HOWTO: Evolution with tray icon and new mail pop-ups

[simplyw00x]

Email is definitely more productive when it's used less like traditional mail - checked once or twice a day, and dealt with in batches - and more like a forum/IM system. The problem with evolution is that, even though it can remain open, it takes up a fair amount of space on the window list, and doesn't notify you of new mail. this decreases productivity significantly, so we need a work-around.

Evolution pop-up notifications:
http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=17731&stc=1&d=1161103375
http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=17730&stc=1&d=1161103304
To get these freaky-awesome libnotify pop-ups (kudos to http://iapart.net/tresc.php?id=17&jezyk=2) , we need to re-compile evolution. But don't worry, this is a fairly painless process.

Before we start, ensure you have necessary basic packages:
sudo aptitude install build-essential fakeroot debhelper dh-make libnotify-dev

First, we need to download the evolution source, and install all the build dependencies:
cd
apt-get source evolution
sudo apt-get build-dep evolution

Now, we need to download and apply the evolution-libnotify patch:
wget http://iapart.net/evo/mail-ops.patch
cd evolution*/mail/
patch -p0<../../mail-ops.patch
cd ../
rm ../mail-ops.patch

Now all we have to do is make the package:
dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -us -uc


Wait for it to finish (may take a while) then:
sudo dpkg -i ../evolution*.deb

Now you're done: make sure that your accounts are set to auto-check your mail, and you'll get notifications whenever you have new mail.

Tray icon evo with Alltray
Install alltray:
sudo aptitude install alltray
then create a launcher with the command:
alltray -na --key "F12" evolution --component=mail

Now you can click an icon or press F12 to get your evolution inbox at any time, and it will still send notifications as described above when minimised to tray.

[deadlydeathcone]

Thanks, this is great! The only caveat is that it displays the notifications in the lower-left corner of the screen, not the upper-right like you'd expect.

I made an Edgy Eft deb with pbuilder if anyone wants to try it.

evolution_libnotify.tar.bz2 (http://www.uploading.com/files/HDRHY0Y2/evolution_libnotify.tar.bz2.html)

[stalefries]

Thank you so much! I was wondering how to do this!

[Anonii]

There is no dpkg-buildpkg command.
So, try this, in the step where you create the .deb package.

sudo dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -us -uc

[bodhi.zazen]

Nice How-to simplyw00x

This thread has been added to the UDSF wiki.

HOWTO: Evolution with tray icon and new mail pop-ups (http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Evolution_Tray_icon_Mail_pop-ups)

bodhi.zazen

[as33]

Please publish the patch. iapart.net is down :(

[drfindley]

Through some google-cache trickery I was able to get the patch. It's included in my attachement. Just move it from mail-ops.patch.txt to mail-ops.patch

[as33]

Through some google-cache trickery I was able to get the patch. It's included in my attachement. Just move it from mail-ops.patch.txt to mail-ops.patch

show must go on :)

mail-ops.c:56:10: error: #include expects "FILENAME" or <FILENAME>
mail-ops.c: In function 'fetch_mail_fetch':
mail-ops.c:282: error: 'NotifyUrgency' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:282: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
mail-ops.c:282: error: for each function it appears in.)
mail-ops.c:282: error: expected ';' before 'urgency'
mail-ops.c:283: error: 'NOTIFY_EXPIRES_DEFAULT' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:284: error: 'NotifyNotification' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:284: error: 'notify' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:333: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_init'
mail-ops.c:354: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_notification_new'
mail-ops.c:359: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_notification_set_urgency'
mail-ops.c:359: error: 'urgency' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:360: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_notification_set_timeout'
mail-ops.c:362: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_notification_show'
mail-ops.c: In function 'mail_get_messagex':
mail-ops.c:1881: warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type
mail-ops.c: In function 'save_messages_save':
mail-ops.c:2034: warning: unused variable 'fd'
make[5]: *** [mail-ops.lo] Error 1

[HaxTbh]

Sorry ignore this

[simplyw00x]

show must go on
You need to have the libnotify-dev library installed:
sudo aptitude install libnotify-dev

[harty83]

Two things:

One: I followed this tutorial to the "T" but am not getting notifications. Am I missing something?

Two: Any clue how to keep update notifier from constantly wanting to update evolution after the patch is applied?

I've tried to lock the version but it is not working.

[kelbizzle]

Does this work in Edgy with Evolution v.2.8.1??

[simplyw00x]

One: I followed this tutorial to the "T" but am not getting notifications. Am I missing something?
make sure that ps -e | grep notification
outputs something, preferably along the lines of:
9665 ? 00:00:00 notification-da

Two: Any clue how to keep update notifier from constantly wanting to update evolution after the patch is applied?
sudo aptitude hold evolution

[harty83]

make sure that
ps -e | grep notification

outputs something, preferably along the lines of:
9665 ? 00:00:00 notification-da


This is what I get:

alan@hartysdesktop:~/evolution-2.8.1$ ps -e | grep notification
6843 ? 00:00:42 notification-da

Is that good or bad? What do I do now?

kelbizzle
Does this work in Edgy with Evolution v.2.8.1??

