LETTERMAN
Stationery
now has two domains! www.lettermanstationery.com Please update your links.
www.lettermanstationery.us
LETTERMAN
is an Outlook Express stationery scripting and e-mail tools
site. If you are new to OE stationery scripting, check out the Starting
page on Letterman.
Downloaders: Newer scripts and tools are always at the top of the
list on their respective pages. Please see the What's
New on Letterman section below for the latest site content.
Internet Explorer is required to view this site, preferably version 5.5 or
greater.
A Note on Script Help
What's New on Letterman scripts,
programs, tools, and such
Hot News
MetaCreations and the DLL File
DirectX Problems/Answers
CTRL-F2 Problems?
Software Reuse and Distribution
About the Letterman Site
The Author
What's New on Letterman
page top
Items are listed in reverse chronological order - newer items at the top.
X-Unsent no longer works after applying service packs to an XP computer. Someone has written a nice registry fix file for this, unzip the reg file, double click to merge into Windows registry, and now X-Unsent will be honored when reusing an Outlook Express Stationery email or newsgroup post. I will give credit to the author of this wonderful registry hack but at this moment, I am not sure who this is, Greg Campbell, was that you? In any event, head on over to the reuse stationery page to get this valuable update for your computer
X-Usent registry hack
I have put an e-book together for IE 7. This was done with Greg Campbell's, Donald Anadell's and Cato's help and imput.
IE & E-book
Greg Campbell has so nicely offer to write the instructions and offer the scripts to use for EOT embedding using the AMC to bgsound method. This way all can see an embedded EOT without using the toolkit that so many don't have or don't want to use.
To read the instructions and to download the zip with the scripts
AMC to BGSound EOT
Get Java for your browser
Since Microsoft has not provided MS Java any longer for downloading to include
with Windows, it is getting difficult to find. They can be found here on Bluelady Web
Blueslady web site
or here is the Sun Java Automatic Download place
Sun Java Download
View custom font stationery, without installing the font
Some stationeries posted in the newsgroup have custom fonts. The author of
the post often posts the font so that you can view it with the supplied font.
Many of us do not want to install a custom font just to view a single stationery.
To view the stat with the custom font, save the font to your hard disk. Double
click on the font to open it. Reduce the font to the taskbar. Now view the
stat and you will see it with the custom font, all without installing the
custom font itself. After viewing, you may delete the font from your hard
drive if you don't really want to install it. Thanks to Sandy J for the marvelous
tip!
Play Miniature Golf!
...in a full screen popup that demonstrates Richards Full Screen Command in
a Popup! This is just plain fun, go try it it out and Play
Golf!
Ohmster's XP Slipstream CD tutorial
Always wanted your very own XP slipstream CD to install XP with and not
have to do all of the updates? Or even to repair your existing XP system in
case something goes wrong? Go to the Slipstream
CD Tutorial Page to make your own slipstream CD.
Richard Eagle's Flash script updates of Bill's Scripts
Richard Eagle has updated two of Bill's flash script from AMC to BGOUND
tags. Head on over to the Flash page flash embedding
using AMC to BGSOUND for his zip
E-book for XP SP2
This is a brief explanation of the new XP SP2 update. This is a major update to XP as well as Internet Explorer and OutLook Express.There is a download to an e-book there that may help up setup and install XP SP2 and set the new security settings. . To find out how,head on over to E-book for XP SP2 page.
Saving and Reusing Posts for Stationary.
This question comes up from time to time in the Outlook Express newsgroup.
"The newsgroup posts are so pretty! How can I save them and use them
for personal email?" Is something that we have all heard many times and
is answered quite frequently in the newsgroup.. To find out how, head on over
to the
Saving and Reusing Posts
for Stationary page.
Embedding and inetcomm.dll. This bug in OE's latest patch prevents
embedding duplicate images. Only the first image is embedded and other instances
of the same images won't be embedded. For the fix and necessary file, hop
on over to the Inetcomm and Embedding fix page.
Search Letterman. Finding what you need at Letterman can sometimes be a bit daunting, especially when you need it in a hurry. So, in light of that, there is now a really cool search feature at Letterman Stationary that will search all documents on this site to find what you need in a jiffy. You can use multiple search terms with AND or OR features to find what you need. The "Search This Site" feature can be found as item #2 on the blue navigator bar or just go right to the Letterman Site Search Engine page. Happy Hunting!
