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	PyMailGUI — Email Without the Evil

News

PyMailGUI's source-code and macos-app packages (only) were updated and rereleased inJune 2022, to add aMessage-ID header to all sent mails, useReply-To if resent, throttle down event checks,and more; see the full release descriptionahead. Linux and Windows users: your executables were not rebuilt;please use the source-code package perbelow.

Contents

Introducing PyMailGUI

Welcome toPyMailGUI—a basic but useful and private email client, that runs as a desktop GUI on your computer. It allows you to process your email both live at your account's POP/SMTP servers,and offline in locally saved files; is available in both self-contained executable and transparent source-codeformats; and works the same on macos, Windows, and Linux per the screenshots above. While PyMailGUI does not directly support IMAP, HTML emails, or emojis, it continues to work well as a no-nonsense and go-to email client after two decades.

Among its most valuable assets, PyMailGUI is dedicated to the notion thatyour email is your business. With PyMailGUI, you can read, send, and save your email on your own computer—without logging in to an online session that someone else controls; without being bombarded by rude advertising; and without your activity being tracked by those who see your personal communications as assets to exploit. If this stuff matters to you, PyMailGUI may be theemail client you've been looking for.

PyMailGUI's Features

PyMailGUI is coded with Python 3.X and its tkinter library. It's available as a Mac app and Windows and Linux executables for ease of use, as well as complete and portableopen-source code that ensures transparency. While apps and executables integrate best with your computer's GUI, source code means that PyMailGUI can never do something you cannot see.

As a desktop GUI, PyMailGUI runs locally on your computer, and fetches and sends emails only on request using your configured email account's POP and SMTP servers, respectively. It comes with features including those in the following table.

Because this program was originally coded as an example for abook, it intentionally omits some more advanced features such as spell checkers, HTML email composition tools, inline HTML viewing (it spawns a browser for HTML content), address books,email sorting and searching, and directIMAP support. Extensions remain suggested exercises.

Despite its design limits, though, the program has been sufficient to serve as its maker's primary business and personal email tool for over two decades. It comes with everything you need to take control of your email experience.

PyMailGUI's Intangibles

Perhaps most importantly, PyMailGUI provides a degree ofprivacy that many popular email clients do not. PyMailGUI never connects to the Internet, except to momentarilyfetch and send emails, and only on your request. This means that your email session is offline—and immune to prying eyes and marketers. Especially when usingPyMailGUI to access a private email account, your email is your property,not something to be scanned and monetized by self-interestedpeople. While PyMailGUI cannotguarantee complete email privacy (and servers are still open to abuse), it does deliver email sessions that are both ad-free and snoop-free.

True to its book-example heritage, PyMailGUI is also partly intended to serve in aneducational role. Users interested in programming are invited to considerits amply documented code, which spans 15K source lines (at latestcount) developed incrementally in the book and greatly enhanced later, as an example that demonstrates larger-scale Python programming techniques.

About This Release

Thisstandalone release uses code based on that in thebook, but reused packages are nested within PyMailGUI's folder, and a new launcher and per-account configuration files reside at the top of the package. In the book, both PyMailGUI and packages it uses are part of a larger PP4E package tree, and the launcher is nested within PyMailGUI. This release has also evolved substantially since its book-example genesis, and is aimed at both book readers and others looking for a private email-client solution.

PyMailGUI's standalone-release code is available both in itszipfile andonline, per the next section.

Usage Basics

This section provides points on installing, launching, configuring,and using the program itself. The shortest version of this story is that to use PyMailGUI, you'll:

1. Install one of its distribution packages—app, executable, or source
2. Setup your email accounts in one or more files in theMailConfigs folder
3. Run the program to access your server-hosted or locally saved email

Install and Launch

PyMailGUI runs the same onmacos,Windows, andLinux.It's distributed in both self-contained "frozen" app and executable formats, as well as complete source code, available fromthis site.If you consider yourself more user of software than developer of software you mayprefer one of the standalone formats for each platform you work on, though the source-code package is portable and may be more recent. In more detail, the tradeoffs are these:

• Thefrozen packages run on just one platform each, but mesh best with your computer's GUI, require no additional installs, and are immune to changes in other installed software.

• Thesource-code package requires a separate Python install on each platform you wish to use, but the code itself runs on all PyMailGUI platforms, may have newupgrades that other packages lack, and supports both inspection and changes.

