Subject: I wonder about subdirectories with mbx

From: Steffen Kaiser <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 15:17:09 +0200 (CET)

Hello,

I do understand why flat file formats (such as unix and mbx) do not
support mailboxes and subfolders with the same name out of the box.
Though, I wonder if this limit can be overcome with a certain mechnism.

Currently the "need" arrived as some users moved their locally storred
Netscape mail folders (aka "unix" format) onto the Imap server in order to
use it simultaneously (hence the mbx format -- BTW: The mbxcvt tool
works like charm!). The problem arouse that the Netscape Messenger
supports to have both at the same place by mangling the name: Subfolders
get the extension ".sbd", mailboxes get none. Though, when displaying the
structure the .sbd extension is suppressed.

Reading about mailboxdir() and mailboxfile() in CONFIG of imap-2001
suggests that one could implement the same with UW-imap, too?
E.g.: mailboxfile() always appends the extension .MBX or something like
this.

However, as that would involve that I rename all user's mailboxes, there
might be a more generic way:
+ mailboxfile() first tries to find a regular file without the MBX
extension, on failure it appends it.
+ when IMAP is to create a new mailbox, the FAQ mentions that the complete
path is created. When doing so a new directory is to be created, but
fails, because a mailbox of the same name is already present, the mailbox
is automagically renamed into *.MBX and, then, the directory can be
created.

Alternatively, one could add a certain extension to all non-existent path
components with mailboxfile() or mailboxdir().

I suppose I'm not the first one, who has this (or a compareble) idea. Are
there some experiences about it or patches for it?

Bye,

-- 

Steffen Kaiser

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From: Stephen Casner <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 15:05:51 -0700 (PDT)

We have a capability something like this in the imap we run here at
Packet Design.  The directories get an extension ".$bf" forced onto
their real names but stripped for presentation via extra code in
osdep/unix/mbx.c.
							-- Steve

Van Jacobson added it here about one year ago into imap-4.7c and
offered back the changes but they were not accepted.  He plans to
merge them into the current imap for our use, and you could have them
then.