Hi there; I was reading through the thread about archiving/backing up of PM databases, and it got me thinking (chug chug chug...). The easiest ay to archive off an database is, it seems to me, to simply start a new user environment (or to start with a duplicate of the existing database if one wishes to preserve all those nested folder heirarchies). Once I've duplicated my database and opened the duplicate (maybe stuffing the original) I'm faced with a problem. I want the change-over date from the old DB to the new DB to be a month or so ago -- because I *know* that I'll need to refer to emails from the last few weeks at least. Let's say that I choose a changeover date of March 1. To prevent message duplication and confusion I want the old database to have no messages AFTER March 1, and the new db to have no messages PRIOR to March 1. To do this I need to do some purging of messages in each db (ie. in each user environment separately). But this means opening up each each mail folder individually to process the messages therein. And I have a lot of folders.
So this is what I can see a use for: a special window (summoned up from the Window Menu, and called something like the "Whole DB Window") that displays EVERY message in the database, regardless of where it is filed. I could sort that window by date and make date-based selections across the whole database very easily, or select all and run an AppleScript through every message in my db. I'm sure that other people on this list can see many other uses for being able to display all the messages in the db without regard for the folder structure (much as the Recent Mail Window does). Like I say, this would be a window that is only called up when required (as it would probably perform slowly, with so many items listed). But I'd find it an invaluable addition. Sound like a good idea to anyone else? Rick ----------- G4/500 MHz (DP) :: OS 10.2.4 :: PM 4.1.2 :: 3 pane mode :: 768 MB RAM <www.sharkattack.co.uk>
