Emailchemy

User Manual

Copyright © 2002-2006, Weird Kid Software LLC

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Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
   • Supported E-mail Applications and Formats
   • "Try Before You Buy"
   • Trademark Notice
2. Using Emailchemy
   • System Requirements
   • Installing
   • Running Emailchemy
   • The Emailchemy Toolbox
     • Email Conversion Wizard
     • Advanced Email Conversion
     • IMAP ImportServer
     • Mailbox Splitter
     • Mac OS X Mail Cleaner
   • Emailchemy Preferences/Options
3. Helpful Tips
   • Finding your email files to be converted
   • Moving your email to a different operating system
   • Importing your converted mail into another email application
     • Outlook
     • Outlook Express
     • Netscape, Mozilla, or Thunderbird
     • Eudora
     • Mac OS X Mail
     • Entourage
     • All other email applications
   • Using maildir formats
   • Using the CSV format
   • Converting email from Outlook or Exchange
   • Converting email from Claris Emailer 1.x
   • Converting email from Claris Emailer 2.x
   • Converting email from Entourage and OE5 Mac
   • Converting email from QuickMail Pro
   • Converting other formats
   • Troubleshooting Emailchemy
4. Purchasing Emailchemy
   • Registering your copy of Emailchemy

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Introduction

Emailchemy can also host your converted mail in its own IMAP mail server, providing you an easy way to import mail into your new email application.

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"Try Before You Buy"

Emailchemy is distributed as "trialware". This means that we allow you to download and try out our software, but some features may be limited or disabled until Emailchemy is purchased and then registered with a valid registration key.

However, the disabled features will not prevent you from determining if Emailchemy can indeed translate your email files. The trial version will simply replace certain mail headers with something like "Please buy me".

Trademark Notice

Emailchemy is a trademark of Weird Kid Software LLC. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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Using Emailchemy

System Requirements

Emailchemy will run on any modern, java-enabled computer. For Macintosh computers, Emailchemy requires Mac OS X, version 10.2.6 or higher with the Java 1.4.1 update 1 installed.

For computers running any version of Windows, Linux, Solaris, or UNIX, Emailchemy requires that Java, version 1.4.1 or higher, be installed. The latest version of Java for your computer is always available as a free download from http://java.sun.com/getjava.

If you are not sure which Java version you already have, you can check by typing "java -version" at a command-line in the appropriate terminal application for your operating system. You should see something like this:

Installing

Emailchemy for Windows and UNIX/Linux is distributed as an executable that will install itself. All you need to do is start the installer program and answer any questions about where to put Emailchemy and its shortcuts. Although, we recommend you just use the default settings of the installer.

Emailchemy for Mac OS X is distributed as a disk image (.dmg). To install, double click the disk image file and follow the directions.

Running Emailchemy

Depending on your operating system, you'll double-click the Emailchemy icon, select it from your Start menu, or start it at the command line. As Emailchemy starts for the first time, you'll be asked to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA). If you don't accept the agreement, Emailchemy will not run.

Note: The screenshots in this user manual were taken on a Mac OS X system. If you are using another operating system, you'll see the same window but it will look more like the style of the other applications on your computer.

Now, select the folder or file that the wizard is asking for by clicking the "Browse..." button and then click "Convert". You'll be asked to select a destination and format before you click "Save" in the window that pops up. For more information on how to do this part, please see Selecting the Output Format and Destination section.

To start over, click "Previous". Otherwise, you're done!

Converting Email using the Advanced Interface

Converting email using the standard interface works like this:

1. Add your old email files to the Email Files list
2. Click the Convert button
3. Select the destination format and destination
4. Click the Save button

We'll walk you through it the first time.

Adding to the Email Files list

The Email Files list is the central focus of the Emailchemy main window. You need to add to this list the email files that you want to convert. To do this, click the "Add File..." button that is just below the Email Files list. You'll then see a standard file open window titled "Select Email Files for Translation".

Find the file or files that you want to convert using the file browser. Before selecting or highlighting the individual files, you'll need to select the format of the file. For example, if the file you are trying to convert is from Claris Emailer, select "Claris Emailer" from the "Format" drop-down list box in the lower left-hand portion of this screen. Then, select the files in the file browser window and click "Select". At this point, the "Select Email Files for Translation" window will close and you'll see your selections appear in the Email Files list on the main window. You can repeat this step as many times as you want in order to add more selections to the Email Files list.

Tip: To add multiple files at the same time, use the "select all" convention appropriate to your operating system in the file selection window (i.e. shift-click, ctrl-a, ctrl-click, or option-click).

When you are done selecting the files to be converted, your filled-in main window will look something like the above picture.