In other words, unless you plan on spelunking though the program's code orrequire the latest enhancements, one of the frozen packages are probably your best bet.

Once you've fetched your PyMailGUI, install and launch details vary per package.Frozen apps and executables do both with a click or two, but source-code requires extrasteps.

For thefrozen packages:

1. Download the zipfile for your platform fromhere
2. Unzip to a folder on your computer to install
3. Click on the folder's app or executable to run:PyMailGUI.app on macos,PyMailGUI.exe on Windows, orPyMailGUI on Linux

For thesource-code package:

1. Download the source-code zipfile fromhere
2. Unzip to a folder on your computer to install
3. Also install a Python 3.X to run PyMailGUI if one isn't already present: get Pythonhere
4. Also install a tkinter/Tk GUI toolkit if required on your platform, per ahead
5. Launch the program's main script,Launch_PyMailGUI.py on any platform, using normal Python techniques: command line, file icon click, or IDE run

After installing PyMailGUI per the above, your next step is to configure your email accounts—the topic of the next section.

Configuration

Apart from installing PyMailGUI, some configuration is required if you wish to connect to your own email accounts. You can safely use the defaults or any example mail configuration file shipped with the program to experiment with the GUI or work offline, but must setupa configuration file with your own account parameters to send or receive email.

Mail configuration files are coded in Python for flexibility, and are located in the installedprogram'sMailConfigs folder. This folder contains one file per accountyou wish to access; its files' names become entries in the accountlauncher GUI that opens when you firststart the system.

The mapping from file to account is described in full in theMailConfigs folder'sREADME.txt, but in short:

• Each account is represented by aMailConfigs file of Python assignments which set variables expected by the program.

• Account files are namedmailconfig_XXX.py, whereXXX is the name that shows up in the launcher's selections list.

• When you open an account by name in the launcher, itsMailConfigs file is run to setup the account's parameters.

More generally, mail configuration files are coded as ahierarchy. Settings in the base file provide defaults that apply globally to all accounts' sessions, but settings in an account-specific file you provide inMailConfigs pertain to just that account's sessions. Yourmailconfig_XXX.py files' assignments implicitly override and replace the default settings in the base file, for a specific account's parameters and preferences. For instance, to run PyMailGUI on yourGmail account live, emulate or tailormailconfig_Gmail.py, select "Gmail" in the launcher GUI and press its Open Account.

For more details on configuration, see theMailConfigs folder'sREADME,and edit or emulate the shippedexamples for your own accounts.Any example account file may be freely edited or replaced, and can be used to experimentwith the system offline—per the next section.

Offline Mode

WhileMailConfigs file changes allow you to connect to your account servers, they are not required for offline use. Offline mode allows you to process mails saved in files on your computer,using any account's configurations file—including the examples shipped. The program does not connect to any server unless and until mail is fetched or sent, and all the example account files shipped require a password on initial connections. Passwords are not providedfor the example accounts (and you're unlikely to guess correctly!).

See thePyMailGui-PP4E folder'sSavedMail subfolder for example saved-mail files to view offline via the GUI's "Open" buttons. You can also view yoursentmail offline, as describedahead. Now that you've learned about installingand configuring PyMailGUI, though, it's time to jump in to its GUI to do some email.

A Brief Guide to the GUI

This section provides a quick rundown on the GUI's operation. Clicks its thumbnails and links along the way to view example windows. For space the linked shots here are all from the Mac app, but you'll find equivalents for your platform of choice in the complete screenshotscollection.

General Layout

PyMailGUI allows you to both send and receive emails from any of your accounts' servers, and work with saved-mail files completely offline. When started, it first displays alauncher window, from which you can open email accounts specified by yourMailConfigs folder files that we metearlier.

For each account that you spawn with the launcher's Open Account button, PyMailGUI provides an independently running multiwindowGUI that consists of:

1. A main maillist window for the mail at your server
2. Any number of maillist windows for local saved-mail files
3. Any number of messageview andcompose windows

View and compose windows use the PyEdit program for display and edit of a message's main text(more on this ahead). Additional popup windows—including mailraw-text, fileselection,passwordprompts,and transferstatus—appear when needed.If a console window is supported by your install package (e.g., source code), it is alsoused for program trace messages that can be safely ignored by most users.

In general, most mail-processing operations canoverlap in time—for instance, you can compose andsendmultiple emails while a load of received messages isin progress—though some transfers preclude starting others. The GUI will let youknow if a new operation must wait for others to finish. The next two sections cover the two main types of windows you'll usein PyMailGUI.

