2008/5/16 jonathon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 8:16 PM, Drew Jensen wrote: > > > What is being called for is the ability to say - there is one ( or more ) > email clients that works closely with the other modules in the package. > > Other than the ability to use OOo to create webpages that masquerade > as email, what functionality does OOo need, to better integrate with > email clients?
My take. I have invented a *notional* program called "The Mail Program" which I will refer to as TMP. This *might* be an existing program that gets modified, Thunderbird for example, or a new program that gets written for the purpose. I don't much care except that Thunderbird comes close to fitting the bill already. But if there is a better candidate ... I also expect that whichever of OOo and TMP is installed *second* on a user's system will notice that the other is already there and configure itself accordingly, or at least to offer the user a choice (or series of choices) as to whether s/he wants this. I also expect that if TMP and OOo are both installed and if the user then uninstalls one of them, then the one that remains does *not* lose functionality. For example, with MS Office, if the user uninstalls Word, Outlook Express can no longer check spelling. As far as I am concerned this is just shoddy. The numbering below is for convenience only. I do *not* intend it to imply a priority ordering. 1. The ability for OOo and TMP to *share* the *same* dictionaries for spell checking purposes. Currently OOo and Thunderbird (TB) can use *separate copies* of the same dictionary; this means that you have to add you own words *twice* - once to each separate copy. I want both programs to use *the same file*. 2. The procedures for downloading dictionaries should be the same for the two programs. 3. The ability to use Writer as the text editor for e-mail preparation. Here I explicitly mean a facility that mimics MS's scheme with Outlook and Word. In MS Office, the user has the choice to configure things so that when s/he Clicks the "Create new e-mail" button in Outlook a window opens with the top looking like an e-mail preparation screen - fields for To:, cc:, Subject etc. - and the lower part looking *similar to* Word - font selection, bold/underline/italic selection, style selection and so on. In addition, the keystrokes used to edit the text are *identical* to those used in Word to edit ones document. I explicitly do *not* mean running Writer, creating text and then either copy/pasting it into TMP or using Writer's "Send as e-mail" facilities. Note I said the windows should be "simliar". I did not say "identical" because I didn't mean it. Just as an example, in the MS Office case, the window that opens has no Drawing toolbar, nothing for editing tables etc. etc. It's basically a *text* preparartion window that recognises the fact that people these days expect their e-mails to be able to include links and e-mail addresses that "work", bold/underlined/italic pieces, bulleted lists and so on. I'm afraid that the "text only in e-mails" brigade is going the way of the dinosaur; and righlty so IMHO. 4. Help files in, as well as FAQs and other documentation for TMP and OOo should be aware of each other and not contradict each other. 5. Language packs for OOo and TMP should correspond as far as possible. 6. TMP and OOo should run on all the same platforms. 7. TMP and OOo should be available from the same web site. Note that I do *not* mean there should be a single download file, although offering one as an option might not be a bad idea. 8. The procedure for adding extensions should be the same in TMP and OOo. 9. Where relevant an extension that works in OOo should also work in TMP. 10. Both programs should support the same macro programming langauges. Does this mean sharing a document model? 11. It should be **easy** (preferably not more than three clicks) to get an e-mail address, or series thereof, or any other stored data from TMP's address book into an OOo document. No prior configuration/set-up should be necessary. Anyone who mentions "data source" or the use of Calc or Base to accomplish this will be severely punished ;-) 12. Mail merge using TMP's address book should be **trivial** to accomplish. 13. If TMP has a calendaring facility then it should be easily accessible from OOo so that, for example, I could easily copy details of an appointment into a letter I'm writing in Writer. Please feel free to add more. I'm basically trying, as someone else has briefly discussed here, to get at an *Office System* that presents the user with a consistent interface in the user's chosen language and with facilities that work across all the components of the system. It is worth noting, perhaps, that the current offering is called openOFFICE (delibrately raised voice). Offices these days send e-mails and use calendars ... Please note that I have *deliberately* renamed this thread to try to throw off the detritus that accompanied the old version. Please let's try and keep this fork trash free. -- Harold Fuchs London, England Please reply *only* to users@openoffice.org
