## Customization and Flexibility in the exmh Mail User Interface

Brent Welch
brent.welch@eng.sun.com
Sun Microsystems Laboratories
2550 Garcia Ave. M/S UMTV29-232
Mountain View, CA 94043

#### Abstract

The exmh mail user interface is designed to be flexible and customizable. The goal in the design is to provide a platform that can be tuned to suit individual preferences, as well as extended to provide custom functionality. There are several mechanisms for customization: install-time settings define runtime support requirements; a Preferences user interface exposes various "knobs" and "dials"; the X resource database controls fonts, colors, and other widget attributes; a personal library of Tcl procedures supports new functionality; the buttons and menus in the interface are defined by X resource specifications to allow customization and access to personal Tcl extensions; hook points in the implementation support callbacks to user extensions at key moments in mail handling; A binding user interface defines editing and accelerator keystrokes. This paper describes these mechanisms, and provides some experiences in the use and development of exmh.

Download the full text of this paper in ASCII (32,174 bytes) and POSTSCRIPT (176,712 bytes) form.

To Become a USENIX Member, please see our Membership Information.