Player Workshop. Player Workshop is a program where you can test each
of the media players (6.4, 7.1, 8, 9) on your streaming files, both audio
and video. Most important, it automatically generates the code you
need to paste into your stationery so it will stream your ASF, WMA, video,
etc. No more searching for that <OBJECT> code.... Take a look on the
Player Workshop page.
The Zipplayer. Here's a fun scripted-html player you can use to stream
audio media in an e-mail or stationery post. It's highly customizable; you
can create your own buttons and backgrounds and change many other options.
Zip on over to the zipplayer page.
Windows Media Player 9 Registry Toolkit. Beware installing the new
media player from Microsoft until you read this page!!! The new player limits
your ability to send and receive stationery. If you choose to install the
new player, you will need the WMP9 Registry Toolkit
to surmount these problems.
Copy File Path Extra. This little menu extension utility will copy
the full forward slash file:// path of a file to the Windows clipboard. You
will need this utility when you use Eazy Poster. See it on the Copy
File Path Utilities page.
Eazy Poster, a new program I've just written, is a program for posting
.MHT stationery script files to newsgroups. It also offers a solution to
the DirectAnimation GIF rendering problem. Using EazyPoster to post your
scripts in this fashion will simplify your script coding, and virtually eliminate
the need for using the script method "document.writeln" to embed
content, making script writing more natural, as when coding for a web site.
Also use Eazy Poster to post or repost .NWS and .EML files to newsgroups.
See the Easy Poster page.
EZ EOT is a sorely needed EOT font viewer I created. Now you can browse
your EOT font folder and look at all the fonts. It even shows if an EOT font
is e-mail compatible. Get it on the EZ EOT page.
Copy Me v1.30 is out. Buttons can now be labeled from right within
the Copy Me program itself. Get it on the Copy Me
page.
X-Unsent is a utility you need. Written in standard VBScript, it adds
the X-Unsent:1 e-mail header line to your saved .EML or .NWS file, allowing
it to be resent. X-Unsent
News Surfer version 2.30. This newest version of News Surfer strips
scripts like Strip Tease, only right out of the newsgroups while you are online!
News Surfer is a newsreader program I've written for reading and replying
to posts in newsgroups. It is simple and fast with no software bloat. News
Surfer does stationery and renders complicated statonery scripts! Use it as
your primary newsreader or to check the other groups while you are e-mailing
or looking at your regular group with your usual newsreader. See the News
Surfer page.
Strip Tease version 1.13 has been released, correcting stripping problems
with certain eGroups stationery. With my new Strip Tease program, I'm hoping
to forever end the task of manually stripping scripts. Strip Tease also converts
stationery posts and e-mail for easy resending - taking a previously-saved
stationery (newsgroup post or e-mail) and resaving it as if it had never been
sent. See Strip Tease on the Strip Tease page.
What's Installed? Having trouble with your Meta filters or other stationery
viewing problems? Use this diagnostic script to check your system. Updated
again in July, 2002. It's on the Script Tools
page.
Create New Folder program. Right-click any folder in the Windows Explorer
folder tree and create a sub folder for it. Another must-have for stationery
enthusiasts. Get it on the Visual Basic Tools page.
URL Country Codes script. This script tool has been updated for the
seven new domain names instituted in the fall of 2001. Get the latest version
on the Script Tools page.
Hot News
page top
Items are listed in reverse chronological order - newer items at the top.
Richard Eagle's Flash script updates of Bill's Scripts. Richard Eagle has updated two of Bill's flash script from AMC to BGOUND tags. Head on over to the Flash page flash embedding using AMC to BGSOUND for his zip
Windows Media Player 9. WMP 9 final is out. This is a pretty neat player, much more polished than the old WMP 8. It has big problems for stationery people, though. Microsoft has gone on a security kick, and has disabled certain file embedding abilities for Outlook Express with this update. WMP9 Registry Toolkit addresses these problems.
Newsgroup participation in the new private OE group seems to be increasing everyday. Well done folks.
Windows XP SP1 update. No major problems seem to be associated with this update, but recheck your Outlook Express to make sure graphics and other files are being embedded. If not, start OE and click TOOLS|OPTIONS|SEND|html SETTINGS (for both Mail and News) and insure that SEND PICTURES WITH MESSAGES is checked.
Flash 6 player is out. Be watchful of your player version, as the first two Flash 6 player versions won't play embedded Flash (or Swish) files sent via Outlook Express. Versions 6.0.40.0 or newer are the ones to get. Stay away from versions 6.0.29.0 and 6.0.23.0. The old Flash 5 player still works great if you decide not to switch.
