[Dovecot] Re: mail shown throught outlook, shows todays date

[richs at whidbey.net]

On Apr 28, 2006, at 12:40 PM, Timo Sirainen wrote:

> On Apr 28, 2006, at 7:44 PM, richs at whidbey.net wrote:
>
>>> APPEND sounds better to me.. You could even make it get the  
>>> timestamp
>>> from the first Received-header if it exists, which makes it  
>>> pretty close
>>> to INTERNALDATE's idea.
>>>
>>
>> We would really like to see an APPEND patch, but we're still  
>> concerned our file times won't match their original storage dates  
>> unless we continually check and touch them.
>
> Why would they change?

Well, we know the times shouldn't change if everything is done to  
preserve them.  But we'd probably double-check backup restores and re- 
filtered mail.

>> Basically, as long as the message list date doesn't match the  
>> "Date:" seen in the message, our users will be confused.  Is there  
>> any chance the optional workaround flag could make it to CVS?
>
> No. You could possibly do it as a plugin though so you don't have  
> to keep patching the sources.
>
> I don't actually even see why this is a problem. Why are your users  
> uploading existing messages to IMAP server in the first place?

Users migrating from another provider, those switching from POP to  
IMAP, and those with multiple accounts who move messages between  
them. Since every message is given a current timestamp, it breaks  
sort-by-date in Outlook/OE, and confuses users with (in their eyes)  
mis-matched dates.

The timestamps are also changed when moving messages from one IMAP  
folder to another, within the same account:

Before:
/var/mail/testformail/Maildir/.Sent Items/cur
-rw-------    1 testformail users       10219 Apr 27 13:02  
1146168153.P29665Q0M142457.mail9:2,S

After:
/var/mail/testformail/Maildir/.Sent Items/cur
-rw-------    1 testformail users       10219 Apr 27 13:02  
1146168153.P29665Q0M142457.mail9:2,ST
/var/mail/testformail/Maildir/.Sent Messages/cur
-rw-------    1 testformail users       10219 Apr 28 12:53  
1146254028.P13186Q0M234215.mail9:2,S

It sounds like if the maildir store function were patched, it might  
fix APPEND too?

It's not Dovecot's fault that Outlook/OE operates this way, but like  
the nuls and idle issues, it would be nice if there were a user- 
transparent fix.

Thanks,

Rich