From here, you can remove files from the conversion list, add more, or clear it out completely. One more thing that you can choose to do at this point though is that you can select "Save..." from the File menu to save the list of files that you've selected for conversion. Consequently, you could also open a previously saved conversion list.

Selecting the Output Format and Destination

Now you need to select what you want to convert your old email files to. First, click the "Convert Email" button. You'll see a file dialog pop-up that looks like this:

Browse to wherever you want to save your converted mail, type in a name for your converted email in the "Name:" field, and then select the output format from the "Format:" drop-down list box.

For most conversions, you'll select the "Standard Mailbox File" option since it's the format that any email program should be able to import. Although, there may be times when the other formats could be especially useful. For example, the Comma-Separated Value File format is widely used for importing data into most relational and single-user database applications. The folder of Plain Text Files option separates your mailbox files into separate, human-readable files. This format could be useful for creating journals or batch printing. Emailchemy also provides some "enhanced-mbox" formatted files for easy import into certain mail programs.

Finally, click the "Save" button. How long the conversion takes depends on the amount of email you are converting, the number and size of attachments in your email, and the formats you are converting from. For your convenience, a progress-window will pop-up so you can monitor the conversion process. The progress window will tell you which file is currently being converted and tell you how many emails have been converted so far. If the number of emails stops updating for a few seconds, it merely means that Emailchemy is working through a rather large email message. In the following example, 1495 emails took approximately 45 seconds, but your results will be different depending on your computer and the size of your emails.

When the conversion process is complete, you will see something like this:

Congratulations, you're all done! At this point, you can Clear the Email Files list and start over with another set of email files, or you can select Quit from the File menu.

What you do from this point is entirely up to you. If you converted to a Standard Mailbox File, you could import that into your current email application, or you could compress it and archive it somewhere. If you converted to the CSV format, you could easily import all your emails into a database system like Access, Oracle, MySQL, or PostgreSQL. In fact, there are a few other shareware tools out there that will help you do this. Plain text files could even be assembled into a diary. The point is that we've put your information back under your control; now, do with it as you please. Be creative.

Emailchemy Preferences

Emailchemy has some configurable settings that you can modify in the Preferences dialog. The Preferences dialog is found in the Edit menu, and it has a tab for each major category of options:

Standard mbox

• Compliance to mbox standard when reading -- This setting tells the parser how loosely to follow the standard rules when looking for new messages. This is defaulted to Strict, but you should set this to Relaxed if Emailchemy is not finding any messages in your mailbox files.
  
  
• Output Newline Characters -- This tells Emailchemy what to use for the newline character sequence at the end of each line of text. The default setting is the most appropriate for your system, but you may want to change this if you are moving the output file to a different OS or platform.
  
  
• Nested Output -- This tells Emailchemy's Wizard to use a particular filename extension when creating standard nested output. The extension must not be blank and must start with a dot.
  
  
• Sender in Postmark -- This tells Emailchemy to write the email address of the message sender in the postmark of every message. The postmark is not the message header, but simply a marker to indicate the start of a new messages. Be very careful with this setting, because turning it on may make your converted email unusable by some email programs. This setting is useful for converting mail for importing into Cyrus IMAP servers.

QuickMail Pro

• Hidden Attachments -- Some versions of QuickMail will, for every file, create an extra attachment containing the original RFC-822 headers. These attachments are normally hidden and aren't necessary outside of QuickMail, so we've built the converter to filter them out. If you do want these attachments in your converted output, check the box here that says Include RFC_822_Headers.txt attachment.
  
  
• QuickMail Pro Charset -- This tells the QuickMail Pro reader to assume a particular text character set (often called a MIME charset) in case one isn't given. Stick to the default value unless you really know you're way around the different encoding standards.
  
  
• QuickMail Pro Encoding -- This tells the QuickMail Pro reader to assume a particular text character encoding in case one isn't given. Stick to the default value unless you really know you're way around the different encoding standards.

Folder of Text Files

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Helpful Tips

Finding your email files to be converted

By now, you already know that some email applications don't allow you to export your email. What you may not already know is that some email applications even try to hide the email files from you! Our tip here is to try a file search, using whatever "Find files" feature your computer has, to look for some known common filenames or filename extensions. Try looking for files or folders that end with ".mbox", ".mbx", or ".dbx". Also try looking for files or folders called "mailbox", "mail", "inbox", "Messages", "outbox", or "sent".

Moving your email to a different operating system

If you are moving your email to a computer that runs different operating system (i.e. switching from Windows to Macintosh), we recommend that you perform the conversion on the target computer (the one you are moving the email to).

Importing your converted mail into another email application

Every email program has its own way of importing the standard mailbox files. For importing email into applications that can directly use the Standard mbox format (or one of the variations that Emailchemy provides), instructions are in the following sections. For importing the Standard mbox format into all other applications, we recommend using the ImportServer product.

