RIM OS 5.0

I have updated version 1.1.17 with a few fixes to solve the various background thread crashes on OS 5.0.

I think that tiggit mail is now 5.0 safe. I have posted a new build of 1.1.17 (now 1.1.17.1) on tiggit.com for those that need a 5.0 compatible version.

[For information here is what appears to cause most of the problems on RIM OS 5.0. UI Applications on the BlackBerry have the concept of a 'despatch thread' that deals with user interactions (button presses, clicks etc) and typically this despatch thread will start other background threads to conduct the necessary processing. Tiggit mail makes extensive use of these background threads to do things like decoding messages and displaying them.

It would appear that when a background thread sets a parameter on a field that has not been added to a manager this causes a null pointer exception as the OS attempts to render the field within the context of a manager that does not exist. In my mind this is a defect in the OS, but nevertheless everyone will need to review and update their application as a result.

Note: this is not the same as making sure that the background thread owns the Ui Application Event Lock.]

RIM OS 5.0

Like a great many applications, tiggit mail has been broken by RIM OS 5.0. I have been running it on the simulator and have fixed every crash that I have found, and have a candidate build that a few users have reported works OK on RIM OS 5.0

Please contact me directly if you need this build because you have upgraded to 5.0 and found that tiggit mail does not work.

1.1.17 – preview 3

I have just uploaded another build of 1.1.17 preview. This build fixes some minor bugs in the add mailbox wizard that result in the settings menu having multiple entries for the same mailbox.

This build also adds a mark read feature for inbox viewers allowing you to select multiple messages and mark them as read, without opening them. When tiggit next does a send and receive the update to the \Seen flag is applied to the server. This is what it looks like

Registered users can download version 1.1.17, by clicking here and entering the email address that was originally used to register for tiggit mail. Exisiting license tokens will continue to work with this version. Users are advised to take appropriate precautions when upgrading to this version as all messages on the handheld may be lost.

1.1.17 preview 2 – HTML enhancements

Preview 2 contains a fix for errors in the calculation of daylight saving hours within the timezone for outgoing messages.

This version also adds a cache for images downloaded within html messages, this means that once you have viewed a message and it has downloaded any embedded images, these images will not be downloaded again. As the images are held in memory up to the maximum size indicated in the setting HTMLCacheSize. Once this size is reached images are dropped from the cache to make room for new downloads. You can set this value to zero to turn off the caching functionality.

If useSDCard is selected then the cached data is stored on the the SD card in the tiggitWorkspace/cache folder. There is no limit to the space that will be taken for data cached on the SD Card.

To clear the HTML cache, from the mailbox list key ALT-C then ALT-C.

Hopefully the cache will improve performance and reduce data costs for downloading html emails with hosted images.

Here is a re-cap on the settings that can be used with HTML emails

• renderHTML – option to turn on/off display of HTML content within tiggit mail.
• loadHTMLimages – option to turn on/off loading of embedded images within HTML emails.
• showHTMLfirst – typically HTML emails have a plain text message before the HTML to make the message more readable for those that do not have HTML capable email tools. This setting makes tiggit mail always display HTML attachments first.
• HTMLCacheSize – as described above, defines the maximum size of the HTML image cache in memory.

Sadly there is no real way to show a graphic of the cache in action, but note that the status line does report when an image is loaded from cache rather than from the network. You can also observe the absence of flashing arrows showing no network activity whilst the HTML mail is being populated.

Registered users can download version 1.1.17, by clicking here and entering the email address that was originally used to register for tiggit mail. Exisiting license tokens will continue to work with this version. Users are advised to take appropriate precautions when upgrading to this version as all messages on the handheld may be lost.

first view of tiggit mail 1.1.17

It has been a while since I have released a new version of tiggit mail, and in recent weeks I have been receiving a number of requests for additional minor features and enhancements. This release attempts to provide those as well as delivering on some promises from a while ago.

Possibly the most visual change is the option to have alternately shaded rows in the inbox, and the option to set the colour of the shading. Perhaps the most requested change is the ability to edit messages when they are in the outbox. This version should also improve efficiency in filing messages into other folders with the introduction of fast keys and nicknames.

Here is the full list of changes:

• Option for alternative send format – you can now chose between ISO-8859-1(default), UTF-16BE, US-ASCII and UTF-8.
• The text of the signature is now placed in the message composer allowing you to edit/customise it for particular messages
• Fast keys to move around the folder list in the move dialog – press the first letter of the folder name you want to move to.
• Folder nick-names
• Ability to edit messages once they have been placed in the outbox, using send later
• Option to start in the background when the phone boots
• Option to delete the BlackBerry log on start up to improve performance
• Changed the sub-folders checkbox on the folder properties to not be selected by default
• Option to immediately hide moving and deleted messages
• Fixes irritations in the operation of the delete key
• Support for forwarded flags on messages
• Added exit option to the mailbox list menu
• Removes mailboxes immediately rather than waiting for restart
• Fixes defects in counting un-read messages. Deleted messages are not counted as un-read
• Ability to back-up settings – press ALT-E to export settings to a file and ALT-I to import.
• Added reply indicator to a single line view
• Fixes problems with copying messages to a sent folder via the tunnel
• Pressing enter now opens a message on inbox viewer
• Option to not download images in HTML mails
• Fixes defect where multiple inboxes are shown from time to time
• Fixes problem where changes to the signature were not detected by save prompt
• Added send attempt count to stop enternal message send attempts
• Added shading alternate rows
• Added AOL wizard

There are still a few features to be added to 1.1.17, but I am releasing a preview of this now for confirmation that these features meet the needs of the many users that have requested them.

Registered users can download version 1.1.17, by clicking here and entering the email address that was originally used to register for tiggit mail. Exisiting license tokens will continue to work with this version. Users are advised to take appropriate precautions when upgrading to this version as all messages on the handheld may be lost.