On 08/24/2015 04:29 PM, Yasha Karant wrote:
> 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
Hi Yasha,

I'm a bit confused at the level of automation you need.  Do you want a 
user to capture a whole folder from TB or just an email?

If it's just one email it may be simplest to have an account that they 
forward to and use procmail to get the source.

If it's a whole folder well that's different unless you have access to 
the mail server then there are a few possibilities.

Best,
Joe