My sub-folder with Outlook work-around to date

[David.M.Clark]

Thanks for the reply MJ.

Good to hear it works in MailDir format - might need to look at this.

To date I have only had this issue with Outlook and for me personally on 
Fedora with Thunderbird, I tend to keep a heap of e-mail folders without 
sub-foldering and have my own little Linux 'utopia' of annually 
archiving folders etc using the Linux scripting environment, so I never 
have these issues..... but is a client requirement so will see what I 
can do from here - they were a bit excited about a web interface to do 
the "/" bit to get a "master/sub-folder" working so.... I still may 
implement this if MailDir is too much of a hassle.

Thanks again for your reply.

On 06/10/17 16:42, mj wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> What we do, on the dovecot side, is:
> 
> mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir:LAYOUT=fs:DIRNAME=mAildir
> 
> See: https://wiki2.dovecot.org/MailLocation/Maildir
> 
> This has been working out very nicely for many years.
> 
> I'm not sure though that there is a way to 'move' to that config without 
> having to basically migrate all your mailboxes.
> 
> MJ
> 
> On 10/06/2017 04:08 AM, David.M.Clark wrote:
>> Hi All, please be kind, this is my first e-mail to the list :-)
>>
>> I actively support CentOS based e-mail servers running Dovecot, 
>> Sendmail, Spammassassin and 3 x SOGo based setups.
>>
>> Dovecot is my goto IMAP server and have used it and modifications to 
>> it to net excellent results for years.
>>
>> Then we have people who insist on only using Outlook (and in some 
>> instances the MS Live Messenger thingy).
>>
>> Some shenanigans in recent years have arose with using sub-folders in 
>> the Outlook clients (2013 and 2016).
>>
>> Traditionally, placing a "/" after the name of a newly desired e-mail 
>> folder has netted the result of something like:
>>
>> "Rentals/"
>>
>> creating:
>>
>> /u/home/someuser/mail/Rentals/
>>
>> Under which users then create actual e-mail folders under the 
>> "Rentals" Linux directory as such.
>>
>> With Outlook 2013 and 2016 this seems to have stopped working and so I 
>> implemented a work-around where the user creates a normal folder, 
>> example "Rentals++", and I have written a cron script that trawls the 
>> $HOMEs each minute and if it finds a folder with a "++" at the end, it 
>> creates the folder as a directory, so:
>>
>> /u/home/someuser/mail/Rentals++
>>
>> becomes:
>>
>> /u/home/someuser/mail/Rentals/
>>
>> and adds this new subscription to their .subscription folder. It also 
>> sends an e-mail to the user advising that the new folder is created 
>> and they can proceed to use the "Rentals" folder for adding 
>> sub-folders (as in real text based mail folders).
>>
>> The script was a quick work-around one weekend in a mad flurry to get 
>> things working and to date works but is not 'user-proof'. So I am now 
>> looking at developing an internal web interface to do the same thing 
>> and hoping with more controls, has no or far less margin for user 
>> error. Long times of Outlook folder refreshes don't help and users 
>> sometimes end up with issues that require my Linux command line help.
>>
>> I have been trawling e-mail forums for some time now and have not seen 
>> any other work-arounds (or perhaps I am living under a rock) but 
>> before I embark on this web interface adventure, I just wanted to make 
>> sure I had not missed some fundamental 'bit' that I should be observing.
>>
>> All servers are either CentOS 6.9 (or slightly less) and CentOS 7 with 
>> the latest updates and for things like Thunderbird and Roundcube and 
>> SOGo, work well. I need to experiment with the whole "/" for these but 
>> I am currently driven by the enforced Outlook chains.
>>
>> Any input from you guys on whether this is my best approach or 'hey 
>> mate, just do this', would be much appreciated.
>>
>> I am happy to share my travels script/web-wise if this is the only 
>> option to date.
>>

-- 

As always, I remain at your service.

Kindest Regards,
David.M.Clark (Director - Senior Linux/UNIX Consultant)
=--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
  Davrom Consulting Pty Ltd            Mobile: 0418763124
  PO Box 1644, Sunnybank Hills, 4109   E-mail (Work): david at davrom.com
  ABN: 81 096 990 804                  E-mail (Priv): dmc1961 at dmc1961.id.au
  Website: http://davrom.com           Skype: dmc1961
  Podcast: http://ldup.com.au          Google: dmc1961 at gmail.com
=--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
  Specialising in: Linux (Fedora/RedHat/CentOS), UNIX, SCO, MikroTik,
                   Networking/Internet, E-mail/Web Technologies
=--------------------------------------------------------------------------=
  Please note: Any e-mail communication bearing this signature is for
  the exclusive purpose of the sender and is not for publication
  without the expressed permission of the sender or respective
  sender's organisation.
=--------------------------------------------------------------------------=