388224 - After installing SeaMonkey, Mail is no longer the default mail application.

Status: NEW

(SeaMonkey :: Installer, defect)

Description

[Jason Bassford]

I use SeaMonkey's Mail as my default mail application.  Every time I install a newer build of SeaMonkey, when I run Mail for the first time I'm asked if I want to make it the default application.

The installer should know better than to do this.  Since it's the installer itself that's uninstalling the previous version of SeaMonkey (and Mail) it should know to keep the old settings and retain Mail as the default application.

It handles the browser portion properly.  I'm never asked after an installation of a newer build if I want to make SeaMonkey my default browser or not (it remembers) - so it's just the Mail component that's broken.

Comment 1

[Frank Wein [:mcsmurf]]

But once you accept Mail as a default app it does not ask again? Just wondering since there are known problems on Vista with the default app dialog.

Comment 2

[Jason Bassford]

Yes, after selecting it as the default it never asks again.  (Until I install a newer SeaMonkey build that is.)

In fact, it only asks *me* this - when I switch to my wife's profile, it never asks.  I suspect this may have something to do with the fact that I only install it when I'm logged in.  (So it's only the current profile that gets "reset".)  Likely, the default mail association is wiped out when the installer uninstalls the previous version.

Comment 3

[lenochod]

Use You SeaMonkey version 2.0a1 or 1.1.11? 

Trunk (2.0a1) version have setting SeaMonkey as default application reworked now.

Comment 4

[Jason Bassford]

I use 2.0a1.  The latest build to still exhibit this behaviour was a 9/9 nightly build.  (I haven't tested a more recent one.)  As I mentioend in comment 2 - yes, you can set it as the default and it stays that way.  But every time you install a newer build, it will ask again.  It doesn't remember that you'd previously set it to be the default.  (Although it DOES remember that it's the default Web browser.  It just forgets about mail.)

Comment 5

[Frank Wein [:mcsmurf]]

For MailNews we check if we are the application stored in the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\mailto\shell\open\command. If the path to the .exe (plus parameters) does not match the to the current SeaMonkey installation we're running, it assumes that we are no longer the default. As far as I see the installer does not delete that key though atm.

Comment 6

[Jason Bassford]

That doesn't make any sense.  Looking at the value of that registry key, the value is:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\SeaMonkey\seamonkey.exe" -compose "%1"

But using that would start mail with me actually composing an email to somebody.  I almost never want to do that.  The shortcut that I use to get into mail is:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\SeaMonkey\seamonkey.exe" -mail

This lets me just see any mail I've received.  Why are we considering the parameters as important?

Comment 7

[Frank Wein [:mcsmurf]]

We just compare the the whole registry string. That one is the mailto: handler. We could also choose another or multiple registry keys to see if we are the default application. But normally the mailto: handler should be a good choice to see if we are the default mail app. I think it was also chosen because Outlook Express and Thunderbird do it that way.

Comment 8

[Jim White]

I have a similar problem, listed below.  It may be related to the fact that I had Seamonkey 1.1.17 installed, then installed 2.0 beta 1, and then updated to 1.1.18 by removing 1.1.17, as required by installation instructions.  Then I updated the 2,0 to beta 2 (2.0 is in a separate user on my MS Vista Home Premium system).  This produced the following bug:
_________________
Seamonkey 1.1.18 Bug
After installing  v. 1.1.18, I opened the browser and attempted to open the mail program.  
I then get a window with the message:  “Do you want to use Seamonkey as the default email application?”.  When I click on the Yes button, Seamonkey hangs and will not respond.
If I click on the No button, the email program comes up normally.
___________________
When I am in my normal user login, and I check the Mailto registry key, it shows the 2.0 Beta 2 program, even though I installed that version in a separate user (Vista-Test).  I expected that the registry would be pointing to my 1.1.18 version in my original user login-in.  This would not normally be a problem for a system that is not running two versions, but what can I do to separate the two versions to avoid strange interactions that I may think are bugs???

Comment 9

[Robert Kaiser]

Does this still happen with current SeaMonkey 2 versions?

Comment 10

[Jim White]

(In reply to comment #9)
> Does this still happen with current SeaMonkey 2 versions?

I am not sure, regarding Vista, as I installed Windows 7 Pro, and downloaded only the production version of Seamonkey 2.0.4.  The original problem occurred, I suspect, because of the registry entry conflict with installing 2.0 beta when 1.18 had been installed previously.  There was only one registry entry for the version of Seamonkey that was being used for the mailto registry key.  If you are now checking different registry keys for two or more versions of Seamonkey, I think that should resolve the problem.

Sorry I can not be of more help, but since I re-installed the OS, I don't know if I can replicate the problem any longer.  If you want me to install the latest beta to see if I have the same problem, I guess I can do that.  Please let me know.
J. White

I have not had any problem after installing win 7, but I have not yet tried to install a beta version in a different user and profile.  You should be able to test and see if that problem still exists.

Comment 11

[Sven Grull]

(In reply to comment #9)
> Does this still happen with current SeaMonkey 2 versions?

I have the pref "Check default application settings on startup" set.
After each update under XP (tinderbox builds) I get the window where I can select for which applications SeaMonkey should be the default and there the MailNews entry is not grayed out and can be selected or deselected. Browser is still set as default and can't be deselected.

Comment 12

[Robert Kaiser]

(In reply to comment #7)
> We just compare the the whole registry string.

Are we doing that in some fishy way that could make something like

(In reply to comment #6)
> "C:\Program Files (x86)\SeaMonkey\seamonkey.exe" -compose "%1"

not match what are comparing it to?