path: root/help/C/evolution-faq.sgml

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<appendix id="evolution-faq">
  <title>Frequently Asked Questions About Ximian Evolution</title>
  <para>
    Here are some frequently asked questions about the
    <application>Evolution</application> groupware suite from
    Ximian.
  </para>
  
  <!-- Section: Getting and compiling -->

  <sect1 id="get-and-compile">
    <title>
      Getting and Compiling Evolution
    </title>
    <qandaset>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Where can I get the latest Evolution release?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            There are two ways to install the latest Evolution
            release:
            <itemizedlist>
              <listitem>
                <para>
                  If you have Ximian GNOME installed, you can start
                  Red Carpet, Ximian's software updating system, and
                  subscribe to the Evolution channel.  This will let
                  you install a binary for the latest release, and
                  will also warn you when a new version has been made
                  available.
                </para>
              </listitem>

              <listitem>
                <para>
                  If you want to compile from source, you can
                  download the latest official Evolution tarball
                  from:
                </para>

                <para>
                  <ulink url="ftp://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/unstable/sources/evolution">
                    ftp://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/unstable/sources/evolution</ulink>
                </para>
              </listitem>
            </itemizedlist>
          </para>  
        </answer>      
      </qandaentry>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Are binary snapshots available?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Yes, if you have Ximian GNOME installed.  Just run Red
            Carpet and subscribe to the Evolution Snapshot channel.
          </para>

          <para>
            You can check the status of snapshots at
            <ulink url="http://primates.ximian.com/~snapshot">http://primates.ximian.com/~snapshot</ulink>.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Why isn't a new snapshot available today?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Sometimes the build might fail because of problems with
            the source on CVS.  In this case, just wait for next day's
            snapshot.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            How do I get Evolution from CVS?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            If you already have
            <ulink url="http://cvs.gnome.org">GNOME CVS</ulink> access,
            simply check out the following modules: evolution,
            gtkhtml, gal.
          </para>
          <para>
            If you don't have a CVS account, you can use anoncvs
            instead. Bear in mind that anoncvs is only synchronized once
            a day, and code received from anoncvs may not be latest
            version available.
          </para>

          <para>
            Before using the anoncvs server, you have to log into it.
            This only needs to be done once. Use this command:
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            cvs -z3 -d :pserver:anonymous@anoncvs.gnome.org:/cvs/gnome login
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            Then you can retrieve the modules needed to compile Evolution
            using the following command:
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            cvs -z3 -d :pserver:anonymous@anoncvs.gnome.org:/cvs/gnome co evolution gtkhtml gal
          </programlisting>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            How should I compile Evolution avoiding conflicts with my
            existing GNOME installation?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            The best way is to install Evolution into a separate prefix.
            In order to specify a non-default installation prefix, you
            can pass the <parameter>--prefix</parameter> option to
            <filename>configure</filename> or
            <filename>autogen.sh</filename>.  For example:
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            cd /cvs/evolution
            ./autogen.sh --prefix=/opt/gnome
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            If you install Evolution and the Evolution libraries in a
            non-standard prefix, make sure you set the appropriate
            environment variables in the startup script for Evolution:
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            export PATH=/opt/gnome:$PATH
            export GNOME_PATH=/opt/gnome:/usr
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            You may also need to add <filename>$prefix/lib</filename>
            (e.g. <filename>/opt/gnome/lib</filename>) to your
            <filename>/etc/ld.so.conf</filename>.  Of course, this will
            not work for systems which do not use ld.so.conf, such as
            HP-UX.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            I get <computeroutput>make: *** No rule to make target
              `all-no-@BUILD_INCLUDED_LIBINTL@'</computeroutput>
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            You probably have <filename>gettext</filename> 0.10.36 or
            later installed.  Try downgrading to 0.10.35;
            unfortunately, 0.10.36 introduced some incompatibilities
            with the current <filename>xml-i18n-tools</filename>.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>
    </qandaset>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="faq-trouble">
    <title>Troubleshooting</title>
    <qandaset>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            I get <computeroutput>Cannot initialize the Evolution
              shell</computeroutput>.
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Check that:
          </para>