List Windows

Mail listwindows,opened from the launcher'swindow,are your top-level interface to both:

• Emails received and stored on your account'sserver (i.e., your email provider)
• Emails you have accessed and saved locally in one or morefiles on your computer

These windows look and act almost entirely the same, butsaved-mail lists have no load button because there are no incoming messages to fetch, and only the server window has a top-of-window help bar (this plus window title helps make themdistinct).Both types of list windows display just enough header information to help you identify messages, with a leading "*" to indicate attachments. Both also provide two sets of action buttons and event triggers:

• Non-message actions that do not operate on selected mails
• Message actions that apply to mails you've selected in the list

Both widow types also have aQuit button works the same as a window close, andvaries by type: a Quit in a saved-mail file list window closes just that window, but a Quit in the server list window checks for unsaved changes in any mail composition window and exits the program on verification. The next two sections provide a moreformal reference to list-window actions.

Non-message Actions

For speed,Load fetches just newly arrived email headers from your POP server after the initial load. The full content of server mails is fetched only when first accessed (e.g., by the firstView,Reply, orSave in a session), and mails are never automatically retained on your computer or removed from the mail server (useSave and/orDelete as desired).

As usual for general GUIs, you can open multiple saved-mail files in independent list windows viaOpen buttons in any list window. Changes in saved-mail file content (e.g., viaSave andDelete) are reflected in their open listwindows immediately.

Message actions

In the mail list window of theserver or any saved-mailfile, you can process one or more emails with the following buttons and operations:

Per the last row above, list windows supportmultiple selections. When used, the above operations are automatically applied toall selectedmessages on either the server or in a saved-mail file, depending on the window's type. For example, you fetch and open multiple mails from your account serverat once by selecting them in the server-list window and pressing View. Use a single click to select one mail; Ctrl/control-click to select others; Shift-click to select a range of mails; and the All button to select all (or none).

Multiple selections also make it easy to manage mails offline as a group. For instance, you can also both save multiple server mails to saved-mail files, and copy or move multiple saved mails to another new or existing saved-mail file:

• Tosave to a file initially, select email(s) in a server list window, and clickSave.
• Tocopy to another file, select email(s) in a saved-mail list window, and clickSave.
• Tomove to another file, select email(s) in a saved-mail list window, and clickSave and thenDelete.

Tip: for maximum privacy, save your new emails to local files, delete them from your account server, and use the actions listed above to manage them. Your local saved-mail files can be used to categorize your mail much like mail folders on some IMAP servers, but are completely offline.

Note that Open and Save in list windows process messages in saved-mail files, while Open and Save in the text area of view and compose windows process the main text part of individual messages; seeahead for more on the distinction.

List windows can be resized, minimized, and scrolled freely and independently, and show you whichmessages you can access on an account's server or in a local saved-mail file; to view and send actual email content, you'll use the next section's windows.

View and Compose Windows

View and composewindows, opened by buttons in listwindows,are your interface to individual messages displayed in server or save-file listwindows. View and compose windows are similar, but their topmost actions and components vary for their different roles:

View windows

likethis oneare created by selecting an existing message in a server or saved-mail list window and pressingView to open a formatted display. View windows have action buttons to list attached mail parts and split them off into a folder foreasy access, along with a row of part-view buttons that allow you to open each component of themail (including safe attachments) with a single click.

Compose windows

likethis oneare created by pressing any list window'sWrite to start a new mail, or selecting an existing message in a server or saved-mail list window and pressingReply orFwd to start a reply or forward.Compose windows have action buttons to list already-attached parts, attach new parts, and send the mail, but no part-view button row.Replies andforwards are identical to writes, but areprefilled with headers and an existing mail's quoted text.

The upper portion of both window types includes the message's most-common header fields fordisplay or entry (Ctrl or command + C/V work in these to cut/paste text).The lower portion of both window types automatically uses thePyEdit program's text-editor component for both display and composition of an email's main message text.Click the PyEdit Help button in this area of the window for more details on using its editing toolsomitted here for space (they're mostly intuitive)PyMailGUI also uses PyEdit popup windows to displayraw mail text and some HTML parts' text.

On window close (and theCancel button, which runs the same code), both view and compose windowsnotify you of unsaved changes in just thatwindow and close the window if verified. By contrast, a window close or Quit in the server list windownotifies you of unsaved changes in any PyEditcomponent or popup window before shutting down if verified. The following sections summarize view and compose windows' actions.

