that is, from Eudora to Netscape, you can pretty much just reverse the steps described above.

• A.N.D. Techologies has what appears to be a comprehensive Eudora <--> Pegasus conversion utility. It is free software, and converts in either direction. I have not used the program, but according to the README file the utility will convert mailboxes, nicknames/address books, signatures, and Pegasus distribution lists. When converting from Pegasus to Eudora it will even attempt to extract relevant information from the pmail.ini file and insert it in eudora.ini, if eudora.ini does not already exist.

• Stephen Lee has written a program to convert from Pegasus to Eudora.

• Jean-Philippe Odent has written the program wpeg2eud.exe to convert Pegasus 2.x mailboxes to Eudora 3.x and 4.x mailboxes. It is claimed to be ultra-fast, capable of handling attachments, and also converts signature files, address books, and user settings (from pmail.ini file).

• Emile Heyns has written a Perl script to convert Pegasus mailboxes and trays to Eudora/Unix mbox format.

• Roger Bowen has written a Eudora to Pegasus conversion program.

1. Close Eudora if it is open.
2. Open the folder's message list in Agent.
3. Press Ctrl-a to highlight everything.
4. Click on Files/Save As.
5. Select 'UNIX message file' and 'All fields'.
6. Make sure 'Append to existing file' is not checked.
7. Navigate to the drive\directory where the Eudora data is stored, and enter somename.mbx as File Name. The .mbx is important.
8. Click on OK.
9. Now if you go to Eudora you will find a new mailbox called SOMENAME with all your agent folder's messages in it.
10. Nick also reports that Agent "...will also happily import a Eudora .mbx direct into a folder."

• Despite the title of the page, Slipstick Systems' page on Converting Addresses and Messages to Microsoft Exchange, also has some information on converting mailboxes from Microsoft Exchange to various email programs, including Eudora.

• Use the same convoluted process noted above for MS Mail to Eudora, employing the FixHead utility, for converting from Microsoft Exchange to Eudora.

• Brian Hook has written a C program to do this. You can get his m2e program and complete instructions (with source code) or just the annotated source code. Brian reports that "It works JUST well enough to get all my mail converted (some 2000 messages)." Many users say that Brian is too modest, and that his program works flawlessly. In fact, I haven't heard anyone say otherwise, but just in case....

• If Brian's program doesn't work for you, an alternative is to add one more step to the convoluted process described above for Microsoft Mail to Eudora or Exchange to Eudora. First you need to export your MS Internet Mail messages to MS Exchange format (which is an option in MS Internet Mail), and then proceed with the process for Exchange to Eudora.

• Christopher Burke has written the free program e2m to convert Eudora mailboxes to Microsoft's Internet Mail program format. You can find it at his free stuff page. When announcing the program he made the following comments (among others):
  1. I wrote it, it is available completely with Delphi 2.0 source code - so don't bug me about it. Feel free to make it better and upload it (with suitable credits).
  2. Microsoft didn't write it so don't bug them about it.
  3. Don't post questions about it on Eudora newsgroups.
  4. It works on my 1M (360 message) in box so who knows where else it will work.
  5. It converts only one folder at a time.
  6. MS IM will ask you to fix the folder when you start up - this is just MS IM creating its index file.

• Gary Oberbrunner has taken Chris Burke's program to convert from Eudora to Microsoft Internet Mail and re-written it as a Perl script. Gary has improved upon the original program by allowing the user to specify multiple mailbox files/folders on the command line, rather than converting them one by one (see Chris Burke's point 5 above). Gary has generously made the source publicly available, for free.
  NOTE: Gary says that he has used the program on Unix mail files. As Eudora uses the same format as most Unix-based mail clients, it should work fine for Eudora as well.

• Slipstick Systems has a useful page Converting Addresses and Messages to Microsoft Exchange, that has fairly detailed instructions on converting mailboxes from various email programs, including Eudora, to Microsoft Exchange and other Microsoft products.

• Probably the most direct route for this is to use Chris Burke's e2m program, available from his free stuff page to first convert Eudora mailboxes to Microsoft's Internet Mail program format. Then open MS Internet Mail and export the documents to Exchange format. If you do not have MS Internet Mail, maybe Exchange can import the MS IM-format files directly. If Exchange cannot do that, they you may be stuck downloading MS Internet Mail from Microsoft and installing it to do the conversion.

• There is also program to convert from Eudora to MS Exchange Server. A short document at the site states: "This tool allows migration from SMTP mail clients (e.g. Eudora, Pegasus, Unix, Netscape, CMS) to Exchange Server." I have read elsewhere that this does not work with the Microsoft Exchange client.

For Z-Mail for Windows 6.0 and later, Stephen White has written a set of Perl scripts to convert from Z-Mail to Eudora.

• Tom Gitlin has written the program mail2txt, a utility that allows you to bulk-extract messages from Eudora (or other Unix-standard) mailbox files and store the extracted messages as pure text or HTML files. The utility also includes a separate function to set file date/time information to any value desired (within operating system limitations). The program is a 32-bit application that only works under Windows95 and Windows NT. It is shareware; the registration fee is US$5, or US$10 for electronic updates.

