science

Message Handling System

Message Handling System is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Message Handling System rather than just read about it. In short: Message Handling System (MHS) is an important early email protocol developed by Action Technologies, Inc. (ATI) in 1986.

Key takeaways

Message Handling System belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Message Handling System to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Message Handling System from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Message Handling System (MHS) is an important early email protocol developed by Action Technologies, Inc. (ATI) in 1986. Novell licensed it in 1988 then later bought it.

Email clients A wide variety of email clients used MHS, including:

Para-Mail - Paradox Development introduced version 2.0 along with Novell at Comdex 1986. DaVinci Email - The first Microsoft Windows-based email client used MHS natively. Pegasus Mail - A free mail client, this used MHS its native protocol. ExpressIT! and ExpressIT! 2000 - Infinite Technologies' MHS compliant email clients. FirstMail - A cut-down version of Pegasus Mail, bundled with some versions of NetWare. Futurus TEAM - Early groupware package offering an MHS compliant email client. MacAccess - An Apple Macintosh MHS-based email client.

Role as a gateway MHS was a very 'open' system, and this, with Novell's encouragement, made it popular in the early 1990s as a 'glue' between not only the proprietary email systems of the day such as PROFS, SNADS, MCI, 3+Mail, cc:Mail, Para-Mail and Microsoft Mail, but also the competing standards-based SMTP and X.400. However, by 1996 it was very clear that SMTP over the Internet would take over this role.

Work-alike products A compatible family of products from Infinite Technologies (now Captaris) and marketed under the name Connect2 were also very widely used as part of MHS-based email networks.

Decline Novell became increasingly less supportive after their 1994 purchase of WordPerfect as they worked to transform WordPerfect Office into GroupWise. At about the same time, confidence in the future of X.400 collapsed and SMTP email across the public internet became the compelling choice for mail between unrelated organisations, replacing MHS's former "glue" role.

References Para-Mail from Paradox Development Corporation was the first email package to be brought into Novell and MHS. Paradox Development Corporation introduced Para-Mail version 2.0 with Novell at Comdex 1986.

External links Chronology Action Technologies Integrating MHS Services with Other Novell Products Novell

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Message Handling System

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Message Handling System claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Message Handling System before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Message Handling System ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Message Handling System

In research: Message Handling System appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Message Handling System in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Message Handling System is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Email systems, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Message Handling System outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Message Handling System in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Message Handling System means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Message Handling System out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Message Handling System in simple terms?

Message Handling System (MHS) is an important early email protocol developed by Action Technologies, Inc. (ATI) in 1986.

Why does Message Handling System matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Message Handling System?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Message Handling System.