View-window actions

View windowParts andSplit buttons list and saveall mail parts, respectively.To open individual email parts, click their names in the part-buttons row below theheader. These open in programs appropriate for the part's filetype, subject to yourMailConfigs settings.For example, textparts open in a PyEditpopup;the HTML version of a text/HTML alternativeemail opens in awebbrowser;and an attachedimage opens in your localviewer.

Compose-window actions

Composewindows—openedby list-window Write, Reply, and Fwd buttons—are similar to view windows, but there is no part-button row; thePyEdit component and header fields are used for entry instead of display (and possibly prefilled, depending on the compositiontype); and the Split button is replaced withAttach andSend controls, for attaching new parts and sending the mail via your SMTP server, respectively.

PyEdit main-text actions

In addition to PyMailGUI actions described in the two preceding sections, view and composewindows also inherit all the operations supported by the PyEdit component used to display a mail's main text in the lowerpart of the window, including the following.

This concludes our tour of the GUI in PyMailGUI, but there's more to say about common operations you can perform with the program. For a brief tour of these topics, let's move on to the next section.

Assorted Hints

This section provides a collection additional task-oriented usage pointers. It's a bit random, and in some parts redundant with other sections of this document, but it may connect some PyMailGUI dots that you hadn't considered before.

Message Save versus text Save: drafts

ASave in alist window savesentire messages (all those selected), and always appends them to the saved-mail file you selectin a GUI dialog. By contrast, aSave in the text area of aview/compose window saves just that mail'smain text part displayed. The latter can be usedas a manualdrafts-saving tool (save to a file, open or copy-paste later). For text-part saves, you can generally use the default Unicode encoding when prompted (perPyEdit's customizable support; see its Help).

Message Open versus text Open

Like the prior note, anOpen in a PyMailGUI listwindow opens asaved-mail file's messagesin a new list window, but anOpen in the PyEdit component of a View or Compose window opens a simpletext file and inserts its content in the message's main-text display. The latter can be used to save and resume notes in progress, or save just the main text of a mail received.

Viewing sent mails: the sentmail file

All emails you send are automatically stored by default in a saved-mail file calledsentmail.txt in thePyMailGui-PP4E folder locatedat the top level of your installpackage.You can change this file's name and location and disable sent-mail saves altogether inMailConfigs files, either per accountor globally; see the mail configurationbase file'ssentmailfilesetting for pointers. For example, you may wish to locate the sent-mail save file outside the install tree to avoid accidentally losing it on upgrades (more on upgradesahead). Open the sent-mail save file withOpen in anylist windowto see the mails you've sent in the GUI.

Including attachments in replies and forwards

BothReply andFwd inlist windows automatically include and quote the original main-text part. There currently is no automatic way to include attachments from the original message, but it's easy to save and reattach any part of a message. First, open the original message with a list'sView and click on thebuttons of its parts that you wish to include in the reply or forward. This saves the clicked parts in theTempParts subfolder of the install'sPyMailGui-PP4E folder. Then, use theAttach button in thecompose window to reattach the saved original parts from the TempParts subfolder. A mail's parts can also be saved in and reattached from a folder of your choosing with theSplitbutton.

Sending and viewing HTML mails

Mailscomposed in PyMailGUI always display and send a plain-text main part. There is no current support for creating text/HTML alternative or HTML-only emails, but you can include an HTML part attachmentwith a main text part that simply directs readers to open the HTML. As there are no HTML editing tools in PyMailGUI, an HTML part would be composed with other programs (e.g., MS-Word, LibreOffice, or PyEdit for the text-biased). In contrast, mails received or saved in PyMailGUI fully support both text/HTML alternative and HTML-only modes,and display their HTML parts in your web browser—on clicks foralternative mails, and along with extracted plain-text forHTML-only mails.

Saved-mail files versus server folders

Saved-mailfiles are a local alternative to email folders on your account's server, and allow you to partition your saved mails by categories, years, and so on. They contain text—the raw text of mails, which includes their attachments often in encoded form—but can have any name, can be stored in any folder, and may have any extension (or none). Saved-mail files emulate some of the functionality of IMAP server-account folders, but reside on your local computer only. This makesthem private, and easy to access and archive offline; it also limits their visibility, though they can be propagatedto other devices normally (e.g., seemergeall). UseOpen in the GUI toview the shippedexamples.

