[Bug 104956] dimap: sudden mail loss

[Richard Hartmann]

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http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=104956         




------- Additional Comments From richih-kde richih org  2007-01-11 01:27 -------
> Isn't that actually the purpose of dimap (*isconnected IMAP)? I.e. you operate
> in a disconnected mode, delete mails, move them around, etc. and only when
> you explicitly "synchronize", e.g. by pressing F5, then your changes will be
> committed to the server (and changes on the server will be propagated to
> your).

In my book, the main point of disconnected IMAP is the local storage of emails. Of course, dimap should work when fully offline. Still, while online, at least moving and deleting is almost without cost.


>> 2) Pressing F5 inside a folder commits open changes for this folder on
>> the server.
>
> Yes, that's a feature, AFAICS.

It might be a nice-to-have feature when you press shift-f5 or some such. Having partial sync as standard behaviour does not make sense to me, though. How often do you edit a subfolder and want to submit changes of this one branch, only? If you did not edit anything in one branch syncing will not hurt. On the other hand, if you changed things in there, chances are you want them to be applied to the server, too.


Still, your two replies are not even the point here. The direct consequence of the behaviour above is lost mail for users. Even if the design was made deliberately, it is inherently broken and needs to be fixed. You can either introduce clutches like tracing potentially harmful actions like the delete part of a move and such or treating any copy, delete cycle as one atomar action which can not be split up no matter what accounts it may span (and needs to be reverted or aborted if any part of it does not work) or you can fix the basic assumptions and redesign from there.

In any case, no matter if this behaviour is intended, no matter what the rationale for this behaviour is, no matter how you look at it, this issue is making an otherwise brilliant piece of software something I have to warn each and everyone I know about.
'Hey, you are using KDE? Cool. You are using Kontact? Even better! You are not using dimap though, are you? Well, it is losing mail. Yes, it is a known issue and has been open for more than 18 months..' - Not fun.