Windows XP. I've been running Windows XP for almost a year now and all I can say is WOW!, what an operating system. Microsoft has really gotten something right on this one. Many old problems have been fixed with the redesign. This appears to be one very stable system, built on the Windows 2000 kernel. XP comes with both IE and OE 6, so if you do upgrade, follow the IE/OE6 tips found on this web site.
IE and OE 6 are out in final version now that Windows XP has shipped. Watch out for these things when upgrading:
1. Make sure your MetaCreations filters stay intact. Mine didn't with the upgrade to IE6. You can run the What's Installed script to find out.DirectX 8-8a. Be sure to see the notes on the DirectX 8-8a updates before you upgrade. There are problems with this particular update from Microsoft if you are a Windows 95 or 98 user. So far, DirectX 8.1 seems okay. See the DX8 Fix page.
2. The MetaCreations script for the BurnFilm filter has necessarily changed again. The new MetaCreations script package on this site has been updated. I didn't split out the BurnFilm filter, but just wrapped everything up in one package again. Go get the new package and throw the old one away.
3. OE6 is installing with the Restricted Zones box checked on the TOOLS|OPTIONS|SECURITY tab. This is causing the popup windows not to work. Be sure to check the INTERNET ZONE option instead. That will restore the popup feature.
4. Transparent .GIFs used in DirectAnimation (DA) scripts are not being rendered correctly by OE. The transparent part of the background will show as a white color. Transparent .GIFs in DA scripts do work correctly in Internet Explorer, web pages, and OE even previews them correctly. However, when the e-mail or post is rendered at the receiving end, the transparency fails. My contention is that this is a bug, and I'd bet that Microsoft will not fix it. This bug effects Metacreations scripts that use a picture frame, too. The 22 standard scripts available on this site are not effected. The two 4-image transition scripts in the package are effected. Note that use of my new program Eazy Poster circumvents this problem.
5. You will most likely lose the extra filters added by Windows 98 Second Edition. Greg Campbell of the MS OE5.5 newsgroup has found the fix for reinstating these filters. See the DXTMSFT3 page for the fix. A big thanks to Greg!
Also, be sure to see the Requirements page for settings necessary for proper stationery viewing.
IE/OE 5.5 Tip: The two significant problems arising from the 5.5 upgrade of IE/OE are with the ripple scripts and the MetaCreations DX Transforms. For people wishing to send the ripple script, a slight modification is in order. Change the script keyword for the wave filter from ADD=1 to ADD=0. Second, the graphic transforms (MetaCreations only) don't work unless the DXTMETA2.DLL file has been carried over after your IE 5.5 install. See the MetaCreations and the DLL File section for the correction.
A note on script examples and Tripod.com page generation. Some of my scripts require special coding techniques which are not compatible with free web-hosting services like Tripod. Examples for these type scripts may not be available due to script interference. The downloaded script will work however, as intended, on your computer.
MetaCreations and the DLL File
page topHaving problems seeing the MetaCreations filters since that last IE/OE 5.5 or other upgrade? The fix has been found. The needed DLL file can be downloaded right here. Read on....
MetaCreations DX Transform DLL File
This file is required to run the MetaCreations DX Transforms. Many people who upgraded to IE 5.5 lost this file, and thus lost use of the MetaCreations filters. Other Windows upgrades have played havoc with these filters too.
The solution and fix:
Proceed to the MetaCreations page for the instructions and download.
All 22 MetaCreations DX Transform filter scripts are available on the Letterman site. See the MetaCreations tutorial. These 22 scripts and others can be downloaded there.
DirectX Problems/Answers
page topThe DirectX 8-8a update is available, but take your chances. Microsoft has released the DirectX 8 update for download, but many people have experienced problems with the loss of the standard IE and other filters after updating. Seems that the update sometimes unregisters the filter set. This appears to happen only to Windows 98 and 95 users. To reinstate your filters, see the DX8 Fix page describing the fix. MetaCreations filters must be reinstated separately. Be careful here.
CTRL-F2 Problems?
page topDid your CTRL-F2 function quit working recently? This problem is not related to IE or OE upgrades. Usually the cause of this is an excessively full Windows Temporary Internet Files cache. Start IE and click on TOOLS|INTERNET OPTIONS. Click the DELETE FILES button in the middle of the window. In the next window be sure to check the box "Delete All Offline Content". Then click OK. In many cases this action will clear this problem. If it still exists, I would suggest deleting the TIF folders. This has to be done in DOS since these folders are continually in use by Windows.