          <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
              <para>
                <filename>oafd</filename> is listen in your <envar>PATH</envar>
                environment variable.
              </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para>
                <filename>GNOME_Evolution_Shell.oaf</filename> and
                the other      
                <filename>GNOME_Evolution_*.oaf</filename> files are
                readable and installed in
                <filename>$prefix/share/oaf</filename>, where
                <filename>$prefix</filename> is one of the prefixes
                listed in <envar>GNOME_PATH</envar> or
                <envar>OAF_INFO_PATH</envar>.  (These variables are
                supposed to contain $PATH-like colon-separated lists of
                paths.  If the installation prefix for Evolution is
                different from that). Run `oaf-slay' once before running
                `evolution' again if you change $GNOME_PATH or
                $OAF_INFO_PATH.
              </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para>
                <filename>evolution</filename>,
                <filename>evolution-mail</filename> and the other
                <filename>evolution-*</filename> executables are in your
                $PATH.
              </para>
            </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>
      
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            I get <computeroutput>Cannot open composer window</computeroutput>.
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            This actually means that Evolution cannot activate the HTML
            editor component from GtkHTML.  The comments in the previous
            answer still apply; also make sure that
            <command>gnome-gtkhtml-editor</command> is in your
            <envar>PATH</envar>.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>
      
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            I updated my Evolution, but my addressbook contacts are no
            longer there, what should I do?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Evolution uses the <filename>libdb</filename> library to
            handle the addressbook database.  Two versions of
            <filename>libdb</filename> can be used with Evolution: version
            1.88 and version 2.
          </para>

          <para>
            Unfortunately, an Evolution executable that is linked against
            a certain version of <filename>libdb</filename> will only be
            able to read addressbook files written by another Evolution
            executable that is linked with the same version of the
            library.  If your addressbook is not readable by Evolution
            anymore, it probably means that you used to have Evolution
            linked with a certain version of <filename>libdb</filename>,
            but now it gets linked to a different version.
          </para>

          <para>
            Because of the way <filename>libdb</filename> is designed, it
            is not easy for Evolution to automatically do the conversion
            between the two formats.  But, if your Evolution used to be
            linked against version 1.85 and now is linked to version 2,
            there is a very simple way to convert the database and recover
            your data.
          </para>

          <itemizedlist>

            <listitem>
              <para>
                First of all, check the format of the database using the
                <command>file</command> command:
              </para>

              <programlisting>
                file ~/evolution/local/Contacts/addressbook.db
              </programlisting>

              <para>
                You want version 1.85 there.  If your version is 2, then
                your current Evolution is probably linked against
                version 1.85 and you cannot convert the database to the
                old format. To do that, follow these instructions:
              </para>
            </listitem>
            
            <listitem>
              <para>
                Quit Evolution.
              </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para>
                Make a copy of the addressbook database for backup
                purposes.
              </para>

              <programlisting>
                cd ~/evolution/local/Contacts
                cp addressbook.db addressbook.db.backup
              </programlisting>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para>
                Convert the contacts to the new format using
                <command>db_dump185</command> and
                <command>db_load</command>:
              </para>

              <programlisting>
                db_dump185 ~/evolution/local/Contacts/addressbook.db.backup | db_load ~/evolution/local/Contacts/addressbook.db
              </programlisting>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para>
                Restart Evolution.
              </para>
            </listitem>

          </itemizedlist>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Evolution reported an error when trying to retrieve from my
            local spool in <filename>/var/spool/mail/username</filename>.  Why?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Evolution doesn't have an external helper for moving mail,
            so <filename>/var/spool/mail/</filename> must be writable
            by you.  Try this:
          </para>
          
