HMDA/CRA Email Capabilities

HMDA/CRA RELIEF's e-mail support, such as the emailing of reports and file submission, requires that you have an e-mail program installed and properly configured. If there is a problem with your e-mail configuration, then these features may be disabled or nonfunctional.

HMDA/CRA RELIEF uses a protocol named MAPI (Mail Applications Program Interface) to "talk" to your e-mail program. MAPI is a standard interface that allows HMDA/CRA RELIEF and other programs (including Windows itself) to instruct your e-mail program to create a new message, attach a file to it, etc. If MAPI is not properly configured on your system, then HMDA/CRA RELIEF, Windows, and other programs cannot create e-mail for you. "Properly configured" means that:

• you have a MAPI-compliant e-mail program installed, and
• the e-mail program properly supports the "Simple MAPI" interface that HMDA/CRA RELIEF requires, and
• the e-mail program is configured to be the default e-mail program (sometimes called the "default MAPI client")

Examples of popular MAPI-compliant e-mail programs include (but are not limited to) Outlook, Outlook Express and Eudora.

The information below may help you to configure your system if HMDA/CRA RELIEF's e-mail support is not operating correctly. Please note that the software listed below is not all-inclusive! HMDA/CRA RELIEF should work with any Simple MAPI-compatible e-mail program; the information given below simply pertains to the most common system configurations.

If you are using Netscape Messenger as your e-mail program

If your version of Messenger supports the MAPI standard, then you need to configure Messenger to be the default MAPI client. Here's how to configure Messenger 4.7 (other versions may differ):

•  Choose Preferences from Messenger's Edit menu.

•  Choose the Mail and Newsgroups category and check the option to "Use Netscape Messenger from MAPI-based applications".

•  Click OK to save your changes.

If you are using Eudora as your e-mail program

If your version of Eudora supports the MAPI standard, then you need to configure Eudora to be the default MAPI client. Here's how to configure Eudora 4.1 (other versions may differ):

•  Choose Options from Eudora's Tools menu.

•  Choose the MAPI category and set Use Eudora MAPI Server to "Always".

•  Click OK to save your changes.

Note that you may then have to set the default e-mail program using Internet Explorer as described above in the Outlook or Outlook Express discussion.

If you are receiving an error from Outlook when using HMDA/CRA RELIEF's e-mail features

The latest versions of Outlook (not Outlook Express) are automatically configured to be the MAPI client when you set your Internet Explorer e-mail program to be "Outlook" as described above. However, problems can arise when other MAPI-compliant e-mail software has been installed on your system. Here is some information from the Outlook 2000 help file which may help to solve your problem: