Can I change the subject line in received emails like we used to be able to do for Entourage?

Question

Level 1

29 points

Can I change the subject line in received emails like we used to be able to do for Entourage?

In Entourage 2008 (and probably Outlook 2019) we could change the subject line in received emails so that filing could be done more accurately without having to open each mail to find if the sender had been too lazy or forgetful to change to the relevant topic. This happens a lot in my communities. I had a script that changed the topic which ran as follows:

tell application "Microsoft Entourage"

set objMessage to item 1 of (get current messages)

set dlgReply to display dialog "Subject:" default answer (get subject of objMessage) with icon 1

if text returned of dlgReply is not "" then

set subject of objMessage to text returned of dlgReply

end if

end tell

Is there an equivalent script or action I can apply to Apple Mail? Sadly I am forced to use it now as they have locked out Entourage so I cannot use what is still the most user-efficient email programme ever - at least at the level of my being able to interface with it. Mail is very much less functional (does not even drop new folders in alphabetical order) but I am hoping there might be a script or method I can use to change subject headings prior to filing.

MayT-H

iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jun 5, 2020 6:06 AM

Reply

Answer 1

May Tha-Hla Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 5, 2020 7:42 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks, Viking, for confirming that. However, amazingly, someone else had a really simple workaround without using a script, as follows:

- Highlight the message in your Inbox and hit 'REDIRECT' (not 'forward') [either by right clicking the message or select from the toolbar if you have already customised it so the Redirect button appears there]

- Leave the Sender blank, then Edit the subject line and close, save as a draft.

- Go to drafts folder and move the newly amended message back to Inbox - hey presto! There will be a new copy of the same incoming mail, with the amended subject line, sitting right next to the original. Nothing else seems to be affected, including the original sender details and the message timing.

- Delete the original and file the new one as you wish.

I cannot believe it can be so easy, but it has certainly worked on a number of samples I tried today. It also seems to work even if you go to any other folders in Mail, not just the Inbox.

And it strikes me that this method could be adapted if you want to file the same message in more than one Mail folder which very occasionally is the case for me.

Reply

Answer 2

May Tha-Hla Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 10, 2020 11:03 AM in response to rccharles

If you or anyone else out there can devise a script for mail to do this, please let me have a copy. In my original post is the script I used for Entourage. Perhaps it would provoke a skilled person to make something similar for Mail?

The main disadvantage of that script is that as soon as you move the mail to another folder or something else happens to emails, the subject reverts to the original one. I don't know whether my method would also have the same weakness.

Regards, May

Reply