I am using Edgy but am not getting it to work.

[simplyw00x]

Is that good or bad? What do I do now?
Try
sudo aptitude install libnotify-bin

then
notify-send Foo Foo

If that works, then it's a problem with evolutuin. If not, it's a problem with libnotify.

[harty83]

I installed libnotify-bin and did your test and it worked. But now when I try to send a new message through Evolution or reply to a message it crashes. I ran evolution from the command prompt and this is the error it gives:

** (evolution-2.8:9067): DEBUG: mailto URL command: evolution --component=mail %s
** (evolution-2.8:9067): DEBUG: mailto URL program: evolution
evolution: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/evolution/2.8/components/libevolution-mail.so: undefined symbol: ineIntelset_spacing


Any clues?

[harty83]

I reinstalled and I no longer get the error.

But I do not get the notifications either. So it must be something with evolution. I applied the patch and compiled it using this set of instructions. Any clue what went wrong?

Thanks!
Alan

[as33]

You need to have the libnotify-dev library installed:
sudo aptitude install libnotify-dev

as@bogdan:~$ apt-cache policy libnotify-dev
libnotify-dev:
Installed: 0.4.2-0ubuntu3
Candidate: 0.4.2-0ubuntu3
Version table:
*** 0.4.2-0ubuntu3 0
500 http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/main Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[harty83]

as@bogdan:~$ apt-cache policy libnotify-dev
libnotify-dev:
Installed: 0.4.2-0ubuntu3
Candidate: 0.4.2-0ubuntu3
Version table:
*** 0.4.2-0ubuntu3 0
500 http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/main Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status


I have libnotify-dev installed and had it installed before I compiled evolution with the patch.

[srf21c]

Great write-up. Btw, I'm curious what the advantages of this method are over just installing the mail-notification-evolution package from the edgy repos.

[joerx]

hey, great tutorial, works fine on my dapper with evo 2.6.1 :)

the only thing is that i now get update noifcations for evo 2.6.1, but i guess i should do anything but install that update, as it would overwrite the now patched version of evo. am i right? :-k

any idea how to suppress that update notification, without disabling the whole update notification thing?

[mattman]

I,m trying to apply this patch on Evo 2.8.1 in Edgy and I keep running into this errorpatching file mail-ops.c
Hunk #1 succeeded at 55 with fuzz 2 (offset 3 lines).
Hunk #2 succeeded at 512 with fuzz 2 (offset 239 lines).
Hunk #3 FAILED at 567.
1 out of 3 hunks FAILED -- saving rejects to file mail-ops.c.rej

this is whats in the mail-ops.c.rej file ***************
*** 557,562 ****
g_ptr_array_set_size (uids, cache_uids->len);
for (i = 0; i < cache_uids->len; i++)
uids->pdata[i] = g_strdup (cache_uids->pdata[i]);
camel_uid_cache_free_uids (cache_uids);

fm->cache = cache;
--- 567,610 ----
g_ptr_array_set_size (uids, cache_uids->len);
for (i = 0; i < cache_uids->len; i++)
uids->pdata[i] = g_strdup (cache_uids->pdata[i]);
+
+ if (!notify_init("notify-send")){
+ fprintf(stderr,"notify init nie powiodlo sie !");
+ }
+ else {
+
+ for(i=0; i< uids->len; i++)
+ {
+ message = camel_folder_get_message(folder, uids->pdata[i], &mm->ex);
+
+ if (message->reply_to)
+ address = message->reply_to;
+ else if (message->from)
+ address = message->from;
+ else continue;
+ if (!camel_internet_address_get (address, 0, &name, &str))
+ continue;
+ NotifyNaglowek = g_malloc(strlen(name)+strlen(str)+10);
+ snprintf(NotifyNaglowek,strlen(name)+strlen(str)+1 0,"From: %s",(name)?name:str);
+ NotifyBody = g_malloc(strlen(message->subject)+10);
+ snprintf(NotifyBody,strlen(message->subject)+10,"Subject: %s",message->subject);
+
+ notify = notify_notification_new(NotifyNaglowek,
+ NotifyBody,
+ "/usr/share/icons/gnome/48x48/stock/net/stock_mail-open.png",
+ NULL);
+ if(notify==NULL) fprintf(stderr,"notify = NULL !!\n");
+ notify_notification_set_urgency(notify, urgency);
+ notify_notification_set_timeout(notify, expire_timeout);
+
+ notify_notification_show(notify, NULL);
+
+ }
+ // if(notify!=NULL)
+ // g_object_unref(G_OBJECT(notify));
+ }
+
+
camel_uid_cache_free_uids (cache_uids);

fm->cache = cache;

[falkenberg_cph]

this doesnt seem to work anylonger.
Am i right?