          <programlisting>
            chmod 1777 /var/spool/mail
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            Yes, we know this is a problem.  It will be fixed eventually.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Evolution crashes reporting that it couldn't allocate N
            billion bytes; how do I fix this?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            This usually happens when a component tries talking a
            certain version of a CORBA interface to another component
            that supports a different version.  For example, this can
            happen when you recompile and install a single component
            without recompiling/installing the rest of Evolution.
          </para>

          <para>
            So, if this occurs to you, make sure all the components
            are compiled and installed at the same time.  This also
            applies to GtkHTML upgrades; after upgrading and
            installing a newer GtkHTML, always re-compile and
            re-install Evolution against it.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            What is <command>killev</command> and why do I need to use it?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Evolution is actually made up of several components that run
            as separate processes.  Evolution's shell is not very good
            at cleaning up stale processes, so it is possible that
            sometimes already-running components cause unexpected and/or
            broken behavior.
          </para>

          <para>
            It's always a good idea to run <command>killev</command>
            after a crash in Evolution, especially if the Evolution
            shell itself crashed.  (If a component crashes instead, you
            should try to exit the shell cleanly first, so you give a
            chance to the other components to clean things up properly.)
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            What is <command>oaf-slay</command> and why do I need to use it?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            <command>oaf-slay</command> is an utility which comes with
            OAF, the Object Activation Framework that is used in the
            GNOME Desktop to activate components.  It will kill the
            object activation daemon (<command>oafd</command>) as well
            as all the active components on the system.
          </para>

          <para>
            Normally, you shouldn't need to run
            <command>oaf-slay</command>, unless <command>oafd</command>
            gets stuck or confused.  For example, it might help in case
            Evolution cannot activate components.
          </para>

          <para>
            Using <command>oaf-slay</command>
            <command>oaf-slay</command> is quite drastic and can cause
            problems with other programs that use oaf, especially with
            <application>Nautilus</application>. To avoid problems, do
            not run <command>oaf-slay</command> while you are in GNOME.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>
    </qandaset>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="faq-debugging">
    <title>Questions about Bugs and Debugging</title>
    <para>
      Find a bug? Here's how to help us fix it!
    </para>
    
    <qandaset>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Where should I report bugs for Evolution?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            You should report bugs about Evolution into the Ximian bug
            reporting system (Bugzilla), located at
            <ulink url="http://bugzilla.ximian.com">http://bugzilla.ximian.com</ulink>.
          </para>
          
          <para>
            Please use the query function to check if a bug has been
            submitted already before submitting it.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>
      
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Can I just use Bug-Buddy?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Not yet.  The Ximian bug tracker does not yet have an
            email-based interface, so Bug Buddy cannot talk to it.  This
            will be fixed eventually.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            What is a stack trace (backtrace) and how do I get one?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            A stack trace is a list of the chain of function calls that
            lead to some point in the program.  Typically, you want to
            get a stack trace when Evolution crashes or hangs and you
            want to try to figure out where in the code that happened
            and why.  For this reason, stack traces are extremely
            useful for the Evolution developers, so it's important that
            you learn how to get them, and include them in crash
            reports. Once we have <command>bug-buddy</command> working
            with our bug database, it will be much easier to do
            this. Until then, here's how:
          </para>

          <para>
            First of all, in order to get a stack trace, your executable
            (and possibly the libraries) must be compiled with debugging
            symbols.  Debugging symbols are created by default if you
            compile from CVS, and are included in the snapshot builds.
            If you decide to compile by yourself with some custom CFLAGS
            value, make sure <command>-g</command> is included in them.
          </para>

          <para>
            Finally, you must put the component that crashes through
            <command>gdb</command>.  Make sure all the components are
            dead (exit Evolution and <command>killev</command>), then
            run the following command:
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            gdb name-of-component
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            Then, at the gdb prompt, type <userinput>r</userinput> (for
            "run") and wait a few seconds to make sure the component has
            registered with the name service.  Then start Evolution
            normally from a different terminal.
          </para>