Perhaps you've loaded another program which has changed your default html editor. This will affect both IE (View Source) and OE (CTRL-F2). To change back to Notepad or another editor, you've got to hack the registry. Start regedit (regedt32 if Windows 2000 or XP) by clicking on START|RUN and typing regedit into the box. Click OK. Look for the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\
View Source Editor\Editor Name
Right-click the word Default in the right window and choose MODIFY. Paste in the full file path to the text editor of your choice (surround it with double quotes if it contains blanks).
If the above keys don't exist, you can create them and control which editor you use.
Software Reuse and Distribution
page topI keep getting e-mail about this subject, so I will set down some guidelines once and for all. All scripts, programs, and tools written by me and found on these pages are free for all to use and distribute. These are my wishes:
Scripts and Script Tools
1. Scripts themselves must not be sold. They must be passed along as freeware.Programs (all .EXEs)
2. The original author's name (Bill Scott), the script title area, which includes the date and references to my web site and e-mail address, should remain intact. This applies even if the stationery script is modified from the original by using different images or incorporating small changes.
3. If offered on your web site, in a credits or other section of your site, please provide a link to the Letterman web site:http://www.lettermanstationary.com
1. Programs distributed as freeware by me must not be sold. They must also be passed along as freeware.Link Graphic
2. Where ever possible, direct those wanting the program to this web site to download it.
3. If offered on your web site, in a credits or other section of your site, please provide a link to the Letterman web site:http://www.lettermanstationary.com
If you'd like to use a graphic link to Letterman, may I suggest you use this one.
About Letterman
page topLetterman Stationery is a Microsoft Outlook Express Stationery site, dedicated to stationery scripts, tips and tutorials about stationery, scripting techniques for stationery, and programs and tools for stationery users. Some scripts contained within will run with Outlook Express 4, but acquiring and using the latest version of Outlook Express and Internet Explorer (5.5 or greater) is strongly suggested. VBScript is used almost exclusively on this site.
There are many scripts, programs, and tools on this site, and all are available for download. In the e-mail letter scripting department we specialize in not-so-traditional stationery and script oddities. You won't find much of the left-scroll variety here. Most you can write on, because that's what stationery is, right?
If you are a newbie, start out on the Starting page, then proceed to the Answers page. Be sure to check out our Tips and Tutorials sections. If you are a more experienced stationerer, just dive right in. The water's fine.
I will attempt to put current problems and possible fix information in the Hot News section on this page.
Letterman has lots of helpful Visual Basic programs and utilities. Look for them on the links bar at the left, under the Programs heading.
Don't forget to check out the Visual Basic Tools and Script Tools sections. There's lots of useful gadgets there.
Before you leave, please visit Letterman's Attic. You may be suprised at what you find there.
If any dead links are found on this site, please e-mail me. You know where to find me :-). Thanks.
This new version of the Letterman site is the most comprehensive yet in terms of automatic-page generation. The top logo, trim, and the entire left side including the Links bar are generated for each page by one script. It does all the work of building the redundant parts of each page and identifying the page so that the correct link is highlighted. This will take a lot of the burden of page generation out of my hands. It isn't ASP, just my own script invention. I'm pretty proud of it.
Last but not least, be sure to visit the Microsoft Outlook Express Stationery Newsgroups and check out the fine work done by these folks. The links can be found on the Links page. You will find friendly people and lots of help with your stationery scripting.
The Author
page topWell, that would be me. I'm a middle-aged refugee from the Rat Race that lives deep in the desert of western Arizona, not far from where the Colorado River empties into Mexico. Been involved in computers since my Air Force days in 1966-70. Spent 17 years working for United Airlines in all phases of large mainframe computer operation and systems programming. Retired from that, I now work for myself, owning and operating a plumbing and general home repair business. Computers are my hobby now.
All the scripts, programs, tools, and html found on this site are original and scratch-written by me
unless otherwise noted. Many of the desert and western photographs used in the stationery examples
were taken by me. Sally Prestgard helped with some of the other graphics and icons, and even supplied
a few photos herself. Thanks Sally!Special thanks go to Jan Marriott for the original Letterman logo (somewhat modified at the top of this page). Thanks, Jan!
I hope you enjoy this site! It has been fun to assemble for all my OE stationery friends. Be sure to check out the Desert Billy pages to get a view of life in the desert.
Happy trails, my friends. Ride tall in the saddle and never look back.
Bill
a.k.a. Desert Billy, Baja Guy's best friend.
You can email me using the link below.
Robbie-WebMistress
100,000 hits on July 19, 2002!