Viewing other server folders: imapfetch

As a POP client, PyMailGUI can access only the "inbox" folder at your server account; per the prior note, its local saved-mail files are designed to fill the same role as saved-mail folders at your server. You can, however, use PyMailGUI to view preexisting server email folders by first downloading their content over the IMAP interface to saved-mail files with the separateimapfetch program. Because server connection is tried only on fetches and sends, you don't need to have or configure an account toview emailssaved by eitherimapfetch or PyMailGUI's ownSave; simply pressOpen in a PyMailGUI list window. IMAP download from server folders requiresa one-time manual step. In exchange, though, local files are generally immune to both email-providersnooping, and ineffectual governmentoversight.

Minimizing keyboard input: password files

This hint applied to the former text-based launcher, and has been made mostly obsoleteby the new GUI-based launcher in version 4.0. One part of the prior note stillapplies, however: you can avoidpassword input on each initial serverconnection by setting the local POP/SMTP (fetch/send) password-file paths in yourMailConfigs files. When set to valid paths, passwords are read automatically from the files you've configured, instead of GUI popups. Password files aren't recommended on machines used by others, but are not generally any worse than allowing a web browser to remember your password in a local cookie. For more on setting this up, seeConfiguration.

Tips on filling in message header fields

When entering recipient email addresses in To, Cc, and other fields,be sure to quote the optionalname portion if it contains special characters (for instance: "name" <user@server.com>). When enteringmultiple recipients, separate email addresses with a comma (for example: address1, address2, address3). The standard control/Ctrl plus C and V key combinations work tocopy and paste text in header fields; on some platforms a right- (or two-finger-) click may paste as well. For sends: if the initial "?" character in an address field is left unchanged, no address will be used for the field; by contrast, the initial "?" in Subject will be used as your email's subject line if unchanged—besure to fill in a valid subject.

Emojis are replaced for display🙁 (but Unicode symbols work☺)

Becauseemojis—Unicode symbols whose codepoints lie outside the BMP range—are not supported by the Tk library used by PyMailGUI, they must be replaced with a � Unicode replacement character for display in the GUI (only). You also cannot enter themin the GUI's edit fields. For more details, see the "About emojis" note in PyEdit's User Guide, available in some packageshere,and onlinehere.Despite this limitation, you can still jazz-up your emails by using any of the very many Unicode symbols and language characters that fall in the BMP's U+0000..U+FFFF codepointrange, including these: ✓ ☓ ☑ ☒ ☀ ☼ ☉ ★ ☆ ☞ ☜ ☯ ⚐ ♡ ☮ 重 出 ж म ä ☺.

Recent Updates

For both developers and upgraders, this section logs changes made in recent PyMailGUI releases, from latest to oldest. Optional reading to be sure, but most users woulddo well to scan the upgrading tips before installing a new PyMailGUI.

Upgrading PyMailGUI

First off, to upgrade from prior releases, be sure to save and restore (or copy)the following items from your prior PyMailGUI install's folder if they have been changed since the prior install:

• Your customizedMailConfigs files, always;you can swap this entire folder from the old to new install
• The nestedtextConfig.py in folderPyMailGui-PP4E used for text-part popups, if you have edited it
• Any sent-mail and saved-mail files, if they reside in the program's install folderand you wish to save them

If you install a new version to a different folder, you can simply copy the itemslisted above from old install to new. If you install to the same folder, though, these items will be overwritten with new versions if you don't save and restore. Upgraders beware!

PyMailGUI Changes

Per the archives, the lastbook's versionof this program was 3.0, published in 2010 (prior book versions appeared in 2006 and2001), and the first standalone (post-book) version was released late in 2015.Starting in October, 2016, version number 3.1 is used to denote the initial standalone release, and other 3.X releases have been numbered accordingly below. As of 2017's release 4.0, changes are marked in code by version number (e.g., "[4.0]") instead of abbreviated release dates,but this was not retroactively applied to 3.1+ changes.

