Subject: *URGENT* help needed.

From: [email-masked] (mr.David Mehler Mehler)
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 23:44:30 EDT

Hello,
	I need help! I am trying to use pine, having finally got
everything my computer needs. I'm getting the following message:
[Can't send message without an open remote folder.]
	I would like to know what this means. Does it mean my internet
provider has to have an open folder, my inbox, or saved message place,
one of those, or do I have to have folders created on my computer. If I
have to have folders on my computer, please tell me cleasrlyand
detailedly how to do it. If it is a problem with my ISP what might it be?
Anyone who also uses pine, if you would include your pinerc file as a
plain text file in the body of your message, after your information, NOT
as an attachment, that would be greatly appreciated. Usernames and
passwords, please omit.
Please help!!!!
Dave.

Dave Mehler

---

From: Mike Brudenell <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 10:03:46 +0100

--On Thu, Jul 24, 1997 11:44 pm +0000 "mr.David Mehler Mehler"
<[email-masked]> wrote: 

> 	I would like to know what this means.

The message means that you are trying to send a message to someone without
first having "logged into" your mail server (to opwn a mail folder)....

When people send you e-mail the messages get stored in "folders"
(collections of messages) on the mail server computer managed by your ISP. 
To read your messages you run Pine and have it connect to the mail server
and open up your INBOX folder.  However in order to do this you will need
to type in the username and password you have been assigned on the mail
server.  This authenticates you to the mail server software (actually the
"IMAP server" software running there) and proves you're actually allowed to
access the messages stored in the folder.

When you send a message Pine includes some basic information about the
username you used to authenticate to the mail server.  (Don't worry: it
doesn't include your password!)  This provides a basic level of prrof that
the message really did originate from yourself, and not someone else trying
to froge a message to make it appear as though you wrote it.

Obviously in order to do this Pine needs the authentication information to
have been supplied: that is, you to have opened a connection to/folder on
your mail server.  If you haven't got such a connection open then the
authentication information isn't available to Pine, and it refuses to post
your message, displaying the above error message instead.

So before you can send any messages you must open your INBOX folder.  I'm
half-surprised Pine didn't ask you for your username and password when you
started it running so that it could do so.  If it did and you just
cancelled the prompt then you can't do much beyond change settings in the
Configuration screens until you do supply a username and password.

Try running Pine again and be sure to supply the username and password it
prompts you for.  (If it doesn't ask for one try giving the "L" command and
then highlight and select the "INBOX" folder from the list shown to you.)

Cheers,
-- 
Mike Brudenell                                         <[email-masked]>
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