Robert - I digress.
Very often when a user comes with a shorthand reaction like you show
below it can very often be traced back to user error, including user
oversight of some sort or manner.
I'm using PM since many years since Claris Emailer and I've had huge
traffic in it and PM is an EXTREMELY good and rock solid email
application. Period.
Obviously you did something which gave PM a marvelous hiccup, but PM
is NOT "risky" per se - right now I am using Apple's Mail because my
PowerBook is in overhaul and I'm telling you, I'm having the hardest
time and am missing PM with it's slick logic and workflow very, very
much. One thing this shows is that people often will feel more
comfortable with what they are used to be using, such as you and
Mail. Also, I've yet to find software which has not some sort of bug
or quirk. I do not idealize PM to the point that I'm saying it is
faultless, but it is VERY solid and very good and you have thrown A
LOT at it and we come in at the end of it all and for us users - yes,
I am not affiliated with CTM, I'm just a user as are others on this
list - it is impossible to know what exactly you have done. I'm sure
that if I sat the 2 days next to you watching the whole process I
could nail the problem down quite a bit better. But that you end up
with one big lump sum of a folder and things gone and this and
that... this does NOT sound as if normal PM actions have been at
work, something really went far, far off the rails.
This said, I assume the following :
a) you first tested PM before buying it
b) you tested the export from MAIL and import flow to PM first with
only 1 folder and a few messages (maybe 100 or maybe 500) into PM and
made sure things are like you want them to be.
c) you QUIT also PowerMail and relaunch to see if all is still like
you want before continuing putting your time into a huge exodus?!
d) once you are sure that the messages arrive in PM as you want -
i.e. that you follow the export/import steps as outlined in PM online
manual etc. - you begin the big exodus.
e) once the exodus is done and BEFORE you start messing around in
PowerMail, you make a BACKUP.
f) right? you've made some sort of backup?
g) now you start messing around in PowerMail with filters and folders
and whatnot.
h) after all of this if you haven't done e) you backup everything at
this point.
i) ...
j) okay, so now you are in trouble...
k) when all the trouble begins, do you also reboot your machine? this
can do wonders at times.
l) I don't know WHAT all you imported into PM and how you setup the
filters and VIEW options (people sometimes freak out and think all
their mail is gone but basically they just set their view option to
only view unread mail... it happens)... but the ADDRESS BOOK is
usually a small file - except you are running some 10'000 address
based book or something.
m) if I'd be in you situation I'd do the rebuild of the database but
not expect too much.
n) redo the export in smaller steps as outlined above, while using PM
for your daily mail
o) backup regularly (set a backup script to do a backup of your PM
folder) - remember, PM should not be open when the backup is running.
---marlyse
On Mar 24, 2007, at 10:04 PM, Robert Morrison wrote:
Thanks, I did everything right the first time...I guess powermail
is just too risky for me...I need reliability and it appears
powermail doesn't have it.
Robert