Version 4 Changes

[4.1] Jun-2022: Rerelease of source code and macos app to add Message-ID

PyMailGUI's source-code and macos-app packages (only) wereupdated and republished inJune 2022, to incorporate the following tactical changes necessitated by recent evolution in email practice:

1. Message-Id:aMessage-ID header is now added to all sent mails by the PyMailGUI client, because some servers now require one, and not all SMTP servers add one. In particular, Gmail has been seen to bounce some emails without the ID, and some GoDaddy email servers do not add the ID automatically. This header is optional perspec,but is no longer treated as such in some widespread implementations.Alas, monopolies can impose de facto standards.
2. Reply-To:more clearly perspec,replies now prefillTo with the received mail'sReply-To header if present, instead ofFrom.Reply-To was formerly ignored, but some sites use it to overrideFrom (e.g., to route replies to the party who requested an online-signing,instead of the signing site that sent the request).
3. In-Reply-To, References:though more optional and irrelevant in all contexts tested,In-Reply-To andReferences reply headersare now added to sends with the sender'sMessage-ID,when one is present. Some clients may use these for threading. Nit: the implementation ofReferences here is not fully perspec (just oneID is sent), but sufficed in all tests.
4. OpenSSL:the new macos app embeds a newer Python (3.8), whose updated OpenSSL is now required by some servers too. In short, some email servers have begun refusing requests from the 2017 packages' Python 3.5for encrypted email transactions. This seems a potentially perennial maintenance issue.
5. Threading:the event-checks-per-second setting was throttled down from 20 to 5,to minimize CPU utilization when the client is dormant. CPU, and hence battery usage, was significant on macos before this change. Other platforms may see less improvement. SeequeueChecksPerSecondin thisfile for the code.

This is alimited release.Due to backward-incompatible changes in the PyInstaller build tool, the Windowsand Linux executables were not updated for this release, and do not include its changes. For these two platforms, the new source-code package and a recent Python (e.g., 3.8+) are recommended over the current executables; seeabove for source-code usage info.

For more details on the changes applied in this release, search for "[4.1]" inListWindows.py,ViewWindows.py, and other codefiles.For pointers on upgrading to this release, seeabove.

[4.0.1] Aug-2017: Rerelease of macos app to fix broken-pipe error

This minor patch release applies to Mac app users only. Its sole change was a fix for a rare broken-pipe error that could occur only in the Mac app distribution of this program. For details on the issue and fix, please seethis web page.Only the Mac app and source code packages were rereleased as 4.0.1, not the Windows orLinux executables. The source-code package was updated to include the app fix as an example for developers (see "[4.0.1]"), but the fix is irrelevant to both source code andother platforms. Users of the 4.0 Mac app are encouraged toupgrade to this new release.

[4.0] Jun-2017: New GUI launcher, macos port, new configs model, and more

This was a colossalrelease with too many features to document here. Among the most notable,with major items near the top:

1. A new GUI launcher and mail configurations folder better support multiple email accounts
2. The program was ported to have full functionality on macos (in addition to Windows and Linux)
3. New Mac app and Windows and Linux executables are now available (in addition to source code)
4. Unicode characters outside Tk's BMP range are now replaced everywhere instead of causing errors
5. An account's username is now displayed in its window's title (not just the server name)
6. There are new configurable GUI items inMailConfigs, including view-window header fonts
7. Password popups are posted on their parent on Linux so they are not hidden
8. Part windows are no longer silently closed with a view-window parent
9. There are more intelligent checks for unsaved text edits on window and program closes
10. A newMailConfigs file setting, splitOpensAll, suppresses part auto-opens on Split
11. The set of clickable part (attachment) filename extensions is now user-configurable
12. This document was revised enough to qualify as a full rewrite

And so on; again, search for "[4.0]" in the source-code files for full details.

Version 3 Changes

[3.6]May-27-2016: increase SMTP (send) timeouts, Python 3.5+ change

Python 3.5 changed the way that timeouts are applied to mail send operations.Itssmtplib module'sserver.sendmail() uses Python'ssocket.sendall() system call to send full mail content. Formerly, the latter applied a timeout value to each partial data transfer it performed during a call. As of 3.5, a timeout value is now applied instead to the full duration of the call, as documentedhere andhere. This subtly changes the meaning of timeout values—they now always impose a maximum on thetotal time to send an email's full content.

Both for this Python change and general usage, PyMailGUI's default SMTP timeout was increased from 20 to 120 seconds to better accommodate large emails sent on slow SMTP servers, and was moved to the main (base)mailconfig.py file for easy adjustment. In contrast to smtplib's single-call scheme, Python'spoplib module used for fetches reads mails line by line manually, and is thus less sensitive to timeout values, and immune to 3.5 changes.PyMailGUI's default POP timeout was nevertheless also increased for both symmetry andfuture-proofing.

