/offlineimap/head: changeset 335

Starting to write it.
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jgoerzen 2003-01-08 03:05:27 +01:00
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<!DOCTYPE reference PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN"> <!DOCTYPE reference PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN" [
<!ENTITY OfflineIMAP "<application>OfflineIMAP</application>">
]>
<!-- -*- DocBook -*- --> <!-- -*- DocBook -*- -->
<!-- "file:///usr/share/sgml/docbook/dtd/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"> --> <!-- "file:///usr/share/sgml/docbook/dtd/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"> -->
<reference> <reference>
<!--
<docinfo>
<address><email>jgoerzen@complete.org</email></address>
<author><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Goerzen</surname></author>
<date>$Date$</date>
<title>OfflineIMAP Manual</title>
</docinfo> -->
<title>OfflineIMAP Manual</title> <title>OfflineIMAP Manual</title>
<refentry> <refentry>
<refentryinfo> <refentryinfo>
<address><email>jgoerzen@complete.org</email></address> <address><email>jgoerzen@complete.org</email></address>
<author><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Goerzen</surname></author> <author><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Goerzen</surname></author>
<date>$Date$</date> <date>$Date$</date>
</refentryinfo> </refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>OFFLINEIMAP</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
<refmiscinfo>John Goerzen</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv> <refmeta>
<refname>OfflineIMAP</refname> <refpurpose>Powerful IMAP/Maildir <refentrytitle>offlineimap</refentrytitle>
synchronization and reader support</refpurpose> <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
</refnamediv> <refmiscinfo>John Goerzen</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>
<refsynopsisdiv> <refnamediv>
<cmdsynopsis> <refname>OfflineIMAP</refname>
<command>offlineimap</command> <refpurpose>Powerful IMAP/Maildir synchronization
<arg>-1</arg> and reader support</refpurpose>
<arg>-P <replaceable>profiledir</replaceable></arg> </refnamediv>
<arg>-a <replaceable>accountlist</replaceable></arg>
<arg>-c <replaceable>configfile</replaceable></arg>
<arg>-d <replaceable>debugtype[,...]</replaceable></arg>
<arg>-o</arg>
<arg>-u <replaceable>interface</replaceable></arg>
<sbr><sbr>
<command>offlineimap</command>
<group choice="plain"><arg>-h</arg><arg>--help</arg></group>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1> <refsynopsisdiv>
<title>Description</title> <cmdsynopsis>
<para>This is a test. Foo, bar.</para> <command>offlineimap</command>
</refsect1> <arg>-1</arg>
<refsect1> <arg>-P <replaceable>profiledir</replaceable></arg>
<title>See Also</title> <arg>-a <replaceable>accountlist</replaceable></arg>
<para>This is also a test. Foo bar.</para> <arg>-c <replaceable>configfile</replaceable></arg>
</refsect1> <arg>-d <replaceable>debugtype[,...]</replaceable></arg>
</refentry> <arg>-o</arg>
<arg>-u <replaceable>interface</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>offlineimap</command>
<group choice="plain"><arg>-h</arg><arg>--help</arg></group>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para>&OfflineIMAP; is a tool to simplify your e-mail
reading. With &OfflineIMAP;, you can read the same mailbox
from multiple computers. You get a current copy of your
messages on each computer, and changes you make one place will be
visible on all other systems. For instance, you can delete a message
on your home computer, and it will appear deleted on your work
computer as well. &OfflineIMAP; is also useful if you want to
use a mail reader that does not have IMAP support, has poor IMAP
support, or does not provide disconnected operation.
</para>
<para>&OfflineIMAP; is <emphasis>FAST</emphasis>; it synchronizes
my two accounts with over 50 folders in 3 seconds. Other
similar tools might take over a minute, and achieve a
less-reliable result. Some mail readers can take over 10
minutes to do the same thing, and some don't even support it
at all. Unlike other mail tools, &OfflineIMAP; features a
multi-threaded synchronization algorithm that can dramatically
speed up performance in many situations by synchronizing
several different things simultaneously.
</para>
<para>&OfflineIMAP; is <emphasis>FLEXIBLE</emphasis>; you can
customize which folders are synced via regular expressions,
lists, or Python expressions; a versatile and comprehensive
configuration file is used to control behavior; two user
interfaces are built-in; fine-tuning of synchronization
performance is possible; internal or external automation is
supported; SSL and PREAUTH tunnels are both supported; offline
(or "unplugged") reading is supported; and esoteric IMAP
features are supported to ensure compatibility with the widest
variety of IMAP servers.
</para>
<para>&OfflineIMAP; is <emphasis>SAFE</emphasis>; it uses an
algorithm designed to prevent mail loss at all costs. Because
of the design of this algorithm, even programming errors
should not result in loss of mail. I am so confident in the
algorithm that I use my own personal and work accounts for
testing of &OfflineIMAP; pre-release, development, and beta
releases. Of course, legally speaking, &OfflineIMAP; comes
with no warranty, so I am not responsible if this turns out
to be wrong.
</para>
<refsect2>
<title>Method of Operation</title>
<para>&OfflineIMAP; operates by maintaining a hierarchy of
mail folders in Maildir format locally. Your own mail
reader will read mail from this tree, and need never know
that the mail comes from IMAP. &OfflineIMAP; will detect
changes to the mail folders on your IMAP server and your own
computer and bi-directionally synchronize them, copying,
marking, and deleting messages as necessary.
</para>
</refsect2>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Quick Start</title>
<para>If you have already installed &OfflineIMAP; system-wide,
or your system adminstrator has done that for you, your task
for setting up &OfflineIMAP; for the first time is quite
simple. You just need to set up your configuration file, make
your folder directory, and run it!
</para>
<para>You can quickly set up your configuration file. The distribution
includes a file <filename>offlineimap.conf.minimal</filename>
(Debian users
may find this at
<filename>/usr/share/doc/offlineimap/examples/offlineimap.conf.minimal</filename>) that is a basic example of setting of &OfflineIMAP;. You can
simply copy this file into your home directory and name it
<filename>.offlineimaprc</filename> (note the leading period). A
command such as <command>cp offlineimap.conf.minimal ~/.offlineimaprc</command> will do it. Or, if you prefer, you can just copy this text to
<filename>~/.offlineimaprc</filename>:
</para>
<PROGRAMLISTING>[general]
accounts = Test
[Test]
localfolders = ~/Test
remotehost = examplehost
remoteuser = jgoerzen
</PROGRAMLISTING>
<para>Now, edit the <filename>~/.offlineimaprc</filename> file with
your favorite editor. All you have to do is specify a directory
for your folders to be in (on the <property>localfolders</property>
line), the host name of your IMAP server (on the
<property>remotehost</property> line), and your login name on
the remote (on the <property>remoteuser</property> line). That's
it!</para>
<para>To run &OfflineIMAP;, you just have to say
<command>offlineimap</command> -- it will fire up, ask you for
a login password if necessary, synchronize your folders, and exit.
See? You can just throw away the rest of this finely-crafted,
perfectly-honed manual! Of course, if you want to see how you can
make &OfflineIMAP; FIVE TIMES FASTER FOR JUST $19.95 (err, well,
$0), you have to read on!
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>See Also</title>
<para>This is also a test. Foo bar.</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>
</reference> </reference>