SpotCheck

About SpotCheck

The SpotCheck mail checking utility gives a simple, unobtrusive, view of new mail delivery on a Windows 95 or higher workstation. Where NetNotify broadcast notification gives real time notification of new mail when already logged in, SpotCheck keeps you informed if new mail is waiting at all times, particularly useful at login time. With full configuration file support, SpotCheck can be distributed to all desktops efficiently and without ever visiting the workstations.

System Requirements

Windows 95 or higher operating system
TCP/IP protocol
Note: SpotCheck can be used to check the mailbox of any POP3 compliant server

Installing SpotCheck

SpotCheck requires no special installation. Simply run the SPOTCHK.EXE file.

SpotCheck Status

At any time, hovering the mouse over the SpotCheck system tray icon will show a tooltip about the current status of your configured mailbox.

Using X-Stealth Mail Testing

i-MailDS has an enhanced command called X-Stealth that allows SpotCheck to test if mail is waiting without impacting on the 'lock' status of a users mailbox. It also allows checking for mailbox status without sending a password.

The X-Stealth extension comprises the command 'XSTEALTH mailbox' which returns the number of messages and how much data is in the mailbox. Users must still perform a full mail collection from their mail client to actually view the data so security is not compromised.

X-Stealth must be enabled in the 'Advanced' tab of admin.

Configuring SpotCheck

There are three methods of configuring SpotCheck. Each configuration method overrides the previous so that, for example, if a user modifies the POP server in the options page, the next time SpotCheck is run with this value specified in a config file, it will revert back to the administrative setting.

Method 1: Options dialog

To access the options page of SpotCheck, right click on the system tray icon and select the options menu. Setup the appropriate options as required.

Method 2: Command line switches

Any command line switches given, override options configured by users at startup. If a command line parameter is not provided, a user may change the setting, unless the /noregistry switch is added.

Environment variables can be used in any command line option by enclosing the variable in % symbols, i.e. /u=%LoginName%

Command line switch	Description
/noregistry	Prevents options from being read from or written to the system registry
/nooptions	Removes the options menu from the system tray icon
/noexit	Removes the exit menu from the system tray icon
/f=filename	Specifies a SpotCheck configuration file
/s=scheme number	Specify a scheme number from 0-4 to force a scheme to be used as per the options dialog
/i=scan interval (minutes)	Set the number of minutes between mail checks
/u=POP user name	Set the login account
/p=POP server	Set the POP server name or IP number

Method 3: Command file

The command file provides the most versatility for automatically configuring SpotCheck. All of the SpotCheck options can be configured within this file and, if located centrally on your file server, makes distributing SpotCheck an very easy task indeed.

The command file is loaded by including the switch /f=filename when loading SpotCheck. You may call the configuration file anything you wish, but users must have at least read and file scan access to the file for it to take effect.

All commands in the configuration file override command line switches and users defined settings if specified.

Environment variables can be used in any command line option by enclosing the variable in % symbols, i.e. POPUserName=%LoginName%

Command file entry	Description
POPServer=POP server	Set the name or IP address of the POP mail server
POPUserName=POP user name	Set the user name for logging in to the mail server
POPPassword=POP password	Set the password for logging in to the mail server
UseXStealth=Yes/No	i-MailDS specific. Using this option, along with enabling X-Stealth in the advanced tab of i-Mail admin allows SpotCheck to detect if any mail is waiting for the user without sending a password or 'locking' the POP account during a check.
Scheme=scheme number	Specify a scheme number from 0-4 to force a scheme to be used as per the options dialog
MouseAction=action number	Specify an action number from 0-3 to set the double click action as per the options dialog
SoundFile=path to sound file	Specify a sound file to play when new mail arrives. Sounds will only play on computers that are configured to play the sound file. By incuding this entry, the sound option will be enabled.
DialogTitle=text	Specify the title for a popup dialog when new mail arrives. By including this entry, the dialog popup option will be enabled.
DialogBody=text	Specify the message body for a popup dialog when new mail arrives. By including this entry, the dialog popup option will be enabled.
ScanFrequency=scan interval (minutes)	Set the number of minutes between mail checks
AppPath=path to executable	Specify the full path to the application to launch when 'Load mail program' is selected
AppWorkDir=path	If required, specify a working directory for the mail application
StopAnimOnAppLoad=Yes/No	When 'Load mail program' is selected, this determines whether the system tray animation should stop immediately

Troubleshooting

If SpotCheck is configured for a POP server that does not exist, it may hang. To overcome this problem the server name needs to be modified or deleted from the options page. This can be done by changing the setting on the Mail Server page, by running SpotCheck with /p=servername or by removing the registry entry for the invalid POP server. The registry setting to delete is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\di\iMail\SPOTCHK\Config\POPServer. By removing this registry entry, SpotCheck will not look for mail when it is started.