First of i get an error when typing:
apt-get source evolution - it says it cannot find the source.

Secondly, if i move on and ignore this message - since i know i have evolution installed - this part also creates problem:


wget http://iapart.net/evo/mail-ops.patch
cd evolution*/mail/
patch -p0<../../mail-ops.patch
cd ../
rm ../mail-ops.patch


Its says it cant find the folder.

Well, can anyone tell me if they can make it work, or perhaps make an update of the how to.

Oh. i use Edgy and Evolution 2.8.1
and im very new to linux

Thanks
Carsten

[deadlydeathcone]

I'll post new packages with fixed version numbers when I (hopefully) get a new computer in a few days, as there's no way the one I have now could make it through a compile.

As far as the patch is concerned: is there a way to attach the notification to an arbitrary GTK widget, or would alltray have to be patched to allow such a thing?

edit:

this doesnt seem to work anylonger.
Am i right?

First of i get an error when typing:
apt-get source evolution - it says it cannot find the source.

Make sure you have all of your source repositories enabled in Synaptic. Go to System -> Administration -> Software Sources and make sure the "source code" button is checked, then sudo apt-get update. Everything should work from there.

[hrabeX]

during making package I have this problem:

dh_shlibdeps -pevolution -l :debian/evolution/usr/lib/evolution/2.8
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnss3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsmime3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libssl3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libsoftokn3.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplds4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libplc4.so' not recognized
dpkg-shlibdeps: warning: format of `NEEDED libnspr4.so' not recognized

[victorbrca]

Also having problems here... Followed the instructions precisely, however I got some error msgs after ## dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -us -uc ##.

My .deb file also did not get created.

mail-ops.c:56:10: error: #include expects "FILENAME" or <FILENAME>
mail-ops.c: In function 'fetch_mail_fetch':
mail-ops.c:282: error: 'NotifyUrgency' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:282: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
mail-ops.c:282: error: for each function it appears in.)
mail-ops.c:282: error: expected ';' before 'urgency'
mail-ops.c:283: error: 'NOTIFY_EXPIRES_DEFAULT' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:284: error: 'NotifyNotification' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:284: error: 'notify' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:333: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_init'
mail-ops.c:354: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_notification_new'
mail-ops.c:359: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_notification_set_urgency'
mail-ops.c:359: error: 'urgency' undeclared (first use in this function)
mail-ops.c:360: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_notification_set_timeout'
mail-ops.c:362: warning: implicit declaration of function 'notify_notification_show'
mail-ops.c: In function 'mail_get_messagex':
mail-ops.c:1881: warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type
mail-ops.c: In function 'save_messages_save':
mail-ops.c:2034: warning: unused variable 'fd'
make[5]: *** [mail-ops.lo] Error 1
make[5]: Leaving directory `/home/victor/evolution-2.8.1/mail'
make[4]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[4]: Leaving directory `/home/victor/evolution-2.8.1/mail'
make[3]: *** [all] Error 2
rm GNOME_Evolution_Mail.server.in
make[3]: Leaving directory `/home/victor/evolution-2.8.1/mail'
make[2]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/victor/evolution-2.8.1'
make[1]: *** [all] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/victor/evolution-2.8.1'
make: *** [debian/stamp-makefile-build] Error 2


victor@victor-laptop:~/evolution-2.8.1$ sudo dpkg -i ../evolution*.deb
Password:
dpkg: error processing ../evolution*.deb (--install):
cannot access archive: No such file or directory
Errors were encountered while processing:
../evolution*.deb


victor@victor-laptop:~$ apt-cache policy libnotify-dev
libnotify-dev:
Installed: 0.4.2-0ubuntu3
Candidate: 0.4.2-0ubuntu3
Version table:
*** 0.4.2-0ubuntu3 0
500 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/main Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status


BTW, can I delete these?

victor@victor-laptop:~$ ls -l
drwxr-xr-x 22 victor victor 4096 2007-02-07 20:43 evolution-2.8.1
-rw-r--r-- 1 victor victor 363000 2007-02-07 20:42 evolution_2.8.1-0ubuntu4.diff.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 victor victor 1132 2007-02-07 20:42 evolution_2.8.1-0ubuntu4.dsc
-rw-r--r-- 1 victor victor 17782443 2006-10-02 18:04 evolution_2.8.1.orig.tar.gz

Thanks,


Vic.

[simplyw00x]

Victor, make sure you have the corrent libnotify-dev packages installed.

[me4oslav]

For me works perfectly.Thanks.Great howto!

[jdorenbush]

It installed fine, but... it is buggy. Mine went to the tray the first time I opened Evolution, but now I don't have the tray icon anymore.

[prometheus16]

Yeah, thanks for this. I've been looking for a way to get this functionality.