Re: how to make desktop app send email?

[linas linas org (Linas Vepstas)]

Hi,


On Fri, Jul 16, 2004 at 06:58:44AM +0100, Mark McLoughlin was heard to remark:
> On Fri, 2004-07-16 at 03:49, Maciej Katafiasz wrote:
> > W li??cie z pi??, 16-07-2004, godz. 03:55, Federico Mena Quintero pisze: 
> > > On Thu, 2004-07-15 at 12:58 -0500, Linas Vepstas wrote:
> > > 
> > > > I have a desktop app ("gnomtime", actually, gttr.sourceforge.net) with 
> > > > several free-text areas in it.  It like to be able to add a menu item
> > > > that says "email this".  Clicking on the menu would start the user's
> > > > favorite email client, push the text into it, and let them complete
> > > > the addressing from there, etc.
> > > > 
> > > > What's the best way of doing this?
> > > 
> > > - evolution mailto:foo bar com?subject=Hello World&body=Good bye&
> > > - a CORBA interface for the composer
> > 
> > but it's completely evolution specific.
> > 
> > g_spawn_command_line_async ("gnome-open mailto:foo bar", &err); 
> 
>   gnome_url_show ("mailto:foo bar", &err);
> 
> 	would be better.

The hard part to find out what the user's favorite MUA was, from
the desktop registry/gconf entry/KDE config-whatever that would
hold this info.  (That's why this is a desktop question).  

Although it would be nice to email something with only one or two
subroutine calls,  a la gnome_url_show(),  I'm willing, as a programmer, 
to write hundreds of app-specific lines of code, some for evolution, 
some for kmail/aethera, some for mutt,  *if* I knew what the users favorite
MUA was.  I'm willing to overcome adversity; these few hundred lines 
of code would be in my app, where I have total power & control,
and so its "easy".

The hard part is this fuzzy area of desktop preferences, HIG guidelines,
configurabilility/config dialogs, lists of default mime-type handlers
... debian /etc/alternatives, except there's no /etc/alternatuives/mua 
in debian (much less other distro's).  I don't know where or how to 
write the hundreds of lines of code to fish out the prefered user MUA 
from wherever it is stored....

--linas

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