E-mail archiving: unknown format, correct display of messages, font, font size

[rmarolt]

I have the standard edition of DEVONthink. I am considering upgrading to the pro edition for the e-mail archiving functions.

To try to get an idea of how the the pro edition handles e-mail, I indexed a folder of eml files. I saw three causes of concern:

1. DEVONthink reported that many messages were in an unknown format. But they are all eml.

2. Some messages that are displayed properly in my e-mail application are not displayed properly in DEVONthink. DEVONthink seems to present them as if they were encrypted. All codes, no readable text. None of these messages is encrypted.

3. The font used to present the messages is an unattractive sans serif font, not one that I have selected in the app preferences, and it’s too small for me. I’d rather use a different font in a larger size.

So I wonder:

• Will the pro edition think that many messages are in an unknown format?

• Will the pro edition display all messages in a readable way?

• Will I have any control over font and size in the pro edition?

• Is it possible for me to try the pro edition before deciding whether or not to buy it?

Many thanks for any help!

Rick

[cgrunenberg]

@rmarolt

• DEVONthink reported that many messages were in an unknown format. But they are all eml.

The Standard edition does not support them.

* Some messages that are displayed properly in my e-mail application are not displayed properly in DEVONthink. DEVONthink seems to present them as if they were encrypted. All codes, no readable text. None of these messages is encrypted.

A screenshot would be useful. E.g. GPG/PGP encryption is not supported.

* The font used to present the messages is an unattractive sans serif font, not one that I have selected in the app preferences, and it’s too small for me. I’d rather use a different font in a larger size.

The standard view is based on Quick Look and not customizable. The alternate view uses the specified fonts but is only supported by the Pro/Server editions.

• Is it possible for me to try the pro edition before deciding whether or not to buy it?

Sure. Just remove the license via DEVONthink 3 > License… Afterwards the app is in trial mode again and all the features of the higher editions can be tested.

[erikmh]

@cgrunenberg

• The font used to present the messages is an unattractive sans serif font, not one that I have selected in the app preferences, and it’s too small for me. I’d rather use a different font in a larger size.

The standard view is based on Quick Look and not customizable. The alternate view uses the specified fonts but is only supported by the Pro/Server editions.

I’m struggling with this in DTPro, as I too find the chosen font (Menlo?) very unpleasant. I do see that the format of the message — especially the To/From/Date/Subject headers — varies somewhat when I switch between Text Alternative and Best Alternative views, but in both cases the message is rendered in Menlo. In DT’s preferences, I’ve chosen “Use fixed-width font for plain text message,” since I do want a mono-spaced font — just not Menlo.

I have selected Evertype’s excellent Everson Mono in the following possibly-relevant places:

• DT preferences > Web > Fixed-width font
• DT preferences > Files > Markdown > Style Sheet (pre, code)
• DT preferences > Editing > Plain Text Font
• macOS “Fixed-pitch” hidden preference (using TinkerTool)
• macOS QuickLook (mostly for source-code highlighting, using Syntax Highlight)
• MailMate (my email client) (via defaults write, per developer’s instructions)
• Postbox (an email client I’m trying out) > Preferences > Display > Formatting > Default font
• Mail (which I don’t use, but just in case) > Preferences > Fonts & Colors > Fixed-width font

but DTP continues to use the font-that-might-be-Menlo.

Is there somewhere else I should be setting this? Or is there a .css stylesheet somewhere that I can modify to accomplish this?

[cgrunenberg]

@erikmh

Is there somewhere else I should be setting this? Or is there a .css stylesheet somewhere that I can modify to accomplish this?

There’s no such setting yet, a future release might add the possibility to customize the font for plain text messages (only alternate view, the QuickLook-based view isn’t customizable)