Subject: Trying to understand INBOX

From: Vicki Brown <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 12:09:04 -0700

Up until about an hour ago, my "INBOX" was my mailspool file. 
Then my "manager" said "Oh, your INBOX should be in mbx format. 
I have changed it".  And now my "INBOX" is moved to a /var/IMAP 
subdir, along with all of my (previous) mail folders.

How does the INBOX file get created _the first time_?
I have read the rules to select INBOX and its format 
(drivers.txt) in the IMAP docs and they imply the prior 
existence of various files which IMAP then checks for in order. 
But... how do those files come into existence?

I am presuming that sendmail delivers my mail to /var/spool/mail 
in traditional Unix mbox format.
The existence of an INBOX in "mbx" format makes c-client use 
that in preference to the spool file (according to the doc). 
Unless that mbx-format file exists, however, c-client will fall 
back on other formats.

Was some admin person supposed to create an mbx format INBOX 
file for me when they set up my account (and they didn't do so)?

Does any code cause the initial creation of an mbx-format INBOX 
or must that be created "by hand" when an account is created?
- Vicki

---

From: Mark Crispin <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 12:25:50 -0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)

The definition of your INBOX file is based upon a number of factors,
including system manager intervention.

INBOX always exists, even when there is no actual file (if there is no
actual file, then INBOX is empty).

On a "vanilla" UNIX system with a "vanilla" user configuration, the INBOX
is the spool file (whether or not a spool file exists).  If the spool file
does not exist, then INBOX is empty; and if the spool file appears (as
when mail is delivered and the mailer creates it) then the INBOX becomes
non-empty.

In non-"vanilla" UNIX systems and/or non-"vanilla" user configurations,
INBOX may be something else.  For example, if you have an mbx-format file
called INBOX in your home directory, it is the INBOX.

c-client does not automatically create mbx-format INBOX files.  It must be
created by hand, or the mailer has to be configured to create mbx-format;
in either situation, the configuration is no longer "vanilla" and you have
to make inquiry with whomever is responsible for configuring your system.

-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.