Search for "May2016" in codehere andherefor changes applied. Timeouts are crucial in PyMailGUI; without them, the program can't be closed in the GUI if a server transaction hangs, as originallydescribed here.

[3.5] Mar-26-2016: fix for launcher error message when > 1 "_" in filenames

[This fix has been made fully moot by the new GUIlauncher in 4.0; it's historical only.]Repackaged with a trivial fix for a minor launcher buglet: on invalid account name input, the error message giving validaccount-name choices included bogus strings if > 1 "_" appeared in any account configurationfilename. Fixed by splitting on just 1 (first) "_", via a second argument tostr.split(). Also revised this document, added a console screenshot, and added top-level example go-one.py for minimizing keyboard input on launches (defunct).

[3.4] Dec-22-2015: password files and prompts

This release adds revamped password input code which reinstates local POP (fetch) password files, described in the new usagenote earlier. This feature wasn't formerly available in the GUI due to the special handling of password prompts for thread safety. Local SMTP (send) password files also work, as before. Also new: when passwords are not in files, the GUI now never asks for them after the first successful load or send, as they are valid thereafter(they were formerly reinput after server errors).Search for "Dec2015" to see code changes and new implementation notes.

[3.3] Dec-20-2015: display and help configs, Linux icons, launcher upgrades

This release adds new color configurations for the help bar and view action buttons, as capturedhere andhere; expanded help content and actions, with three selectabledisplays; support for Linux app-baricons; and more robust launcher code (now superseded by 4.0'sGUI launchercode).See "Dec2015" in the code for changes made; all are only minor deviations from the originalbook code.

[3.2] Dec-15-2015: SSL server modes support

This release now has support for using SSL and TLS/SSLencrypted modes when communicating with your POP (fetch) and SMPT (send) email servers.SSL and its TLS extension make email transmissions more secure. To enable this, the program's configuration settings now include optional switches to turn on SSL modes, and acceptport numbers at the end of server-name strings following a ":" (ports may vary per server, especially for SSL). This support is not present in thebook'sversion of the code, but is a common expectation today. While some servers still don't implement SSL (e.g., one ofthe author's accounts on Earthlink), some require it (e.g., Gmail), and others generally recommend it (e.g., Godaddy).

You email provider will have the details on your server account's TLS/SSL story.For SSL configuration examples in theMailConfigs folder, see the self-containedGmail file, as well as the otherSSL file examples.For all changes made in this revision, see theannouncement, and search for "Dec2015" in the codehere andhere.Hint: thePyEdit component's Search=>Grep in Viewwindows can be used to search the full source-code tree.

[3.1] 2011-2015: Post-book changes through standalone release

For additional changes adopted by PyMailGUI between the hostingbook's publication and the original release of this standalone version,see alsothis page for changes necessitated by recent Python releases, andthis list for older PyMailGUI modifications.

[3.0] 2010: Book-based version

This version had much of the current functionality of the latest, and was included with and documented by the bookPP4E published in December 2010 (really, January 2011, but the publisher munged the date, andthe program was finalized months before publication).

Older Versions and Future Ideas

Prior to its 2015 general release, this program appeared in more-limited forms inbooks published in 2010, 2006, and 2001 (and copyrighted by the author of the latest release).In brief, the first version was text-messages only; the second added MIME attachments; and the third implemented Unicode and included much of the functionality available in the current standalone release.

Despite its broad usability, there is still ample room for further enhancements in PyMailGUI(e.g., minimizing the help bar, using sortable tables for list windows, popup placement, resolving some thread starvation slowdowns, address books, spelling checkers, and HTML editing). These ideas are open ended, but limited by the dual underlying goals of retaining an easy-to-useinterface, and keeping this program similar to its original version in thebook it came from. As usual, the code is yours to change as you wish.

For More Details

Because much of this program is fully described in the book that serves as its host,we'll defer to other resources for additional details here. Please refer to the following for more information:

• Thescreenshots folder here for example use cases
• PyMailGUI's original, simpler, and perhaps more detailed in-programhelp document,availablehere
• The bookProgramming Python, 4th Edition (PP4E), where this program is developed, documented, and demonstrated

Depending on your configuration filesettings, the top-of-window bar in the program's main serverlist window may also open the second of the above—in addition to the document you have just finished reading.

Before You Go...

If you like this program, you may also be interested in these other productivity tools brought to you by the makers of PyMailGUI:

You can find these and other free software packages at theprograms site.

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