Mercury Mail comes with an option to setup automatic replies. The simplest method is to create a text file with the reply message, save it as AREPLY.PM and then copy it to the mail folder of the user.
The individual user\'s mail folder may be shared on the network but allowing only the user themselves access to it but no one else. By doing so, the users can then set the automatic reply themselves when they require it.
This simple method allows automatic replies to generated but lacks the flexibility of controlling reply generation base on events.
A more flexible method would be to create an additional AREPLY.CFG, which can control triggering of automatic replies base on events or a specific time frame.
This configuration file (AREPLY.CFG) is just a single line of text that set the conditions for autoreply generation. There are total of up to seven fields.
Only a comma separates each field on the single line of text.
The first field is a single digit of 0-4. A 0 indicates event-triggering everyday with only a time range taken in consideration.
A Type 1 in the first field indicates triggering on specific day of the week, eg. 0=Sunday up to 6=Saturday.
A 2 in the first field indicates triggering on week of the month plus day of week.
A 3 in the first field indicates triggering on a specific month of the year and finally a 4 will cause a event trigger on YYYYMMDD format. (YYYY for 4 digits year, MM for 2 digits month and DD for 2 digits day)
The second and third fields are the values for the conditions stated in first field. Thus if it is 0, then the second and third fields would be time range. eg. 0500, 2359. Thus the line would consist of "0, 0500, 2359, AREPLY.PM" which means a automatic reply daily for mails received between 0500 and 2359.(24-hour clock standard)
An example of a definition that triggers any day between 5:00 am and 11:59 pm: 0, 0500, 2359, AREPLY.PM
If it is a 1, then the day of the week must be specified followed by time range and then finally followed by the automatic reply filename.
An example of a definition that triggers every Tuesday between 5am and 11pm: 1, 2, 0500, 2300, AREPLY.PM
If it is a 2, the first field is day of week, second is the week of month follow by 2 field of time range and then finally the autoreply text file\'s name.
An example of a definition that triggers based on type 2, on Monday, third week of month, 5am to 11pm: 2, 1, 3, 0500, 2300, AREPLY.PM
If it is a 3, it is just simply the month of the year to generate the autoreplies followed by time range and finally the file name.
An example of a definition type 3 that triggers on month of May, from 6pm to 11 pm: 3, 5, 1800, 2300, AREPLY.PM
A type 4 condition will need a date range for second and third field, followed by a time range for fourth and fifth field and the filename as the final field.
A definition that triggers all day on 13th May 2004: 4, 20040513, 20040513, 0000, 2400, AREPLY.PM.