          <para>
            Then, reproduce the crash, and go back to the terminal where
            you ran <command>gdb</command>.  If the component crashed,
            you should have a prompt there; otherwise, just hit
            <keycombo action=simul>
              <keycap>Control</keycap>
              <keycap>C</keycap>
            </keycombo>.
            At the prompt, type:
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            info threads
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            This will give you a list of the current running threads,
            e.g.
          </para>

          <screen>
            (gdb) info threads
            8 Thread 6151 (LWP 14908)  0x409778fe in sigsuspend () from /lib/libc.so.6
            7 Thread 5126 (LWP 14907)  0x409778fe in sigsuspend () from /lib/libc.so.6
            6 Thread 4101 (LWP 1007)  0x409778fe in sigsuspend () from /lib/libc.so.6
            5 Thread 3076 (LWP 1006)  0x409778fe in sigsuspend () from /lib/libc.so.6
            4 Thread 2051 (LWP 1005)  0x409778fe in sigsuspend () from /lib/libc.so.6
            3 Thread 1026 (LWP 1004)  0x409778fe in sigsuspend () from /lib/libc.so.6
            2 Thread 2049 (LWP 1003)  0x40a10d90 in poll () from /lib/libc.so.6
            1 Thread 1024 (LWP 995)  0x40a10d90 in poll () from /lib/libc.so.6
          </screen>

          <para>
            (Notice that, normally, only
            <command>evolution-mail</command> will have more than one
            thread.)
          </para>

          <para>
            Now, for each of the thread listed, type the following
            commands:
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            thread N
            bt
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            Where `N' is the thread number.  (In this example, you would
            have to do it with N as 1, 2, 3... 8.)  Then cut and paste
            all the output into some text file, and quit
            <command>gdb</command> by typing
            <userinput>quit</userinput>.
          </para>

          <para>
            You can also get a stack trace from a running component or a
            component that has just crashed.  Just start
            <command>gdb</command> normally and, instead of using the
            <userinput>r</userinput> command, use
            <userinput>attach</userinput> to attach to the running
            process:
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            attach PID
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            Where <userinput>PID</userinput> is the PID of the
            component.  Notice that this also works if you attach
            right after a crash dialog appears, before hitting "OK" or
            "Submit bug report".
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>
    </qandaset>
  </sect1> 
  
  <sect1 id="faq-features">
    <title>Features</title>
    <para>
      Following is a list of questions about the features in
      <application>Evolution</application>.   
    </para>

    <qandaset>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            How can I remove a folder?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Currently there is no command in Evolution to remove a
            folder, so you have to remove it by hand.
          </para>

          <para>
            All the folders are stored in
            <filename>~/evolution/local</filename>.  Each folder is a
            directory containing the data files, as well as a
            <filename>subfolders</filename> directory that contains
            all its subfolders.  So for example if you have a
            subfolder of the <filename>Inbox</filename> called
            <filename>Foo</filename>, you can run the following
            command to get rid of it (and all it subfolders):
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            rm -rf ~/evolution/local/Inbox/subfolders/Foo
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            You should do this after exiting Evolution.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>
      
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Why doesn't drag and drop between folders seem to work?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            The implementation isn't finished, although it's planned
            to be finished soon.
          </para>

          <para>
            In the meantime, you can copy the folders' contents by
            hand from the shell (please do this after quitting
            Evolution).  For example:
          </para>

          <programlisting>
            cp -r ~/evolution/local/Inbox/subfolders/Foo ~/evolution/local/Inbox/subfolders/Bar
          </programlisting>

