My query applies specifically to Mozilla Thunderbird current, but could 
have a more general solution.

I need to convert to a plain text file listing (that could be imported 
into a word processor, LaTeX or a GUI front end thereto, etc) what 
appears in the display of Thunderbird as the columns Subject From and 
Date for an internal activity report that I must write.   These columns 
appear on the end-user GUI display and allow one to then read specific 
messages by "point and click".  As I cannot find a description of the 
official Thunderbird nomenclature for the various sections of the GUI 
display, I am using the above descriptions.

I could use a screenshot application, select a rectangular region, save 
each entity as a PNG image, and then use an OCR application to yield 
plain text.  I would prefer that the screenshot application simply 
recognizes the text *AS* text, allowing me to copy and paste into a text 
editor, etc., all running under X wndows.   Does anyone know of an 
application that does this?  A brief perusal on the web as well as a 
quick read of the information on the "default" screenshot applications 
that come with either MATE or KDE does not seem to reveal a mechanism 
for this (but rather the PNG or other image, non-text, route).

The normal mechanism I use -- highlight (select), pointing device button 
(to copy), and then point device button (paste) to capture from say a 
text HTTP file in a web browser to a word processor application -- does 
not seem to work for the above "column" portion of the Thunderbird 
display.  This normal mechanism does work if I view source for each 
message, displaying the SMTP text source and headers in a box, but is 
very time consuming as the information that I need is available in the 
"columns" of the basic Thunderbird user interface without having to view 
the source.

Any assistance is appreciated.

Yasha Karant