MsgFiler 2.0 has been released! Fully rewritten in Cocoa, MsgFiler is fully integrated in Mac OS X Mail and is now blazingly fast at searching for mailboxes and filing your email messages.
MsgFiler 2.0 is a free update for registered users of MsgFiler 1.0. Previous owners will need to reenter their license key from MsgFiler 1.0. New MsgFiler users can purchase a license for US$8 from PayPal or Kagi. Check out the MsgFiler web page for more details.
A big thanks to Steve, Victor, and the folks at NSCoder Night in Campbell for their Cocoa tips and guidance. This was my first real app written in Cocoa, and I couldn’t have done it without you!
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Wow! This is a great update! I’ve been using the older version for a long time and it’s a huge help. This new, integrated version is a huge improvement on an already good piece of software. “Blazing fast” is right! And now there’s no annoying icon in my Dock while MsgFiler is running. Good stuff!
And thanks for making it a free update for registered users.
Great update Adam, just fantastic!
Sounds like a great update! Is 2.0 Leopard-friendly out of the gate? Should Leopard users follow the manual install instructions still? Thanks!
Yes, MsgFiler 2.0 is Leopard compatible. You can use the installer that comes with MsgFiler or install it manually.
MsgFiler is now usable on my iMac G5… hurray! Some pre-registration feedback (in a semi-random order):
If a search term is typed when no mailbox is selected the Move button is actively highlighted, which makes no sense in that context. Even more confusing is using MsgFiler when a mailbox is selected but no messages within it are; makes me wonder if Move is going to move *all* messages to another mailbox. In the former case it could be useful if the Show button was active; in the latter it might be best if no buttons were active. Seeing that throbbing Move button in cases where it doesn’t seem to belong makes me nervous that accidentally typing Return will do something unpredictable.
Can Move and Show buttons be selected from the keyboard? That’s probably my top request. Also, I’d like to do a Move followed by a Show often enough that a single button for that would be helpful but less so if current Move and Show buttons had quick keyboard access.
“Move with MsgFiler” is a bit inaccurate for the command’s name since it can also be used to select mailboxes.
Would it makes sense for “Move with MsgFiler” (especially when invoked with the shortcut) to toggle its palette window open/closed? Seems the Escape key can be used to close it but fails when the focus is off it.
Other capabilities would be cool, like easy access to recently accessed mailboxes, but that’s a more post-registration topic.
Thanks for this great Mail plugin!
You make some good points. As this is my first native Mac OS X app, there’s some room for refinement. To answer some of your questions:
1) If no messages are selected, clicking Move will do nothing. I’ll see if I can make the Move button disabled when no mailbox is selected.
2) You can show a mailbox by clicking the Show button or Command-O (the letter ‘o’). Command-Return invokes the Move button.
With MsgFiler 2.0, you can always undo your move operations. The previous version of MsgFiler did not have undo capability.
3) Toggling the palette is a good idea, since this is how other Mail palettes work. Along the same vein, since MsgFiler is a palette now, perhaps a better location for the menu item is under the Window menu.
Thanks again for your suggestions. I’ll see when I can get some of these features added. It will certainly be a lot shorter than the time between MsgFiler 1.0 and 2.0!
Thanks for the tips and other feedback. Hope you don’t mind a few more comments and specific questions …
Re: 1. When MsgFiler is first invoked, before typing a search string, Move is fully inactive but Show and About are active (with neither highlighted). Move becomes active/focused immediately after typing, without any mailbox (in MsgFiler) being explicitly selected. Will Move do anything when the search matches a single mailbox that hasn’t been selected (e.g. with the Down-Arrow key)?
Re: 2. The Command-O shortcut for Show will be handy; did I overlook it being documented somewhere?. What’s the difference (if any) between using Command-Return instead of simply Return for Move? Glad to know Undo should work, although Undo has trouble (up through Mail 2 anyway) with messages opened as separate windows (which I usually do, with the preview pane hidden) that are moved/deleted so I’ll have to check if MsgFiler usage influences it.
Re: 3. In general, toggling palettes/windows open/closed is frustratingly inconsistent. Mail 2’s Activity Viewer can be toggled like a palette but has some properties of a regular window (e.g. Command-W shortcut closes it). Worst are apps with palettes that can’t be toggled *or* closed with Command-W. I’m still aware of the conscious effort being made to keep track of how different “pseudo-palettes” will behave in the current app while while switching between several. DEVONthink’s Information window/palette is one of those nuisances, *begging* for toggle capability.
I’ll shut up now and register soon. :)
If only a single mailbox is visible in the results view, hitting Return will immediately file selected messages to that mailbox. It’s a convenience to avoid having to hit Return twice. So, the more specific your search is, the faster you can file.
There’s no difference between Command-Return and Return for move.
Love this mail plug-in, Adam. I’ve been test driving it for the past week or so and have decided I can’t live without it. Just registered. Strong work!