          <para>
            Likewise, you can use <command>mv</command> to rename or
            move folders.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Can I read mail from a mailbox file created by some other
            application (e.g. Mutt) without importing mail from it?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            No, but it's a planned feature.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Can Evolution sync to my Palm OS (tm) device?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Yes.  Evolution needs to be compiled with Palm syncing
            support for this to work though.  Please refer to the
            <filename>README</filename> file for additional
            information on the requirements.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            What is the difference between a virtual folder (vfolder)
            and a regular folder?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            A virtual folder is like a saved search: it is a view of
            your mail. Regular folders actually contain the mail
            messages.  You can have one message be in multiple virtual
            folders, but only in one regular folder.  See the section
            in the Evolution manual about virtual folders for more
            information.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Can Evolution spell-check the messages while I compose them?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Yes.  The Evolution composer is able to highlight
            mis-spelled word on the fly as you type them, and also
            give you suggestions for possible corrections.  In order
            for this to work you need the
            <filename>gnome-spell</filename> component, which is not
            shipped with Ximian GNOME yet.
          </para>

          <para>
            If you are brave enough, you can check out module
            <filename>gnome-spell</filename> from the GNOME CVS and
            compile it yourself.  Check out its README file for a list
            of <filename>gnome-spell</filename>'s requirements for
            compilation.
          </para>

          <para>
            Note that you don't need to recompile Evolution after
            installing <filename>gnome-spell</filename>; it will be
            picked up automatically.
          </para>
        </answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            I cannot see the images that are contained in some HTML
            mail message I am getting.  Why?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Evolution currently doesn't support this, but it's a
            planned feature.  It will be an option: many people like
            to turn off the images because they use up bandwidth and can
            be used to spy on your email reading habits.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            Can I change the font that Evolution uses for compose and
            displaying mail messages?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            You have to change the GtkHTML settings for that: in the
            GNOME Control Center, go to the "HTML Viewer"
            configuration page, which is under the "Document Handlers"
            category.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            How do I import my Outlook <filename>.pst</filename> files into Evolution?
          </para>
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            You cannot import these files directly into Evolution
            because the <filename>.pst</filename> format is a
            proprietry format. However, Mozilla Mail on Windows can
            convert them into the <type>mbox</type> format, which can
            then be imported by Evolution.
          </para>
          
          <para>
            To start importing your Outlook mail to Evolution, run
            Mozilla Mail on Windows and select the
            <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Import...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
            to begin. Then select that you wish to import Mail from
            Outlook. Once Mozilla has imported all your mail, reboot
            your computer into Linux.
          </para>
          
          <para>
            Mount your Windows partition in Linux and run Evolution to
            begin importing your mail. Select
            <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Import
                File...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> to start importing. Set
            the file type to MBox (mbox) and click on
            <guibutton>Browse</guibutton> to select the mail you want
            to import.
          </para>
          
          <para>
            If you are the only user on Windows, the mail files will
            be stored in <filename>/mnt/c/windows/Application
              Data/Mozilla/Profiles/default/XXXX/Mail/imported.mail/</filename>
            where <filename>/mnt/c/</filename> is your windows
            partition mount point and XXXX is some collection of
            numbers and digits ending in <filename>.slt</filename>.
          </para>
          
          <para>
            If there is more than one user, the file will be in
            <filename>/mnt/c/windows/Profiles/USERNAME/XXXX/Mail/imported.mail/</filename>
            where USERNAME is your Windows username.
          </para>

          <para>
            For each mail folder in Outlook, Mozilla will convert the
            folder into one mbox file. To import all your mail, import
            all the files without a <filename>.msf</filename>
            extension.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>
      
      <qandaentry>
        <question>
          <para>
            If Mozilla can import <filename>.pst</filename> files, why can't Evolution?
          </para> 
        </question>
        <answer>
          <para>
            Mozilla on Windows accesses the <filename>.pst</filename>
            files through the <filename>MAPI.DLL</filename>, which is
            only avaliable on Windows.  <filename>MAPI.DLL</filename>
            is the only way to access <filename>.pst</filename> files
            and Evolution cannot use this DLL in Linux.
          </para>
        </answer> 
      </qandaentry>
    </qandaset>
  </sect1> 
</appendix>

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