• Hypermail is a free program that takes a file of mail messages in Eudora (or other Unix-style) mailbox format and generates a set of cross-referenced HTML documents. Each fi le that is created represents a separate message in the mail archive and contains links to other articles, so that the entire archive can be browsed in a number of ways by following links. To complement each set of HTML messages, four index files are cre ated which sort the articles by date received, thread, subject, and author. Each entry in these index files are links to the individual articles and provide a bird's-eye view of every archived message.

Q3: How do I convert Eudora Nicknames/Address Book files to/from other formats?

A: It's not a conversion utility per se, but my notes on Eudora Nickname file structure might provide some useful background information to those interested in converting Nicknames and address books. The following links may help you do what you want.

• Joseph Davidson is actively developing various web-based Nickname/Address Book conversion tools, and I find it hard to keep up with all he is doing. Your best bet is to go to Joseph's Interguru page, especially his section on Convert Mail Address Lists for the latest information. As of May 1, 1997, he has converters for all combinations of Eudora, Netscape, Pine, Elm, Pegasus, Database/Spreadsheet/Tabbed-ASCII, Compuserve, Spry Mail, Microsoft Internet Mail, cc:Mail, and Ldif formatted files.

• Aron Roberts has written the adrbkcnv program (it appears to be a collection of Perl scripts), which converts various address book formats to Eudora nicknames format, including Pine address books, Quick Mail address book files (but not groups files), and NUPop groups definitions files. He also has scripts to convert Eudora nicknames files from Mac to MS Windows and vice versa.

• Slipstick Systems has a useful page Converting Addresses and Messages to Microsoft Exchange, that has fairly detailed instructions on converting address books from various email programs, including Eudora, to Microsoft Exchange and other Microsoft products. It also has some useful information about doing the opposite conversion, from Microsoft Exchange to other products.

• PAB-List is a tool to convert MS Mail (non-internet) personal address books to a text file, from which it may be converted to the format Eudora uses. An additional program is included with the package to do this conversion.

• Scan_PAB is a DOS utility that Windows 95 users may use to export their Microsoft Exchange Personal Address Book (usually mailbox.pab) to a Eudora nicknames file.

• The QMAB Converter by Kashif Qayyum, et al. converts Quick Mail address books and groups files to Eudora nicknames.

• PABCVT is a free MAPI-based utility written by Jim Mischel to convert Microsoft Exchange Personal Address Book entries to Eudora Address Book format.

A: If you use Eudora Light, you can't. If you use Eudora Pro, there are two ways of using multiple nicknames files. Only one of them works for nicknames stored on a network server. Some users will also find it worthwhile to read my notes on Eudora Nickname file structure and Creating Additional Nickname/Address Book Files within Eudora.

• Storing nicknames on a network server
  [By the way, this is covered in the official Eudora FAQ, as well as on page 96 of the Eudora Pro 2.1 manual (at least it's p.96 in my .pdf copy, others seem to find it on different pages, such as p.86). It is also on pages 83-84 of the Eudora Pro 3.0 manual.]
  Contrary to what some people believe, you cannot store your nicknames on a POP server. However, you can store them on a network drive (file server) that you mount as a local drive through normal networking software (Novell, Win95 or WFW networking, etc.). This makes it easy for users on a network to share a common nicknames file. Simply edit the eudora.ini file, creating or modifying a line with the ExtraNicknameDirs= option pointing to the drive and directory where the shared nicknames file is located, for example, if the nicknames files are in the Z:\mail directory, you would add:
  ExtraNicknameDirs=Z:\mail\

  Multiple directories are supported. Just separate the directory entries with a semi-colon, like so: ExtraNicknameDirs=Z:\mail\;Y:\customers;Y:\support

• Using multiple nicknames files on your local computer
  One way to do this is to follow the same instructions as above for storing nicknames on a network file server, and simply put the directory where your extra nicknames file(s) is/are stored on the ExtraNicknameDirs= line in eudora.ini.

  The other way is explained in the Qualcomm FAQ , and in the Eudora Pro manual (p.95 in my copy of the 2.1 manual, pages 83-84 of the Eudora 3.0 manual). When you read either of these sources, just remember that the directory you create to store the additional nickname files is called nickname, and is a sub-directory of the directory that holds your Eudora .ini file (which, by default, is called eudora.ini and located in the same directory as the Eudora executable). For example, if your Eudora configuration file is the typical:

  c:\eudora\eudora.ini
  

  then you should put the additional nicknames file(s) in:

  c:\eudora\nickname\
  

  But if you use a less conventional configuration, and your Eudora configuration file is:

  c:\mail\fred.ini
  

  then you should put the additional nicknames file(s) in:

  c:\mail\nickname\
  

This page written by Ken Simler on April 26, 1996.
Last updated on February 19, 1998.
HTML source copyright © Kenneth Simler, 1996 1997 1998.
Comments and suggestions for new links welcomed.