Importing into Netscape, Mozilla, or Thunderbird

First, convert your email. If you are using the Advanced Interface, convert to the Standard format; if you are using the Conversion Wizard, convert to the Netscape Folder format.

After that, you'll need to locate the appropriate Mail folder in which to place your converted mail. This folder seems to be in a different spot for each operating system, so just look for folders with names ending with ".slt".

• For Mac OS X users, this directory will be in your Home directory at ~/Library/Mozilla/Profiles.
• Linux/UNIX users will most likely find this folder in their home ~/.Mozilla directory.
• Windows users will have to do a filename search. If you have more than one result, pick the one that's inside a directory named after your user ID.

Once inside the ".slt" directory, open the Mail directory and then the "Local Folders" directory. Copy your converted mail here and then restart Nestcape (or Mozilla or Thunderbird). Important: If you used the Conversion Wizard, make sure you copy both output files (the folder and the empty file of the same name) to Netscape.

After Netscape restarts, open the Mail application and you should see your converted mailbox in the folder list. If you click on that mailbox, you'll only need to wait a minute while Netscape creates an index for the new mailbox and then you're all set.

Importing into Eudora

Eudora uses a proprietary variation of the Standard mbox format, and the recommended approach is to use the ImportServer to get your converted mail into Eudora. However, Emailchemy does have a Eudora output format that is compatible with Eudora, but Eudora will not be able to interpret the attachments and special characters in your messages. So, there are 2 methods for importing into Eudora:

1. Recommended (for accuracy): Convert your mail to the Standard mbox format and use the ImportServer.
   
   
2. For quick imports (attachments not viewable): If you are using the Advanced interface, convert to the Standard or Eudora for Mac format as appropriate. If you are using the Conversion Wizard, convert to the Eudora for Mac Folder or Eudora for Windows Folder format. Then, drop your converted mail files or folder into same folder as the rest of your Eudora .mbx files. Depending on your version of Eudora, this will be in different places, but it's usually a folder called "Eudora" and it contains other mail (look for In.mbx or Inbox files).

Importing into Mac OS X Mail 1.x (Mac OS X 10.0 through 10.3)

Convert your email to the Mac OS X Mail 1.0 format. Then, copy the your converted mailbox file (or folder of converted mailboxes) to the Library/Mail/Mailboxes folder in your Home directory and restart the Mail Application. After you click on the new mailbox (it also may appear as a folder of mailboxes), you may need to wait a minute while the Mail Application builds new indexes for your new mailbox, but after that you'll be all set. Open the Activity Viewer from Mail's View menu to watch the progress of the index building.

Convert your email to the Entourage Archive (.rge) format, then use Entourage's import feature. This only works with Entourage 2004 or higher.
Convert your email to the Standard format, then try dragging and dropping the resulting file onto your Entourage window. You may have to rename the file so that it ends with .mbox
Convert your email to the Standard format, then use the Import Wizard found in Entourage's File menu (select "import from a file"). You may have to rename the file so that it ends with .mbox

Importing into other applications (including Outlook and Outlook Express)

If you're not importing into any of the above-mentioned email applications, try one of the following generic techniques:

• For best results, convert to Standard mbox Format and use the ImportServer product.
  
  
• Simply copy the converted mail file to the directory where the other mailbox files are. You may need to make sure your filename extension is something like "mbx" or "mbox", or if you are moving email to a Macintosh, you may need to also adjust the file type/creator codes of the output file using a tool like FileBuddy, FileTyper, or ResEdit.
  
  
• Most email programs have an import feature that you can access from the File menu. When asked what type of mailbox file to import, select "standard" or "UNIX". If these options don't exist, try the "Netscape" or "Eudora" options. They may be similar enough to do the trick.

Using maildir output formats

Maildir and Maildir++ formats require the use of hidden folders, so it's likely you may not see your output in your file browsing tool. To see hidden files and folders, you'll have to use a terminal shell and type 'ls -al' to see the output.

sent date
received date
subject
sender
recipients (to, cc, and bcc)
rfc2822 header
message body

Converting email from Outlook or Exchange

[Note: these are special directions are for converting Outlook email in PST files, NOT Outlook Express. To convert Outlook Express archives, follow the standard instructions in the section Converting Email.]

Emailchemy doesn't support Outlook PST files yet. In the meantime, here's a workaround:

Use Outlook Express, any version, to import the email messages from Outlook, and then use Emailchemy to convert your Outlook Express mailboxes. This requires that you have the email you want to export in your base-level Inbox in Outlook and that Outlook is running when you try to import into Outlook Express.

Yes, this really works! We once received an email from a customer that converted over 1.2 Gigabytes (52,000 emails!) this way.

Timestamps - or, more specifically, Time Zones. The QuickMail message format does not store the time zone or UTC offset for the sent and received timestamps. Heck, most of the time, it doesn't bother to record the received timestamp at all! Rather, QuickMail assumes that the user always wants to see the timestamps relative to their current time zones. This practice fails when people, or their computers, move between time zones, however.
MIME - The QuickMail format stores text without character encodings and attachments in raw binary form. Because of this, Emailchemy has to "guess" what the proper MIME type will be in the converted email. If Emailchemy can't figure this out, it will default to the MIME defaults of "text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1" for text and "application/octet-stream" for attachments. The net effect is that once in a while you may see a strange character in your converted text or your attachments may not be double-clickable, but this shouldn't happen very often. If you need to adjust the default MIME settings, you can do so in the Preferences screen.
Because of the MIME issue above, you may need to tweak the default charset settings by setting the QuickMail Pro Charset option in the Preferences screen to "System default" if you are in a non-English speaking country.

Converting email from Claris Emailer 1.x

Emailchemy can currently only convert the files in your "Filing Cabinet" folder. We are currently working on the format for the InBox and OutBox files. In the meantime, if you still have a working version of Emailer 1, you can simply move all the contents of your InBox to a personal folder before converting. Sadly, attachments are not yet rejoined with the email.

Converting email from Claris Emailer 2.x

For best results, you need to perform a "Typical Rebuild" of Emailer's database before using Emailchemy. To perform a "Typical Rebuild", hold down the option key when starting Emailer. Yes, this works in the Mac OS Classic environment of Mac OS X.

Converting email from Entourage and Outlook Express 5 for Macintosh

For most situations, you should use the appropriate Conversion Wizard. However, here are some tips to help you in converting your Entourage and OE5Mac email using the Advanced Interface:

• Entourage generally stores your email in the Database file found in ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office X Identities/Main Identity/ folder.
• OE5 Mac stores your email in the Database and Messages files found in ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Identities/Main Identity/
• Because of how attachments are stored, Emailchemy may not convert all attachments in your "sent" mail. However, attachments for received mail are converted correctly.

Converting other formats

If you are not sure whether or not your email format is supported, try running it through Emailchemy as if it were a standard mailbox. If it works, you are already dealing with a standard mailbox and Emailchemy just cleaned it up a bit. Sometimes, that's all you need. Feel free to send us a note at any time telling us what worked and what didn't work.

However, if Emailchemy simply just does not support your email format yet, let us know and we'll see what we can do. There are literally hundreds of email applications out there, many of which we've never seen or used or even heard of.

Read the Emailchemy FAQ.


If you can't find the right Wizard, use the Advanced interface.


Make sure you have the correct version of Java installed, as identified in the System Requirements.


Try changing some of the conversion options in the Preferences dialog (found by selecting "Preferences" from the "Edit" menu).


When moving email across platforms (i.e. Windows to Mac), we recommend you perform the conversion on the target platform. If that's not possible, then make sure to set the proper newline sequence option in the Preferences dialog. Otherwise, your mail may not be recognized properly after moving it.


If the converter completes and says "0 Emails Converted":
try setting the "mbox compliance" option to "relaxed". This is often necessary when dealing with Netscape email.
double check that you've selected the correct email format for the file you are trying to convert


Make sure you are selecting the correct Email format in the Select Emails to Convert dialog. Emailchemy isn't yet smart enough to determine formats automatically, and if you tell it the wrong format, Emailchemy likely won't work. In most cases, Emailchemy will just skip the file, but in some cases Emailchemy may seem to "stall" or take an exceedingly long time to convert the file. When this happens, simply close the conversion progress window.


In some cases, if your email files are corrupt, Emailchemy may not know what to do with them -- causing Emailchemy to stall or ignore the file completely. Use the Conversion Log feature to help identify which email message is corrupt. Sometimes you only need to remove the corrupt email to solve the problem.

Please don't hesitate to contact us to answer any questions or for a quick tip here or there.

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Purchasing Emailchemy

Once you are satisfied with the Emailchemy demo version, you can purchase a fully functional and registered copy of Emailchemy. The details of how to do so are on the Weird Kid Software web site: http://www.weirdkid.com.

Registering your copy of Emailchemy

Once you've purchased an Emailchemy license, you will be sent a registration key and instructions on how to download the full version of Emailchemy. You will need to install the full version of Emailchemy and enter the registration key into the "Register Emailchemy" dialog. Look for "Register Emailchemy" in Emailchemy's "Help" menu. IMPORTANT: Keep this key in a safe place! You may need to re-enter it after upgrading to subsequent releases of the product.

Thank you for trying Emailchemy!